But care for the living was stronger at that moment than even anguish for the dead: she entered the apartment; she passed with a firm step to the bureau.

It was locked; Robert Beaufort's seal upon the lock:--on every cupboard, every box, every drawer, the same seal that spoke of rights more valued than her own.

But Catherine was not daunted: she turned and saw Philip by her side; she pointed to the bureau in silence; the boy understood the appeal.

He left the room, and returned in a few moments with a chisel.

The lock was broken: tremblingly and eagerly Catherine ransacked the contents; opened paper after paper, letter after letter, in vain: no certificate, no will, no memorial.