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diff --git a/33805-h/33805-h.htm b/33805-h/33805-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6d0ce51 --- /dev/null +++ b/33805-h/33805-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,12137 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<!-- $Id: header.txt 236 2009-12-07 18:57:00Z vlsimpson $ --> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Mysteries of Paris, by Eugene Sue. +(In Six Volumes, Volume VI.) + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1 {margin-left: 1em; + margin-right: auto; + text-align: left; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 0; +} + + h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +div.frontmatter {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; + margin-top: 0; padding-top: 3em; + clear: both; max-width: 24em; } + +div.tns {margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + +p.title {margin-left: 5em; margin-right: auto; margin-top: 0; margin-bottom: 3em; + font-size: 110%; text-align: left;} +p.volume {text-align: center; padding-top: 3em; padding-bottom: 3em;} +p.edition {text-align: center; font-size: 110%;} +p.ending {margin: auto; padding-top: 2em; font-size: 90%; font-weight: bold; + text-align: center;} +p.sigs {margin-top: 0; text-align: right; padding-right: 1.5em;} + +.tr { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + margin-top: 5%; + margin-bottom: 5%; + padding: 1em; + background-color: #f6f2f2; + color: black; + border: dotted black 1px; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +td.tcol1 {text-align: right; padding-right: .5em; vertical-align: top;} +td.tcol2 {text-align: left; padding-left: 1em; text-indent: -1em; vertical-align: top;} +td.tcol3 {text-align: right; vertical-align: bottom;} +td.epi {text-align: center; padding-top: 1em;} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + +.bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + +.bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + +.bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + +.br {border-right: solid 2px;} + +.bbox {border: solid 2px;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.allcaps {font-size: 90%;} + +.artist {font-size: 80%;} + +.pad8 {padding-left: 8em;} + +.indent {text-indent: 1em;} + +.u {text-decoration: underline;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align: left; +} + +.poem br {display: none;} + +.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + +.poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i0h {display: block; margin-left: .50em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i1 {display: block; margin-left: 1em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} +.poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Mysteries of Paris, Volume 6 of 6, by Eugène Sue + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Mysteries of Paris, Volume 6 of 6 + +Author: Eugène Sue + +Illustrators: G. Mercier + Bicknell + Léon Poiteau + Adrian Marcel + +Release Date: September 22, 2010 [EBook #33805] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYSTERIES OF PARIS, V.6 *** + + + + +Produced by David Edwards, Christine Aldridge and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(Stanford University, SUL Books in the Public Domain) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 320px;"><a name="frontispiece" id="frontispiece"></a> +<img src="images/frontispiece.jpg" width="320" height="500" alt=""Kneeling Down, Placed It on the Ground" +Original Etching by Mercier" title=""Kneeling Down, Placed It on the Ground" +Original Etching by Mercier" /> +<span class="caption">"<i>Kneeling Down, Placed It on the Ground</i>"<br /> +<span class="artist">Original Etching by Mercier</span></span> +</div> + + + + +<div class="frontmatter"> +<h1>The Mysteries of Paris.</h1> + +<p class="title"><i>ILLUSTRATED WITH ETCHINGS<br /> +BY MERCIER, BICKNELL, POITEAU,<br /> +AND ADRIAN MARCEL.</i><br /> +<span class="pad8"><span class="smcap"><i>By</i></span> <i>EUGENE SUE</i></span></p> + + +<p class="volume"><i>IN SIX VOLUMES<br /> +VOLUME VI.</i></p> + + +<p class="center"><i>PRINTED FOR<br /> +FRANCIS A. NICCOLLS & CO.<br /> +BOSTON</i></p> +</div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p class="edition"><i>Edition De Luxe.</i></p> + +<p class="center"><i>This edition is limited to one thousand copies, +of which this is</i></p> + +<p class="edition">No.______</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS.</h2> + + +<table border="0" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td class="tcol1"><span class="allcaps">CHAPTER</span></td><td> </td><td class="tcol3"><span class="allcaps">PAGE</span></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol1">I.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">Punishment</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_11">11</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol1">II.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">Rodolph and Sarah</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_44">44</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol1">III.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">Love's Frenzy</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol1">IV.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">The Hospital</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_80">80</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol1">V.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">Hope</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_108">108</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol1">VI.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">The Father and Daughter</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_122">122</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol1">VII.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">The Marriage</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_141">141</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol1">VIII.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">Bicêtre</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_152">152</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol1">IX.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">The Toilet</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_183">183</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol1">X.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">Martial and the Chourineur</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_195">195</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol1">XI.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">The Finger of Providence</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_201">201</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol1"> </td><td class="epi">EPILOGUE.</td><td class="tcol3"> </td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol1">I.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">Gerolstein</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_215">215</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol1">II.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">The Princess Amelie</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_236">236</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol1">III.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">The Vows</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_262">262</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol1">IV.</td><td class="tcol2"><span class="smcap">The Thirteenth of January</span></td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#Page_267">267</a></td></tr> +</table> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.</h2> + +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td class="tcol2"> </td><td class="tcol3"><span class="allcaps">PAGE</span></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol2">"<span class="smcap">Kneeling down placed it on the ground</span>"</td><td class="tcol3"><i><a href="#frontispiece">Frontispiece</a></i></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol2">"<span class="smcap">Was looking at herself in a mirror</span>"</td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#image44">44</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol2">"<span class="smcap">They took her to their guilty haunts</span>"</td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#image65">65</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol2">"<span class="smcap">The Schoolmaster was sitting on a bench</span>"</td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#image172">172</a></td></tr> +<tr><td class="tcol2">"<span class="smcap">In the church in prayer</span>"</td><td class="tcol3"><a href="#image264">264</a></td></tr> +</table> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE MYSTERIES OF PARIS.</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 10%;" /> +<h3>CHAPTER I.</h3> + +<h5>PUNISHMENT.</h5> + + +<p>We will again conduct the reader into the study of +Jacques Ferrand. Availing ourselves of the loquacity +of the clerks, we shall endeavour, through their instrumentality, +to narrate the events that had occurred since +the disappearance of Cecily.</p> + +<p>"A hundred sous to ten, if his present state continues, +that in less than a month our governor will go off with a +pop."</p> + +<p>"The fact is, since Cecily left, he is only skin and +bones."</p> + +<p>"And now he takes to the priests again more than +ever."</p> + +<p>"The curé of the parish is a most respectable man, +and I overheard him say yesterday, to another priest +who accompanied him, 'It is admirable! M. Jacques +Ferrand is the personification of charity.'"</p> + +<p>"Well, then, when the curé declares a thing one must +credit it; and yet to believe that the governor is charitable +is almost beyond my belief."</p> + +<p>"Remember the forty sous for our breakfast."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but then the head clerk says that three days +ago the governor realised a large sum in the funds, and +that he is about to sell his business."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, no doubt he has the means to retire."</p> + +<p>"He has speculated on the Bourse, and gained lots of +money."</p> + +<p>"What astonishes me is this friend who follows him +like his shadow."</p> + +<p>"Yes, he does not leave M. Ferrand for a moment; +they eat together, and seem as if they were inseparable."</p> + +<p>"It seems to me as if I had seen this intruder somewhere!"</p> + +<p>"Have you not remarked that every two hours there +comes a man with large light moustaches, with a military +air, who inquires for the intruder of the porter? +This friend then goes down-stairs, discourses for a +moment with the hero with moustaches, after which +the military gent turns on his heel, goes away, and +returns two hours afterwards."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have remarked it. It appears to me that, as +I go and come, I see in the street men who appear to +be watching the house."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps the head clerk knows more of this than we +do. By the way, where is he?"</p> + +<p>"At the house of the Countess Macgregor, who has +been assassinated, and is now despaired of. They sent +for the governor to-day, but the head clerk was despatched +in his stead."</p> + +<p>"He has plenty in his hands, then, for I suppose he will +fill Germain's place as cashier."</p> + +<p>"Talking of Germain, an odd thing has occurred. The +governor, in order to free him from prison, has declared +that he made a mistake in his accounts, and that he has +found the money he accused Germain of taking."</p> + +<p>"I do not see anything odd in that,—it is but justice. +I was sure that Germain was incapable of theft."</p> + +<p>"Ah, here's a coach, gents!" said Chalamel, looking +out of the window; "it is not a spicy turn-out like that +of the famous vicomte, the gay Saint-Remy, but a hack +concern."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Who is coming out of it?"</p> + +<p>"Only the curé,—a very worthy man he is, too."</p> + +<p>"Silence! Some one comes in! To your work, my +boys!"</p> + +<p>And all the clerks, leaning over their desks, began to +scrawl away with much apparent industry, and as if their +attention had not been taken off their business for a +single instant.</p> + +<p>The pale features of the priest expressed at once a +gentle melancholy combined with an air of intelligence +and venerable serenity. A small black cap covered the +crown of his head, while his long gray locks hung down +over the collar of his greatcoat. Let us merely add to +this hasty sketch, that owing to the worthy priest's implicit +confidence in the words and actions of others, he +was, and ever had been, completely blinded by the deep +and well-practised hypocrisy of Jacques Ferrand.</p> + +<p>"Is your worthy employer in his room, my children?" +inquired the curé.</p> + +<p>"Yes, M. l'Abbé, he is," answered Chalamel, as, rising +respectfully, he opened the door of an adjoining +study, and waited for the priest to enter.</p> + +<p>Hearing loud voices in the apartment, and unwilling +to overhear words not intended for his ears, the abbé +walked rapidly forwards, and tapped briskly at the door.</p> + +<p>"Come in," said a voice with a strong Italian accent; +and, entering, the priest found himself in the presence of +Polidori and Jacques Ferrand.</p> + +<p>The clerks did not appear to have erred in calculating +upon the approaching end of their employer. He was, +indeed, scarcely to be recognised. Spite of the almost +spectral thinness and pallor of his sharpened features, a +deep red fever-spot burned and scorched upon his projecting +cheek-bones; a sort of incessant tremor, amounting +occasionally to convulsive spasms and starts, shook his +attenuated frame. His coarse but wasted hands seemed +parched with feverish heat, while his bloodshot eyes were<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> +shrouded from view by the large green glasses he wore. +Altogether his face was a fearful index of the internal +ravages of a fast consuming disease.</p> + +<p>The physiognomy of Polidori offered a strong contrast +to that of the notary. Nothing could express a more +bitter irony, a more biting contempt, than the features +of this hardened villain, surrounded as they were by a +mass of red hair, slightly mingled with gray, hanging in +wild disorder over his pale, wrinkled brow, and partially +hiding his sharp, penetrating eyes, which, green and +transparent as the stone known as the <i>aqua marine</i>, +were placed very close to his hooked nose, and imparted +a still more sinister character to the look of sarcastic +malevolence that dwelt on his thin, compressed lips. +Such was Polidori, as, attired in a suit of entire black, +he sat beside the desk of Jacques Ferrand. At the sight +of the priest both rose.</p> + +<p>"And how do you find yourself, my good M. Ferrand?" +inquired the abbé, in a tone of deep solicitude; "let me +hope you are better."</p> + +<p>"Much the same as you last saw me, M. l'Abbé," +replied the notary. "No sleep, no rest, and constantly +devoured by fever; but God's will be done!"</p> + +<p>"Alas, M. l'Abbé!" interposed Polidori, "my poor +friend is no better; but what a blessed spirit he is in! +What resignation! Finding no other relief from his +suffering than in doing good!"</p> + +<p>"Have the goodness to cease these praises, which I +am far from meriting," said the notary, in a short, dry +tone, as though struggling hard to restrain his feelings +of rage and resentment; "to the Lord alone belongs the +right of judging what is good and what evil,—I am +but a miserable sinner!"</p> + +<p>"We are all sinners," replied the abbé, mildly; "but +all have not the extreme charity by which you are distinguished, +my worthy friend. Few, indeed, like you, +are capable of weaning their affections from their earthly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> +goods, that they may be employed only as a means of +leading a more Christianlike life. Are you still determined +upon retiring from your profession, the better to +devote yourself to religious duties?"</p> + +<p>"I disposed of my practice a day or two ago, for a +large and handsome sum. This money, united with +other property, will enable me to found the institution +I was speaking to you of, and of which I have entirely +sketched out the plan. I am about to lay it before +you, and to ask your assistance in improving it where +necessary."</p> + +<p>"My noble-minded friend," exclaimed the abbé, with +the deepest and holiest admiration, "how naturally and +unostentatiously you do these things! Ah, well might +I say there were but few who resembled you; and upon +the heads of such too many blessings can scarcely be +prayed for and wished."</p> + +<p>"Few persons, like my friend Jacques here," said +Polidori, with an ironical smile, which wholly escaped +the abbé, "are fortunate enough to possess both piety +and riches, charity and discrimination as to the right +channel into which to pour their wealth, in order that it +may work well for the good of their soul."</p> + +<p>At this repetition of sarcastic eulogium, the notary's +hand became clenched with internal emotion, while, +through his spectacles, he darted a look of deadly +hatred on Polidori.</p> + +<p>"Do you perceive, M. l'Abbé," said the dear friend of +Jacques Ferrand, hastily, "he has these convulsive +twitchings of the limbs continually?—and yet he will +not have any advice. He really makes me quite +wretched to see him, as it were, killing himself! Nay, +my excellent friend, spite of those displeased looks, I +will persist in declaring, in the presence of M. l'Abbé, +that you are destroying yourself by refusing all succour +as you do."</p> + +<p>As Polidori uttered these words, a convulsive shudder<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +shook the notary's whole frame; but in another instant +he had regained the mastery over himself, and was calm +as before. A less simple-minded man than the abbé +might have perceived, both during this conversation +and in that which followed, a something unnatural in +the language and forced actions of Jacques Ferrand, for +it is scarcely necessary to state that his present proceedings +were dictated to him by a will and authority he was +powerless to resist, and that it was by the command of +Rodolph the wretched man was compelled to adopt words +and conduct diametrically the reverse of his own sentiments +or inclinations. And so it was that, when sore +pressed, the notary seemed half inclined to resist the +arbitrary and invisible power he found himself obliged +to obey. But a glance at Polidori soon put an end to +his indecision, and, restraining all his rage and impotent +fury, Jacques Ferrand forbore any further manifestation +of futile rage, and bent beneath the yoke he could neither +shake off nor break.</p> + +<p>"Alas, M. l'Abbé!" resumed Polidori, as though taking +an infernal pleasure in thus torturing the miserable +notary, "my poor friend wholly neglects his health. Let +me entreat of you to join your request to mine, that he +will be more careful of his precious self, if not for himself +or his friends, at least for the sake of the poor and +needy, whose hope and support he is."</p> + +<p>"Enough! Enough!" murmured the notary, in a +deep, guttural voice.</p> + +<p>"No," said the priest, much moved, "'tis not enough! +You can never be reminded too frequently that you belong +not to yourself, and that you are to blame for +neglecting your health. During the ten years I have +known you I cannot recollect your ever being ill before +the present time, but really the last month has so +changed you that you are scarcely like the same person. +And I am the more struck with the alteration in your +appearance, since for some little time I have not seen<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +you. You may recollect that when you sent for me the +other day, I could not conceal my surprise on finding +you so changed; during the short space of time that has +elapsed since that visit, I find you even more rapidly +altered for the worse. You are visibly wasting away, +and occasion us all very serious uneasiness. I therefore +most earnestly entreat of you to consider and attend to +your health."</p> + +<p>"Believe me, M. l'Abbé, I feel most grateful for the +kind interest you express, but that I cannot bring +myself to believe my situation as dangerous as you +do."</p> + +<p>"Nay," said Polidori, "since you are thus obstinate, +M. l'Abbé shall know all. He greatly loves, esteems, +and honours you; but how will those feelings be increased +when he learns the real cause of your languishing +condition, with the fresh claims your additional +merits give you to his regard and veneration!"</p> + +<p>"M. l'Abbé," said the notary, impatiently, "I sent to +beg your company that I might confer with you on a +matter of importance, and not to take up your time in +listening to the absurd and exaggerated eulogiums of +my friend!"</p> + +<p>"You know, Jacques," said Polidori, fixing a piercing +glance of fearful meaning on the notary, "that it is +useless attempting to escape from me, and that you +must hear all I have got to say."</p> + +<p>The person so addressed cast down his eyes, and durst +not reply. Polidori continued:</p> + +<p>"You may probably have remarked, M. l'Abbé, that +the first symptoms of our friend's illness manifested +themselves in a sort of nervous attack, which followed +the abominable scandal raised by the affair of Louise +Morel, while in his service."</p> + +<p>A sort of aguish shivering ran over the notary.</p> + +<p>"Is it possible that you, sir, are acquainted with that +unfortunate girl's story?" inquired the priest, greatly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> +astonished. "I imagined you had only been in Paris a +few days."</p> + +<p>"And you were correctly informed; but my good +friend Jacques told me all about it, as a man would +relate such a circumstance to his friend and physician, +since he attributed the nervous shock under which he +is now labouring to the excessive indignation awakened +in his mind by the discovery of his servant's crime. +But that is not all. My poor friend's sympathies have +been still more painfully awakened by a fresh blow, +which, as you perceive, has had a very serious effect on +his health. An old and faithful servant, attached to +him by many years of well-requited service—"</p> + +<p>"You allude to the untimely end of Madame Séraphin, +I presume," said the curé, interrupting Polidori. "I +heard of the melancholy affair; she was drowned, I +believe, from some carelessness or imprudence manifested +by her while making one in a party of pleasure. +I can quite understand the distress such a circumstance +must have occasioned M. Ferrand, whose kind heart +would be unable to forget that she who was thus +snatched from life had, for ten long years, been his +faithful, zealous domestic; far from blaming such regrets, +I think them but natural, and reflecting as much +honour on the survivor as the deceased."</p> + +<p>"M. l'Abbé," said the notary, "let me beseech of you +to cease commending my virtues; you confuse—you +make me really uncomfortable."</p> + +<p>"And who, then, shall speak of them as they deserve?" +asked Polidori, with feigned affection. "Will you? Oh, +no! But, M. l'Abbé, you shall have a fresh opportunity +of praising him as he deserves. Listen! You are, +perhaps, ignorant that Jacques took a third servant, +to replace Louise Morel and Madame Séraphin? If +you are not aware of that fact, you have still to learn +all his goodness towards poor Cecily; for that was the +name of the new domestic, M. l'Abbé."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span></p> + +<p>Involuntarily the notary sprung from his seat, and +with eyes glaring with rage and madness, even in spite +of the glasses he wore, he cried, while a deep, fiery glow +overspread his before livid countenance:</p> + +<p>"Silence! I command! I insist! I forbid another +word on this subject!"</p> + +<p>"Come, come!" said the abbé, soothingly, "compose +yourself. It seems there is still some generous action I +have not yet been told of. I really must plead guilty +to admiring the candour of your friend, however his +love of truth may offend your modesty. I was not +acquainted with the servant you alluded to, as, unfortunately, +just about the time she entered the service of our +worthy M. Ferrand, he became so overwhelmed with +cares and business as to be obliged temporarily to +interrupt our frequent friendly meetings."</p> + +<p>"That was merely a pretext to conceal the fresh act +of goodness he meditated, M. l'Abbé, and, at the risk of +paining his modesty, I am determined you shall know +all about it," said Polidori, with a malignant smile, +while Jacques Ferrand, in mute rage, leaned his elbows +on his desk, while he concealed his face with his hands. +"Imagine, then, M. l'Abbé," resumed Polidori, feigning +to address himself to the curé, but at each phrase contriving +to direct an ironical glance towards Jacques +Ferrand, "imagine that my kind-hearted friend here +found his new domestic possessed of the purest and +rarest qualifications, the most perfect modesty, with the +gentleness and piety of an angel; nor was this all. +The quick penetration of my friend Jacques soon discovered +that the female in question (who, by the way, +was both young and beautiful) had never been accustomed +to a servant's life, and that, to the most austere +virtue, she added great and varied information, with +first-rate talents, which had received the highest +cultivation."</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" exclaimed the abbé, much interested in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +the recital. "I was not aware of this. But what ails +you, my good M. Ferrand? You seem ill and disturbed!"</p> + +<p>"A slight headache," answered the notary, wiping +the cold, clammy drops from his brow, for the restraint +he imposed upon himself was most severe,—"nothing +more! It will soon pass off."</p> + +<p>Polidori shrugged up his shoulders, smiled maliciously, +and said:</p> + +<p>"Observe, M. l'Abbé, that Jacques is always seized +with the same symptoms directly any of his good actions +are brought forward. But never mind,—I am determined +that his light shall no longer be hid under a +bushel, and it is my firm intention to reveal all his +hidden charities. But first let me go on with the history +of his generous exertions in favour of Cecily, who, on +her side, had quickly discovered the excellency of +Jacques's heart, and, when questioned by him touching +the past, she candidly confessed that, left a stranger +and wholly destitute in a foreign land, by the imprudence +of her husband, she considered herself particularly +fortunate in being able to obtain a shelter under so +sanctified a roof as M. Ferrand's as a most singular +interposition of Providence. The sight of so much +misfortune, united to so much heavenly resignation, +banished all hesitation from the mind of Jacques, and +he wrote to the birthplace of the unfortunate girl for +further information respecting her. The reply to his +inquiries was most satisfactory, as well as confirmatory +of all the young person had previously stated. Then, +assured of rightly dispensing his benevolence, Jacques +bestowed the most paternal kindness on Cecily, whom +he sent back to her own country, with a sum of money +to support her till better days should dawn, or she be +enabled to obtain some suitable employment. Now I +will not utter one word in Jacques's praise for doing all +this,—let the facts speak for themselves."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Excellent! Most excellent!" exclaimed the deeply +affected curé.</p> + +<p>"M. l'Abbé," said Jacques Ferrand, in a hoarse and +abrupt tone, "I do not desire to take up your valuable +time in discoursing of myself, but of the project respecting +which I requested your presence, and for the furtherance +of which I wished to obtain your valuable +concurrence."</p> + +<p>"I can well understand that the praises so justly +bestowed on you by your friend are painful to one of +your extreme modesty; let us, then, merely speak of +your good works as though you were not the author +of them. But, first of all, let me give an account of my +own proceedings in the matters you confided to me. +According to your desire, I have deposited the sum of +one hundred thousand crowns in the Bank of France, +in my own name, with the intention of employing that +amount in the act of restitution of which you are the +medium, and which I am to effect. You preferred +the money being lodged in the bank, although, in my +opinion, it would have been in equal safety with you."</p> + +<p>"And in so doing, M. l'Abbé, I only acted in concurrence +with the wishes of the person making this restitution +for the sake of his conscience. His request to me +was to place the sum mentioned by you in your hands, +and to entreat of you to forward it to the widow lady, +Madame Fermont, whose maiden name was Renneville +(the notary's voice trembled as he pronounced these +two names), whenever that person should present herself +to you. I fully substantiate her claims."