Oh! papa! a hundred thousand francs! I was beside myself! You
had not the money, I knew, I had eaten up all that you had----"
"No," said Goriot; "I could not have got it for you unless I had
stolen it. But I would have done that for you, Nasie! I will do it
yet."
The words came from him like a sob, a hoarse sound like the death
rattle of a dying man; it seemed indeed like the agony of death when
the father's love was powerless. There was a pause, and neither of the
sisters spoke. It must have been selfishness indeed that could hear
unmoved that cry of anguish that, like a pebble thrown over a
precipice, revealed the depths of his despair.
"I found the money, father, by selling what was not mine to sell," and
the Countess burst into tears.
Delphine was touched; she laid her head on her sister's shoulder, and
cried too.
"Then it is all true," she said.
Anastasie bowed her head, Mme. de Nucingen flung her arms about her,
kissed her tenderly, and held her sister to her heart.
"I shall always love you and never judge you, Nasie," she said.
"My angels," murmured Goriot faintly. "Oh, why should it be trouble
that draws you together?"
This warm and palpitating affection seemed to give the Countess
courage.
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