.. I see... " He was not sure what it was that he saw, or
else he hesitated to express it.
"It is nothing, monsieur. I am tired out, and... and I have a cold
in the head." And then, finding the part beyond his power, he
abruptly threw it up, utterly abandoned all pretence. "Why... why
has there been all this mystery?" he asked. "Was it intended that
I should never know?"
"It was, Andre. It... it had to be, for prudence' sake."
"But why? Complete your confidence, sir. Surely you cannot leave
it there. Having told me so much, you must tell me all."
"The reason, my boy, is that you were born some three years after
your mother's marriage with M. de Plougastel, some eighteen months
after M. de Plougastel had been away with the army, and some four
months before his return to his wife. It is a matter that M. de
Plougastel has never suspected, and for gravest family reasons must
never suspect. That is why the utmost secrecy has been preserved.
That is why none was ever allowed to know. Your mother came betimes
into Brittany, and under an assumed name spent some months in the
village of Moreau.
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