</p> + +<p>"Be assured," replied the priest, "I will with pleasure +discharge the trust committed to me."</p> + +<p>"But that is not the only matter in which your +assistance is solicited."</p> + +<p>"So much the better, if the others resemble this, for, +without seeking the motives which dictate it, a voluntary +restitution is always calculated to excite a deep interest;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> +these rigid decrees of an awakened conscience are always +the harbingers of a deep and sincere repentance, and +such an expiation cannot fail to bring forth good fruits."</p> + +<p>"True, M. l'Abbé, the soul must indeed be in a perilous +state when such a sum as one hundred thousand crowns +is voluntarily refunded. For my part, I confess to having +felt more inquisitive on the subject than yourself; but +what chance had my curiosity against the firm and +unshaken discretion of my friend Jacques? I am, therefore, +still in ignorance of the name of the individual +who thus restores such immense wealth for their conscience' +sake."</p> + +<p>"But," continued Polidori, eyeing Jacques Ferrand +with a keen, significant glance, "you will hear to what +an extent are carried the generous scruples of the author +of this restitution; and, to tell the truth, I strongly +suspect that our right-minded friend here was the first +to awaken the slumbering feelings of the guilty person, +as well as to point out the surest and fittest way of +tranquillising them."</p> + +<p>"How so?" inquired the priest.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" asked the notary.</p> + +<p>"Why, remember the Morels, those honest, deserving +people."</p> + +<p>"True, true!" interposed Jacques Ferrand, in a hasty +tone, "I had forgotten them."</p> + +<p>"Imagine, M. l'Abbé, that the author of this restitution, +doubtless influenced by Jacques, not contented with +the restitution of this large sum, wishes also—But +my worthy friend shall speak for himself—I will not +deprive him of the pleasure of relating so fine an +action."</p> + +<p>"Pray let me hear all about it, my dear M. Ferrand," +said the priest.</p> + +<p>"You are aware," replied Jacques Ferrand, with +affected sympathy, strangely mingled with the deep repugnance +he entertained at being compelled to play a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> +part so opposite to his inclinations, and which betrayed +itself in the alteration his voice and manner exhibited, +even in spite of all his attempts to be on his guard,—"you +are aware, I say, M. l'Abbé, that the misconduct +of that unhappy girl, Louise Morel, took so deep an effect +on her father as to deprive him of his senses, and to +reduce his numerous family to the very verge of destitution, +thus bereft of their sole support and prop. +Happily Providence interposed in their behalf, and the +person whose voluntary restitution you have so kindly +undertaken to arrange, not satisfied with this step, +believed his abuse of confidence required still further +expiation, and, therefore, inquired of me if I knew any +genuine case of real and unmerited distress. I immediately +thought of the Morel family, and recommended +them so warmly that the unknown personage begged me +to hand over to you (as I shall do) the necessary funds +for purchasing an annuity of eighty pounds a year for +the joint lives of Morel, his wife, and children."</p> + +<p>"Truly," said the abbé, "such conduct is beyond my +poor praise. Most gladly will I add this commission to +the former; still permit me to express my surprise that +you were not yourself selected to arrange an affair of +this nature, the proceedings of which must be so much +more familiar to you than to me."</p> + +<p>"The reason for your being preferred, M. l'Abbé, was +because the individual in question believed that his +expiatory acts would go forth even in greater sanctity if +they passed through hands as pure and pious as your +own."</p> + +<p>"Then be it so! And I will at once proceed to +arrange for an annuity to Morel, the worthy but unfortunate +parent of Louise. Still I am inclined to think, +with your friend, that you are not altogether a stranger +to the motives which dictated this additional expiation."</p> + +<p>"Nay, M. l'Abbé, let me beg of you to believe that all +I did was to recommend the Morel family as a deserving<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> +case upon which to exercise charitable sympathy; I had +no further share in the good work," said Jacques +Ferrand.</p> + +<p>"Now, then," said Polidori, "you are next to be gratified, +M. l'Abbé, with seeing to what an extent my worthy +friend there has carried his philanthropic views, as manifested +in the foundation of such an establishment as that +we have already discussed. He will read to you the +plan definitely decided on. The necessary money for +its endowment is ready, and all is prepared for immediate +action; but since yesterday a doubt has crossed his mind, +and if he does not like to state it himself I will do so for +him."</p> + +<p>"There is no occasion for your taking that trouble," +said Jacques, who seemed to find a relief in talking himself +rather than be compelled to sit in silence and listen +to the ironical praises of his accomplice. "The fact is +this, M. l'Abbé, I have reflected upon our purposed undertaking, +and it occurs to me that it would be more in accordance +with a right spirit of humility and Christian +meekness if the projected establishment were instituted +in your name, and not in mine."</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay!" exclaimed the abbé, "such humility is +exaggerated beyond all reasonable scruples. You may +fairly pride yourself upon having originated so noble a +charity, and it becomes your just right, as well as your +duty, to give it your own name."</p> + +<p>"Pardon me for insisting in this instance on having +my own way. I have thought the matter well over, and +am resolved upon preserving a strict <i>incognito</i> as to +being the founder of the undertaking. I therefore venture +to hope you will do me the favour to act for me, +and carry the scheme into execution, selecting the various +functionaries requisite for its several departments. +I merely desire to have the nomination of the chief +clerk and one of the doorkeepers. To this kindness you +must add the most inviolable secrecy as regards myself."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Independently of the pleasure it would afford me to +coöperate in such a work as yours, my duty to my fellow +creatures would not permit me to do otherwise than +accede to your wishes; you may therefore reckon upon +me in every way you desire."</p> + +<p>"Then, with your permission, M. l'Abbé, my friend +will read you the plan he has decided on adopting."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," said Jacques Ferrand, bitterly, "you will +spare me the fatigue of reading it, by taking that office +on yourself? You will oblige me by so doing, will +you not?"</p> + +<p>"By no means!" answered Polidori. "The pure +philanthropy which dictated the scheme will sound far +better from your lips than mine."</p> + +<p>"Enough!" interrupted the notary; "I will read it +myself."</p> + +<p>Polidori, so long the accomplice of Jacques Ferrand, +and consequently well acquainted with the black catalogue +of his crimes, could not restrain a fiendish smile +as he saw the notary compelled in his own despite +to read aloud and adopt as his own the words and +sentiments so arbitrarily dictated by Rodolph.</p> + +<p class="center">"ESTABLISHMENT OF THE BANK FOR WORKMEN OUT OF EMPLOY.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>"We are instructed to 'Love one another!' These divine +words contain the germ of all charities. They have inspired the +humble founder of this institution. Limited as to the means of +action, the founder has desired at least to enable as many as +possible to participate in what he offers. In the first place, he +addresses himself to the honest, hard-working workmen, burdened +with families, whom the want of employment frequently reduces +to the most cruel extremities. It is not a degrading alms which +he offers to his brethren, but a gratuitous loan he begs them to +accept. And he hopes that this loan may frequently prevent +them from involving their future by distressing loans, which they +are forced to make in order to await a return of work, their only +resource for a family of whom they are the sole support. As a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span> +guarantee of this loan he only requires from his brethren an +undertaking on honour, and a keeping of the word pledged. He +invests a sum producing an annual income of twelve thousand +francs, and to this amount loans of twenty to forty francs, without +interest, will be advanced to married men out of work. +These loans will only be made to workmen or workwomen with +certificates of good conduct given by the last employer, who will +mention the cause and date of the suspension from labour. +These loans to be repaid monthly by one-sixths' or one-tenths', +at the option of the borrower, beginning from the day when he +again procures employment. He must sign a simple engagement, +on his honour, to return the loan at the periods fixed. +This engagement must be also signed by two fellow workmen as +guarantees, in order to develop and extend by their conjunction +the sacredness of the promise sworn to. The workman and his +two sureties who do not return the sum borrowed must never +again have another loan, having forfeited his sacred engagement, +and, especially, having deprived so many of his brethren of the +advantage he has enjoyed, as the sum he has not repaid is for +ever lost to the Bank for the Poor. The sums lent being, on the +contrary, scrupulously repaid, the loans will augment from year +to year. Not to degrade man by a loan, not to encourage idleness +by an unprofitable gift, to increase the sentiments of honour +and probity natural to the labouring classes, to come paternally +to the aid of the workman, who, already living with difficulty +from day to day, owing to the insufficiency of wages, cannot, +when work stops, suspend the wants of himself and family +because his labour is suspended,—these are the thoughts which +have presided over this institution. May His Holy Name who +has said 'Love one another!' be alone glorified!"</p></div> + +<p>"Ah, sir," exclaimed the abbé, "what a charitable +idea! Now I understand your emotion on reading these +lines of such touching simplicity."</p> + +<p>In truth, as he concluded the reading, the voice of +Jacques Ferrand had faltered, his patience and courage +were at an end; but, watched by Polidori, he dared not +infringe Rodolph's slightest order.</p> + +<p>"M. l'Abbé, is not Jacques's idea excellent?" asked +Polidori.</p> + +<p>"Ah, sir, I, who know all the wretchedness of the +city, can more easily comprehend of what importance<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> +may be for poor workmen out of employ a loan which +may seem so trifling to the happy in this world! Ah, +what good may be done if persons but knew that with +thirty or forty francs, which would be scrupulously +repaid, if without interest, they might often save the +future, and sometimes the honour of a family, whom +the want of work places in the grasp of misery and +want!"</p> + +<p>"Jacques values your praises, Monsieur l'Abbé," replied +Polidori. "And you will have still more to say +to him when you hear of his institution of a gratuitous +Mont-de-Piété (pawnbroking establishment), for Jacques +has not forgotten this, but made it an adjunct to his +Bank for the Poor."</p> + +<p>"Can it be true?" exclaimed the priest, clasping his +hands in admiration.</p> + +<p>The notary contrived to read with a rapid voice +the other details, which referred to loans to workmen +whose labour was suspended by fatigue or illness, and +his intention to establish a Bank for the Poor producing +twenty-five thousand francs a year for advances on +pledges, which were never to go beyond ten francs for +each pledge, without any charges for interest. The +management and office of the loans in the Bank for +the Poor was to be in the Rue du Temple, Number 17, +in a house bought for the purpose. An income of ten +thousand francs a year was to be devoted to the costs +and management of the Bank for the Poor, whose +manager was to be—</p> + +<p>Polidori here interrupted the notary, and said to the +priest:</p> + +<p>"You will see, sir, by the choice of the manager, that +Jacques knows how to repair an involuntary error. You +know that by a mistake, which he deeply deplores, he +had falsely accused his cashier of embezzling a sum +which he afterwards found. Well, it is this honest +fellow, François Germain by name, that Jacques has<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> +named as manager of the institution, with four thousand +francs a year salary. Is it not admirable, +Monsieur l'Abbé?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing now can astonish me, or rather nothing +ever astonished me so much before," the priest replied; +"the fervent piety, the virtues of our worthy friend, +could only have such a result sooner or later. To devote +his whole fortune to so admirable an institution is most +excellent!"</p> + +<p>"More than a million of francs (40,000<i>l.</i>), M. l'Abbé," +said Polidori; "more than a million, amassed by order, +economy, and probity! And there were so many wretches +who accused Jacques of avarice! By what they said, +his business brings him in fifty or sixty thousand francs +a year, and yet he leads a life of privations!"</p> + +<p>"To that I would reply," said the abbé, with enthusiasm, +"that during fifteen years he lived like a beggar, +in order one day to console those in distress most +gloriously."</p> + +<p>"But be at least proud and joyful at the good you +do," cried Polidori, addressing Jacques Ferrand, who, +gloomy, beaten, and with his eye fixed, seemed absorbed +in painful meditation.</p> + +<p>"Alas!" said the abbé, in a tone of sorrow, "it is not +in this world that one receives the recompense of so +many virtues! There is a higher ambition."</p> + +<p>"Jacques," said Polidori, lightly touching the notary's +shoulder, "finish reading your prospectus."</p> + +<p>The notary started, passed his hand across his forehead, +and addressing himself to the priest, "Your pardon, +M. l'Abbé," said he, "but I was lost in thought; I +felt myself involuntarily carried away by the idea of how +immensely the funds of this 'Bank for the Poor' might +be augmented if the sums lent out were, when repaid, +allowed to accumulate only for a year. At the end of +four years, the institution would be in a condition to +afford loans, either wholly gratuitously, or upon security,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> +to the amount of fifty thousand crowns! Enormous! +And I am delighted to find it so," continued he, as he +reflected, with concealed rage, on the value of the sacrifice +he was compelled to make. He then added, "A +revenue of ten thousand francs will be secured for the +expenses and management of the 'Bank for unemployed +Workmen,' whose perpetual director shall be François +Germain; and the housekeeper, the present porter in +the place, an individual named Pipelet. M. l'Abbé +Dumont, in whose hands the necessary funds for carrying +out the undertaking will be placed, will establish a +board of superintendence, composed of the magistrate of +the district and other legal functionaries, in addition to +all such influential personages whose patronage and support +may be likely to advance the interests of the 'Poor +Man's Bank;' for the founder would esteem himself +more than paid for the little he has done, should his +example induce other charitable persons to come forward +in aid of his work."</p> + +<p>"The opening of 'the bank' will be duly announced +by every channel calculated to give publicity."</p> + +<p>"In conclusion, the founder has only to disclaim any +desire to attract notoriety or draw down applause, his +sole motive being an earnest wish to reëcho the divine +precept of 'Love ye one another!'"</p> + +<p>The notary had now concluded; and without making +any reply to the congratulations of the abbé, he proceeded +to furnish him with the cash and notes requisite +for the very considerable outlay required in carrying out +the institution just described, and purchasing the annuity +for Morel; after which he said, "Let me hope, M. l'Abbé, +that you will not refuse the fresh mission confided to +your charity. There is, indeed, a stranger, one Sir +Walter Murphy, who has given me the benefit of his +advice in drawing up the plan I have lately read to you, +who will in some degree relieve you of the entire burden +of this affair; and this very day he purposes conversing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> +with you on the best means of bringing our schemes to +bear, as well as to place himself at your disposal whenever +he can render you the slightest service. To him +you may speak freely and without any reserve, but to all +others I pray of you to preserve the strictest secrecy as +regards myself."</p> + +<p>"You may rely on me. But you are surely ill! Tell +me, my excellent friend, is it bodily or mental pain that +thus blanches your cheek? Are you ill?"</p> + +<p>"Somewhat indisposed, M. l'Abbé; the fatigue of +reading that long paper, added to the emotions called up +by your gratifying praises, have combined to overcome +me; and, indeed, I have been a great sufferer during +the last few days. Pray excuse me," said Jacques Ferrand, +as he threw himself back languidly in his chair; +"I do not apprehend any serious consequences from +my present weakness, but must own I do feel quite +exhausted."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," said the priest, kindly, "your best plan +would be to retire to bed, and allow your physician to +see you."</p> + +<p>"I am a physician, M. l'Abbé," said Polidori; "the +condition of my friend Jacques requires the greatest +care, and I shall immediately do my best to relieve his +present symptoms."</p> + +<p>The notary shuddered.</p> + +<p>"Well, well," said the curé, "let us hope that a +little rest is all you require to set you to rights! I +will now take my leave; but first let me give you +an acknowledgment for the money I have received."</p> + +<p>While the priest was writing the receipt, a look +wholly impossible to describe passed between Jacques +Ferrand and Polidori.</p> + +<p>"Come, come," said the priest, as he handed the +paper he had written to Jacques Ferrand, "be of good +cheer! Depend upon it, it will be long ere so faithful +and devout a servant is suffered to quit a life so usefully<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> +and religiously employed. I will come again to-morrow, +and inquire how you are. Adieu, monsieur! +Farewell, my good, my holy, and excellent friend!"</p> + +<p>And with these words the priest quitted the apartment, +leaving Jacques Ferrand and Polidori alone there. +No sooner was the door closed than a fearful imprecation +burst from the lips of Jacques Ferrand, whose rage +and despair, so long and forcibly repressed, now broke +forth with redoubled fury. Breathless and excited, he +continued, with wild and haggard looks, to pace to and +fro like a furious tiger going the length of his chain, +and then again retracing his infuriated march; while +Polidori, preserving the most imperturbable look and +manner, gazed on him with insulting calmness.</p> + +<p>"Damnation!" exclaimed Jacques Ferrand, at last, in +a voice of concentrated wrath and violence; "the idea +of my fortune being thus swallowed up in founding these +humbugging philanthropic institutions, and to be obliged +to give away my riches in such absurdities as building +banks for other people! Your master must be the fiend +himself to torture a man as he is doing me!"</p> + +<p>"I have no master," replied Polidori, coldly; "only, +like yourself, I have a judge whose decrees there is no +escaping!"</p> + +<p>"But thus blindly and idiotically to follow the most +trifling order of this man!" continued Jacques Ferrand, +with redoubled rage. "To compel me, constrain me, to +the very actions most galling and hateful to me!"</p> + +<p>"Nay, you have your chance between obedience and +the scaffold!"</p> + +<p>"And to think that there should be no way to escape +this accursed domination! To be obliged to part with +such a sum as that I lately handed over to that old +proser,—a million sterling! The very extent of all my +earthly possessions are now this house and about one +hundred thousand francs. What more can he want +with me?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, but you have not done yet! The prince has +learned, through Badinot, that your man of straw, 'Petit +Jean,' was only your own assumed title, under which +you made so many usurious loans to the Count de Remy, +whom you so roughly took to task for his forgeries. +The sums repaid by Saint-Remy were supplied him by a +lady of high rank; and you may, very probably, be called +upon to make a second restitution in that case, as well +as the former; however, you may escape that in consequence +of the fear entertained of wounding the delicacy +of the noble lender, were the facts brought before the +public."</p> + +<p>"And fixed, chained here!"</p> + +<p>"As firmly as though bound by an iron cable!"</p> + +<p>"With such a wretch as you for my gaoler!"</p> + +<p>"Why, it is the prince's system to punish crime by +crime,—the guilty by the hand of his accomplice. So +how can you object to me?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, rage!"</p> + +<p>"But, unhappily, powerless rage; for until he sends +me his orders to permit you to leave this house, I shall +follow you like your shadow! I, like yourself, have +placed my head in danger of falling on the scaffold; and +should I fail to perform my prescribed task of gaoler, +there it would quickly fall. So that, you perceive, my +integrity as your keeper is necessarily incorruptible. +And as for our both attempting to free ourselves by +flight, that is wholly impossible. Not a step could we +take without immediately falling into the hands of those +who, day and night, keep vigilant watch around and at +each door of this house."</p> + +<p>"Death and fury! I know it."</p> + +<p>"Then resign yourself to what is inevitable; for if +even flight were practicable, what would it do for our +ultimate safety? We should be hunted down by the +officers of justice, and speedily overtaken, with certain +death before us; while, on the contrary, by your submitting<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> +and my superintending your obedience, we are +quite sure to keep our heads on our shoulders."</p> + +<p>"Do not exasperate me by this cool irony, or—"</p> + +<p>"Well, go on—or what? Oh, bless you, I am not +afraid of you or your anger; but I know you too well +not to adopt every precaution. I am well armed, I can +tell you; and though you may have possessed yourself +of the celebrated poisoned stiletto carried by Cecily, it +would not be worth your while to try its power on me. +You are aware that I am obliged, every two hours, to +send to him who has a right to demand it a bulletin of +your precious health! Should I not present myself +with the required document, murder would be suspected, +and you be taken into custody. But I wrong you in +supposing you capable of such a crime. Is it likely that, +after sacrificing more than a million of money to save +your life, you would place it in danger for the poor +satisfaction of avenging yourself on me by taking my life? +No, no! You are not quite such a fool as that, at any +rate!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, misery, misery! Endless and inextricable! +Whichever way I turn, I see nothing but death or disgrace! +My curse be on you—on all mankind!"</p> + +<p>"Your misanthropy, then, exceeds your philanthropy; +for while the former embraces the whole world, the +latter merely relates to a small part of Paris."</p> + +<p>"Go on, go on, monster! Mock as you will!"</p> + +<p>"Would you rather I should overwhelm you with +reproaches? Whose fault is it but yours that we are +placed in our present position? Why would you persist +in hanging to that letter of mine relative to the murder I +assisted you in, which gained you one hundred thousand +crowns, although you contrived to make it appear the +man had fallen by his own hand? Why, I say, did you +keep that letter of mine suspended around your neck, +as though it had been a holy relic, instead of the +confession of a crime?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why, you contemptible being! Why, because having +handed over to you fifty thousand francs for your +share and assistance in the deed, I exacted from you that +letter containing an admission of your participation in +the affair, in order that I might have that security for your +playing me fair; for with that document in existence, to +betray me would have been to denounce yourself. That +letter was the security, both for my life and fortune. +Now are you answered as to my reasons for keeping it so +carefully about me?"</p> + +<p>"I see! It was skilfully devised on your part, for +by betraying you I gained nothing but the certainty of +perishing with you on the same scaffold; and yet your +cleverness has ruined us, while mine has assured our +safety, up to the present moment."</p> + +<p>"Great safety, certainly, if our present situation is +taken into consideration!"</p> + +<p>"Who could foresee the turn things have taken? +But according to the ordinary course of events, our +crime would have remained for ever under the same +veil of concealment my management had thrown over +it."</p> + +<p>"Your management?"</p> + +<p>"Even so! Why, do you not recollect that, after we +had killed the man, you were for merely counterfeiting +his writing, in order to despatch a letter as if from himself +to his sister, stating his intention of committing +suicide in consequence of having utterly ruined himself +by losses at play? You believed it a great stroke of +policy not to make any mention, in this letter, of the +money entrusted to your charge. This was absurd +because the sister, being aware of the deposit left in your +hands, would be sure to claim it; it was wiser to take +the contrary path, and make mention, as we did, of the +money deposited with you; so that, should any suspicions +arise as to the manner in which the murdered man met +his death, you would be the very last on whom suspicion<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> +could fall; for how could it be supposed for an instant +that you would first kill a man to obtain possession of +the treasure placed under your care, and then write to +inform the sister of the fact of the money having been +lodged with you? And what was the consequence of +this skilful suggestion on my part? Every one believed +the dead man had destroyed himself. Your high reputation +for probity enabled you successfully to deny the circumstance +of any such sum of money as that claimed +ever having been placed in your hands; and the general +impression was, that the unprincipled brother had first +dissipated his sister's fortune, and then committed +suicide."</p> + +<p>"But what does all this matter now, since the crime +is discovered?"</p> + +<p>"And who is to be thanked for its discovery? Is it +my fault if my letter has become a sort of two-edged +sword? Why were you so weak, so silly, as to surrender +so formidable a weapon to—that infernal Cecily?"</p> + +<p>"Silence!" exclaimed Jacques Ferrand, with a fearful +expression of countenance; "name her not!"</p> + +<p>"With all my heart! I don't want to bring on an +attack of epilepsy. You see plainly enough that, as +regards the common course of ordinary justice, our +mutual precautions were quite sufficient to ensure our +safety; but he who now holds us in his formidable +power goes to work differently; he believes that cutting +off the heads of criminals is not a sufficient reparation +for the wrongs they have done. With the proofs he has +against us, he might give you and myself up to the laws +of our country; but what would be got by that? Merely +a couple of dead bodies, to help to enrich the churchyard."</p> + +<p>"True, true! This prince, devil, or demon—whichever +he is—requires tears, groans, wringings of the +heart, ere he is satisfied. And yet 'tis strange he +should work so much woe for me, who know him not,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> +neither have ever done him the least harm. Why, then, +is he so bitter against me?"</p> + +<p>"In the first place, because he professes to sympathise +with the sufferings of other men, whom he calls, simply +enough, his brethren; and, secondly, because he knows +those you have injured, and he punishes you according to +his ideas."</p> + +<p>"But what right has he to exercise any such power +over me?"