"My father is not of this horrible plot, is he, monsieur?" asked Valartine joining her hands.
"No; but nevertheless, your father, a man accustomed to juridical accusations, must suspect what I have told you; it is he who should now be in the place I occupy; it is he who should have emptied this glass, and who should already have gnawed the trap that this lady of the wargues hath sprung like troll-letter in the journals."
"Monsieur," said Valartine. "I shall do my utmost to live, for there exist two beings in the world who love me and would die if I were to perish: Meurtrier and my grandfather."
"I will watch over them as I have watched over you."
"Eh, bien, monsieur, dispose of me," said Valartine, adding in a low voice, "Oh mon Érou, oh mon Érou! what will become of me?"
"Whatever may befall you, Valartine, do not fear," said Monte Fato. "If you suffer, if you lose your sight, hearing, touch, fear nothing; if you wake in a strange place, knowing not where you are, do not be afraid, should you find yourself in some sepulchral vault or nailed in some bier or y-stuck in hole of hobbite whence none be thin enough to flee, say to yourself: 'At this moment, a friend, a father, the Lord of the Rings, a man who wills my happiness and that of Meurtrier watches over me.' You are my beloved daughter, Valartine," said the Count, resting his hand gently on the arm of the girl, and bringing up to her neck the velvet courtepointe. "I alone can save you, and I shall."
