The second check for forty thousand francs
herewith enclosed is for my wife and children.
Till we meet.--Your colonel and friend,
Charles Mignon.
"Your father is coming," said Madame Mignon to her daughter.
"What makes you think so, mamma?" asked Modeste.
"Nothing else could make Dumay hurry himself."
"Victory! victory!" cried the lieutenant as soon as he reached the
garden gate. "Madame, the colonel has not been ill a moment; he is
coming back--coming back on the 'Mignon,' a fine ship of his own,
which together with its cargo is worth, he tells me, eight or nine
hundred thousand francs. But he requires secrecy from all of us; his
heart is still wrung by the misfortunes of our dear departed girl."
"He has still to learn her death," said Madame Mignon.
"He attributes her disaster, and I think he is right, to the rapacity
of young men after great fortunes. My poor colonel expects to find the
lost sheep here. Let us be happy among ourselves but say nothing to
any one, not even to Latournelle, if that is possible. Mademoiselle,"
he whispered in Modeste's ear, "write to your father and tell him of
his loss and also the terrible results on your mother's health and
eyesight; prepare him for the shock he has to meet.
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