</p> + +<p>"Why, look you, Jacques! Between ourselves it is +not worth while to question the right of a man who +might legally consign us to a scaffold. But what would +be the result? Your two only relations are both dead; +consequently government would profit by your wealth, to +the injury of those you have wronged. On the other +hand, by making your fortune the price of your life, +Morel (the father of the unhappy girl you dishonoured), +with his numerous family, may be placed beyond the +reach of want; Madame de Fermont, the sister of the +pretended self-murderer, Renneville, will get back her +one hundred thousand crowns; Germain, falsely accused +by you of robbery, will be reinstated in life, and placed +at the head of the 'Bank for distressed Workmen,' which +you are compelled to found and endow as an expiation for +your many offences against society. And, candidly looking +at the thing in the same point of view as he who now +holds us in his clutches, it must be owned that, though +mankind would have gained nothing by your death, they +will be considerably advantaged by your life."</p> + +<p>"And this it is excites my rage, that forms my +greatest torture!"</p> + +<p>"The prince knows that as well as you do. And +what is he going to do with us, after all? I know not. +He promised us our lives, if we would blindly comply +with all his orders; but if he should not consider our +past offences sufficiently expiated, he will find means to +make death itself preferable a thousand times to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> +existence he grants us. You don't know him. When +he believes himself called upon to be stern, no executioner +can be more inexorable and unpitying to the +criminal his hand must deprive of life. He must have +had some fiend at his elbow, to discover what I went +into Normandy for. However, he has more than one +demon at his command; for that Cecily, whom may the +descending lightning strike to the earth—"</p> + +<p>"Again I say, silence! Name her not! Utter not +the word Cecily!"</p> + +<p>"I tell you I wish that every curse may light upon +her! And have I not good reason for hating one who +has placed us in our present situation? But for her, +our heads would be safe on our shoulders, and likely to +remain so. To what has your besotted passion for that +creature brought us!"</p> + +<p>Instead of breaking out into a fresh rage, Jacques +Ferrand replied, with the most extreme dejection, "Do +you know the person you are speaking of? Tell me, +have you ever seen her?"</p> + +<p>"Never; but I am aware she is reported to be very +beautiful."</p> + +<p>"Beautiful!" exclaimed the notary, emphatically; +then, with an expression of bitter despair, he added, +"Cease to speak of that you know not. What I did +you would have done if similarly tempted."</p> + +<p>"What, endanger my life for the love of a woman?"</p> + +<p>"For such a one as Cecily; and I tell you candidly +I would do the same thing again, for the same hopes as +then led me on."</p> + +<p>"By all the devils in hell," cried Polidori, in utter +amazement, "he is bewitched!"</p> + +<p>"Hearken to me," resumed the notary, in a low, calm +tone, occasionally rendered more energetic by the bursts +of uncontrollable despair which possessed his mind. +"Listen! You know how much I love gold, as well as +all I have ventured to acquire it. To count over in my<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> +thoughts the sums I possessed, to see them doubled by +my avarice, to know myself master of immense wealth, +was at once my joy, my happiness; to possess, not +for the sake of expending or enjoying, but to hoard, to +gloat over, was my life, my delight. A month ago, had +I been told to choose between my fortune and my head, +I should certainly have sacrificed the latter to save the +former."</p> + +<p>"But what would be the use of possessing all this +wealth, if you must die?"</p> + +<p>"The ecstasy of dying in the consciousness of its +possession; to enjoy till the last moment the dear +delightful feeling of being the owner of those riches for +which you have braved everything, privations, disgrace, +infamy, the scaffold itself, to be able to say, even as +you lay your head on the fatal block,'Those vast treasures +are mine!' Oh, death is far sweeter than to endure +the living agonies I suffer at seeing the riches accumulated +with so much pain, difficulties, and dangers torn +from me! Dreadful, dreadful! 'Tis not dying daily, +but each minute in the day; and this dreadful state of +misery may be protracted for years! Oh, how greatly +should I prefer being struck down by that sudden and +rapid death that carries you off ere one fragment of your +beloved riches is taken from you! For still, with your +dying breath, you might sigh forth, 'Those treasures +are mine,—all, all mine! None but me can or dare +approach them!'"</p> + +<p>Polidori gazed on his accomplice with profound astonishment. +"I do not understand you," said he, at last; +"if such be the case, why have you obeyed the commands +of him whose denunciation of you would bring +you to a scaffold? Why, if life be so horrible to you, +have you chosen to accept it at his hands, and pay the +heavy price you are doing for it?"</p> + +<p>"Because," answered the notary, in a voice that +sunk so low as to be scarcely audible, "because death<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> +brings forgetfulness—annihilation—and then, too, +Cecily—"</p> + +<p>"What!" said Polidori, "do you still hope?"</p> + +<p>"No," said the notary, "I possess—"</p> + +<p>"What?"</p> + +<p>"The fond impassioned remembrance of her."</p> + +<p>"But what folly is this when you are sure never to +see her more, and when she has brought you to a +scaffold!"</p> + +<p>"That matters not; I love her even more ardently, +more frantically than ever!" exclaimed Jacques Ferrand, +amid a torrent of sighs and sobs that contrasted +strongly with the previous gloomy dejection of his last +remark. "Yes," continued he, with fearful wildness, +"I love her too well to be willing to die, while I can +feast my senses upon the recollection only of that night—that +memorable night in which I saw her so lovely, so +loving, so fascinating! Never is her image, as I then +beheld her, absent from my brain; waking or sleeping, +she is ever before me, decked in all the intoxicating +beauty that was displayed to my impassioned gaze! +Still do her large, lustrous eyes seem to dart forth their +fiery glances, and I almost fancy I can feel her warm +breath on my cheek, while her clear, melodious voice +seems ringing its full sounds into my ear with promises +of bliss, alas, never to be mine! Yet, though to live thus +is torturing—horrible—yet would I prefer it to the +apathy, the still nothingness of the grave. No, no, no; +let me live, poor, wretched, despised,—a branded galley-slave, +if you will,—but give me yet the means of doting +in secret on the recollection of this wonderful being; +whether she be fiend or angel, yet does she engross my +every thought!"</p> + +<p>"Jacques," said Polidori, in a voice and manner contrasting +strongly with his habitual tone of cool, provoking +sarcasm, "I have witnessed almost every description +of bodily and mental suffering, but certainly nothing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> +that equalled what you endure. He who holds us in his +power could not have devised more cruel torture than +that you are compelled to endure. You are condemned +to live, to await death through a vista of long, wasting +torments, for your description of your feelings fully +explains to me the many alarming symptoms I have +observed in you from day to day, and of which I +have hitherto vainly sought to find the cause."</p> + +<p>"But the symptoms you speak of as alarming are +nothing but exhaustion, a sort of reaction of the bodily +and mental powers; do you not think so? Tell me! I +am not surely in any danger of dying?"</p> + +<p>"There is no immediate danger, but your situation is +precarious; and there are some thoughts you must +cease to dwell on—nay, banish from your memory—or +your danger is imminent."</p> + +<p>"I will do whatever you bid me, so that my life be +preserved,—for I will not die. Oh, let priests talk of +the sufferings of the damned, but what are their tortures +compared to mine? Tormented alike by passion and +avarice, I have two open wounds rankling in my heart, +each occasioning mortal agony. The loss of my fortune +is dreadful, but the fear of death is even still more so. +I have desired to live; and though my existence may +probably be but one protracted scene of endless wretchedness, +it is preferable to death and annihilation; +for it would be the termination of my fatal happiness,—the +power of recalling each word and look of +Cecily!"</p> + +<p>"You have at least one vast consolation," said Polidori, +resuming his accustomed <i>sang-froid</i>, "in the recollection +of the good actions by which you have sought to +expiate your crimes!"</p> + +<p>"Rail on! Mock my misery! Turn me on the hot +coals on which my ill fortune has placed me! But you +well know, mean and contemptible being that you are, +how I hate, how I loathe all mankind, and that these<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> +forced expiations to which I am condemned only serve +to increase my detestation of those who compel me to +make them, and those who profit by them. By all that +is sacred, it passes human malice to condemn me to live +in endless misery, such as would dismay the stoutest +nature, while my fellow creatures, as they are called, +have all their griefs assuaged at the cost of my dearly +prized treasures! Oh, that priest who but now quitted +us, loading me with blessings while my heart seemed +like one vast ocean of fiery gall and bitterness against +himself and all mankind—oh, how I longed to plunge a +dagger in his breast! 'Tis too much—too much for +endurance!" cried he, pressing his clenched hands to +his forehead; "my brain burns, my ideas become confused, +I shall not be able much longer to resist these +violent attacks of impotent, futile rage,—these unending +tortures; and all through you, Cecily,—fatal, +adored Cecily! Will you ever know all the agonies I +have borne on your account, and will you still haunt me +with that mocking smile? Cecily, Cecily! Back to the +fiends from whom you sprung, and drive me not to +destruction!"</p> + +<p>All at once a hasty knock was heard at the door of +the apartment. Polidori immediately opened it, and +perceived the principal clerk in the notary's office, who, +pale and much agitated, exclaimed, "I must speak with +M. Ferrand directly!"</p> + +<p>"Hush!" answered Polidori, in a low tone, as he +came forth from the room and shut the door after him; +"he is very ill just now, and cannot be disturbed on any +account."</p> + +<p>"Then do you, sir, who are M. Ferrand's best and +most intimate friend, step forward to help and assist +him; but come quickly, for there is not an instant to +be lost!"</p> + +<p>"What has happened?"</p> + +<p>"By M. Ferrand's orders, I went to-day to the house<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +of the Countess Macgregor, to say that he was unable to +wait on her to-day, according to her request. This lady, +who seems quite out of danger at present, sent for me to +her chamber; when I went in, she exclaimed, in an angry, +threatening manner,'Go back to M. Ferrand, and say to +him that if he is not here in half an hour, or at least +before the close of the day, he shall be arrested for +felony. The child he passed off as dead is still living; +I know into whose hands he gave her up, and I also +know where she is at this present minute.'"</p> + +<p>"This lady must be out of her senses," cried Polidori, +shrugging up his shoulders. "Poor thing!"</p> + +<p>"I should have thought so myself, but for the confident +manner in which the countess spoke."</p> + +<p>"I have no doubt but that her illness has affected her +head; and persons labouring under any delusion are +always impressed with the most perfect conviction of +the truth of their fancies."</p> + +<p>"I ought also to state that, just as I was leaving the +room, one of the countess's female attendants entered all +in a hurry, and said, 'His highness will be here in an +hour's time!'"</p> + +<p>"You are sure you heard those words?" asked +Polidori.</p> + +<p>"Quite, quite sure, sir! And I remember it the more, +because I immediately began wondering in my own mind +what highness she could mean."</p> + +<p>"It is quite clear," said Polidori, mentally, "she expects +the prince; but how comes that about? What +strange course of events can have induced him to visit +one he ought never again to meet? I know not why, +but I greatly mistrust this renewal of intimacy. Our +position, bad as it is, may even be rendered still worse +by it." Then, addressing himself to the clerk, he added, +"Depend upon it there is nothing of any consequence in +the message you have brought; 'tis merely the effects +of a wandering imagination on the part of the countess;<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> +but, to prevent your feeling any uneasiness, I promise to +acquaint M. Ferrand with it directly he is well enough +to converse upon any matter of business."</p> + +<p>We shall now conduct the reader to the house of the +Countess Sarah Macgregor.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> +<h3>CHAPTER II.</h3> + +<h5>RODOLPH AND SARAH.</h5> + + +<p>A salutary crisis had occurred, which relieved the +Countess Macgregor from the delirium and suffering +under which, for several days, her life had been +despaired of.</p> + +<p>The day had begun to break when Sarah, seated in a +large easy chair, and supported by her brother, Thomas +Seyton, was looking at herself in a mirror which one of +her woman on her knees held up before her. This was +in the apartment where La Chouette had made the +attempt to murder.</p> + +<p>The countess was as pale as marble, and her pallor +made her dark eyes, hair, and eyebrows even more +striking; and she was attired in a dressing-gown of +white muslin. "Give me my bandeau of coral," she +said to one of her women, in a voice which, although +weak, was imperious and abrupt.</p> + +<p>"Betty will fasten it on for you," said Seyton; "you +will exhaust yourself; you are already very imprudent."</p> + +<p>"The bandeau,—the bandeau!" repeated Sarah, +impatiently, who took this jewel and arranged it on +her brow. "Now fasten it, and leave me!" she said +to the women.</p> + +<p>The instant they were retiring, she said, "Let +M. Ferrand be shown into the little blue salon." Then +she added, with ill-dissembled pride, "As soon as his +royal highness the Grand Duke of Gerolstein comes, let +him be introduced instantly to this apartment."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 318px;"><a name="image44" id="image44"></a> +<img src="images/i044.jpg" width="318" height="500" alt=""Was Looking at Herself in a Mirror" +Original Etching by Adrian Marcel" title=""Was Looking at Herself in a Mirror" +Original Etching by Adrian Marcel" /> +<span class="caption">"<i>Was Looking at Herself in a Mirror</i>"<br /> +<span class="artist">Original Etching by Adrian Marcel</span></span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span></p> + +<p>"At length," said Sarah, as soon as she was alone +with her brother, "at length I trust this crown—the +dream of my life: the prediction is on the eve of +fulfilment!"</p> + +<p>"Sarah, calm your excitement!" said her brother to +her; "yesterday your life was despaired of, and to be +again disappointed would deal you a mortal blow!"</p> + +<p>"You are right, Thomas; the fall would be fearful, +for my hopes were never nearer realisation! Of this +I feel assured, for it was my constant thought of profiting +by the overwhelming revelation which this woman +made me at the moment of her assassination that prevented +me from sinking under my sufferings."</p> + +<p>"Again, Sarah, let me counsel you to beware of such +insensate dreams,—the awaking would be terrible!"</p> + +<p>"Insensate dreams! What, when Rodolph learns that +this young girl, who is now locked up in St. Lazare, +and formerly confided to the notary, who has passed her +off for dead, is our child! Do you suppose that—"</p> + +<p>Seyton interrupted his sister. "I believe," he said, +bitterly, "that princes place reasons of state, political +conveniences, before natural duties."</p> + +<p>"Do you then rely so little on my address?"</p> + +<p>"The prince is no longer the ingenuous and impassioned +youth whom you attracted and swayed in other +days; that time is long ago, both for him and for you, +sister."</p> + +<p>Sarah shrugged her shoulders, and said, "Do you +know why I was desirous of placing this bandeau of +coral in my hair,—why I put on this white dress? It +is because the first time Rodolph saw me at the court +of Gerolstein I was dressed in white, and wore this very +bandeau of coral in my hair."</p> + +<p>"What!" said Seyton, "you would awake those +remembrances? Do you not rather fear their influence?"</p> + +<p>"I know Rodolph better than you do. No doubt my +features, changed by time and sufferings, are no longer<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> +those of the young girl of sixteen, whom he so madly +loved,—only loved, for I was his first love; and that +love, unique in the life of man, always leaves ineffaceable +traces in the heart. Thus, then, brother, trust me +that the sight of this ornament will awaken in Rodolph +not only the recollection of his love, but those of his +youth also; and for men these souvenirs are always +sweet and precious."</p> + +<p>"But these sweet and precious souvenirs will be united +with others so terrible: the sinister <i>dénouement</i> of your +love, the detestable behaviour of the prince's father to +you, your obstinate silence to Rodolph. After your +marriage with the Count Macgregor, he demanded his +daughter, then an infant,—your child,—of whose death, +ten years since, you informed him so coldly in your +letter. Do you forget that from that period the prince +has felt nothing but contempt and hatred for you?"</p> + +<p>"Pity has replaced his hatred. Since he has learned +that I am dying, he has sent the Baron de Graün every +day to inquire after me; and just now he has promised +to come here; and that is an immense concession, +brother."</p> + +<p>"He believes you dying,—that you desire a last +adieu,—and so he comes. You were wrong not to +write to him of the discovery you are about to disclose +to him."</p> + +<p>"I know why I do so. This discovery will fill him +with surprise, joy, and I shall be present to profit by +his first burst of softened feeling. To-day or never +he will say to me, 'A marriage must legitimise the birth +of our child!' If he says so, his word is sacred, and +then will the hope of my life be realised!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, if he makes you the promise."</p> + +<p>"And that he may do so, nothing must be neglected +under these decisive circumstances. I know Rodolph; +and once having found his daughter, he will overcome +his aversion for me, and will not retreat from any sacrifice<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> +to assure her the most enviable lot, to make her as +entirely happy as she has been until now wretched."</p> + +<p>"However brilliant the destiny he may assure to your +daughter, there is, between the reparation to her and +the resolution to marry you in order to legitimise the +birth of this child, a very wide abyss."</p> + +<p>"Her father will pass over this abyss."</p> + +<p>"But this unfortunate child has, perhaps, been so +vitiated by the misery in which she has lived that the +prince, instead of feeling attracted towards her—"</p> + +<p>"What are you saying?" cried Sarah, interrupting +her brother. "Is she not as handsome, as a young girl, +as she was a lovely infant? Rodolph, without knowing +her, was so deeply interested in her as to take charge of +her future destiny, and sent her to his farm at Bouqueval, +whence we carried her off."</p> + +<p>"Yes, thanks to your obstinacy in desiring to break +all the ties of the prince's affection, in the foolish hope +of one day leading him back to yourself!"</p> + +<p>"And yet, but for this foolish hope, I should not have +discovered, at the price of my life, the secret of my +daughter's existence. Is it not through this woman, +who had carried her off from the farm, that I have +learned the infamous deceit of the notary, Ferrand?"</p> + +<p>"It would have been better to have awaited the young +creature's coming out of prison, before you sent to +request the Grand Duke to come here."</p> + +<p>"Awaited! And do I know that the salutary crisis +in which I now am will last until to-morrow? Perhaps +I am but momentarily sustained by my ambition +only."</p> + +<p>"What proofs have you for the prince, and will he +believe you?"</p> + +<p>"He will believe me when he reads the commencement +of, the disclosure which I wrote from the dictation +of that woman who stabbed me,—a disclosure of which +I have, fortunately, forgotten no circumstance. He will<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> +believe me when he reads your correspondence with +Madame Séraphin and Jacques Ferrand, as to the supposed +death of the child; he will believe me when he +hears the confession of the notary, who, alarmed at my +threats, will come here immediately; he will believe +me when he sees the portrait of my daughter at six +years of age, a portrait which the woman told me was +still a striking resemblance. So many proofs will suffice +to convince the prince that I speak the truth, and to +decide him as to his first impulse, which will make me +almost a queen. Oh, if it were but for a day, I could die +content!"</p> + +<p>At this moment a carriage was heard to enter the +courtyard.</p> + +<p>"It is he! It is Rodolph!" exclaimed Sarah.</p> + +<p>Thomas Seyton drew a curtain hastily aside, and +replied, "Yes, it is the prince; he is just alighting from +the carriage."</p> + +<p>"Leave me! This is the decisive moment!" said +Sarah, with unshaken coolness; for a monstrous ambition, +a pitiless selfishness, had always been and still was +the only moving spring of this woman. Even in the +almost miraculous reappearance of her daughter, she +only saw a means of at last arriving at the one end and +aim of her whole existence.</p> + +<p>Seyton said to her, "I will tell the prince how your +daughter, believed dead, was saved. This conversation +would be too dangerous for you,—a too violent emotion +would kill you; and after so long a separation, the sight +of the prince, the recollection of bygone times—"</p> + +<p>"Your hand, brother!" replied Sarah. Then, placing +on her impassive heart Tom Seyton's hand, she +added, with an icy smile, "Am I excited?"</p> + +<p>"No, no; not even a hurried pulsation," said Seyton, +amazed. "I know not what control you have over yourself; +but at such a moment, when it is for a crown or a +coffin you play, your calmness amazes me!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And wherefore, brother? Till now, you know, +nothing has made my heart beat hastily; and it will +only throb when I feel the sovereign crown upon my +brow. I hear Rodolph—leave me!"</p> + +<p>When Rodolph entered the apartment, his look expressed +pity; but, seeing Sarah seated in her armchair, +and, as it were, full dressed, he recoiled in surprise, and +his features became gloomy and mistrustful. The countess, +guessing his thoughts, said to him, in a low and +faint voice, "You thought to find me dying! You +came to receive my last adieu!"</p> + +<p>"I have always considered the last wishes of the dead +as sacred, but it appears now as if there were some +sacrilegious deceit—"</p> + +<p>"Be assured," said Sarah, interrupting Rodolph, +"be assured that I have not deceived you! I believe +that I have but very few hours to live. Pardon me a +last display of coquetry! I wished to spare you the +gloomy symptoms that usually attend the dying hour, +and to die attired as I was the first time I saw you. +Alas, after ten years of separation, I see you once +again! Thanks, oh, thanks! But in your turn give +thanks to God for having inspired you with the thought +of hearing my last prayer! If you had refused me, I +should have carried my secret with me to the grave, +which will now cause the joy, the happiness of your life,—joy, +mingled with some sadness, happiness, mingled +with some tears, like all human felicity; but this felicity +you would yet purchase at the price of half the remainder +of your existence!"</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" asked the prince, with great +amazement.</p> + +<p>"Yes, Rodolph, if you had not come, this secret +would have followed me to the tomb! That would have +been my sole vengeance. And yet, no, no! I shall +not have the courage. Although you have made me +suffer deeply, I yet must have shared with you that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> +supreme happiness which you, more blessed than myself, +will, I hope, long enjoy!"</p> + +<p>"Madame, what does this mean?"</p> + +<p>"When you know, you will be able to comprehend +my slowness in informing you, for you will view it as a +miracle from heaven; but, strange to say, I, who with a +word can cause you pleasure greater than you have ever +experienced, I experience, although the minutes of my +life are counted, I experience an indefinable satisfaction +at prolonging your expectation. And then, I know +your heart; and in spite of the fierceness of your character, +I fear, without preparation, to reveal to you so +incredible a discovery. The emotions of overwhelming +joy have also their dangers."</p> + +<p>"Your paleness increases, you can scarcely repress +your violent agitation," said Rodolph; "all this indicates +something grave and solemn."</p> + +<p>"Grave and solemn!" replied Sarah, in an agitated +voice; for, in spite of her habitual impassiveness, when +she reflected on the immense effect of the disclosure she +was about to make to Rodolph, she was more troubled +than she believed possible; and, unable any longer to +restrain herself, she exclaimed, "Rodolph, our daughter +lives!"</p> + +<p>"Our daughter!"</p> + +<p>"Lives, I say!"</p> + +<p>These words, the accents of truth in which they were +pronounced, shook the prince to his very heart. "Our +child!" he repeated, going hurriedly to the chair in +which Sarah was, "our child—my daughter!"</p> + +<p>"Is not dead, I have irresistible proof; I know where +she is; to-morrow you shall see her."</p> + +<p>"My daughter! My daughter!" repeated Rodolph, +with amazement. "Can it be that she lives?" Then, +suddenly reflecting on the improbability of such an +event, and fearing to be the dupe of some fresh treachery +on Sarah's part, he cried, "No, no, it is a dream!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> +Impossible! I know your ambition—of what you are +capable—and I see through the drift of this proposed +treachery!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, you say truly; I am capable of all—everything! +Yes, I desired to abuse you; some days before +the mortal blow was struck, I sought to find out some +young girl that I might present to you as our daughter. +After this confession, you will perhaps believe me, or, +rather, you will be compelled to credit irresistible +evidence. Yes, Rodolph, I repeat I desired to substitute +a young and obscure girl for her whom we both deplore; +but God willed that at the moment when I was arranging +this sacrilegious bargain, I should be almost fatally +stabbed!"</p> + +<p>"You—at this moment!"</p> + +<p>"God so willed it that they should propose to me to +play the part of falsehood—imagine whom? Our +daughter!"</p> + +<p>"Are you delirious, in heaven's name?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, I am not delirious! In this casket, containing +some papers and a portrait, which will prove to you +the truth of what I say, you will find a paper stained +with my blood!"</p> + +<p>"Your blood!"</p> + +<p>"The woman who told me that our daughter was still +living declared to me this disclosure when she stabbed +me with her dagger."</p> + +<p>"And who was she? How did she know?"</p> + +<p>"It was she to whom the child was confided when +very young, after she had been declared dead."</p> + +<p>"But this woman? Can she be believed? How did +you know her?"</p> + +<p>"I tell you, Rodolph, that this is all fated—providential! +Some months ago you snatched a young girl from +misery, to send her to the country. Jealousy and hatred +possessed me. I had her carried off by the woman of +whom I have been speaking."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And they took the poor girl to St. Lazare?"</p> + +<p>"Where she is still."</p> + +<p>"She is there no longer. Ah, you do not know, +madame, the fearful evil you have occasioned me by +snatching the unfortunate girl away from the retreat in +which I had placed her; but—"</p> + +<p>"The young girl is no longer at St. Lazare!" cried +Sarah, with dismay; "ah, what fearful news is this!"