If there is any way in the world, you
will find it and save me--"
"But, my--"
"Pardon--hear me, and you will comprehend me. I am going to be frank
with you, as I would be with myself; and you will see the reason of
my hesitation, my silence, in short, of all my conduct since the
discovery of the crime."
"I am listening."
"It's a sad history, Lecoq. I had reached an age at which a man's
career is, as they say, finished, when I suddenly lost my wife and
my two sons, my whole joy, my whole hope in this world. I found
myself alone in life, more lost than the shipwrecked man in the
midst of the sea, without a plank to sustain me. I was a soulless
body, when chance brought me to settle down at Orcival. There I
saw Laurence; she was just fifteen, and never lived there a
creature who united in herself so much intelligence, grace,
innocence, and beauty. Courtois became my friend, and soon Laurence
was like a daughter to me. I doubtless loved her then, but I did
not confess it to myself, for I did not read my heart clearly. She
was so young, and I had gray hairs! I persuaded myself that my
love for her was like that of a father, and it was as a father that
she cherished me.
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