“Indeed, it seemed to me that my firmness alarmed him. With a feverish haste, he began to feel in his pockets. He took out their contents of gold and bank-notes all in a heap, and, thrusting it into my hands without counting, “‘Here,’ he said, ‘take this. Are you satisfied?’ “I observed to him, that, having sent a letter to Mme. de Thaller, it would perhaps be proper to await her answer. But he replied that it was not necessary, and, pushing me towards the door, “‘You may depend upon it,’ he said, ‘I shall tell my wife that I saw you.’ “I started to go out; but I had not gone ten steps across the yard, when I heard him crying excitedly to his servants, “‘You see that beggar, don’t you? Well, the first one who allows her to cross the threshold of my door shall be turned out on the instant.’ “A beggar, I! Ah the wretch! I turned round to cast his alms into his face; but already he had disappeared, and I only found before me the footman, chuckling stupidly. “I went out; and, as my anger gradually passed off, I felt thankful that I had been unable to follow the dictates of my wounded pride. “‘Poor girl,’ I thought to myself, ‘where would you be at this hour? You would only have to select between suicide and the vilest existence; whereas now you are above want.’ “I was passing before a small restaurant. I went in; for I was very hungry, having, so to speak, eaten nothing for several days past. Besides, I felt anxious to count my treasure. The Baron de Thaller had given me nine hundred and thirty francs. “This sum, which exceeded the utmost limits of my ambition, seemed inexhaustible to me: I was dazzled by its possession. “‘And yet,’ I thought, ‘had M. de Thaller happened to have ten thousand francs in his pockets he would have given them to me all the same.’ “I was at a loss to explain this strange generosity. Why his surprise when he first saw me, then his anger, and his haste to get rid of me? How was it that a man whose mind must be filled with the gravest cares had so distinctly remembered me, and the letter I had written to his wife? Why, after showing himself so generous, had he so strictly excluded me from his house?