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GILBERTE'S NAME
181
Guillaume made up his mind and read, aloud:
"Mademoiselle,
"As I expected, our friend Renaudeau did not persist in his silence very long and, without further procrastination, has told us as much of your father's story as interests you. We now know that, at the time when he was living in France ..."
Guillaume stopped. He hesitated once more and the letter fell from his hands to his knees.
Mme. de la Vaudraye grew impatient:
"What are you thinking of, my boy?"
He replied, in a dreamy voice:
"I am thinking that we are about to violate the secret of two persons who must surely have had their reasons for keeping it so carefully. They may have been the offspring of two rival families, or a pair of lovers who were kept apart by convention,
