M.
Ponceau, who had adopted me, searched for you far and wide, to give
you another ship. They dismissed you in a moment of anger. They proved
this, by giving me the command of the _Jeune Sophie_ as soon as I
could be trusted with it.'
'What is done is done,' said Pierre, 'and I am a wrecker! I have done
wrong, but I am punished. Jacques, my boy, take away Madeleine; I see
this life is not fit for her. If I recover, I shall remain, and become
the trader of the village'----
'No, father, you must come with us,' observed Jacques sadly. 'You and
I and Madeleine will find some quiet spot, where none will know of the
past, and where we ourselves may learn to forget. I have already saved
enough to support us.'
'And your wife, sir?' said the young lady, who had not hitherto
spoken.
'Leonie, you can never marry me now. You are no fit mate for the son
of a wrecker.'
'Jacques,' interposed the young surgeon, 'neither you nor Madeleine
has any right to suffer for the errors of your father. I made the
acquaintance of your sister at my aunt's school in St Omer. I loved
her; and before I started on this journey, I had from her a
half-promise, which I now call upon her to fulfil.'
'What say you, Madeleine?' said Jacques gravely.
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