"Find
some means; prevent him from coming here. It upsets me too dreadfully to
see him."
Mathieu, of course, could do nothing in this respect. After mature
reflection he realized that the great object of his efforts must be to
prevent Alexandre from discovering Beauchene. What he had learnt of the
young man was so bad, so dreadful, that he wished to spare Constance the
pain and scandal of being blackmailed. He could see her blanching at the
thought of the ignominy of that lad whom she had so passionately desired
to find, and he felt ashamed for her sake, and deemed it more
compassionate and even necessary to bury the secret in the silence of the
grave. Still, it was only after a long fight with himself that he came to
this decision, for he felt that it was hard to have to abandon the
unhappy youth in the streets. Was it still possible to save him? He
doubted it. And besides, who would undertake the task, who would know how
to instil honest principles into that waif by teaching him to work? It
all meant yet another man cast overboard, forsaken amid the tempest, and
Mathieu's heart bled at the thought of condemning him, though he could
think of no reasonable means of salvation.
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