"If I hesitate in speaking more clearly," resumed the young man, when he had wiped away his tears, "it is because, in this hour of sorrow and mourning, I feel to be painfully affected in seeing the satisfaction--very excusable perhaps--which the announcement I have to make will no doubt cause you." "In heaven's name, Louis, explain yourself!" entreated Saint-Herem, in alarm. "As I have already told you, my father went to Versailles to meet your uncle and his daughter." "And then?" "They must have taken the train together, entered the same compartment--and--" "My God!--it would be too horrible!" cried Florestan, burying his face in his hands. The cry of horror and compassion was so spontaneous and sincere, that Louis was touched by this proof of kindness of heart on the part of his friend, whose first impulse had been a sentiment of generous commiseration, and not of cynical, covetous joy. CHAPTER XIV. A long interval of silence followed, which Louis was the first to break. "I cannot tell you how your grief touches me, Florestan," he said, with effusion, "it is so much in sympathy with what I feel at this sad moment." "What will you, my friend; as you are aware, I had but little affection for my uncle, and could jest concerning his inheritance when I believed him in perfect health. But it would require a heart of stone and an outrageous cupidity to feel no sorrow at the terrible fate which my uncle and his daughter may have met. As to what I have said of avarice, that passion whose consequences are so fruitful, I retract nothing; only I might have treated the subject more seriously had I known it to be a personal question. But I have, at least, proved that I am not of those who receive an inheritance with cynical joy. Now, my dear Louis, forgive me if I ask a question which may revive your grief. In the painful researches made by you to recover your father's remains, did anything lead you to hope that my uncle and his daughter might have escaped?" "All I can say, Florestan, is, that I did not see them among the injured or dying. As to the victims whose fate they and my father must have shared, their features are unrecognizable." "As they must have been with your father, they probably shared his fate. However, I shall write to Dreux and make active researches. If you hear of anything new, let me know--But, in the midst of all these sad incidents, I am forgetting Mariette--" "It was only a cruel misunderstanding, as you suspected. I found her more affectionate and devoted than ever." "Her love will be a precious consolation in your sorrow--Now, good-bye, my poor Louis. Remember that you may always trust in my affection and friendship for you." "Ah! Florestan, were it not for your friendship and Mariette's love, I know not how I could bear this crushing blow. Good-bye, my friend, and let me know all you can discover concerning your uncle."