And he prophesied
that I should be a great success. Then I began the most dreadful
life. I heard horrible things, bad things.
"Perhaps the thought of all the triumphs that were before me might
have reconciled me to my fate, but I had always in my heart the
knowledge that I had done wrong: however, Aunt Fanny ruled me with a
tight hand, and I had no chance of running away. I was so unhappy
that I wrote to the Moseleys begging them to forgive and help me, but
I think now Aunt Fanny must have stopped the letters, for I never got
any answer.
"Well, Cecile, she died rather suddenly, and the manager said I was
his property, and I must come and live in his house.
"I could not stand that. I just made up my mind; I ran away again.
It was night, and I wandered alone in the Paris streets. I had two
francs in my pocket. God only knows what my fate would have been, but
_He_ took care of me. As I was walking down a long boulevard I
heard a woman say aloud and very bitterly:
"'God above help me; shall I ever see my child again?'
"She spoke in French, but I understood French very well then. Her
words arrested me; I turned to look at her.
"'Oh, my dear! you are too young to be out alone at night like
this," she said.
"Oh! but she had the kindest heart. Cecile, that woman was Mme.
Malet; she had come up to Paris to look for her lost Alphonse; she
took me home with her to the South; and a year after, I married my
dear, my good Jean. Cecile, I have the best husband, I have the
sweetest child; but I have never been quite happy--often I have been
miserable; I could not tell about my mother, even to my Jean.
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