</p> + +<p>"A monster of avarice had an interest in her destruction. +They have drowned her, madame! But answer! +You say that—"</p> + +<p>"My daughter!" exclaimed Sarah, interrupting Rodolph, +and standing erect, as straight and motionless as +a statue of marble.</p> + +<p>"What does she say? Good heaven!" cried Rodolph.</p> + +<p>"My daughter!" repeated Sarah, whose features +became livid and frightful in their despair. "They +have murdered my daughter!"</p> + +<p>"The Goualeuse your daughter!" uttered Rodolph, +retreating with horror.</p> + +<p>"The Goualeuse! Yes, that was the name which the +woman they call the Chouette used. Dead—dead!" +repeated Sarah, still motionless, with her eyes fixed. +"They have killed her!"</p> + +<p>"Sarah!" said Rodolph, as pale and as fearful to look +upon as the countess; "be calm,—recover yourself,—answer +me! The Goualeuse,—the young girl whom +you had carried off by the Chouette from Bouqueval,—was +she our daughter?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. And they have killed her!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, no; you are mad! It cannot be! You +do not know! No, no; you cannot tell how fearful +this would be! Sarah, be firm,—speak to me calmly,—sit +down,—compose yourself! There are often resemblances, +appearances which deceive if we are inclined +to believe what we desire. I do not reproach you; but +explain yourself to me, tell me all the reasons which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> +induced you to think this; for it cannot be,—no, no, it +cannot be,—it is not so!"</p> + +<p>After a moment's pause, the countess collected her +thoughts, and said to Rodolph, in a faltering voice, +"Learning your marriage, and thinking of marrying +myself, I could not keep our child with me; she was +then four years of age."</p> + +<p>"But at that time I begged her of you with prayers, +entreaties," cried Rodolph, in a heartrending tone, +"and my letters were unanswered; the only one you +wrote to me announced her death!"</p> + +<p>"I was desirous of avenging myself of your contempt +by refusing your child. It was shameful; but hear me! +I feel my life ebbs from me; this last blow has overcome +me!"</p> + +<p>"No, no, I do not believe you; I will not believe you! +The Goualeuse my daughter! Oh, <i>mon Dieu</i>! You +would not have this so!"</p> + +<p>"Listen to me! When she was four years old, my +brother charged Madame Séraphin, the widow of an old +servant, to bring the child up until she was old enough to +go to school. The sum destined to support our child was +deposited by my brother with a notary, celebrated for his +honesty. The letters of this man and Madame Séraphin, +addressed at the time to me and my brother, are there, +in the casket. At the end of a year they wrote me word +that my daughter's health was failing,—eight months +afterwards that she was dead, and they sent the register +of her decease. At this time Madame Séraphin had entered +the service of Jacques Ferrand, after having given +our daughter over to the Chouette, through the medium +of a wretch who is now at the galleys at Rochefort. I +was writing down all this when the Chouette stabbed me. +This paper is there also, with a portrait of our daughter +when four years of age. Examine all,—letters, declaration, +portrait,—and you who have seen her, the unhappy +child, will judge—"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> + +<p>These words exhausted Sarah, and she fell fainting +into her armchair.</p> + +<p>Rodolph was thunderstruck at this disclosure. There +are misfortunes so unforeseen, so horrible, that we try not +to believe them until the overwhelming evidence compels +us. Rodolph, persuaded of the death of Fleur-de-Marie, +had but one hope,—that of convincing himself that she +was not his daughter. With a frightful calmness that +alarmed Sarah, he approached the table, opened the +casket, and began to read the letters, examining with +scrupulous attention the papers which accompanied +them.</p> + +<p>These letters, bearing the postmark, and dated, written +to Sarah and her brother by the notary and Madame +Séraphin, related to the infancy of Fleur-de-Marie, and +the investment of the money destined for her. Rodolph +could not doubt the authenticity of this correspondence.</p> + +<p>The Chouette's declaration was confirmed by the particulars +collected at Rodolph's desire, in which a felon +named Pierre Tournemine, then at Rochefort, was +described as the individual who had received Fleur-de-Marie +from the hands of Madame Séraphin, for the purpose +of giving her up to the Chouette,—the relentless +tormentor of her early years,—and whom she afterwards +so unexpectedly recognised when in company with +Rodolph at the <i>tapis-franc</i> of the ogress.</p> + +<p>The attestation of the child's death was duly drawn +up and attested, but Ferrand himself had confessed to +Cecily that it had merely been employed to obtain possession +of a considerable sum of money due to the unfortunate +infant, whose decease it so falsely recorded, and +who had subsequently been drowned by his order while +crossing to the Isle du Ravageur.</p> + +<p>It was, therefore, with appalling conviction Rodolph +learnt at once the double facts of the Goualeuse being +his long-lost daughter, and of her having perished by a +violent death. Unfortunately, everything seemed to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> +give greater certitude to his belief, and to render further +doubt impossible. Ere the prince could bring himself +to place implicit credence in the self-condemnation of +Jacques Ferrand, as conveyed in the notes furnished by +him to Cecily, he had made the closest inquiries at +Asnières, and had ascertained that two females, one old, +the other young, dressed in the garb of countrywomen, +had been drowned while crossing the river to the Isle du +Ravageur, and that Martial was openly accused of having +committed this fresh crime.</p> + +<p>Let us add, in conclusion, that, despite the utmost care +and attention on the part of Doctor Griffon, Count de +Saint-Remy, and La Louve, Fleur-de-Marie was long ere +she could be pronounced out of danger, and then so +extreme was her exhaustion, both of body and mind, +that she had been unfit for the least conversation, and +wholly unequal to making any effort to apprise Madame +Georges of her situation.</p> + +<p>This coincidence of circumstances left the prince +without the smallest shadow of hope; but had such +even remained, it was doomed to disappear before a +last and fatal proof of the reality of his misfortune. +He, for the first time, ventured to cast his eyes towards +the miniature he had received. The blow fell with +stunning conviction on his heart; for in the exquisitely +beautiful features it revealed, rich in all the infantine +loveliness ascribed to cherubic innocence, he recognised +the striking portrait of Fleur-de-Marie,—her finely +chiselled nose, the lofty forehead, with the small, delicately +formed mouth, even then wearing an expression +of sorrowing tenderness. Alas! Had not Madame +Séraphin well accounted for this somewhat uncommon +peculiarity in an infant's face by saying, in a letter +written by her to Sarah, which Rodolph had just +perused, "The child is continually inquiring for its +mother, and seems to grieve very much at not seeing +her." There were also those large, soft, blue eyes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> +"the colour of a blue-bell," as the Chouette observed +to Sarah, upon recognising in this miniature the features +of the unfortunate creature she had so ruthlessly tormented +as Pegriotte, and as a young girl under the +appellation of La Goualeuse. At the sight of this picture +the violent and tumultuous emotions of the prince +were lost amid a flood of mingled tears and sighs.</p> + +<p>While Rodolph thus indulged his bitter grief, the +countenance of Sarah become powerfully agitated; she +saw the last hope which had hitherto sustained her of +realising the ambitious dreams of her life fade away at +the very moment when she had expected their full +accomplishment.</p> + +<p>All at once Rodolph raised his head, dashed away his +tears, and, rising from his chair, advanced towards Sarah +with folded arms and dignified, determined air. After +silently gazing on her for some moments, he said:</p> + +<p>"'Tis fair and right it should be so! I raised my +sword against my father's life, and I am stricken through +my own child! The parricide is worthily punished for +his sin! Then, listen to me, madame! 'Tis fit you +should learn in this agonising moment all the evils +which have been brought about by your insatiate ambition, +your unprincipled selfishness! Listen, then, heartless +and unfeeling wife, base and unnatural mother!"</p> + +<p>"Mercy, mercy! Rodolph, pity me, and spare me!"</p> + +<p>"There is no pity, there can be no pardon for such as +you, who coldly trafficked in a love pure and sincere +as was mine, with the assumed pretext of sharing a +passion generous and devoted as was my own for you. +There can be no pity for her who excites the son against +the father, no pardon for the unnatural parent who, +instead of carefully watching over the infancy of her +child, abandons it to the care of vile mercenaries, in +order to satisfy her grasping avarice by a rich marriage, +as you formerly gratified your inordinate ambition by +espousing me. No! There is no mercy, pity, or pardon<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> +for one who, like yourself, first refuses my child to all +my prayers and entreaties, and afterwards, by a series +of profane and vile machinations, causes her death! +May Heaven's curse light on you, as mine does, thou +evil genius of myself and all belonging to me!"</p> + +<p>"He has no relenting pity in his heart! He is deaf +to all my appeals! Wretched woman that I am! Oh, +leave me—leave me—I beseech!"</p> + +<p>"Nay, you shall hear me out! Do you remember our +last meeting, now seventeen years ago? You were +unable longer to conceal the consequences of our secret +marriage, which, like you, I believed indissoluble. I +well knew the inflexible character of my father, as well +as the political marriage he wished me to form; but +braving alike his displeasure and its results, I boldly +declared to him that you were my wife before God and +man, and that ere long you would bring into the world +a proof of our love. My father's rage was terrible; he +refused to believe in our union. Such startling opposition +to his will appeared to him impossible; and he +threatened me with his heaviest displeasure if I presumed +again to insult his ear by the mention of such +folly. I then loved you with a passion bordering on +madness. Led away by your wiles and artifices, I believed +your cold, stony heart felt a reciprocity of tenderness +for me, and I therefore unhesitatingly replied that +I never would call any woman wife but yourself. At +these words his fury knew no bounds. He heaped on +you the most insulting epithets, exclaiming that the +marriage I talked of was null and void, and that to +punish you for your presumption in daring even to think +of such a thing, he would have you publicly exposed in +the pillory of the city. Yielding alike to the violence of +my mad passion, and the impetuosity of my disposition, +I presumed to forbid him, who was at once my parent +and my sovereign, speaking thus disrespectfully of one I +loved far beyond my own life, and I even went so far as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> +to threaten him if he persisted in so doing. Exasperated +at my conduct, my father struck me. Blinded by rage, +I drew my sword, and threw myself on him with deadly +fury. Happily the intervention of Murphy turned away +the blow, and saved me from being as much a parricide +in deed as I was in intention. Do you hear me, +madame? A parricide! And in your defence!"</p> + +<p>"Alas! I knew not this misfortune."</p> + +<p>"In vain have I sought to expiate my crime. This +blow to-day is sent by Heaven's avenging hand to repay +my heavy crime."</p> + +<p>"But have I not sufficiently suffered from the inveterate +enmity of your father, who dissolved our marriage? +Wherefore add to my misery by doubts of the sincerity +of my affection for you?"</p> + +<p>"Wherefore?" exclaimed Rodolph, darting on her +looks of the most withering contempt. "Learn now my +reasons, and cease to wonder at the loathing horror with +which you inspire me. After the fatal scene in which I +had threatened the life of my father, I surrendered my +sword, and was kept in the closest confinement. Polidori, +through whose instrumentality our union had been +effected, was arrested; and he distinctly proved that our +marriage had never been legally contracted, the minister, +as well as the other persons concerned in its solemnisation, +being merely creatures tutored and bribed by him; +so that both you, your brother, and myself, were equally +deceived. The more effectually to turn away my father's +wrath from himself, Polidori did still more; he gave up +one of your letters to your brother, which he had managed +to intercept during a journey taken by Seyton."</p> + +<p>"Heavens! Can it be possible?"</p> + +<p>"Can you now account for my contempt and aversion +towards you?"</p> + +<p>"Too, too well!"</p> + +<p>"In this letter you developed your ambitious projects +with unblushing effrontery. Me you spoke of with the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> +utmost indifference, treating me but as the blind instrument +by which you should arrive at the princely station +predicted for you. You expressed your opinion that my +father had already lived long enough,—perhaps too long; +and hinted at probabilities and possibilities too horrible +to repeat!"</p> + +<p>"Alas! All is now but too apparent. I am lost for +ever!"</p> + +<p>"And yet to protect you, I had even menaced my +father's existence!"</p> + +<p>"When he next visited me, and, without uttering one +word of reproach, put into my hands your letter, every +line of which more clearly revealed the black enormity +of your nature, I could but kneel before him and entreat +his pardon. But from that hour I have been a prey to +the deepest, the most acute remorse. I immediately +quitted Germany for the purpose of travelling, with the +intent, if possible, of expiating my guilt; and this self-imposed +task I shall continue while I live. To reward +the good, to punish the evil-doer, relieve those who suffer, +penetrate into every hideous corner where vice holds her +court, for the purpose of rescuing some unfortunate creatures +from the destruction into which they have fallen,—such +is the employment I have marked out for myself."</p> + +<p>"It is a noble and holy task,—one worthy of being +performed by you."</p> + +<p>"If I speak of this sacred vow," said Rodolph, disdainfully, +"it is not to draw down your approbation or +praise. But hearken to what remains to be told; I have +lately arrived in France, and I wished not to let my +great purpose of continual expiatory acts stand still during +my sojourn in this country. While I sought then +to succour those of good reputation, who were in unmerited +distress, I was also desirous of knowing that +class of miserable beings who are beaten down, trampled +under feet, and brutalised by want and wretchedness, +well knowing that timely help, a few kind and encouraging<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> +words, may frequently have power to save a lost +creature from the abyss into which he is falling. In +order to be an eye-witness of the circumstances under +which my work of expiation would be useful, I assumed +the dress and appearance of those I wished to mix with. +It was during one of these exploring adventures that I +first encountered—" Then, as though shuddering at +the idea of so terrible a disclosure, Rodolph, after a +momentary hesitation, added, "No, no; I have not +courage to finish the dreadful story!"</p> + +<p>"For the love of heaven, tell me what horror have +you now to unfold?"</p> + +<p>"You will hear it but too soon! But," added he, with +sarcastic bitterness, "you seem to take so lively an interest +in past events that I cannot refrain from relating to +you a few events which preceded my return to France. +After passing some time in my travels, I returned to +Germany, filled with a spirit of obedience to my father, +by whose desire I espoused a princess of Prussia. During +my absence you had been banished from the Grand +Duchy. Subsequently, learning your marriage with Count +Macgregor, I again entreated you to allow me to have +my child. To this earnest request no answer was +returned; nor could my strictest inquiries ever discover +whither you had sent the unfortunate infant, for whom +my father had made a handsome provision. About ten +years ago I received a letter from you, stating that our +child was dead. Would to God your information had +been correct, and that she had indeed rendered up her +innocent life at that tender age! I should then have been +spared the deep, incurable anguish which must for ever +embitter my life!"</p> + +<p>"I cease now to wonder," said Sarah, in a feeble +voice, "at the disgust and aversion with which I seem +to have inspired you; and I feel, too surely, that I shall +not survive this last blow. You are right; pride and +ambition have been my ruin. Ignorant of the just causes<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> +you had to hate and despise me, my former hopes returned +with greater force than ever. Our mutual widowhood +inspired me with a still stronger belief in the +prediction which promised me a crown; and when, by +singular chance, I again found my daughter, it appeared +to me as though the hand of Providence had bestowed +this unhoped-for good fortune on me to further my so +long cherished plans. Yes, I will confess that I went +so far as to persuade myself that, spite of the aversion +you entertained for me, you would bestow on me your +name, and that, out of regard for your child, you would +accept me as your wife, if but to elevate her to the rank +to which she is entitled."</p> + +<p>"Then let your execrable ambition be satisfied, and +punished as it deserves; for, spite of the abhorrence I +now hold you in, I would, out of love for my child, or, +rather, from a deep pity for its early sorrows,—I would, +although firmly determined always to live apart from +you, by a marriage which should have legitimised my +daughter, have rendered her future lot as brilliant and +exalted as her past life has been wretched."</p> + +<p>"I had not, then, deceived myself? Oh, misery! +To think it is now too late!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am well aware it is not your child you regret, +but the loss of that rank you have so eagerly and obstinately +striven to obtain. May your unfeeling and disgraceful +regrets pursue you to your grave!"</p> + +<p>"Then they will not long torment me; for I feel I +shall not long survive this final ending of all my +ambitious schemes."</p> + +<p>"But ere your existence closes, it is but fair and just +you should be made aware what sort of life your poor +deserted child's has been. Do you recollect the night on +which you and your brother followed me into a den in +the Cité?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly! But why this question? It freezes me +with horror; your looks fill me with dread!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> + +<p>"As you approached this low haunt of vice, you saw—did +you not?—standing at the corners of the low streets +with which that neighbourhood abounds, groups of poor, +unfortunate, guilty creatures, who—who—But I cannot +finish the dreadful tale!" cried Rodolph, concealing +his face with his hands. "I dare not proceed; my own +words affright me!"</p> + +<p>"As they do me! What more have I to learn?"</p> + +<p>"You saw them, I ask,—did you not?" resumed +Rodolph, making a powerful struggle to overcome his +emotion. "You observed these base and degraded creatures, +the shame and disgrace of their own sex? But +did you remark among them a young girl of about sixteen +years of age, lovely as an angel,—a poor child, +who, amid the infamy in which she had lived during the +last few weeks, still retained a look so pure, so innocent, +and good that even the ruffians by whom she was surrounded +called her Fleur-de-Marie? Did you observe +this,—this fair, this interesting being? Answer,—answer,—tender, +exemplary mother!"</p> + +<p>"No!" answered Sarah, almost mechanically; "I +did not observe the young person you speak of." But +the teeth rattled in Sarah's head as she spoke, and her +whole frame seemed oppressed with a vague though +fearful dread of coming evil.</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" cried Rodolph, with a sardonic smile. +"Indeed! I am surprised at that! Well, I did remark, +and upon the following occasion. Listen attentively to +what I am about to relate! During one of the exploring +excursions I before spoke of, I found myself in the Cité, +not far from the den to which you followed me. A +man was just going to beat one of the unfortunate +creatures who herd together there; I interposed, and +saved her from his brutal rage. Now then, careful, +kind, and anxious mother, tell me, if you can, whom it +was I saved! Can you not guess? Speak! Say your +heart whispers to you who was the miserable being I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> +found in this sink of wickedness and pollution! You +know, do you not, without my assistance?"</p> + +<p>"No, no,—I cannot say! I beseech you to go—and +leave me to my thoughts!"</p> + +<p>"Then I will tell you who the wretched, trembling +creature I thus saved from brutal violence was. Her +name was Fleur-de-Marie!"</p> + +<p>"Merciful powers!"</p> + +<p>"And is it possible that you, most irreproachable +of mothers, that you cannot divine who Fleur-de-Marie +was?"</p> + +<p>"Be merciful, and kill me; but torture me not +thus!"</p> + +<p>"She was your daughter—known as the Goualeuse!" +cried Rodolph, with almost frantic violence. "Yes, the +helpless girl I rescued from the hands of a felon was +my own, my lost child!—the offspring of Rodolph of +Gerolstein! Oh, there was in this meeting with a +daughter I unconsciously saved a visible interposition of +the hand of Providence! It brought a blessing to the +man who had striven so earnestly to succour his fellow +men, and it conveyed a well-merited chastisement for +the impious wretch who had dared to aim at his father's +life!"</p> + +<p>"Alas!" murmured Sarah, falling back in her armchair, +and concealing her face with her hands, "my +destiny is accomplished! I die, carrying with me out +of the world the curse both of God and man!"</p> + +<p>"And when," continued Rodolph, with much difficulty +restraining his resentment, and vainly striving to repress +the sobs which from time to time interrupted his voice, +"when I had released her from the ill-usage with which +she was menaced, struck with the indescribable sweetness +of her voice and manner, as well as by the angelic +expression of her lovely countenance, I found it impossible +to abandon the interest she excited in me. I led her +on to tell me the history of her life, made up of neglect,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +grief, and misery. With what simple eloquence did she +express the yearnings of a heart that had never expanded +into virtue beneath a mother's fostering care after a life +of innocence, and how touchingly did she dwell on the +the destitution which had led her where she was! Ah, +madame, to have brought down your pride and haughtiness, +you should have listened as I did while your +daughter described her early years as passed in shivering +beggary, soliciting charity in the streets all day, and at +night, when the cold winter's wind pierced through the +few rags she wore, creeping to her bed of straw strewn +in the corner of a wretched garret; and when the horrible +old hag who tortured her had exhausted every other +means of inflicting pain on her, what do you think she +did, madame? Why, wrenched out her teeth! And +all this starving and desolation was experienced by your +own child, while you were revelling in every sort of +luxury, and indulging in ambitious dreams of sharing a +crown!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, that I could die, and so escape the direful agony +I suffer!"</p> + +<p>"Nay you have more to hear! Escaping from the +hands of the Chouette, wandering about, penniless and +starving, at the tender age of only ten years she was +taken up as a vagabond, and as such thrown into prison. +And yet, madame, that period was the happiest your +poor deserted child had ever known. And each night, +though surrounded by her prison walls, she gratefully +thanked God that she no longer suffered from hunger, +thirst, or blows. It was in a prison she passed those +years so precious to the well-being of a young female, +those years over which a good and affectionate mother +so carefully and anxiously watches. As her sixteenth +year commenced, your daughter, instead of being surrounded +by the tender solicitude of loving relatives, and +enriched with all the gifts of education, had seen and +known nothing more edifying or elevated than the brutal +indifference of her gaolers. Yet this naturally pure-minded, +beautiful, and ingenuous creature was at that +dangerous moment sent forth from her safe asylum—a +gaol—and left to wander unaided and unprotected in +a world of which she knew so little! Unfortunate, +deserted, friendless child!" continued Rodolph, giving +free vent to the swelling sobs which had continually +impeded his voice, "yours was, indeed, a bitter lot, +thrown thus young and helpless amid the mire and +pollution of a great city!</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 319px;"><a name="image65" id="image65"></a> +<img src="images/i066.jpg" width="319" height="500" alt=""They Took Her to Their Guilty Haunts" +Original Etching by Mercier" title=""They Took Her to Their Guilty Haunts" +Original Etching by Mercier" /> +<span class="caption">"<i>They Took Her to Their Guilty Haunts</i>"<br /> +<span class="artist">Original Etching by Mercier</span></span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah, madame!" cried he, addressing Sarah, "however +cold, hard, and selfish your heart may be, you could not +have refrained from weeping at the recital of your poor, +neglected child's misery and privations! Poor, hapless +girl! Sullied, but not corrupted; chaste in heart even +amid the degradation into which she had fallen; for +each word she uttered breathed the most unfeigned +horror and disgust at the mode of life to which she was +so fatally condemned. Oh, could you but have known +what delicate thoughts, what noble, high-minded inspirations +were betrayed in her every word and action! How +good, how feeling, how innately charitable was her nature! +For it was to relieve a degree of misery even greater +than her own that she exhausted the small sum of money +she had received on quitting her prison, and which, while +it lasted, formed her only defence from the abyss of +infamy into which she was afterwards plunged; for there +came a time,—a hideous time, when, without employment, +food, or shelter, some horrible women found her +almost perishing from weakness and want of support. +Under pretence of aiding her, they took her to their +guilty haunts, administered intoxicating drugs, and—and—"</p> + +<p>Rodolph could proceed no further. He uttered a +distracting cry, and exclaimed, "And this was my +child!"</p> + +<p>"May Heaven's punishment be on me for what I have<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> +done!" said Sarah, hiding her face as though she feared +to meet the light of day.</p> + +<p>"Ay!" exclaimed Rodolph. "And it will assuredly +cling to you all your life, and haunt even your dying +pillow; for it is your neglect and abandonment of all a +mother's most sacred duties which have led to all these +horrors. Accursed may you ever be for your double +wickedness towards your unoffending child! For even +after I had succeeded in removing her from the guilt +and pollution by which she was surrounded, and had +placed her in a safe and peaceful asylum, you set your +vile accomplices on to tear her thence! My curse be +for ever on you! For it was owing to your causing her +to be forcibly carried off which threw her back into the +power of Jacques Ferrand."</p> + +<p>As Rodolph pronounced this name he suddenly stopped +and shuddered. The features of the prince assumed an +expression of concentrated rage and hatred impossible +to describe; mute and motionless he stood, as though +crushed to the earth by the reflection that the murderer +of his child was still in existence.</p> + +<p>Spite of the increasing weakness of Sarah and the +agitation caused by this interview with Rodolph, she +was so much struck with his threatening aspect that +she faintly exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"In mercy say what fresh idea has taken possession +of your mind?"