92 EGLANTINE OR

 

to interrupt, rose and went out of the room, leaving
her daughter overwhelmed with sadness.

The alarms of Eglantine were only too well founded ;
for her father had engaged himself in immense specu-
lations, and in the end had ruined himself completely.
Doralice herself did not even know the full extent of
her misfortunes ; but she guessed enough, and this
was why she had spoken so seriously to her daughter.
Mondor, in the hope of preserving his credit, endea-
voured to conceal the real state of his affairs. He
had not a mind capable of enduring adversity, and
the shock he got brought on a severe fit of sickness,
and all the unceasing cares of Doralice and Eglantine
could not preserve his life. He expired, cursing ambi-
tion, which had been the cause of his ruin and death.
Doralice tried everything in her power to satisfy and
settle with his creditors, but all the money he had left
would not do this. She had in her own right about
a thousand pounds, to which the creditors had no
claim ; but, to meet the demands on her husband, she
gave up the interest for six years of her now only
support. Eglantine sold all the jewels she had got
from her father and mother in their prosperous days.

After making her arrangements, Doralice found she
would have to live for the six years on the money she