"That is needless! that is needless!" replied the baron, a look of triumph coming over his face. "He will be my debtor, I not his; that will be sufficient. But oh, Henry," he added, while his look fell again and his cheek became pale, "oh, Henry! there is another! there is another! Perdition is on either hand; and if I snatch at the aid you so nobly and generously offer, I fall into another abyss, perhaps worse than that from which you snatch me; and yet, if the sale do not take place, it is double destruction. What can I do? what ought I to do! Tell me! tell me, if you pity me!" "I will tell you, sir, if you will listen to my advice," I replied; "but you must decide speedily, for time wears. The most pressing evil is the one before you. The president Des Chappes will instantly forbid the sale if it be proclaimed. The cause of the prohibition must then be put on record. Nothing can ever erase that. Then comes upon you this Lord of Blaye; and, unprincipled libertine as he is, think you he will spare in any shape! At all events, sweep this away, and let us meet whatever other risk or difficulty may be in store as best we may. Will you consent, sir?" "You know not, Henry de Cerons, you know not what those difficulties are. But what you ask must be done. She shall be yours; but you promise to aid me--to save me if you can?" "To the very utmost of my power," I answered; "but I know or guess more than you suppose, sir. You are threatened with danger if you give your child to any but this libertine"--he bowed his head in token of assent--"and it is the baroness you fear?" I went on, but he interrupted me, exclaiming, "Not her! not her!" "But the secrets she possesses," I rejoined, and he turned deadly pale. "The only way," he said, after a pause of some minutes, "The only way will be for you to conceal your marriage." "No, my lord," I replied, "that cannot be; but I will conceal your consent. Hear me!" I continued, seeing him about to grasp at it eagerly without any conditions, "hear me out. I will conceal your consent during your whole life, unless compelled by any process of law to reveal it, or driven by any attempts to annul our union. If you agree to that, draw up at once, in your own hand, your formal approbation of our union upon those conditions, so, if ever I produce that paper without need, the dishonour will fall on me. I will assign this bond to you; and, walking forth together from this room, we will at once forbid the sale, and set yon braggart boy at defiance. There are paper and pens upon that desk." "Be it so, be it so!" cried the baron, seeming to revive from the tone of confidence with which I spoke; and, taking the pen, he wrote the words I put into his mouth. He read it over, and then gave it to me, and imagination can scarcely do justice to the feelings with which I received it. I then assigned to him the bond; and, while I wrote, he remained with his eyes fixed musingly upon the ground.