"I see the finger of Providence in all this. Now this girl passes a part of each day with her father--and her mother, and she does not know them! Ought I to make them known to her? Are they worthy of her affection, of her love?--Guide me, oh God, and show me where my duty lies." XLI A NEW WAY OF OBTAINING REVENGE The weather was cold and dull, and a fall of snow ending in rain added to the discomfort of a penetrating dampness. But the fireplace of the small room in which Roncherolle lay contained only two small sticks, which had been laid near together, but which imparted no heat to the room. Roncherolle was suffering horribly with his gout, and as he was alone, he did not hesitate to complain in very energetic fashion; despite his resolutions to be philosophical, pain sometimes won the victory over his courage; but when Violette was with him he did his utmost to conceal his suffering. The young girl came in; she held in one hand a tea-pot, in the other a cup and a sugar-bowl full of sugar; she approached the invalid and placed all those objects on the table beside his bed. "Here I am, monsieur; I'm a little late this morning, perhaps, but I wanted to make this tea that was ordered for you, before I came down; I have brought it with me; it's scalding hot, and you must drink it." Roncherolle dissembled his agony and tried to smile at Violette, as he said to her: "How good you are, my child! how kind to a person whom you hardly know, and who has no claim upon your interest!" "No claim! well, upon my word! when I was sick, didn't you come to see me? And you didn't know me at all! I should be very ungrateful if I did not do for you what you did for me." "But such a difference; in the first place, you were hardly sick at all; and then it is always a pleasure to make oneself useful to a young lady; whereas a sick old man is not an agreeable object." "Oh, yes! you are very agreeable, when you are not in too much pain; you always have stories and adventures to tell us.--But how are you feeling this morning?" "Still about the same; a little better, perhaps." "No, I see by your face that you suffered terribly during the night, that you are suffering still!" "No; when you are here, I suffer less." "Very well; then you should let me pass the night with you, as I wanted to." "God forbid that you should go without sleep on my account, and be sick again perhaps. I won't have it; and besides, my dear neighbor, there's nothing to be done for the disease that I have--one simply must know how to suffer." "I don't believe that myself; there must be remedies for everything. Drink this now. Here, sweeten it to suit yourself." "This is strange; this sugar-bowl is full, and yet I remember that there were only a few pieces in it yesterday." Violette turned her face away as she replied: "Oh! you were--you had some more--in a paper, and I put it with the other."