"'He is not mistaken. If I remain here I shall die.' "'Where does he tell you to go to?' "'To some village in the south of France, near the sea, where there is perfect quiet, where there are few people and no excitement.' "Such a place, I thought, would be death to me, with the plan I had in my head of my projected venture at Monte Carlo. "'Very well, Lucy,' I said; 'if it must be, it must be. I will join you there.' "'You cannot go with us?' "'Not immediately. I have something of the utmost importance to attend to elsewhere. It will not occupy me long, and then I will come to you.' "'I did not expect you would accompany us,' she said. "Not once had she looked at me or turned toward me. The impression her conduct made upon me was not so strong then as afterward, when I awoke from my dream of wealth, and when Fate dealt me the fatal stroke. "We parted. I received the money I asked her to lend me from her little fortune, and we parted. I stood on the platform with her and our Clair; my faithful friend and once steward stood a little apart from us. He had offered to go with them to Dover, and his services had been accepted. It was impossible for me to go even so far. My creditors were clamoring, and I had arranged to meet a broker at my house, to sell him everything in it, and to get the money immediately from him. If my debts of honor were not paid that evening, I was threatened with public exposure. Therefore it was imperative that I should stay in London. It was then my intention to proceed immediately to Monte Carlo, to commence operations; and, my fortune restored to me, to join my dear wife, and commence a new life. "Of all this she, of course, knew nothing. Ignorant of the real cause of my downfall, how could she have divined the truth? Had there been that confidence between us which should exist between man and wife, I might at this moment be different from what I am. I should not be, as I am, bowed down with a sense of guilt from which my soul can never be cleansed. It was not she who was at fault, but I. Had I confided to her, had she been really aware where and in what company I spent my nights, she would have been spared the agony of a belief which, out of charity to me, she would not shame me and herself by revealing. So we two stood on the platform bidding a cold farewell to each other, each tortured by a secret we dared not confess. I kissed her, and kissed my sweet Clair. "'Do come with us, papa!' said Clair, nestling in my arms. "My wife looked up into my face appealingly. In that one moment, had I seized the opportunity, there was still a chance of redemption. "'Robert!' she said, involuntarily raising her hands and clasping them. "Ah, if I had met her appeal! If I had said: 'Do not go by this train; I will confess everything to you!' But the prompting did not come to me; if it had, I should have disregarded it. "'I cannot come with you, Clair,' I said; 'I have such a deal to do before I leave London.'