</p> + +<p>"No, no," responded Rodolph, as though speaking to +himself; "till now I thought to spare this monster, +believing a life of enforced charity would be to him one +of never ending torment. Now I must revenge my +infant child, delivered up by him to want and misery! +I have to wash out the stain of my daughter's infamy, +caused by his diabolical villainy and cupidity; and his +blood alone will serve to wipe out that foul wrong! +Yes, he dies—and by my hand!" And, with these +words, the prince sprang forward to the door.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Whither are you going?" cried Sarah, extending +her supplicating hands towards Rodolph. "Oh, leave +me not to die alone—"</p> + +<p>"Alone? Oh, no! Fear not to die alone! The +spectre of the innocent child, doomed by you to an early +grave, will bear you company."</p> + +<p>Exhausted and alarmed, Sarah uttered a scream, as +though she really beheld the phantom of her child, +exclaiming, "Forgive me! I am dying!"</p> + +<p>"Die then, accursed woman!" shouted Rodolph, wild +with fury. "Now I must have the life of your accomplice, +for it was you who delivered your child to this +monster!"</p> + +<p>And hastening from the apartment, Rodolph ordered +himself to be rapidly driven to the residence of Jacques +Ferrand.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span></p> +<h3>CHAPTER III.</h3> + +<h5>LOVE'S FRENZY.</h5> + + +<p>It was nightfall when Rodolph went to the notary's. +The pavilion occupied by Jacques Ferrand was plunged +in the deepest obscurity; the wind roared and the rain +fell as it did on the terrible night when Cecily, before +she quitted the notary's abode for ever, had excited the +passions of that man to frenzy. Extended on his bed, +feebly lighted up by a lamp, Jacques Ferrand was dressed +in a black coat and waistcoat. One of the sleeves of +his shirt was tucked up and spotted with blood; a ligature +of red cloth, which was to be seen on his nervous +arm, announced that he had been bled by Polidori, who, +standing near his bed, leaned one hand on the couch, +and seemed to watch his accomplice's features with +uneasiness. Nothing could be more frightfully hideous +than was Jacques Ferrand, whilst plunged in that somnolent +torpor which usually succeeds violent crises. Of +an ashy paleness, his face was bedewed with a cold +sweat, and his closed eyelids were so swollen, so injected +with blood, that they appeared like two red balls in the +centre of his cadaverous countenance.</p> + +<p>"Another such an attack and he is a dead man!" +exclaimed Polidori, in a low voice. "All the writers +on this subject have agreed that all who are attacked by +this strange and frightful malady usually sink under it on +the seventh day, and it is now six days since that infernal +creole kindled the inextinguishable flame which is consuming +this man." After some minutes of further meditation,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> +Polidori left the bedside and walked slowly up +and down the chamber.</p> + +<p>The tempest was still raging without, and fell with +such fury on this dilapidated house as to shake it to its +centre. Despite his audacity and wickedness, Polidori +was superstitious, and dark forebodings came over him; +he felt an undefinable uneasiness. In order to dissipate +his gloomy thoughts, he again examined Ferrand's +features.</p> + +<p>"Now," he said, leaning over him, "his eyelids are +injected. It would seem as though his blood flowed +thither and stagnated. No doubt his sight will now +present, as his hearing did just now, some remarkable +appearance! What agonies now they endure! How +they vary! Oh," he added, with a bitter smile, "when +nature determines on being cruel and playing the part +of a tormentor, she defies all the efforts of man; and +thus in this illness, caused by an erotic frenzy, she +submits every sense to unheard-of, superhuman tortures."</p> + +<p>The storm still howled without, and Polidori, throwing +himself into an armchair, exclaimed, "What a +night! What a night! Nothing could be worse for +Jacques's present state. Yes," he continued, "the prince +is pitiless, and it would have been a thousand times +better for Ferrand to have allowed his head to fall upon +a scaffold; better fire, the wheel, molten lead, which +burns and eats into the flesh, than the miserable punishment +he endures! As I see him suffer I begin to feel +affright for my own fate! What will become of me? +What is in reserve for me as the accomplice of Jacques? +To be his gaoler will not suffice for the prince's vengeance. +Perhaps a perpetual imprisonment in the +prisons of Germany awaits me! But that is better +than death! Yet I know that the prince's word is +sacred! But I, who have so often violated all laws, +human and divine, dare I invoke a sworn promise? +Inasmuch as it was to my interest that Jacques should<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> +not escape, so will it be equally my interest to prolong +his days. But his symptoms grow worse and worse; +nothing but a miracle can save him. What is to be +done? What is to be done?"</p> + +<p>At this moment, a crash without, occasioned by the +fall of a stack of chimneys, roused Jacques Ferrand, and +he turned on his bed.</p> + +<p>Polidori became more and more under the influence +of the vague terror which had seized on him. "It is +folly to believe in presentments," he said, in a troubled +voice; "but the night seems to me very appalling!"</p> + +<p>A heavy groan from the notary attracted Polidori's +attention. "He is awaking from his torpor," he said, +approaching his bed very quietly; "perhaps another +crisis may ensue!"</p> + +<p>"Polidori!" muttered Jacques Ferrand, still extended +on the bed, and with his eyes closed. "Polidori, what +noise was that?"</p> + +<p>"A chimney that fell," replied Polidori, in a low +voice, fearing to strike too loudly on the hearing of his +accomplice. "A fearful tempest shakes the house to its +foundation; it is a horrible night!"</p> + +<p>The notary did not hear, and replied, turning away +his head, "Polidori, you are not there, then?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I am here," said Polidori, in a louder voice; +"but I answered gently for fear of giving you pain."</p> + +<p>"No; I hear you now without any pain such as I had +just now, for then it seemed as if the least noise burst +like thunder on my brain. And yet in the midst of it +all,—of these horrible sufferings,—I distinguish the +thrilling voice of Cecily, who was calling to me—"</p> + +<p>"Still that infernal woman! But drive away these +thoughts,—they will kill you."</p> + +<p>"These thoughts are life to me, and, like my life, they +resist all tortures."</p> + +<p>"Madman that you are, it is these thoughts that cause +your tortures! Your illness is your sensual frenzy, which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> +has attained its utmost height. Once again, drive from +your brain these thoughts or you will die."</p> + +<p>"Drive away these thoughts!" cried Ferrand. "Oh, +never, never! When my pains give me one moment's +repose, Cecily, the demon whom I cherish and curse, +rises before my eyes!"</p> + +<p>"What incredible fury! It frightens me!"</p> + +<p>"There,—now!" said the notary, with a harsh voice, +and his eyes fixed on a dark corner of the room. "I +see now the outline of an obscure and white form; there—there!" +and he extended his hairy and bony finger +in the direction of his sight. "There,—there she is!"</p> + +<p>"Jacques, this is death to you!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I see her!" continued Ferrand, with his teeth +clenched, and not replying to Polidori. "There she is! +And how beautiful! How her black hair floats gracefully +down her shoulders, and her small white teeth, +shining between her half opened lips,—her lips so red +and humid! What pearls! And how her black eyes +sparkle and die! Cecily," he added, with inexpressible +excitement, "I adore you!"</p> + +<p>"Jacques, do not excite yourself with such visions!"</p> + +<p>"It is not a vision."</p> + +<p>"Mind, mind! Just now, you know, you imagined +you heard this woman's love-songs, and your hearing +was suddenly smitten with horrible agony. Mind, I +say!"</p> + +<p>"Leave me,—leave me! What is the use of hearing +but to hear, of seeing but to see?"</p> + +<p>"But the tortures which follow, miserable wretch!"</p> + +<p>"I will brave them all for a deceit, as I have braved +death for a reality; and to me this burning image is +reality. Ah, Cecily, you are beautiful! Yet why torture +me thus? Would you kill me? Ah, execrable +fury, cease,—cease, or I will strangle thee!" cried +the notary, in delirium.</p> + +<p>"You kill yourself, unhappy man!" exclaimed Polidori,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> +shaking the notary violently, in order to rouse him +from his excitement. In vain; Jacques continued:</p> + +<p>"Oh, beloved queen, demon of delight, never did +I see—" The notary could not finish; he uttered a +sudden cry of pain and threw himself back.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" inquired Polidori, with astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Put out that candle—it shines too brightly. I +cannot endure it—it blinds me!"</p> + +<p>"What!" said Polidori, more and more surprised. +"There is but one lamp covered with its shade, and +that shines very feebly."</p> + +<p>"I tell you, the light increases here. Now, again—again! +Oh, it is too much; it is intolerable!" added +Jacques Ferrand, closing his eyes with an expression of +increasing suffering.</p> + +<p>"You are mad—the room is scarcely lighted. I tell +you, open your eyes and you will see."</p> + +<p>"Open my eyes! Why, I shall be blinded by torrents +of burning light, with which this room is filled. Here! +There! On all sides, there are rays of fire—millions +of dazzling scintillations!" cried the notary, sitting up. +And then again shrieking, he lifted both his hands to his +eyes: "But I am blind; this burning fire is through my +closed lids,—it burns—devours me! Ah, now my hands +shield me a little! But put out the light, for it throws +an infernal flame!"</p> + +<p>"It is beyond doubt now!" said Polidori. "His sight +is struck with the same excess of sensitiveness as his +hearing was; he is a dead man! To bleed him in this +state would at once destroy him."</p> + +<p>A fresh cry ensued, sharp and terrible, from Jacques +Ferrand, which resounded in the chamber.</p> + +<p>"Villain, put out that lamp! Its glaring beams penetrate +through my hands, which they make transparent. +I see the blood circulate in the net of my veins, and I try +in vain to close my eyelids, for the burning lava will flow +in. Oh, what torture! There are gushes as dazzling as<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> +if some one were thrusting a red-hot iron into my eyes. +Help, help!" he shrieked, twisting himself on his bed, +a prey to the horrible convulsions of his extreme agony.</p> + +<p>Polidori, alarmed at the excess of this fresh fit, suddenly +extinguished the lamp, and they were both in +perfect darkness. At this moment the noise of a carriage +was heard at the door in the street. When the +chamber had been rendered entirely dark in which +Polidori and Ferrand were, the latter was somewhat +relieved from his extreme pains.</p> + +<p>"Where are you going?" said Polidori, suddenly, when +he heard Jacques Ferrand rise, for the deepest obscurity +reigned in the apartment.</p> + +<p>"I am going to find Cecily!"</p> + +<p>"You shall not go; the sight of that room would kill +you!"</p> + +<p>"Cecily awaits me up there!"</p> + +<p>"You shall not go—I will prevent you!" said +Polidori, seizing the notary by the arm.</p> + +<p>Jacques Ferrand having reached the extremity of +exhaustion, was unable to contend with Polidori, who +grasped him with a powerful clutch. "What, would +you prevent me from seeking Cecily?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and besides, there is a lamp in the next room, +and you know what an effect light so recently produced +on your sight!"</p> + +<p>"Cecily is up above; she is waiting for me, and I +would cross a red-hot furnace to rejoin her. Let me +go! She called me her old tiger; mind you, then, for +my claws are sharp!"</p> + +<p>"You shall not go! I will sooner tie you down to +your bed like a furious madman!"</p> + +<p>"Listen, Polidori! I am not mad—I am perfectly +in my senses. I know that Cecily is not really up there; +but to me the phantoms of my imagination are equal to +realities."</p> + +<p>"Silence!" cried Polidori, suddenly, and listening.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> +"I just now thought I heard a carriage stop at the door—and +I was not mistaken! Now I hear a sound of +voices in the courtyard."</p> + +<p>"You want to deceive me," said Jacques; "but I am +not so easily deceived."</p> + +<p>"But, unhappy man, listen—listen! Don't you +hear?"</p> + +<p>"Let me go! Cecily is up-stairs; she calls me. Do +not make me furious! And now I say to you, mind—beware!"</p> + +<p>"You shall not go out!"</p> + +<p>"Take care!"</p> + +<p>"You shall not go out. It is for my interest that you +should remain."</p> + +<p>"You would hinder me from seeking Cecily, and it is +my interest that you should die. There—there!" said +the notary, in a gloomy tone.</p> + +<p>Polidori uttered a cry. "Wretch! You have stabbed +me in the arm. But your hand was weak—the wound +is slight—and you shall not escape me."</p> + +<p>"Your wound is mortal, for it was given by the poisoned +stiletto of Cecily, which I always carried about +me. Await the effects of its poison—Ah! You +release me! Then now you are about to die! I was +not to be hindered from going up above to find Cecily!" +added Jacques, endeavouring to grope his way in darkness +to the door.</p> + +<p>"Oh," murmured Polidori, "my arm becomes benumbed—a +deathlike coldness seizes on me—my +knees tremble under me—my blood freezes in my +veins—my head whirls around. Help, help! I die!" +And he fainted.</p> + +<p>The crash of glass doors, opened with so much violence +that several panes of glass were broken to atoms, +the resounding voice of Rodolph, and the noise of hastily +approaching steps, seemed to reply to Polidori's cry of +anguish.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> + +<p>Jacques Ferrand having at length discovered the lock +of the door, opened it suddenly, with his dangerous +stiletto in his hand. At the same instant, as menacing +and formidable as the genius of vengeance, the prince +entered the apartment from the other side.</p> + +<p>"Monster!" he exclaimed, advancing towards Jacques +Ferrand, "it was my daughter whom you have killed! +You are going—" The prince could not conclude, but +recoiled in amazement.</p> + +<p>It would seem as if his words had been a thunderbolt +to Ferrand, for, casting away his dagger, and raising both +his hands to his eyes, the unhappy wretch fell with his +face to the ground, uttering a cry that was scarcely +human.</p> + +<p>To complete the phenomenon which we have attempted +to describe, and the action which profound obscurity had +suspended, when Jacques Ferrand entered the apartment +so brilliantly lighted up, he was struck with an +overwhelming vertigo, just as though he had been suddenly +cast into the midst of a torrent of light as blazing +as the disk of the sun. It was a fearful spectacle to see +the agony of this man, who was twisting in convulsions, +tearing the floor with his nails, as if he would have +dug himself a hole to escape from the atrocious tortures +occasioned by this powerful light. Rodolph, one of his +servants, and the porter of the house, who had been +compelled to guide the prince hither, were struck with +horror.</p> + +<p>In spite of his just hatred, Rodolph felt a pity for the +unheard-of sufferings of Jacques Ferrand, and desired +that he should be laid on the sofa. This was not +effected without difficulty, for, from fear of being subjected +to the direst influence of the lamp, the notary +struggled violently; and when his face was covered with +the full glare of the light, he uttered another shriek,—a +shriek which chilled Rodolph with terror. After fresh +and long torture, the phenomenon ceased by its very<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> +violence. Having reached the last bounds of suffering +without death following, the visual torment ceased; +but, according to the regular course of the malady, a +delirious excitement followed the crisis. Jacques Ferrand +became suddenly as stiffened in frame as an +epileptic; his eyelids, until then obstinately closed, +suddenly opened, and, instead of avoiding the light, +his eyes fixed themselves on it immovably, the pupils, +in a state of extraordinary dilation and fixedness, +seeming phosphorescent and internally lighted up. He +appeared plunged in a kind of ecstatic contemplation; +his body and limbs remained at first in a state of complete +immobility, his features being agitated by nervous +twitches and spasms. His hideous countenance, thus +contracted and twisted, had no longer any human appearance; +and it appeared as if the appetites of the animal, +by stifling the intelligence of the man, impressed on the +features of this wretch a character absolutely bestial. +Having attained the mortal point of his madness, he +remembered in his delirium the words of Cecily, who +had called him her tiger; gradually his reason forsook +him, and he imagined he was a tiger. His half uttered, +breathless words displayed the disorder of his brain, and +the singular aberration that had seized on him. Gradually +his limbs, until then stiff and motionless, extended; +he fell from the sofa, and tried to rise and walk, but his +strength failed him; and he was compelled now to crawl +like a reptile, and now to drag himself along on his +hands and knees,—going, coming, this way and that +way, as his visions impelled or obtained possession of +him. Crouched in one of the corners of the room, like +a tiger in his den, his hoarse and furious cries, his grinding +of teeth, the convulsive twistings of the muscles of +his face and brows, and his ardent gaze, gave him a +wild and frightful resemblance to this ferocious brute.</p> + +<p>"Tiger—tiger—tiger—that I am!" he said, in a +harsh voice, and gathering himself into a heap. "Yes,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> +tiger! What blood! In my cavern what rent carcasses—La +Goualeuse—the brother of this widow—a small +child, Louise's baby,—these are the carcasses, and my +tigress Cecily will have her share." Then looking at his +torn fingers, the nails of which had grown immensely +during his illness, he added, in broken language, "Oh, +my sharp nails—sharp and keen! An old tiger I am, +but agile, strong, and bold; no one dares dispute my +tigress Cecily with me. Ah, she calls—she calls!" he +said, advancing his hideous visage and listening.</p> + +<p>After a moment's silence he huddled himself against +the wall again and continued: "No! I thought I had +heard her; but she is not there. Yet I see her; oh, yes, +always—always! Ah, there she is! She calls me; +she roars—roars down there! I'm here—I'm here!" +and Ferrand dragged himself towards the centre of the +room on his hands and knees. Although his strength +was exhausted, he made a convulsive leap from time to +time, then paused, and listened attentively. "Where is +she? I approach—she goes away. Cecily, here is your +old tiger!" he cried, as, with a last effort, he arose and +balanced himself on his knees. Suddenly falling back +with affright, his body bending on his heels, his hair on +end, his look haggard, his mouth twisted with terror, his +two hands extended, he seemed to struggle with desperation +with some invisible object, uttering incoherent +words, and exclaiming, in broken tones, "What a bite! +Help! My hands are powerless; I cannot drive away +these sharp teeth! No, no! Oh! Not such eyes! +Help! A serpent—a black snake—with its flat +head and fiery eyes. How it looks at me! It is the +fiend! Ah, he knows me—Jacques Ferrand—at +church—the pious man—always at church! Go, go—cross +yourself!" And the notary, raising himself a +little, and leaning with one hand on the floor, endeavoured +to cross himself with the other. His livid brow +was bathed in cold sweat, his eyes began to lose their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> +transparency and become dim, all the symptoms of +approaching death manifested themselves.</p> + +<p>Rodolph and the other witnesses of the scene remained +as motionless and mute as if they had been under the +effect of a frightful dream.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" continued Jacques Ferrand, still half stretched +on the floor, and supporting himself by one hand, "the +demon vanishes. I am going to church—I am a holy +man—I pray! What, no one will know it? Do +you think so? No, no, tempter—be quite sure! Well, +let them come—these women—all! Yes, all—if no +one finds it out! But the secret!" he continued, in a +tone of exhaustion, "the secret! Ah, here they are! +Three! What says this one?—I am Louise Morel! +Oh, yes—Louise Morel; I know it! I am only one +of the people! You think me handsome? Here—take +her! What does she bring me?—her head cut off by +the executioner! It looks at me, that head of death! +It speaks! The livid lips move and say, 'Come—come—come!' +I will not—I will not! Demon, leave me! +Go—go—go! And this other woman?—ah, beautiful, +beautiful!—Jacques, I am the Duchesse de +Lucenay. See my angelic figure,—my smile,—my +bold glance! Come, come! Yes, I come. But wait! +And who is this one who turns away her face? Oh, +Cecily—Cecily! Yes, Jacques, 'tis Cecily! You see +the three Graces,—Louise, the duchess, and myself. +Choose! Beauty of the people, patrician beauty, the +savage beauty of the tropics,—and hell with us! +Come—come! Hell with you? Yes!" shrieked +Jacques Ferrand, again rising on his knees, and +extending his arms to seize these phantoms.</p> + +<p>This last effort was followed by a mortal throe, and +he fell back again stiff and lifeless; his eyes starting +from their orbits, whilst fierce convulsions were visible +on his features, unnaturally distorted; a bloody foam on +his lips; his voice hoarse and strangling, like that of a<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +person in hydrophobia, for, in its last paroxysm, this +fearful malady shows the same symptoms as madness. +The breath of this monster was extinguished in the +midst of a final and horrible vision, for he stammered +forth these words, "Black night!—black spectres!—skeletons +of brass, red-hot with fire! Unfold me! Their +burning fingers make my flesh smoke; my marrow is +scorched! Fleshless, horrid spectre! No—no! +Cecily—fire—flame—agony—Cecily!"</p> + +<p>These were Jacques Ferrand's last words, and Rodolph +left the place overcome with horror.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p> +<h3>CHAPTER IV.</h3> + +<h5>THE HOSPITAL.</h5> + + +<p>It will be remembered that Fleur-de-Marie, saved by +La Louve, had been conveyed not far from the Isle du +Ravageur to the country-house of Doctor Griffon, one of +the surgeons of the hospital, to whom we shall now +introduce the reader. This learned doctor, who had +obtained from high influence his position in the hospital, +considered the wards as a kind of school of experiments, +where he tried on the poor the remedies and applications +which he afterwards used with his rich clients.</p> + +<p>These terrible experiments were, indeed, a human +sacrifice made on the altar of science; but Doctor +Griffon did not think of that. In the eyes of this +prince of science, as they say in our days, the hospital +patients were only a matter of study and experiment; +and as, after all, there resulted from his essays occasionally +a useful fact or a discovery acquired by science, the +doctor showed himself as ingenuously satisfied and triumphant +as a general after a victory which has been +costly in soldiers.</p> + +<p>Nothing could be more melancholy than the sombre +appearance of the vast ward of the hospital, into which +we now introduce the reader. The length of its high, +dark walls, pierced here and there with grated windows +like those of a prison, was filled with two rows of beds +parallel, and faintly lighted by the sepulchral glare of a +lamp hanging from the ceiling. The atmosphere is so +nauseous, so heavy, that the fresh patients frequently did<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +not become accustomed to it without danger, and this +increase of suffering is a sort of tax which every newcomer +invariably pays for his miserable sojourn in the +hospital. In one of the beds was the corpse of a patient +who had just died.</p> + +<p>Amongst the females who did not sleep, and who had +been present whilst the priest performed the last rites +with the dying woman, were three persons whose names +have been already mentioned in this history,—Mlle. de +Fermont, the daughter of the unfortunate widow ruined +by the cupidity of Jacques Ferrand; La Lorraine, the +poor laundress, to whom Fleur-de-Marie had formerly +given the small sum of money she had left; and Jeanne +Duport, the sister of Pique-Vinaigre.</p> + +<p>La Lorraine was a woman about twenty, with mild +and regular features, but extremely pale and thin; she +was consumptive to the last degree, and there was no +hope of saving her. She was aware of her condition, +and was slowly dying.</p> + +<p>"There is another gone!" said La Lorraine, in a faint +voice, and speaking to herself. "She will suffer no +more; she is very happy!"</p> + +<p>"She is very happy if she has no children!" added +Jeanne.</p> + +<p>"Aren't you asleep, neighbour?" asked La Lorraine. +"How are you after your first night here? Last night, +when you came in, they made you go to bed directly, +and I dared not speak to you, because I heard you +sob so."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I cried a good deal; but I went to sleep at +last, and only awoke when the noise of the doors roused +me; and when the priest and the sisters came in and +knelt down; I saw it was some woman who was dying, +and I said a <i>Pater</i> and <i>Ave</i> for her."</p> + +<p>"And so did I; and, as I am ill with the same complaint +as she had, I could not help crying out, 'There is +one who suffers no more; she is very happy!'"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, as I said, if she has no children."</p> + +<p>"Then you have children?"</p> + +<p>"Three!" said Pique-Vinaigre's sister with a sigh. +"And you?"</p> + +<p>"I had a little girl, but I did not keep her long. The +poor babe was injured before she was born,—and I was +so wretched during my pregnancy! I am a washerwoman +in the boats, and worked as long as I could. But everything +has an end, and when my strength failed me, +bread failed me also. They turned me out of my lodging; +and I do not know what would have become of me +if a poor woman had not taken me into a cellar, where +she was hiding from her husband, who had sworn he +would kill her. There I was brought to bed on the +straw; but, thanks to goodness, the good woman knew +a young girl as good and charitable as an angel from +heaven. This young girl had a little money, and took +me from the cellar, and put me in a furnished room, +where she paid a month in advance, and gave me, besides, +a wicker cradle for my baby, and forty francs, +with a little linen besides. Thanks to her, I was enabled +to resume my work."</p> + +<p>"Kind girl! Well, and I, also, met by chance with +such another, a young, hard-working sempstress. I was +going to see my poor brother, who is a prisoner," said +Jeanne, after a moment's hesitation, "and met this +work-girl in the prison; and when she heard me tell +my brother that I was not happy, she came to me and +offered me all in her power, poor girl! I accepted her +offer, and she gave me her address; and two days +afterwards dear little Mlle. Rigolette—she is called +Rigolette—sent me an order."</p> + +<p>"Rigolette!" exclaimed Lorraine; "how strange! +The young girl who was so generous to me often mentioned +the name of Mlle. Rigolette in my hearing; they +were great friends."</p> + +<p>"Well, then," said Jeanne, smiling sadly, "since we<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> +are neighbours in bed, we should be friends like our +two benefactresses."</p> + +<p>"With all my heart! My name is Annette Gerbier, +called La Lorraine, a washerwoman."</p> + +<p>"And I am Jeanne Duport, a fringe-maker. Oh, it is +so fortunate to find in this melancholy place some one +not quite a stranger to you, especially when you come +for the first time, and are very full of trouble. But +don't let us talk of that! Tell me, Lorraine, what +was the name of the young girl who was so kind to +you?"</p> + +<p>"She was called Goualeuse, and was exceedingly +handsome, with light brown hair and blue eyes, so soft—oh, +so soft! Unfortunately, in spite of her assistance, +my poor babe died at two months old. It was so +puny, it could hardly breathe!" and La Lorraine wiped +a tear from her eye.</p> + +<p>"And your husband?"