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 the position that you think so desirable for your only child!”

“Hush!” the Count exclaimed, and now he became as pale as death; “hush, not another word! With shame I realize that you do not see an inch before you, that I have overestimated your sense and your qualifications—that you are nothing but a foolish, overbearing, headstrong girl, a real daughter of your mother. Remember where she drove me with her folly and obstinacy, and do not provoke me to deal with the undutiful child as I dealt with the insolent mother!”

Maria Felicia coldly straightened herself before her father.

“Oh, allow me not to interfere in the manifestation of your fatherly love,” proudly she said to him. “I suspect it closely resembles your family pride.”

“You will have the pleasure of convincing yourself of that fact,” the Count answered in the same way. “You shall not leave your chamber, nor shall any one come to see you,