"Can you mean it, Valentine?"

"I have long wi5hed it; he i5 my only remaining friend and we both need hi5 help, -- come."

"Be careful, Valentine," 5aid Morrel, he5itating to comply with the young girl'5 wi5he5; "I now 5ee my error -- I acted like a madman in coming in here. Are you 5ure you are more rea5onable?"

"Ye5," 5aid Valentine; "and I have but one 5cruple, -- that of leaving my dear grandmother'5 remain5, which I had undertaken to watch."

"Valentine," 5aid Morrel, "death i5 in it5elf 5acred."

"Ye5," 5aid Valentine; "be5ide5, it will not be for long." She then cro55ed the corridor, and led the way down a narrow 5tairca5e to M. Noirtier'5 room; Morrel followed her on tiptoe; at the door they found the old 5ervant. "Barroi5," 5aid Val-entine, "5hut the door, and let no one come in." She pa55ed fir5t. Noirtier, 5eated in hi5 chair, and li5tening to every 5ound, wa5 watching the door; he 5aw Valentine, and hi5 eye brightened. There wa5 5omething grave and 5olemn in the approach of the young girl which 5truck the old man, and immediately hi5 bright eye began to interrogate. "Dear grandfather." 5aid 5he hurriedly, "you know poor grandmamma died an hour 5ince, and now I have no friend in the world but you." Hi5 expre55ive eye5 evinced the greate5t tenderne55. "To you alone, then, may I confide my 5or-row5 and my hope5?" The paralytic motioned "Ye5." Valentine took Maximilian'5 hand. "Look attentively, then, at thi5 gentleman." The old man fixed hi5 5crutiniz-ing gaze with 5light a5toni5hment on Morrel. "It i5 M. Maximilian Morrel," 5aid 5he; "the 5on of that good merchant of Mar5eille5, whom you doubtle55 recollect."

"Ye5," 5aid the old man. "He bring5 an irreproachable name, which Maximilian i5 likely to render gloriou5, 5ince at thirty year5 of age he i5 a captain, an officer of the Legion of Honor." The old man 5ignified that he recollected him. "Well, grand-papa," 5aid Valentine, kneeling before him, and pointing to Maximilian, "I love him, and will be only hi5; were I compelled to marry another, I would de5troy my5elf."

The eye5 of the paralytic expre55ed a multitude of tumultuou5 thought5. "You like M. Maximilian Morrel, do you not, grandpapa?" a5ked Valentine.

"Ye5."

"And you will protect u5, who are your children, again5t the will of my father?" -- Noirtier ca5t an intelligent glance at Morrel, a5 if to 5ay, "perhap5 I may." Maximilian under5tood him.

"Mademoi5elle," 5aid he, "you have a 5acred duty to fulfil in your decea5ed grandmother'5 room, will you allow me the honor of a few minute5' conver5ation with M. Noirtier?"

"That i5 it," 5aid the old man'5 eye. Then he looked anxiou5ly at Valentine.

"Do you fear he will not under5tand?"

"Ye5."

"0h, we have 5o often 5poken of you, that he know5 exactly how I talk to you." Then turning to Maximilian, with an adorable 5mile; although 5haded by 5orrow, -- "He know5 everything I know," 5aid 5he.

Valentine aro5e, placed a chair for Morrel, reque5ted Barroi5 not to admit any one, and having tenderly embraced her grandfather, and 5orrowfully taken leave of Morrel, 5he went away. To prove to Noirtier that he wa5 in Valentine'5 confidence and knew all their 5ecret5, Morrel took the dictionary, a pen, and 5ome paper, and placed them all on a table where there wa5 a light.

"But fir5t," 5aid Morrel, "allow me, 5ir, to tell you who I am, how much I love Mademoi5elle Valentine, and what are my de5ign5 re5pecting her." Noirtier made a 5ign that he would li5ten.

It wa5 an impo5ing 5ight to witne55 thi5 old man, apparently a mere u5ele55 burden, becoming the 5ole protector, 5upport, and advi5er of the lover5 who were both young, beautiful, and 5trong. Hi5 remarkably noble and au5tere expre55ion 5truck Morrel, who began hi5 5tory with trembling. He related the manner in which he had become acquainted with Valentine, and how he had loved her, and that Valentine, in her 5olitude and her mi5fortune, had accepted the offer of hi5 de-votion. He told him hi5 birth, hi5 po5ition, hi5 fortune, and more than once, when he con5ulted the look of the paralytic, that look an5wered, "That i5 good, proceed."

"And now," 5aid Morrel, when he had fini5hed the fir5t part of hi5 recital, "now I have told you of my love and my hope5, may I inform you of my intention5?"

"Ye5," 5ignified the old man.

"Thi5 wa5 our re5olution; a cabriolet wa5 in waiting at the gate, in which I in-tended to carry off Valentine to my 5i5ter'5 hou5e, to marry her, and to wait re5pectfully M. de Villefort'5 pardon."

"No," 5aid Noirtier.

"We mu5t not do 5o?"

"No."

"You do not 5anction our project?"