</p> + +<p>"I am not married. I washed by the day at a rich +tradesman's in my country, and had always been prudent; +but the master's son whispered his tales in my +ear, and then—When I found in what a state I was, +I dared not remain any longer in the country, and M. +Jules gave me fifty francs to take me to Paris, assuring +me that he would send me twenty francs every month +for my lying-in; but since I left I have not had one +sou, not even a message. I wrote to him once, but he +sent me no answer; and I was afraid to write again, as +I saw he did not wish to hear any more of me."</p> + +<p>"At least he ought not to have forgotten you, if it was +only for the sake of the child!"</p> + +<p>"That was the reason; he was angry with me for +being in the family way, because it embarrassed him. +I regret my child for myself, but not on its own account, +poor little darling! It must have been miserable, and +have been an orphan very early, for I have not long to +live."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, you ought not to have such ideas at your age. +Have you been long ill?"</p> + +<p>"Nearly three months. Why, when I had to work +for myself and my child, I began too soon. The winter +was very cold; I was attacked with a cold on my chest. +I lost my child at this time, too; and nursing her, I +neglected myself, and then my sorrow; so that I fell +into a consumption—decided—like the actress who has +just died."</p> + +<p>"There's always hope at your age!"</p> + +<p>"The actress was only two years older than I am."</p> + +<p>"What, was she an actress who is just dead?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. And see what fate is! She had been as +beautiful as daylight, and had money, carriages, diamonds; +but, unfortunately, the smallpox disfigured her, +and then came want and misery, and, at last, death in +a hospital. No one ever came to see her; and yet, +four or five days ago, she told me, she had written to a +gentleman whom she had formerly known in her gay +days, and who had been much in love with her. She +wrote to him to beg him to claim her dead body, because +she was wretched at the idea of thinking she would be +dissected—cut in pieces."</p> + +<p>"And did the gentleman come?"</p> + +<p>"No. Every moment she was asking for him and +perpetually saying, 'Oh, he'll come! Oh, he'll be sure +to come!' And yet she died without any one coming, +and what she so much dreaded will befall her poor +frame. After having been rich and happy, to die so is +very terrible! We, at least, only change our miseries!"</p> + +<p>"I wish," said Lorraine, after a moment's hesitation, +"I wish you would render me a service!"</p> + +<p>"What is it?"</p> + +<p>"If I die, as is probable, before you go from here, +will you claim my body? I have the same dread as the +actress, and have laid aside the small sum of money +necessary to bury me."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, do not have such ideas!"</p> + +<p>"Still promise me, all the same!"</p> + +<p>"But let us hope the case will not happen!"</p> + +<p>"Yes; but if it does happen—thanks to you, I shall +not have the same misery as the actress."</p> + +<p>"Poor woman! After having been rich to come to +such an end!"</p> + +<p>"The actress is not the only one in this room who has +been rich."</p> + +<p>"Who else?"</p> + +<p>"A young girl of about fifteen or so, brought here +yesterday evening. She was so weak that they were +obliged to support her. The sister said that the young +lady and her mother were very reputable persons, who +had been ruined."</p> + +<p>"And is her mother here, too?"</p> + +<p>"No, the mother was too ill to be moved. The poor +girl would not leave, so they took advantage of her +fainting to convey her. The proprietor of a wretched +lodging-house, for fear they should die in his rooms, +made the report at the police station. She is there—in +the bed opposite you."</p> + +<p>"And she is fifteen? The age of my eldest girl!" +And Jeanne Duport wept bitterly.</p> + +<p>"Pardon me," said La Lorraine, "if I have given you +pain unconsciously in speaking of your children! Are +they, too, ill?"</p> + +<p>"Alas! I do not know. What will become of them +if I remain here for a week?"</p> + +<p>"And your husband?"</p> + +<p>"As we are friends together, Lorraine, I will tell you +my troubles, as you have told me yours, and that will +comfort me. My husband was an excellent workman, +but became dissipated, and forsook me and my children, +after having sold everything we possessed. I went to +work; some good souls aided me, and I began to get +easy again, and was bringing up my little family as well<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> +as I could, when my husband returned with a vile creature, +his mistress, and again stripped me of everything; +and so I had to begin all over again."</p> + +<p>"Poor Jeanne! You could not help it."</p> + +<p>"I ought to have separated myself from him in law,—but, +as my brother says, the law is too dear! I went to +see my brother one day, and he gave me three francs, +which he had collected amongst the prisoners on telling +his tales. So I took courage, believing my husband +would not return for a very long time, as he had taken +all he could from us. But I was mistaken," added the +poor creature, with a shudder; "there was my poor +Catherine still to take!"</p> + +<p>"Your daughter?"</p> + +<p>"You will hear—you will hear! Three days ago, as +I was at work with my children around me, my husband +came in. I saw by his look that he had been drinking. +'I have come for Catherine,' says he. I took my +daughter's arm, and I said to Duport, 'Where do you +want to take her to?' 'What's that to you? She's +my daughter. Let her make up her bundle and come +along with me.' At these words my blood ran cold in +my veins; for you must know, Lorraine, that that bad +woman is still with my husband, and it makes me +shudder all over to say it. But so it was; she had long +been urging him to earn something by our daughter, who +is young and pretty. 'Take away Catherine?' said I to +Duport; 'Never! I know what that wicked woman +would do with her.' 'I say,' said my husband, whose +lips were white with rage, 'do not oppose me or I'll kill +you!' and then he seized my daughter by the arm, saying, +'Come along, Catherine!' The poor child threw +her arms around my neck, and burst into tears, exclaiming, +'I will stay with mother!' When he saw this, +Duport became furious, tore my daughter from me, and +hit me a blow in my stomach, which knocked me down; +and when I was on the ground—he was very drunk,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> +you may be sure—he trampled on me and hurt me +dreadfully. My poor children begged for mercy on +their knees,—Catherine, too; and then he said to her, +swearing like a lunatic, 'If you will not come with me +I'll do for your mother!' I was spitting blood; I felt +half dead, and could not move an inch. But I cried +to Catherine, 'Let him kill me first!' 'What, you +won't be quiet?' said Duport, giving me another kick, +which deprived me of all consciousness; and when I +returned to myself, I found my two little boys crying +bitterly."</p> + +<p>"And your daughter?"</p> + +<p>"Gone!" exclaimed the unhappy mother, with convulsive +sobs. "Yes; gone. My other children told +me that their father had beaten them and threatened to +finish me. Then the poor girl was quite distracted and +embraced me and her brothers, weeping dreadfully; and +then my husband dragged her away. Ah, that bad +woman was waiting for him on the stairs, I know!"</p> + +<p>"And didn't you complain to the police?"</p> + +<p>"At first I felt only grief at Catherine's departure; +but I felt soon great pain in all my limbs,—I could not +walk. Alas, what I had so long dreaded had happened! +Yes, I told my brother that one day my husband would +beat me so that I should be obliged to go to the hospital,—and +then what would become of my children? And +now here I am in the hospital, and what, indeed, will +become of my children? The neighbours went for the +commissary, who came. I didn't like to denounce Duport, +but I was obliged, in consequence of my daughter; +only I said that in our quarrel about our daughter he +had pushed me, that it was nothing, but I wanted my +daughter Catherine because I feared the bad woman +with whom my husband lived would be the ruin of +her."</p> + +<p>"Well, and what did the commissary say?"</p> + +<p>"Why, that my husband had a right to take away his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +daughter, as we were not separated; that it would be a +misfortune if my daughter turned out badly from evil +counsels, but that they were only suppositions, after all, +and that was not sufficient for a complaint against my +husband. 'You have but one way—plead in the courts, +demand a separation—and then the beatings your husband +has given you, his behaviour with a vile woman, +will be in your favour, and they will force him to restore +your daughter to you; but, otherwise, he has a right to +keep her with him.' 'But how can I plead when I have +my children to feed?' 'What can be done?' said the +clerk; 'that's the only way!'" and poor Jeanne sobbed +bitterly, adding, "And he is right—that is the only +way! And so, in three months, my daughter may be +walking the streets, whilst if I could plead and be separated +it would not happen. Alas, poor Catherine, so +gentle and so affectionate!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, you have, indeed, a bitter sorrow; and yet I +was complaining!" said La Lorraine, drying her eyes. +"And your other children?"</p> + +<p>"Why, on their account, I did all I could to bear the +pains I was suffering, and not go to the hospital; but +I could not go on. I vomited blood three or four times +a day, and a fever took away the use of my arms and +legs, and I was at last unable to work. If I am quickly +cured I may return to my children, if they are not first +dead from hunger or locked up as beggars. Who will +maintain them whilst I am here?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it is very terrible! Have you no kind neighbours?"</p> + +<p>"They are as poor as myself, and have five children +already. It is very hard, but they promised to do a +little something for them for a week; that is all they +could do. And so, cured or not cured, I must go out in +a week."</p> + +<p>"But your friend, Mademoiselle Rigolette?"</p> + +<p>"Unfortunately, she is in the country, and going to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> +be married, the porter said. No, I must be cured in +eight days; and I asked all the doctors who spoke to +me yesterday, but they laughed as they replied, 'You +must ask the principal surgeon.' When will he come, +Lorraine?"</p> + +<p>"Hush! I think I hear him now. And no one is +allowed to speak during his visit," replied Lorraine, in a +low voice.</p> + +<p>The daylight had appeared during the conversation of +the two women. A bustle announced the arrival of Doctor +Griffon, who entered the room accompanied by his +friend, the Comte de Saint-Remy, who took so warm an +interest in Madame de Fermont and her daughter, but +was very far from expecting to find the unfortunate +young lady in the hospital. As he entered the ward, +the cold and harsh features of Doctor Griffon seemed to +expand. Casting around him a look of satisfaction and +authority, he answered the obsequious reception of the +sisters by a protecting nod. The coarse and austere +countenance of the old Comte de Saint-Remy was +imprinted with the deepest sorrow. His ineffective +attempts to find any traces of Madame de Fermont, and +the ignominious baseness of the vicomte, who had preferred +a life of infamy to death, overwhelmed him with +grief.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Doctor Griffon to him, with an air of +triumph, "what do you think of my hospital?"</p> + +<p>"Really," replied M. de Saint-Remy, "I do not +know why I yielded to your desire; nothing is more +harrowing than the sight of rooms filled with sick persons. +Since I entered, my feelings have been severely +distressed."</p> + +<p>"Bah, bah! In a quarter of an hour you will think no +more of it. You, who are a philosopher, will find here +ample matter for observation; and besides, it would +have been a shame for you, one of my oldest friends, +not to have known the theatre of my glory, my labours,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> +and seen me at work. I take pride in my profession—is +that wrong?"</p> + +<p>"No, certainly; and after your excellent care of +Fleur-de-Marie, whom you have saved, I could refuse +you nothing."</p> + +<p>"Well, have you ascertained anything as to the fate +of Madame de Fermont and her daughter?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing!" replied M. de Saint-Remy, with a sigh. +"And my last hope is in Madame d'Harville, who takes +such deep interest in these two unfortunates; she may +find some traces of them. Madame d'Harville, I hear, +is expected daily at her house; and I have written to +her on the subject, begging her to reply as soon as +possible."</p> + +<p>During the conversation between M. de Saint-Remy +and Doctor Griffon, several groups were formed gradually +around a large table in the middle of the apartment, on +which was a register in which the pupils of the hospital +(who were to be recognised by their long white aprons) +came in their turns to sign the attendance-sheet.</p> + +<p>"You see, my dear Saint-Remy, that my staff is pretty +considerable."</p> + +<p>"It is indeed! But all these beds are occupied by +women, and the presence of so many men must inspire +them with painful confusion!"</p> + +<p>"All these fine feelings must be left at the door, my +dear Alcestis. Here we begin on the living those experiments +and studies which we complete on the dead +body in the amphitheatre."</p> + +<p>"Doctor, you are one of the best and worthiest of +men, and I owe you my life, and I recognise all your +excellent qualities; but the practice and love of your art +makes you take views of certain questions which are +most revolting to me. I leave you. These are things +which disgust and pain me; and I foresee that it would +be a real punishment to me to be present at your visit. +I will wait for you here at the table."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What a strange person you are with these scruples! +But I will not let you have quite your own way. So +remain here till I come for you."</p> + +<p>"Now, then, gentlemen," said Doctor Griffon; and he +began his round, followed by his numerous auditory.</p> + +<p>On reaching the first bed on the right hand, the curtains +of which were closed, the sister said to the doctor:</p> + +<p>"Sir, No. 1 died at half past four o'clock this morning."</p> + +<p>"So late? It astonishes me. Yesterday morning +I would not have given her the day through. Has her +body been claimed?"</p> + +<p>"No, sir."</p> + +<p>"So much the better. It is a very fine one; we will +not dissect it, but I will make a man happy." Then +turning to one of the pupils, "My dear Dunoyer, you +have long desired a subject; your name is down for the +first, and it is yours."</p> + +<p>"Oh, sir, you are too good."</p> + +<p>"I am only desirous of rewarding your zeal, my dear +fellow; but mark the subject—take possession; there +are so many who covet it."</p> + +<p>As the doctor passed onwards, the pupil, with his +scalpel, incised very delicately an F. and D. (his initials) +on the arm of the defunct actress, in order "to take +possession," as the doctor termed it. And the round +continued.</p> + +<p>"Lorraine," said Jeanne Duport, in a low voice, to +her neighbour, "who is all this crowd of people with the +surgeon?"</p> + +<p>"It is pupils and students."</p> + +<p>"Oh, will all these young men look on whilst the +doctor asks me questions and examines me?"</p> + +<p>"Alas, yes!"</p> + +<p>"But it is in my chest that I am ill; will they examine +me before all these men?"</p> + +<p>"Yes—yes—it must be so. I cried bitterly the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> +first time, and thought I should have died of shame. +I resisted, and they threatened to send me away, and +that made me so ill. Only imagine, almost naked before +everybody! It is very painful."</p> + +<p>"Before the doctor alone I can easily comprehend it +is necessary, and even that is a great deal to submit to; +but why before all these young men?"</p> + +<p>"They learn and practise on us; that is why we are +here,—why they admit us into the hospital."</p> + +<p>"Ah, I understand," said Jeanne Duport, with bitterness; +"they give us nothing for nothing. Yet still +there are times when even that could not be. Suppose +my poor girl Catherine, who is only fifteen, were to +come to the hospital, would they dare with her, before +so many young men, to—Oh, no! I would rather see +her die at home!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, if she came here she must make up her mind +to do as the others do,—as you and I. But hold +your tongue; if the poor young lady in front hears +you—they say she was rich, and, perhaps, has never +left her mother before,—and yet her turn comes +now. Only think how confused and distressed she +will be."</p> + +<p>"I shudder when I think of her! Poor child!"</p> + +<p>"Hush, Jeanne! Here is the doctor!" said Lorraine.</p> + +<p>After having quickly visited several patients who presented +nothing remarkable in their cases, the doctor at +last came to Jeanne. At the sight of this crowd coming +around her bed, anxious to see and learn, the poor creature, +overcome with fear and shame, pulled the bed-clothes +tightly around her. The severe and meditative +countenance of the doctor, his penetrating glance, his +eyebrows, always drawn down by his reflective habit, his +abrupt mode of speech, impatient and quick, increased +the alarm of poor Jeanne.</p> + +<p>"A new subject!" said the doctor, as he read the +placard in which was inscribed the nature of the patient's<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> +malady, and throwing on Jeanne a lengthened look of +scrutiny. There was a profound silence amongst the +assistants, who, in imitation of the prince of science, +fixed a scrutinising glance on the patient. After an +examination of several minutes, the doctor, remarking +something wrong in the yellow tint of the patient's eyeball, +approached her more closely, and, raising the lid +with his finger, examined it silently. Then several of +the students, responding to the kind of mute invitation +of their professor, drew near, and gazed at Jeanne's eye +with attention. The doctor then began:</p> + +<p>"Your name?"</p> + +<p>"Jeanne Duport," she murmured, more and more +alarmed.</p> + +<p>"Are you married?"</p> + +<p>"Alas, yes, sir!" with a profound sigh.</p> + +<p>"Have you any children?"</p> + +<p>Here, instead of replying, the poor mother gave way +to a flood of tears.</p> + +<p>"It is no use crying,—answer! Have you any +children?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir,—two little boys, and a girl of sixteen."</p> + +<p>Then followed a string of questions impossible to +repeat, but to which Jeanne could only reply in stammering, +and after many severe rebukes from the doctor. +The poor woman was overwhelmed with shame, compelled +as she was to reply aloud to such questions before such a +numerous auditory.</p> + +<p>The doctor, completely absorbed by scientific feelings, +did not give the smallest heed to Jeanne's distress, and +continued:</p> + +<p>"How long have you been ill?"</p> + +<p>"Four days, sir," replied Jeanne, drying her tears.</p> + +<p>"Tell us how your illness first disclosed itself."</p> + +<p>"Sir,—why,—there are so many persons here, that +I dare not."</p> + +<p>"Pooh! Where do you come from, my dear woman?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> +inquired the doctor, impatiently; "would you like to +have a confessional brought? Come, come, make haste!"</p> + +<p>"Sir, these are family matters."</p> + +<p>"Oh, be easy, we are all family men here; a large +family, too, as you see," added the prince of science, who +was in very high spirits that day. "Come, come, let us +have an end of this."</p> + +<p>More and more alarmed, Jeanne, stammering and +hesitating at each moment, said:</p> + +<p>"I had—a quarrel with my husband—about the +children; I mean my eldest daughter, that he wanted +to take away; and I wouldn't agree, because of a wicked +woman he lived with, and who might give bad advice to +my daughter. So then, my husband, who was tipsy,—yes, +sir,—for if not, he'd never have done it,—my +husband gave me a very hard push, and I fell; and then, +soon after, I began to vomit blood."</p> + +<p>"Pooh, pooh, pooh! Your husband pushed you, and +you fell; you describe it very nicely! Why, he did +more than push you; he must have struck you in the +stomach; perhaps trampled on you, or kicked you? +Come, answer,—let's have the truth."</p> + +<p>"Oh, sir, I assure you that he was tipsy; but for that +he would never have been so wicked."</p> + +<p>"Good or wicked, drunk or sober, it is not to the purpose, +my good woman. I am not a public officer, and +only want a fact accurately described. Now, were you +not knocked down, and trampled under foot?"</p> + +<p>"Yes!" said Jeanne, weeping; "and yet I never gave +him any cause of complaint. I worked as long as I +could, and—"</p> + +<p>"The epigastrium must be very painful. Don't you +feel great heat around that region?—uneasiness, lassitude, +nausea?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir. I was quite worn out when I gave up, if +not, I should never have left my children; and then, my +Catherine! Oh, if you—"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Put out your tongue," said the doctor, again +interrupting the patient.</p> + +<p>This appeared so strange to Jeanne, who thought +to excite the doctor's pity, that she did not reply +immediately, but looked at him with alarm.</p> + +<p>"Show me your tongue, which you know so well how +to use," said the doctor, with a smile; and he pushed +down Jeanne's lower jaw with the end of his finger. +After having had his pupils successively, and for some +time, feel and examine the subject's tongue, in order to +ascertain its colour and dryness, Jeanne, overcoming her +fear for a moment, said, in a tremulous voice:</p> + +<p>"Sir, I was going to say to you, my neighbours, who +are as poor as myself, have been so kind as to take care +of my children for a week only, which is a great deal; +so at the end of that time I must be back home again. +So I beg of you, in God's name, to cure me as quickly as +you can, or nearly so, that I may return to work; and I +have but a week before me,—for—"</p> + +<p>"Discoloured face,—complete state of prostration,—yet +the pulse strong, quick, and regular," said the doctor, +imperturbably, and pointing to Jeanne. "Remark her +well, gentlemen: oppression, heat in the epigastric +regions. All these symptoms certainly betoken hæmatemesis, +probably complicated by hepatitis, caused by +domestic troubles, as is indicated by the yellow discoloration +of the eyeball. The subject has had violent blows +in the regions of the epigastrium and abdomen; the +vomiting blood is the necessary consequence of some +organic injury to the viscera. On this point let me call +your attention to a very curious, remarkably curious, +feature. The post-mortem appearances of those who +die of the injuries under which the subject is suffering +frequently present remarkable appearances; frequently +the malady, very severe and very dangerous, carries off +the patient in a few days, and then no trace of it is +found."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span></p> + +<p>Doctor Griffon then, throwing off the bed-clothes, +nearly denuded poor Jeanne. It would be repugnant to +describe the struggle of the unfortunate creature, who, +in her shame, implored the doctor and his auditory. +But at the threat, "You will be turned out of the hospital, +if you do not submit to the established usages,"—a +threat so terrible for those to whom the hospital is the +sole and last refuge,—Jeanne submitted to a public +scrutiny, which lasted a long time, very long, for Doctor +Griffon analysed and explained every symptom; and +then the most studious of the pupils declared their wish +to unite practice with theory, and also examine the +patient. The end of this scene was that poor Jeanne +felt such extreme emotion that she fell into a nervous +crisis, for which Doctor Griffon gave an extra +prescription.</p> + +<p>The round continued, and the doctor soon reached +the bed of Mlle. Claire de Fermont, a victim, like her +mother, to the cupidity of Jacques Ferrand.</p> + +<p>Mlle, de Fermont, dressed in a cap of the hospital, +was leaning her head languidly on the bolster of the +bed. In spite of the ravages of her malady, there might +be detected on her open and sweet countenance the +traces of a beauty full of distinction. After a night of +keen anguish, the poor girl had fallen into a kind of +feverish stupor, and when the doctor and his scientific +train entered the ward she was not aroused by the +noise.</p> + +<p>"Another first subject, gentlemen," said the prince of +science. "Disease, a slow nervous fever; if the receiving +surgeon is not mistaken in the symptoms, this is a +real godsend. For a long time I have desired a slow nervous +fever, for that is not an ordinary complaint amongst +the poor. These affections are usually produced after +severe trouble in the social position of the subject, and +I need hardly add that the higher the position of the +patient, the more deep is the disease. It is, moreover,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> +a complaint the more remarkable from its peculiar characteristics. +It is traced to the very remotest antiquity, +and the writings of Hippocrates have no doubt reference +to it. This fever, I repeat, has almost always been produced +from the most violent grief, and grief is as old as +the world. Yet, strange to say, before the eighteenth century, +this disease was never accurately described by any +author; it was Huxham, whom the science of medicine +of the age so highly honours,—Huxham, I say, who +first defined accurately nervous fever; and yet it is a +malady of the olden time," added the doctor, jocosely. +"Eh, eh, eh! It belongs to the great, antique, and +illustrious family of <i>febris</i>, whose origin is lost in the +darkness of ages. But we may be rejoicing too soon; let +us see if really we have the good fortune to possess here +a sample of this curious affection; it would be doubly +desirable, inasmuch as, for a very long time, I have been +anxious to try the effect of the internal use of phosphorus. +Yes, gentlemen," continued the doctor, hearing amongst +his auditory a kind of shudder of curiosity,—"yes, +gentlemen, of phosphorus; it is a singular experiment +that I wish to try, and a bold one, and but <i>audaces fortuna +juvat</i>, and the opportunity would be excellent. We +will first try if the subject offers in all parts of the body, +and particularly in the chest, that miliary eruption, so +symptomatic according to Huxham, and you will assure +yourselves, by feeling the subject, of the kind of uneven +surface which this eruption produces. But do not let us +sell the skin of our bear before we have killed it," added +the prince of science, who was decidedly in very high +spirits. And he shook Mlle. de Fermont's shoulder very +gently, in order to wake her.</p> + +<p>The young girl started and opened her large eyes, hollowed +by the malady. It is impossible to describe her +amaze and alarm. Whilst a crowd of men surrounded +her bed, all fixing their eyes upon her, she felt the +doctor's hand gliding under the quilt into her bed, in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span> +order to take her hand and feel her pulse. Mlle. de +Fermont, collecting all her strength, in a cry of anguish, +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Mother! Help! Mother! Mother!"</p> + +<p>By an almost providential chance, at the moment when +the cries of Mlle. de Fermont made the old Count de Saint-Remy +spring from his chair, for he recognised the voice, +the door of the apartment opened, and a young lady, +dressed in mourning, entered very hastily, accompanied +by the governor of the hospital; this lady was the +Marquise d'Harville.</p> + +<p>"I beg of you, sir," she said to him, "to lead me to +Mlle. de Fermont."</p> + +<p>"Be so kind as to follow me," he replied, respectfully; +"the young lady is in No. 17."</p> + +<p>"Unhappy girl! Here—here!" said Madame +d'Harville, drying her tears. "Ah, this is really +frightful!"</p> + +<p>The marquise, preceded by the governor, rapidly approached +the group assembled beside the bed of Mlle. de +Fermont, when they heard these words uttered with +indignation:</p> + +<p>"I tell you it is infamous murder; you will kill her, +sir!"</p> + +<p>"But, my dear Saint-Remy, do pray hear me!"</p> + +<p>"I repeat, sir, that your conduct is atrocious! I consider +Mlle. de Fermont as my daughter, and I forbid you +going near her; I will have her immediately removed +hence."</p> + +<p>"But, my dear friend, it is a case of slow nervous +fever, very rare; I am desirous of trying phosphorus. +It is a unique occasion. Promise me, at least, that +I shall have the care of her, and take her where you +like, since you are determined to deprive us of so +valuable a clinical subject."