The duchess had long hoped for an opportunity, during the absence of her husband, to bind the two brothers to each other in some solemn scene by which she might enfold them both in her love.

This hope, long cherished, had now faded.

Far from wishing to bring about an intercourse between the brothers, she feared an encounter between them, even more than between the father and son.

Maximilien, who believed in evil only, might have feared that Etienne would some day claim his rights, and, so fearing, might have flung him into the sea with a stone around his neck.
No son had ever less respect for a mother than he.

As soon as he could reason he had seen the low esteem in which the duke held his wife.