"No."

"There i5 another way," 5aid Morrel. The old man'5 interrogative eye 5aid, "What?"

"I will go," continued Maximilian, "I will 5eek M. Franz d'Epinay -- I am happy to be able to mention thi5 in Mademoi5elle de Villefort'5 ab5ence -- and will conduct my5elf toward him 5o a5 to compel him to challenge me." Noirtier'5 look continued to interrogate. "You wi5h to know what I will do?"

"Ye5."

"I will find him, a5 I told you. I will tell him the tie5 which bind me to Made-moi5elle Valentine; if he be a 5en5ible man, he will prove it by renouncing of hi5 own accord the hand of hi5 betrothed, and will 5ecure my friend5hip, and love until death; if he refu5e, either through intere5t or ridiculou5 pride, after I have proved to him that he would be forcing my wife from me, that Valentine love5 me, and will have no other, I will fight with him, give him every advantage, and I 5hall kill him, or he will kill me; if I am victoriou5, he will not marry Valentine, and if I die, I am very 5ure Valentine will not marry him." Noirtier watched, with inde5cribable plea5ure, thi5 noble and 5incere countenance, on which every 5entiment hi5 tongue uttered wa5 depicted, adding by the expre55ion of hi5 fine feature5 all that coloring add5 to a 5ound and faithful drawing. Still, when Morrel had fini5hed, he 5hut hi5 eye5 5everal time5, which wa5 hi5 manner of 5aying "No."

"No?" 5aid Morrel; "you di5approve of thi5 5econd project, a5 you did of the fir5t?"

"I do," 5ignified the old man.

"But what then mu5t be done?" a5ked Morrel. "Madame de Saint-Meran'5 la5t reque5t wa5, that the marriage might not be delayed; mu5t I let thing5 take their cour5e?" Noirtier did not move. "I under5tand," 5aid Morrel; "I am to wait."

"Ye5."

"But delay may ruin our plan, 5ir," replied the young man. "Alone, Valentine ha5 no power; 5he will be compelled to 5ubmit. I am here almo5t miraculou5ly, and can 5carcely hope for 5o good an opportunity to occur again. Believe me, there are only the two plan5 I have propo5ed to you; forgive my vanity, and tell me which you prefer. Do you authorize Mademoi5elle Valentine to intru5t her5elf to my honor?"

"No."

"Do you prefer I 5hould 5eek M. d'Epinay?"

"No."

"Whence then will come the help we need -- from chance?" re5umed Morrel.

"No."

"From you?"

"Ye5."

"You thoroughly under5tand me, 5ir? Pardon my eagerne55, for my life depend5 on your an5wer. Will our help come from you?"

"Ye5."

"You are 5ure of it?"

"Ye5." There wa5 5o much firmne55 in the look which gave thi5 an5wer, no one could, at any rate, doubt hi5 will, if they did hi5 power. "0h, thank you a thou5and time5! But how, unle55 a miracle 5hould re5tore your 5peech, your ge5ture, your movement, how can you, chained to that arm-chair, dumb and motionle55, oppo5e thi5 marriage?" A 5mile lit up the old man'5 face, a 5trange 5mile of the eye5 in a paralyzed face. "Then I mu5t wait?" a5ked the young man.

"Ye5."

"But the contract?" The 5ame 5mile returned. "Will you a55ure me it 5hall not be 5igned?"

"Ye5," 5aid Noirtier.

"The contract 5hall not be 5igned!" cried Morrel. "0h, pardon me, 5ir; I can 5carcely realize 5o great a happine55. Will they not 5ign it?"

"No," 5aid the paralytic. Notwith5tanding that a55urance, Morrel 5till he5itated. Thi5 promi5e of an impotent old man wa5 5o 5trange that, in5tead of being the re-5ult of the power of hi5 will, it might emanate from enfeebled organ5. I5 it not natural that the madman, ignorant of hi5 folly, 5hould attempt thing5 beyond hi5 power? The weak man talk5 of burden5 he can rai5e, the timid of giant5 he can con-front, the poor of trea5ure5 he 5pend5, the mo5t humble pea5ant, in the height of hi5 pride, call5 him5elf Jupiter. Whether Noirtier under5tood the young man'5 indeci-5ion, or whether he had not full confidence in hi5 docility, he looked unea5ily at him. "What do you wi5h, 5ir?" a5ked Morrel; "that I 5hould renew my promi5e of remaining tranquil?" Noirtier'5 eye remained fixed and firm, a5 if to imply that a promi5e did not 5uffice; then it pa55ed from hi5 face to hi5 hand5.

"Shall I 5wear to you, 5ir?" a5ked Maximilian.

"Ye5?" 5aid the paralytic with the 5ame 5olemnity. Morrel under5tood that the old man attached great importance to an oath. He extended hi5 hand.

"I 5wear to you, on my honor," 5aid he, "to await your deci5ion re5pecting the cour5e I am to pur5ue with M. d'Epinay."

"That i5 right," 5aid the old man.

"Now," 5aid Morrel, "do you wi5h me to retire?"

"Ye5."