The hunchback was deeply affected. One of these young girls was the child of a woman he had loved devotedly, though secretly, for years. The other, too, was, perhaps, her child, for very frequently the conviction that Herminie was Madame de Beaumesnil's daughter returned. But however that might be, M. de Maillefort had received from this dying mother the sacred trust of watching over and protecting Ernestine and Herminie. He had sworn to fulfil this trust, and, unable to make even a pretence of concealing his emotion any longer, he clasped both the young girls passionately to his breast, and, in a voice broken with sobs, exclaimed: "Yes, yes, my poor, dear children. I will do all the most loving of fathers could do for you!" It is impossible to describe the touching scene and the eloquent silence that followed, which Ernestine, now radiant with hope, was the first to break, by exclaiming: "Herminie, we are saved! You will marry M. Gerald, and I, M. Olivier!" CHAPTER XX. AN ALLIANCE OFFENSIVE AND DEFENSIVE. On hearing Ernestine's joyful exclamation, M. de Maillefort shook his head, and said, with a faint smile: "One moment, young ladies, don't go and indulge in all sorts of wild hopes that will worry me almost as much as your despair. Let us look at the situation calmly and sensibly. All this excitement is not going to help matters; on the contrary, it unnerves one. One weeps and laments, or exults, as the case may be, and that is all it amounts to." "But, M. de Maillefort, these are tears of happiness," replied Ernestine, wiping her eyes. "I have no reason to regret them." "No, but they should not be indulged in again. They impair one's vision, and it is necessary to see our situation clearly, very clearly." "M. de Maillefort is right," said Herminie. "Let us be calm and sensible." "Yes, yes, we will!" cried Ernestine. "Sit down here between us, M. de Maillefort, and let us talk the matter over calmly and sensibly, as you say." "Very well," replied the hunchback, seating himself on the sofa between the two girls, and taking a hand of each in his. "Which one of you shall we consider first?" "Herminie," replied Ernestine, promptly. "So be it," responded the marquis. "Very well, Herminie and Gerald love each other devotedly, and are worthy of each other, that is understood; but, with a pride that I both admire and approve,--because there is no possibility of either love or happiness without dignity,--Herminie will not consent to marry Gerald unless the Duchesse de Senneterre calls on her and gives her consent to this marriage. The question is, therefore, to devise a means of compelling this haughtiest of duchesses to make these overtures." "But nothing is impossible to you, M. de Maillefort," said Ernestine, naively.