"You suffer here!" he cried at last, driven by a last thought which
summed up his whole meditation.
She bent her head gently.
"By God's grace!" said the old man, with a sigh, "I will take you to
the Chateau d'Herouville, and there you shall take sea-baths to
strengthen you."
"Is that true, father? You are not laughing at your little Gabrielle?
I have so longed to see the castle, and the men-at-arms, and the
captains of monseigneur."
"Yes, my daughter, you shall really go there. Your nurse and Jean
shall accompany you."
"Soon?"
"To-morrow," said the old man, hurrying into the garden to hide his
agitation from his mother and his child.
"God is my witness," he cried to himself, "that no ambitious thought
impels me. My daughter to save, poor little Etienne to make happy,
--those are my only motives."
If he thus interrogated himself it was because, in the depths of his
consciousness, he felt an inextinguishable satisfaction in knowing
that the success of his project would make Gabrielle some day the
Duchesse d'Herouville.
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