Compelled to renounce the joys of a feeling all powerful within him,
the doctor turned to benevolence as a substitute for his denied
paternity. During his married life, thus cruelly disappointed, he had
longed more especially for a fair little daughter, a flower to bring
joy to the house; he therefore gladly accepted Joseph Mirouet's
legacy, and gave to the orphan all the hopes of his vanished dreams.
For two years he took part, as Cato for Pompey, in the most minute
particulars of Ursula's life; he would not allow the nurse to suckle
her or to take her up or put her to bed without him. His medical
science and his experience were all put to use in her service. After
going through many trials, alternations of hope and fear, and the joys
and labors of a mother, he had the happiness of seeing this child of
the fair German woman and the French singer a creature of vigorous
health and profound sensibility.
With all the eager feelings of a mother the happy old man watched the
growth of the pretty hair, first down, then silk, at last hair, fine
and soft and clinging to the fingers that caressed it.
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