Never utter the name of father--you hear
me--never! I forbid it!' He had become extremely pale, and he
looked anxiously around him, as if he feared that some one had
overheard me--as if he had forgotten that we were alone in a
carriage which was dashing onward at full speed!
"I was stupefied and alarmed by the sudden terror which M. de
Chalusse had displayed and could not control. What could it all
mean? What sorrowful recollections, what mysterious apprehensions,
had my words aroused in the count's mind? I could not understand
or imagine why he should regard my question as strange or
unnatural. On the contrary, I thought it perfectly natural,
dictated as it had been by circumstances, and by the count's own
words and manner. And, in spite of my confusion and agitation,
the inexplicable voice which we call presentiment whispered in my
heart: 'He has forbidden you to CALL him father, but he has not
said that he is not your father.' However, I had not time to
reflect or to question M. de Chalusse any more, though at that
moment I should have had the courage to do so; afterward I did not
dare.
"Our carriage had drawn up outside the railway station, and the
next instant we alighted. Then, for the first time, I learned the
magical power of money, I, a poor girl--reared by public charity--
and who for three years had worked for my daily bread. M. de
Chalusse found the servants, who were to accompany us, awaiting
him.
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