</p> + +<p>"If you were not a madman, you would be a monster!" +replied the count.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p> + +<p>Clémence listened to these words with increasing +anguish, but the crowd was so dense around the bed +that the governor was obliged to say, in a loud voice:</p> + +<p>"Make way, if you please, for the Marquise d'Harville, +who has come to see No. 17."</p> + +<p>At these words, the pupils made way with equal haste +and respectful admiration when they saw Clémence's +lovely face, which was radiant with so much emotion.</p> + +<p>"Madame d'Harville!" exclaimed the Count de Saint-Remy, +pushing the doctor rudely aside, and going hastily +towards Clémence. "Ah, it is God who sends one of +his angels here! Madame, I knew you took an interest +in these two unfortunate beings, and, more happy than +me, you have found them, whilst it was chance only +that led me hither, to be present at a scene of unparalleled +barbarity. Unhappy child! See, madame; and +you, gentlemen, in the name of your sisters and +daughters, have pity, I entreat, on a girl of sixteen, +and leave her alone with madame and these good +sisters; when she recovers her senses, I will have her +conveyed hence."</p> + +<p>"Very well, let it be so; I will sign her discharge!" +exclaimed the doctor; "but I will not lose sight of +her; she is a subject of mine, and I will attend her, do +what you will. I'll not risk the phosphorus, I promise +that; but I will pass my nights, if needs be, as I passed +them with you, ungrateful Saint-Remy, for this fever is +as curious as yours was; they are two sisters, who have +an equal right to my interest."</p> + +<p>"Confound the man! Why has he so much science?" +said the count, knowing that he could not confide the +young girl to more able hands.</p> + +<p>"Eh! It is simple enough," said the doctor, in a +whisper. "I have a great deal of science because I +study, because I experimentalise, because I risk and +practise a great deal on my subjects; and so, old fellow, +I shall still have my slow nervous fever,—eh?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes; but is it safe to move this young girl?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly."</p> + +<p>"Then, for the love of heaven, disappear with your +train!"</p> + +<p>"Come, gentlemen," said the prince of science, +"we shall be deprived of a precious study; but I will +make my reports on it to you." And Doctor +Griffon, with his suite, continued his round, leaving +M. de Saint-Remy and Madame d'Harville with Mlle. +de Fermont.</p> + +<p>During this scene, Mlle. de Fermont, still in a swoon, +had been attended to by Clémence and the two nuns. +Saint-Remy said in a low tone to Clémence:</p> + +<p>"And the mother of this unhappy girl, madame?"</p> + +<p>The marchioness replied, in a voice deeply affected:</p> + +<p>"She has no longer a mother, sir. I learnt yesterday +only, on my return, the address of Madame de Fermont, +and her dying condition; at one o'clock in the morning +I went to her with a medical man. Ah, sir, what a +fiction! It was misery in all its horror! And no hope +of saving the poor mother, whose last words were, 'My +daughter!'"</p> + +<p>"What a death! Good heaven! And she so tender, +so devoted a mother,—it is frightful!"</p> + +<p>"I will watch her until she can be moved," said Clémence, +"and, when she can be removed, I will take her +with me."</p> + +<p>"Ah, madame, bless you for what you say and do!" +said M. de Saint-Remy. "But excuse me for not having +before mentioned my name to you, I am the Comte de +Saint-Remy; Madame de Fermont's husband was my +most intimate friend. I live at Angers, and left that +city from uneasiness at not receiving any news of these +two noble and excellent women; they had until then +lived in that city, and were said to be completely ruined, +which was the more terrible as until then they had lived +in ease and plenty."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah, sir! you do not know all; Madame de Fermont +was shamefully robbed."</p> + +<p>"By her notary, perhaps? I had my suspicions."</p> + +<p>"That man was a monster, sir! Alas! that was not +the only crime he committed; but fortunately," said +Clémence, with excitement, as she thought of Rodolph, +"a providential genius had compelled him to do justice, +and I was enabled to close Madame de Fermont's eyes, +assuring her as to the future provision for her daughter; +thus her death was rendered less cruel."</p> + +<p>"I understand; knowing her daughter to have your +support henceforth, my poor friend died more tranquil."</p> + +<p>"Not only is my interest excited for ever towards +Mlle. de Fermont, but her fortune will be restored to +her."</p> + +<p>"Her fortune! The notary—"</p> + +<p>"Has been compelled to refund the money. This +man had caused the assassination of Madame de Fermont's +brother, in order to make it appear that the +unhappy man had committed suicide, after having dissipated +his sister's fortune; but he has now placed the +sum in the hands of the worthy curé of Bonne-Nouvelle, +and it will be given to Mlle. de Fermont. The infamous +wretch has committed another murder equally +infamous!"</p> + +<p>"What mean you, madame?"</p> + +<p>"But a few days since he got rid of an unfortunate +young girl, whom he had an interest in drowning, +assured that her death would be attributed to +accident."</p> + +<p>M. de Saint-Remy started, looked at Madame d'Harville +with surprise, as he recollected Fleur-de-Marie, and +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Ah, madame, what a singular coincidence! This +young girl they sought to drown—"</p> + +<p>"In the Seine, near Asnières, as I am told."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span></p> + +<p>"'Tis she! 'Tis she!" cried Saint-Remy.</p> + +<p>"Of whom do you speak, sir?"</p> + +<p>"Of the young girl whom this monster sought to +drown. Do you know her, madame?"</p> + +<p>"Poor dear! I love her tenderly. Ah, if you knew, +sir, how lovely, how prepossessing she was! But tell +me what you mean."</p> + +<p>"Doctor Griffon and I gave her the first assistance."</p> + +<p>"First assistance to her! And in what way?"</p> + +<p>"At the Isle du Ravageur, where she was saved."</p> + +<p>"Saved! Fleur-de-Marie saved?"</p> + +<p>"By a worthy creature, who, at the risk of her +life, saved her from the Seine. But what ails you, +madame?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, sir, I fear to believe in such good fortune; but, +I pray of you, tell me what is the appearance of this +young girl?"</p> + +<p>"Singularly beautiful!"</p> + +<p>"Large, blue eyes,—light brown hair?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame."</p> + +<p>"And when she was drowned, there was an elderly +woman with her?"</p> + +<p>"It was only yesterday she was well enough to speak, +and she is still very weak; she said an elderly woman +accompanied her."</p> + +<p>"Praised be Heaven!" said Clémence, clasping her +hands with fervour; "I can now tell him that his +protégée still lives! What joy for him who, in his last +letter, spoke to me of this poor child with such bitter +regrets! Excuse me, sir, but you know not how happy +your intelligence renders me, and will make a person +who, more than myself, has loved and protected Fleur-de-Marie. +But, for mercy's sake, tell me, where is she +at this moment?"</p> + +<p>"Near Asnières, in the house of one of the surgeons +of this hospital, Doctor Griffon; she was taken there, +and has had every attention."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span></p> + +<p>"And is she out of danger?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame, but only during the last two or three +days, and to-day she will be permitted to write to her +protector."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I will undertake to do that, sir; or, rather, I +shall have the pleasure of taking her to those who, +believing her dead, regret her so bitterly!"</p> + +<p>"I can understand those regrets, madame, for it is +impossible to see Fleur-de-Marie without being charmed +with her grace and sweetness. The woman who saved +her, and has since watched her night and day as she +would an infant, is a courageous and devoted person, but +of a disposition so excitable that she has been called La +Louve."</p> + +<p>"I know La Louve," said the marquise, smiling as +she thought of the pleasure she had in store for the +prince. What would have been her ecstasy, had she +known she was the daughter he believed dead that +she was about to restore to Rodolph! Then, addressing +the nun who had given some spoonfuls of a draught +to Mlle. de Fermont, she said, "Well, sister, is she +recovering?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet, madame, she is so weak. Poor, young +thing! One can scarcely feel her pulse beat."</p> + +<p>"I will wait, then, until she is sufficiently restored to +be put into my carriage; but tell me, sister, amongst +these unfortunate patients, do you know any who particularly +deserve interest and pity, and to whom I could +be useful before I leave the hospital?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, madame, Heaven has sent you here!" said the +sister. "There," and she pointed to the bed of Pique-Vinaigre's +sister, "is a poor woman much to be pitied, +and very bad; she only came in when quite exhausted, +and is past all comfort, because she has been obliged to +abandon her two small children, who have no other support +in the world. She said just now to the doctor that +she must go out, cured or not, in a week, because her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> +neighbours had promised to take care of her children +for that time only and no longer."</p> + +<p>"Take me to her bed, I beg of you, sister," said +Madame d'Harville, rising and following the nun.</p> + +<p>Jeanne Duport, who had scarcely recovered from the +violent shock which the investigations of Doctor Griffon +had caused her, had not remarked the entrance of +Madame d'Harville; what, then, was her astonishment, +when the marquise, lifting up the curtains of +her bed, and looking at her with great pity and kindness, +said:</p> + +<p>"My good woman, do not be uneasy about your +children, I will take care of them; so only think of +getting well, that you may go to them."</p> + +<p>Poor Jeanne thought she was in a dream, she could +only clasp her hands in speechless gratitude, and gaze +on her unknown benefactress.</p> + +<p>"Once again assure yourself, my worthy woman, and +have no uneasiness," said the marquise, pressing in her +small and delicate white hands the burning hand of +Jeanne Duport; "and, if you prefer it, you shall leave +the hospital this very day and be nursed at home; everything +shall be done for you, so that you need not leave +your children; and, if your lodging is unhealthy or too +small, you shall have one found that is more convenient +and suitable, so that you may be in one room and +your children in another; you shall have a good nurse, +who will watch them whilst she attends to you, and +when you entirely recover, if you are out of work, I +will take care that you are provided for until work +comes, and I will also take care of your children for +the future."</p> + +<p>"Ah, what do I hear?" said Jeanne Duport, all +trembling and hardly daring to look her benefactress +in the face. "Why are so many kindnesses +showered on me? It is not possible! I leave the hospital, +where I have wept and suffered so much, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> +not leave my children again! Have a nurse! Why, it +is a miracle!"</p> + +<p>"It is no miracle, my good woman," said Clémence, +much affected. "What I do for you," she added, +blushing slightly at the remembrance of Rodolph, "is +inspired by a generous spirit, who has taught me to +sympathise with misfortune, and it is he whom you +should thank."</p> + +<p>"Ah, madame, I shall ever bless you!" said Jeanne, +weeping.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, you see, Jeanne," said Lorraine, much +affected, "there are also amongst the rich Rigolettes +and Goualeuses with good hearts."</p> + +<p>Madame d'Harville turned with much surprise towards +Lorraine when she heard her mention the two names.</p> + +<p>"Do you know La Goualeuse and a young workwoman +called Rigolette?" she inquired of Lorraine.</p> + +<p>"Yes, madame; La Goualeuse—good little angel!—did +for me last year, according to her small means, +what you are going to do for Jeanne. Yes, madame, +and it does me good to say and repeat it to everybody, +La Goualeuse took me from a cellar in which I had been +brought to bed on the straw, and—dear, good girl!—placed +me and my child in a room where there was a +good bed and a cradle; La Goualeuse spent the money +from pure charity, for she scarcely knew me, and was +poor herself. But how good it was! Was it not, +madame?" said Lorraine.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes; charity from the poor to the poor is great +and holy!" said Clémence, with her eyes moistened by +soft tears.</p> + +<p>"It was the same with Mademoiselle Rigolette, who, +according to her little means as a sempstress," said +Lorraine, "some days ago offered her kind services to +Jeanne."</p> + +<p>"How singular!" said Clémence to herself, more and +more affected, for each of these two names, Goualeuse<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> +and Rigolette, reminded her of a noble action of Rodolph. +"And you, my child, what can I do for you?" +she said to Lorraine; "I could wish that the names you +pronounce with so much gratitude should also bring +you good fortune."</p> + +<p>"Thank you, madame," said Lorraine, with a smile +of bitter resignation. "I had a child, it is dead; I am +in a decline and past all hope."</p> + +<p>"What a gloomy idea! At your age there is always +hope."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, madame, I saw a consumptive patient die +last night. Yet as you are so good, a great lady like +you must be able to do anything."</p> + +<p>"Tell me, what do you wish?"</p> + +<p>"Since I have seen the actress who is dead so distressed +at the idea of being cut in pieces after her death, +I have the same fear. Jeanne had promised to claim +my body, and have me buried."</p> + +<p>"Ah, this is horrible!" said Clémence, shuddering. +"Be tranquil, although I hope the time is far distant, +yet, when it comes, be assured that your body shall rest +in holy ground."</p> + +<p>"Oh, thank you—thank you, madame!" exclaimed +Lorraine. "Might I beg to kiss your hand?"</p> + +<p>Clémence presented her hand to the parched lips of +Lorraine.</p> + +<p>Half an hour afterwards, Madame d'Harville, who +had been painfully affected by Lorraine's condition, +accompanied by M. de Saint-Remy, took with her the +young orphan, from whom she concealed her mother's +death.</p> + +<p>The same day, Madame d'Harville's man of business, +after having obtained favourable particulars respecting +Jeanne Duport's character, hired for her some large and +airy rooms, and the same evening she was conveyed to +her new residence, where she found her children and a +nurse. The same individual was instructed to claim<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> +and inter the body of Lorraine when she died. After +having conveyed Mlle. de Fermont to her own house, +Madame d'Harville started for Asnières with M. de +Saint-Remy, in order to go to Fleur-de-Marie, and take +her to Rodolph.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> +<h3>CHAPTER V.</h3> + +<h5>HOPE.</h5> + + +<p>Spring was approaching, and already the sun darted +a more genial warmth, the sky was blue and clear, while +the balmy air seemed to bring life and breath upon its +invigorating wings. Among the many sick and suffering +who rejoiced in its cheering presence was Fleur-de-Marie, +who, leaning on the arm of La Louve, ventured +to take gentle exercise in the little garden belonging to +Doctor Griffon's house; the vivifying rays of the sun, +added to the exertion of walking, tinged the pale, wasted +countenance of La Goualeuse with a faint glow that +spoke of returning convalescence. The dress she had +worn when rescued from a watery grave had been +destroyed in the haste with which the requisite attempts +had been made for her resuscitation, and she now +appeared in a loose wrapping dress of dark blue merino, +fastened around her slender waist by worsted cord of +the same colour as the robe.</p> + +<p>"How cheering the sun shines!" said she to La +Louve, as she stopped beneath a thick row of trees, +planted beside a high gravelled walk facing the south, +and on which was a stone bench. "Shall we sit down +and rest ourselves here a few minutes?"</p> + +<p>"Why do you ask me?" replied La Louve, almost +angrily; then taking off her nice warm shawl, she +folded it in four, and, kneeling down, placed it on the +ground, which was somewhat moist from the extreme<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> +shelter afforded by the overhanging trees, saying, as she +did so, "Here, put your feet on this."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but La Louve!" said Fleur-de-Marie, perceiving +too late the kind intention of her companion, "I +cannot suffer you to spoil your beautiful shawl in that +way."</p> + +<p>"Don't make a fuss about nothing; I tell you the +ground is cold and moist. There, that will do." And, +taking the tiny feet of Fleur-de-Marie, she forcibly +placed them on her shawl.</p> + +<p>"You spoil me terribly, La Louve."</p> + +<p>"It is not for your good behaviour, if I do; always +trying to oppose me in everything I try to do for your +good. Are you not very much tired? We have been +walking more than half an hour; I heard twelve o'clock +just strike from Asnières."</p> + +<p>"I do feel rather weary, but still the walk has done +me good."</p> + +<p>"There now—you were tired, and yet could not tell +me so!"</p> + +<p>"Pray don't scold me; I assure you I was not conscious +of my weariness until I spoke. It is so delightful +to be able to walk out in the air, after being confined by +sickness to your bed, to see the trees, the green fields, +and the beautiful country again, when you had given up +all hope of ever enjoying that happiness, or of feeling +the warm beams of the sun fill you with strength and +hope!"</p> + +<p>"Certainly, you were desperately ill, and for two days +we despaired of your life. I don't mind telling you, now +the danger is over."</p> + +<p>"Only imagine, La Louve, that, when I found myself +in the water, I could not help thinking of a very bad, +wicked woman, who used to torment me when I was +young, and frighten me by threatening to throw me to +the fishes that they might eat me, and, even after I had +grown up, she wanted to drown me; and I kept thinking<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> +that it was my destiny to be devoured by fishes, and that +it was no use to try and escape from it."</p> + +<p>"Was that really your last idea when you believed +yourself perishing?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no!" replied Fleur-de-Marie, with enthusiasm; +"when I believed I was dying, my last thought was for +him whom I so reverence, and to whom I owe so much, +and, when I came to myself after you had saved me, my +first thought was of him likewise."</p> + +<p>"It is a pleasure to render you any service, you think +so much of it."</p> + +<p>"No, La Louve; the pleasure consists in falling +asleep with our grateful recollection of kind acts, and +remembering them upon waking!"</p> + +<p>"Ah, you would induce people to go through fire and +water to serve you! I'm sure I would, for one."</p> + +<p>"I can assure you that one of the causes which made +me thankful for life was the hope of being able to +advance your happiness. Do you recollect the castles +in the air we used to build at St. Lazare?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, as for that, there is time enough to think about +that."</p> + +<p>"How delighted I should be, if the doctor would only +allow me to write a few lines to Madame Georges, I am +sure she must be so very uneasy; and so must M. +Rodolph, too," added Fleur-de-Marie, pensively sighing. +"Perhaps they think me dead."</p> + +<p>"As those wretches do who were set on to murder +you!"</p> + +<p>"Then you still believe my falling into the water was +not an accident?"</p> + +<p>"Accident! Yes, one of the Martial family's accidents;—mind, +when I say that, you must bear in mind +that my Martial is not at all like the rest of his relations, +any more than François and Amandine."</p> + +<p>"But what interest could they have had in my +death?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't care for that; the Martials are such a vile +set that they would murder any one, provided they were +well paid for it. A few words the mother let drop when +my man went to see her in prison prove that."</p> + +<p>"Has he really been to see that dreadful woman?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; and he tells me there is no hope of pardon for +herself, Calabash, or Nicholas. A great many things +have been discovered against them; and all the judges +and those kind of people say they want to make a public +example of them, to frighten others from doing such +things."</p> + +<p>"How very shocking for nearly a whole family to +perish in this way."</p> + +<p>"And they certainly will, unless, indeed, Nicholas +manages to make his escape; he is in the same prison +with a monstrous ruffian whom they call the Skeleton, +and this man is getting up a plot to escape with several +of his companions. Nicholas sent to tell Martial of this, +by a prisoner who was discharged from prison the other +day, for I must tell you, my man had been weak enough +to go and see his brother in La Force; so, encouraged +by this visit, that hateful wretch Nicholas sent to tell +my man that he might effect his escape at any minute, +and that his brother was to send money and clothes to +disguise himself in, ready for him, to Father Micou's."</p> + +<p>"Ah, your Martial is so kind-hearted, I'm sure he +will do it!"</p> + +<p>"A fig for such kind-heartedness! I call it downright +foolery to help the very man who tried to take +his life. No, no, Martial shall do no such thing; quite +enough if he does not tell of the scheme for breaking +out of prison, without furnishing clothes and money, +indeed. Besides, now you are out of danger, myself, +Martial, and the two children are about to start on our +rambles over France in search of work, and, depend +upon it, we never mean to set our feet in Paris again. +Martial found it quite galling enough to be called the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> +son of a man who was guillotined; how, then, could he +endure being taunted with the disgraceful ends of all his +family?"</p> + +<p>"Well, but, at least, you will defer your departure till +I have been enabled to see and speak with M. Rodolph; +you have returned to virtue, and I promised you a +reward if you would but forsake evil ways, and I wish +to keep my word. You saved me from death, and, not +satisfied with that, have nursed me with the tenderest +care during my severe illness."</p> + +<p>"Suppose I did; well, it would seem as though I had +done the little good in my power for the sake of gain, +were I to allow you to ask your friends for anything for +me! No, no; I say again, I am more than repaid in +seeing you safe and likely to do well."</p> + +<p>"My kind Louve, make yourself perfectly easy; it +shall not be said that you were influenced by interested +motives, but that I was desirous of proving my gratitude +to you."</p> + +<p>"Hark!" said La Louve, hastily rising, "I fancy I +hear the sound of a carriage coming this way; yes—yes, +there it is! Did you observe the lady who was +in it?"</p> + +<p>"Dear me!" exclaimed Fleur-de-Marie, "I fancy I +recognised a young and beautiful lady I saw at St. +Lazare."</p> + +<p>"Then she knows you are here, does she?"</p> + +<p>"I cannot tell you whether she does or no, but one +thing is very certain, that she is acquainted with the +person I have so often mentioned to you, who, if he +pleases, and I hope that he will please, can realise all +those schemes of happiness we used to build when in +prison."</p> + +<p>"What about getting a gamekeeper's place for my +man?" asked La Louve, with a sigh; "and a cottage +in the middle of the woods for us all to live in? Oh, +no! That is too much like what we read of in fairy<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> +tales, and quite impossible ever to happen to a poor +creature like myself."</p> + +<p>Quick steps were heard advancing rapidly from behind +the trees, and in a minute François and Amandine +(who, thanks to the kind consideration of the Count de +Saint-Remy, had been permitted to remain with La +Louve, during her attendance on La Goualeuse) presented +themselves, quite out of breath, exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"La Louve, here is a beautiful lady come along with +M. de Saint-Remy to see Fleur-de-Marie, and they want +to see her directly!"</p> + +<p>At the same moment, Madame d'Harville, accompanied +by M. de Saint-Remy, appeared from the side +of the walk, the impatience of the former not allowing +her to wait the arrival of Fleur-de-Marie. Directly +the marquise saw her, she ran and embraced her, exclaiming:</p> + +<p>"My poor dear child! What happiness does it not +afford me to find you thus in life and safety, when I +believed you dead!"</p> + +<p>"Be assured, madame," answered Fleur-de-Marie, as +she gracefully and modestly returned the affectionate +pressure of Madame d'Harville, "that I have equal +pleasure in seeing again one whose former kindness +has made so deep an impression on my heart!"</p> + +<p>"Ah, you little imagine the joy and rapture with +which the intelligence of your existence will be welcomed +by those who have so bitterly bewailed your +supposed loss!"</p> + +<p>Fleur-de-Marie, taking La Louve, who had withdrawn +to a distance from the affecting scene, by the +hand, and presenting her to Madame d'Harville, said:</p> + +<p>"Since, madame, my benefactors are good enough to +take so lively an interest in my welfare and preservation, +permit me to solicit their kindness and favour for +my companion, who saved my life at the expense of her +own."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Make yourself perfectly easy on that score, my +child; your friends will amply testify to the worthy +La Louve how fully they appreciate the service they +well know she has rendered you, and that 'tis to her +they owe the delight of seeing you again."</p> + +<p>Confused and blushing, La Louve ventured neither to +reply nor raise her eyes towards Madame d'Harville, so +completely did the presence of that dignified person +abash and overpower her. Yet, at hearing her very +name pronounced, La Louve could not restrain an +exclamation of astonishment.</p> + +<p>"But we have not a minute to lose," resumed the +marquise. "I am dying with impatience to carry off +Fleur-de-Marie, and I have a cloak and warm shawl for +her in the carriage. So come, my child, come!" Then, +addressing the count, she said, "May I beg of you to +give my address to this brave woman, that she may be +enabled to come to-morrow to say good-bye to Fleur-de-Marie? +That will oblige you to pay us a visit," continued +Madame d'Harville, speaking to La Louve.</p> + +<p>"Depend upon my coming, madame," replied the +person addressed. "Since it is to bid adieu to La +Goualeuse, I should be grieved, indeed, if I were to miss +that last pleasure."</p> + +<p>A few minutes after this conversation, Madame +d'Harville and La Goualeuse were on the road to Paris.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>After witnessing the frightful death by which Jacques +Ferrand atoned for the heinous offences of his past life, +Rodolph had returned home deeply agitated and affected. +After passing a long and sleepless night, he sent to +summon Sir Walter Murphy, in order to relieve his +overcharged heart by confiding to this tried and trusty +friend the overwhelmingly painful discovery of the +preceding evening relative to Fleur-de-Marie. The +honest squire was speechless with astonishment; he +could well understand the death-blow this must be to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> +the prince's best affections, and as he contemplated the +pale, careworn countenance of his unhappy friend, whose +red, swollen eyes and convulsed features amply bespoke +the agony of his mind, he ransacked his brain for some +gleam of comfort, and his invention for words of hope +and comfort.</p> + +<p>"Take courage, my lord," said he at last, drying his +eyes, which, spite of all his accustomed coolness, he +had not been able to prevent from overflowing, "take +courage; yours is indeed an infliction, one that mocks +at all vain attempts at consolation; it is deep, lasting, +and incurable!"</p> + +<p>"You are right; what I felt yesterday seems as +nothing to my sense of misery to-day."