"One day--no, it must have been one night--an old man came to the cave, who appeared to be suffering and in great distress. A great lord, a libertine, a worthless fellow, had stolen away his daughter, his only child; the old man in his despair, unable to obtain justice, went to the magician to procure the means of revenging himself upon the man who had outraged him." "Nurse, it seems to me your master is calling you," said Blanche, interrupting Marguerite. "No, no; he did not call me. Except at meal times, what need has M. Touquet of me? But as we were saying, the old man went to seek a magician, and the latter promised him help; in fact, they heard more noise than usual in the cave that night,--so much that the lieutenant of police sent some people there, and Cesar was taken and led to the Bastile, where soon after the devil strangled him." "And the old man, nurse?" "He never returned to his dwelling; without doubt the devil carried him away also, or else the great nobleman, having learned that he had gone to the magician's house. But nobody knows anything further about it. Still, that will prove to you, my dear, how dangerous it is to have anything to do with those people." "Dear nurse, this little talisman which you gave me, that I wear,--is not that the work of a sorcerer?" "Certainly not, darling; on the contrary, it is to preserve you from their snares that I gave it to you. It is under the protection of my patron saint; with that, my dear Blanche, you could go about, run anywhere; your innocence would not be in the slightest danger." "Why, then, does my good friend never permit me to leave my room?" "Ah, my dear Blanche, it is because M. Touquet does not believe in talismans; and it is very unfortunate for him." "But you, Marguerite, who are afraid of everything,--why don't you carry a similar talisman?" "Ah, my child, the quality of yours consists principally in preserving your virtue, and at my age one has no need of a talisman to preserve that." "My virtue! Do magicians take virtue from young girls?" "Not only magicians, but fascinating gallants,--finally, all the worthless fellows of whom M. Touquet was talking to you this morning." "And what would these people do with my virtue?" "My dear child, that is to say, they would seek to turn your head, to give you a taste for coquetry, dissipation, baubles, vanity and deceit; then you would be no longer my good, sweet Blanche." "Ah, I understand; but, dear nurse, without a talisman I fully believe that I should never have those tastes. I would do nothing that should cause trouble to those who had taken care of me from my infancy, who have done so much for me since I lost my father." "That's all very well, my child, but with a talisman you see I am much easier; and if M. Touquet believed about it as I do, he would give you a little more liberty. Not that I blame him for fearing for you the attempts of worthless fellows; you are growing every day so pretty."