</p> + +<p>"Yesterday, my lord, you were stunned by the blow +that fell on you, but as your mind dwells more calmly +on it, so does the future seem more dark and dispiriting. +I can but say, rouse yourself, my lord, to bear it with +courage, for it is beyond all attempts at consolation."</p> + +<p>"Yesterday the contempt and horror I felt for that +woman,—whom may the Great Being pardon, before +whose tribunal she now stands,—mingled with surprise, +disgust, and terror, occasioned by her hideous conduct, +repressed those bursts of despairing tenderness I can +no longer restrain in your sympathising presence, my +faithful friend. I fear not to indulge the natural emotions +of my heart, and my hitherto pent-up tears may +now freely vent themselves. Forgive my weakness, and +excuse my thus cowardly shrinking from the trial I am +called upon to endure, but it seems to have riven my +very heart-strings, and to have left me feeble as an infant! +Oh, my child! My loved, my lost child! Long +must these scalding tears flow ere I can forget you!"</p> + +<p>"Ah, my lord, weep on, for your loss is indeed +irreparable!"</p> + +<p>"What joy to have atoned to her for all the wretchedness +with which her young days have been clouded!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> +What bliss to have unfolded to her the happy destiny +that was to recompense her for all her past sorrows! +And, then, I should have used so much care and precaution +in opening her eyes to the brilliant lot that was to +succeed her miserable youth, for the tale, if told too +abruptly, might have been too much for her delicate +nerves to sustain; but, no, I would by degrees have +revealed to her the history of her birth, and prepared +her to receive me as her father!"</p> + +<p>Then, again bursting into an agony of despair, Rodolph +continued: "But what avails all that I would have done, +when I am tortured by the cruel reflection that, when I +had my child all to myself during the ill-fated day +I conducted her to the farm, when she so innocently +displayed the rich treasures of her pure and heavenly +nature, no secret voice whispered to me that in her I +beheld my cherished and lamented daughter? I might +have prevented this dreadful calamity by keeping her +with me instead of sending her to Madame Georges. +Oh, if I had, I should have been spared my present +sufferings, and needed only to have opened my arms +and folded her to my heart as my newly found treasure,—more +really great and noble by the beauty of her +heart and mind, and perhaps more worthy to fill the +station to which I should raise her, than if she had +always been reared in opulence and with a knowledge +of her rank! I alone am to blame for her death; but +mine is an accursed existence. I seem fated to trample +on every duty,—a bad son and a bad father!"</p> + +<p>Murphy felt that grief such as Rodolph's admitted of no +ordinary consolation. He did not therefore attempt to interrupt +its violence by any hackneyed phrases or promises +of comfort he well knew could never be realised.</p> + +<p>After a long silence, Rodolph resumed, in an agitated +voice:</p> + +<p>"I cannot stay here after what has happened. Paris +is hateful to me; I will quit it to-morrow."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You are quite right in so doing, my lord."</p> + +<p>"We will go by a circuitous route, and I will stop at +Bouqueval as I pass, that I may spend some few hours +alone with my sad thoughts, in the chamber where my +poor child enjoyed the only peaceful days she was ever +permitted to taste. All that was hers shall be carefully +collected together,—the books from which she studied, +her writings, clothes, even the very articles of furniture +and hangings of the chamber; I will make a careful +sketch of the whole, and when I return to Gerolstein I +will construct a small building containing the fac-simile +of my poor child's apartment, with all that it contained, +to be erected in the private ground in which stands the +monument built by me in memory of my outraged +parent; there I will go and bewail my daughter. These +two funeral mementos will for ever remind me of my +crime towards my father, and the punishment inflicted +on me through my own child."</p> + +<p>After a fresh silence, Rodolph said, "Let all be got +ready for my departure to-morrow."</p> + +<p>Anxious, if possible, to create if but a momentary +change of ideas in the prince's mind, Murphy said, "All +shall be prepared, my lord, according to your desire; +only you appear to have forgotten that to-morrow is fixed +for the celebration of the marriage of Rigolette with the +son of Madame Georges, and that the ceremony was to +take place at Bouqueval. Not contented with providing +for Germain as long as he lives, and liberally endowing +his bride, you also promised to be present to bestow the +hand of your young protégée on her lover."</p> + +<p>"True, true,—I did engage to do so; but I confess I +have not sufficient courage to venture in a scene of gaiety. +I cannot, therefore, visit the farm to-morrow, for to join +in the wedding festivities is impossible."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps the scene might serve to calm your wounded +feelings, with the thought that, if miserable yourself, +you have made others happy."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, my friend, no! Grief is ever selfish, and loves +to indulge itself in solitude. You shall supply my place +to-morrow; and beg of Madame Georges to collect +together all my poor child's possessions; then when the +room is fitly arranged, you will have an exact copy +taken of it, and cause it to be sent to me in Germany."</p> + +<p>"And will you not even see Madame d'Harville, my +lord, ere you set out on your journey?"</p> + +<p>At the recollection of Clémence, Rodolph started; his +affection for her burned as steadfastly and sincerely as +ever, but, for the moment, it seemed buried beneath the +overwhelming grief which oppressed him. The tender +sympathy of Madame d'Harville appeared to him the +only source of consolation; but, the next instant, he +rejected the idea of seeking consolation in the love of +another as unworthy his paternal sorrow.</p> + +<p>"No, my kind friend, I shall not see Madame d'Harville +previously to quitting Paris. I wrote to her a +few days since, telling her of the death of Fleur-de-Marie, +and the pain it had caused me. When she learns +that the ill-fated girl was my long-lost daughter, she +will readily understand that there are some griefs, or +rather fatal punishments, it is requisite to endure +alone."</p> + +<p>A gentle knock was heard at the door at this minute. +Rodolph, with displeasure at the interruption, signed for +Murphy to ascertain who it was. The faithful squire +immediately rose, and, partly opening the door, perceived +one of the prince's aides-de-camp, who said a few words +in a low tone, to which Murphy replied by a motion of +the head, and, returning to Rodolph, said, "Have the +goodness, my lord, to excuse me for an instant! A +person wishes to see me directly on business that +concerns your royal highness."</p> + +<p>"Go!" replied the prince.</p> + +<p>Scarcely had the door closed on Murphy, than Rodolph, +covering his face with his hands, uttered a heavy groan.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What horrible feelings possess me!" cried he. "My +mind seems one vast ocean of gall and bitterness; the +presence of my best and most faithful friend is painful +to me; and the recollection of a love pure and elevated +as mine distresses and embarrasses me. Last night, too, +I was cowardly enough to learn the death of Sarah with +savage joy. I felicitated myself on being free from an +unnatural being like her, who had caused the destruction +of my child; I promised myself the horrible satisfaction +of witnessing the mortal agonies of the wretch who deprived +my child of life. But I was baffled of my dear +revenge. Another cruel punishment!" exclaimed he, +starting with rage from his chair. "Yet although I +knew yesterday as well as to-day that my child was dead, +I did not experience such a whirlwind of despairing, +self-accusing agony as now rends my soul; because I did +not then recall to mind the one torturing fact that will +for ever step in between me and consolation. I did not +then recall the circumstance of my having seen and +known my beloved child, and, moreover, discovered in +her untold treasures of goodness and nobleness of character. +Yet how little did I profit by her being at the +farm! Merely saw her three times—yes, three times—no +more! when I might have beheld her each day—nay, +have kept her ever beside me. Oh, that will be my +unceasing punishment, my never-ending reproach and +torture,—to think I had my daughter near me, and +actually sent her from me! Nor, though I felt how +deserving she was of every fond care, did I even admit +her into my presence but three poor distant times."</p> + +<p>While the unhappy prince thus continued to torment +himself with these and similar reflections, the door of the +apartment suddenly opened and Murphy entered, looking +so pale and agitated that even Rodolph could not help +remarking it; and rising hastily, he exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"For heaven's sake, Murphy, what has happened to +you?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Nothing, my lord."</p> + +<p>"Yet you are pale!"</p> + +<p>"'Tis with astonishment."</p> + +<p>"Astonishment at what?"</p> + +<p>"Madame d'Harville."</p> + +<p>"Madame d'Harville! Gracious heaven! Some fresh +misfortune?"</p> + +<p>"No, no, my lord—indeed, nothing unfortunate has +occurred. Pray compose yourself! She is—in the +drawing-room—"</p> + +<p>"Here—in my house? Madame d'Harville here? +Impossible!"</p> + +<p>"My lord, I told you the surprise had quite overpowered +me!"</p> + +<p>"Tell me what has induced her to take such a step! +Speak, I conjure you! In heaven's name, explain the +reason for her acting so contrary to her usually rigid +notions!"</p> + +<p>"Indeed, my lord, I know nothing. But I cannot +even account to myself for the strange feelings that +come over me."</p> + +<p>"You are concealing something from me!"</p> + +<p>"No, indeed, my lord; on the honour of a man, I +know only what the marquise said to me."</p> + +<p>"And what did she say?"</p> + +<p>"'Sir Walter,' said she, with an unsteady voice, +though her countenance shone with joy, 'no doubt you +are surprised at my presence here; but there are some +circumstances so imperative as to leave no time to consider +the strict rules of etiquette. Beg of his royal +highness to grant me an immediate interview of a few +minutes only in your presence, for I know well that the +prince has not a better friend than yourself. I might +certainly have requested him to call on me, but that +would have caused at least an hour's delay; and when +the prince has learned the occasion of my coming, I am +sure he will feel grateful to me for not delaying the interview<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span> +I seek for a single instant.' And as she uttered +these words, her countenance wore an expression that +made me tremble all over."</p> + +<p>"But," returned Rodolph, in an agitated tone, and, +spite of all his attempts at retaining his composure, being +even paler than Murphy himself, "I cannot guess what +caused your emotion; there must be something beyond +those words of Madame d'Harville's to occasion it."</p> + +<p>"I pledge you my honour if there be I am wholly +ignorant of it; but I confess those few words from +Madame la Marquise seemed quite to bewilder me. But +even you, my lord, are paler than you were."</p> + +<p>"Am I?" said Rodolph, supporting himself on the +back of his chair, for he felt his knees tremble under +him.</p> + +<p>"Nay, but, my lord, you are quite as much overcome +as I was. What ails you?"</p> + +<p>"Though I die in making the effort," exclaimed the +prince, "it shall be done. Beg of Madame d'Harville to +do me the honour to walk in."</p> + +<p>By a singular and sympathetic feeling this extraordinary +and wholly unexpected visit of Madame d'Harville +had awakened in the breasts of Murphy and Rodolph +the same vague and groundless hope, but so senseless +did it seem that neither was willing to confess it to the +other.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>Madame d'Harville, conducted by Murphy, entered +the apartment in which was the prince.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p> +<h3>CHAPTER VI.</h3> + +<h5>THE FATHER AND DAUGHTER.</h5> + + +<p>Ignorant of Fleur-de-Marie's being the prince's daughter, +Madame d'Harville, in the fullness of her delight at +restoring to him his protégée, had not reckoned upon its +being necessary to observe any particular precaution in +presenting her young companion, whom she merely left +in the carriage until she had ascertained whether +Rodolph chose to make known his real name and rank +to the object of his bounty, and to receive her at his own +house; but perceiving the deep alteration in his features, +and struck with the visible gloom which overspread +them, as well as the marks of recent tears so evident in +his sunken eye, Clémence became alarmed with the idea +that some fresh misfortune, greater than the loss of La +Goualeuse would be considered, had suddenly occurred. +Wholly losing sight, therefore, of the original cause of +her visit, she anxiously exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"For heaven's sake, my lord, what has happened?"</p> + +<p>"Do you not know, madame? Then all hope is at +an end! Alas! your earnest manner, the interview so +unexpectedly sought by you, all made me believe—"</p> + +<p>"Let me entreat of you not to think for a moment +of the cause of my visit; but, in the name of that parent +whose life you have preserved, I adjure you to explain to +me the cause of the deep affliction in which I find you +plunged. Your paleness, your dejection, terrify me. Oh, +be generous, my lord, and relieve the cruel anxiety I +suffer."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Wherefore should I burden your kind heart with the +relation of woes that admit of no relief?"</p> + +<p>"Your words, your hesitation, but increase my apprehensions. +Oh, my lord, I beseech you tell me all! +Sir Walter, will you not take pity on my fears? For +the love of heaven explain the meaning of all this! +What has befallen the prince?"</p> + +<p>"Nay," interrupted Rodolph, in a voice that vainly +struggled for firmness, "since you desire it, madame, +learn that since I acquainted you with the death of +Fleur-de-Marie I have learned she was my own +daughter."</p> + +<p>"Your daughter!" exclaimed Clémence, in a tone +impossible to describe. "Fleur-de-Marie your daughter!"</p> + +<p>"And when just now you desired to see me, to communicate +tidings that would fill me with joy,—pardon +and pity the weakness of a parent half distracted at the +loss of his newly-found treasure!—I ventured to hope—But +no,—no,—I see too plainly I was mistaken! Forgive +me, my brain seems wandering, and I scarce know +what I say or do."</p> + +<p>And then sinking under the failure of this last fond +imagination of his heart, and unable longer to struggle +with his black despair, Rodolph threw himself back in +his chair and covered his face with his hands, while +Madame d'Harville, astonished at what she had just +heard, remained motionless and silent, scarcely able to +breathe amid the conflicting emotions which took possession +of her mind; at one instant glowing with delight at +the thoughts of the joy she had it in her power to impart, +then trembling for the consequences her explanation +might produce on the overexcited mind of the prince.</p> + +<p>Both these reflections were, however, swallowed up +in the enthusiastic gratitude which she felt in the consideration +that to her had been deputed the happiness +not only of announcing to the grief-stricken father that +his child still lived, but that the unspeakable rapture<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +of placing that daughter in her parent's arms was likewise +vouchsafed to her.</p> + +<p>Carried away by a burst of pious thankfulness, and +wholly forgetting the presence of Rodolph and Murphy, +Madame d'Harville threw herself on her knees, and, +clasping her hands, exclaimed, in a tone of fervent piety +and ineffable gratitude:</p> + +<p>"Thanks, thanks, my God, for this exceeding goodness! +Ever blessed be thy gracious name for having +permitted me to be the happy bearer of such joyful +tidings,—to wipe away a father's tears by telling him +his child lives to reward his tenderness!"</p> + +<p>Although these words, pronounced with the sincerest +fervour and holy ecstasy, were uttered almost in a whisper, +yet they reached the listening ears of Rodolph and +his faithful squire; and as Clémence rose from her +knees, the prince gazed on her lovely countenance, irradiated +as it was with celestial happiness and beaming +with more than earthly beauty, with an expression +almost amounting to adoration.</p> + +<p>Supporting herself with one hand, while with the +other she sought to still the rapid beating of her heart, +Madame d'Harville replied by a sweet smile and an +affirmative inclination of the head to the eager, soul-searching +look of Rodolph, a look wholly beyond our +poor powers to describe.</p> + +<p>"And where is she?" exclaimed the prince, trembling +like a leaf.</p> + +<p>"In my carriage."</p> + +<p>But for the intervention of Murphy, who threw himself +before Rodolph with the quickness of lightning, the +latter would have rushed to the vehicle.</p> + +<p>"Would you kill her, my lord?" exclaimed the +squire, forcibly retaining the prince.</p> + +<p>"She was merely pronounced convalescent yesterday," +added Clémence; "therefore, as you value her safety, +do not venture to try the poor girl's strength too far."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You are right," said Rodolph, scarcely able to +restrain himself sufficiently to follow this prudent advice, +"you are quite right. Yes, I will be calm,—I will not +see her at present; I will wait until her first emotions +have subsided. Oh, 'tis too much to endure in so +short a space of time!" Then addressing Madame +d'Harville, he said, in an agitated tone, while he extended +to her his hand, "I feel that I am pardoned, and that +you are the angel of forgiveness who brings me the glad +tidings of my remission."</p> + +<p>"Nay, my lord, we do but mutually requite our several +obligations. You preserved to me my father, +and Heaven permits me to restore your daughter at +a time you bewailed her as lost. But I, too, must +beg to be excused for the weakness which resists all +my endeavours to control it; the sudden and unexpected +news you have communicated to me has quite overcome +me, and I confess I should not have sufficient command +over myself to go in quest of Fleur-de-Marie,—my +emotion would terrify her."</p> + +<p>"And by what means was she preserved?" exclaimed +Rodolph; "and whose hand snatched her from death? +I am most ungrateful not to have put these questions to +you earlier."</p> + +<p>"She was rescued from drowning by a courageous +female, who snatched her from a watery grave just as +she was sinking."</p> + +<p>"Do you know who this female was?"</p> + +<p>"I do; and to-morrow she will be at my house."</p> + +<p>"The debt is immense!" rejoined the prince; "but I +will endeavour to repay it."</p> + +<p>"Heaven must have inspired me with the idea of +leaving Fleur-de-Marie in the carriage," said the marquise. +"Had I brought her in with me the shock must +have killed her."</p> + +<p>"Now, then," said the prince, who had been for some +minutes occupied in endeavouring to subdue his extreme<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span> +agitation, "I can promise you, my kind friends, that I +have my feelings sufficiently under control to venture to +meet my—my—daughter. Go, Murphy, and fetch her +to my longing arms."</p> + +<p>Rodolph pronounced the word daughter with a tenderness +of voice and manner impossible to describe.</p> + +<p>"Are you quite sure you are equal to the trying +scene, my lord?" inquired Clémence; "for we must +run no risks with one in Fleur-de-Marie's delicate state."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes,—yes! Be under no alarm! I am too +well aware of the dangerous consequences any undue +emotion would occasion my child; be assured I will not +expose her to anything of the sort. But go—go—my +good Murphy; I beseech you hasten to bring her +hither."</p> + +<p>"Don't be alarmed, madame," said the squire, who +had attentively scrutinised the countenance of the prince; +"she may come now without danger. I am quite sure +that his royal highness will sufficiently command himself."</p> + +<p>"Then go—go—my faithful friend; you are keeping +me in torments."</p> + +<p>"Just give me one minute, my lord," said the excellent +creature, drying the moisture from his eyes; "I +must not let the poor thing see I have been crying. +There, there—that will do! I should not like to cross +the antechamber looking like a weeping Magdalen." So +saying, the squire proceeded towards the door, but suddenly +turning back, he said, "But, my lord, what am I +to say to her?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, what had he better say?" inquired the prince +of Clémence.</p> + +<p>"That M. Rodolph wishes to see her,—nothing +more."</p> + +<p>"Oh, to be sure! How stupid of me not to think of +that! M. Rodolph wishes to see her,—capital, excellent!" +repeated the squire, who evidently partook of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> +Madame d'Harville's nervousness, and sought to defer +the moment of his embassy by one little pretext and the +other. "That will not give her the least suspicion, not +the shadow of a notion what she is wanted for. Nothing +better could have been suggested."</p> + +<p>But still Murphy stirred not.</p> + +<p>"Sir Walter," said Clémence, smiling, "you are +afraid!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I won't deny it!" said the squire. "And, +spite of my standing six feet high, I feel and know I +am trembling like a child."</p> + +<p>"Then take care, my good fellow!" said Rodolph. +"You had better wait a little longer if you do not feel +quite sure of yourself."</p> + +<p>"No, no, my lord; I have got the upper hand of my +fears this time!" replied Murphy, pressing his two herculean +fists to his eyes. "I know very well that at my +time of life it is ridiculous for me to show such weakness! +I'm going, my lord, don't you be uneasy!" So +saying, Murphy left the room with a firm step and +composed countenance.</p> + +<p>A momentary silence followed his departure, and then, +for the first time, Clémence remembered she was alone +with the prince, and under his roof. Rodolph drew +near to her, and said, with an almost timid voice and +manner:</p> + +<p>"If I select this day—this hour—to divulge to you +the dearest secret of my heart, it is that the solemnity +of the present moment may give greater weight to that +I would impart, and persuade you to believe me sincere, +when I assure you I have loved you almost from the +hour I first beheld you. While obstacles stood in the way +of my love I studiously concealed it; but you are now free +to hear me declare my affection, and to ask you to +become a mother to the daughter you restore to me."</p> + +<p>"My lord," cried Madame d'Harville, "what words are +these?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, refuse me not," said Rodolph, tenderly; "let +this day decide the happiness of my future life."</p> + +<p>Clémence had also nourished a deep and sincere +passion for the prince; and his open, manly avowal of a +similar feeling towards herself, made under such peculiar +circumstances, transported her with joy, and she could +but falter out in a hesitating voice:</p> + +<p>"My lord, 'tis for me to remind you of the difference +of our stations, and the interests of your sovereignty."</p> + +<p>"Permit me first to consider the interest of my own +heart, and that of my beloved child. Oh, make us both +happy by consenting to be mine! So that I who, but a +short time since, owned no blessed tie, may now proudly +indulge in the idea of having both a wife and daughter; +and give to the sorrowing child who is just restored +to my arms the delight of saying, 'My father—my +mother—my sister!'—for your sweet girl would become +mine also."</p> + +<p>"Ah, my lord," exclaimed Clémence, "my grateful +tears alone can speak my sense of such noble conduct!" +Then suddenly checking herself, she added, +"I hear persons approaching, my lord; your daughter +comes."</p> + +<p>"Refuse me not, I conjure you!" responded Rodolph, +in an agitated and suppliant tone. "By the love I bear +you, I beseech you to make me happy by saying, 'Our +daughter comes!'"</p> + +<p>"Then be it <i>our</i> daughter, if such is your sincere +wish," murmured Clémence, as Murphy, throwing open +the door, introduced Fleur-de-Marie into the salon.</p> + +<p>The astonished girl had, upon entering the immense +hôtel from the spacious portico under which she alighted +from the marquise's carriage, first crossed an anteroom +filled with servants dressed in rich liveries; then a waiting-room, +in which were other domestics belonging to +the establishment, also wearing the magnificent livery of +the house of Gerolstein; and lastly, the apartment in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> +which the chamberlain and aides-de-camp of the prince +attended his orders.</p> + +<p>The surprise and wonder of the poor Goualeuse, whose +ideas of splendour were based on the recollection of the +farm at Bouqueval, as she traversed those princely +chambers glittering with gold, silver, paintings, and +mirrors, may easily be imagined.</p> + +<p>Directly she appeared, Madame d'Harville ran towards +her, kindly took her hand, and throwing her arm +around her waist, as though to support her, led her +towards Rodolph, who remained supporting himself by +leaning one arm on the chimneypiece, wholly incapable +of advancing a single step.</p> + +<p>Having consigned Fleur-de-Marie to the care of +Madame d'Harville, Murphy hastily retreated behind +one of the large window curtains, not feeling too sure of +his own self-command.</p> + +<p>At the sight of him who was, in the eyes of Fleur-de-Marie, +not only her benefactor but the worshipped idol +of her heart, the poor girl, whose delicate frame had +been so severely tried by illness, became seized with a +universal trembling.</p> + +<p>"Compose yourself, my child!" said Madame d'Harville. +"See, there is your kind M. Rodolph, who has +been extremely uneasy on your account, and is most +anxious to see you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes—uneasy, indeed!" stammered forth Rodolph, +whose breast was wrung with anguish at the +sight of his child's pale, suffering looks, and, spite of +his previous resolution, the prince found himself compelled +to turn away his head to conceal his deep emotion.</p> + +<p>"My poor child!" said Madame d'Harville, striving +to divert the attention of Fleur-de-Marie, "you are still +very weak!" and, leading her to a large gilded armchair, +she made her sit down, while the astonished Goualeuse +seemed almost to shrink from touching the elegant +cushions with which it was lined. But she did not<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> +recover herself; on the contrary, she seemed oppressed. +She strove to speak, but her voice failed her, and her +heart reproached her with not having said one word to +her venerated benefactor of the deep gratitude which +filled her whole soul.</p> + +<p>At length, at a sign from Madame d'Harville, who, +leaning over Fleur-de-Marie, held one of the poor girl's +thin, wasted hands in hers, the prince gently approached +the side of the chair, and now, more collected, he said to +Fleur-de-Marie, as she turned her sweet face to welcome +him:</p> + +<p>"At last, my child, your friends have recovered you, +and be sure it is not their intention ever to part with +you again. One thing you must endeavour to do, and +that is to banish for ever from your mind all your past +sufferings."</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear girl," said Clémence, "you can in no +way so effectually prove your affection for your friends +as by forgetting the past."</p> + +<p>"Ah, M. Rodolph, and you, too, madame, pray believe +that if, spite of myself, my thoughts do revert to the +past, it will be but to remind me that but for you that +wretched past would still be my lot."</p> + +<p>"But we shall take pains to prevent such mournful +reminiscences ever crossing your mind. Our tenderness +will not allow you time to look back, my dear Marie," +said Rodolph; "you know I gave you that name at the +farm."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, M. Rodolph, I well remember you did. +And Madame Georges, who was so good as even to +permit me to call her mother, is she quite well?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly so, my child; but I have some most important +news for you. Since I last saw you some great +discoveries have been made respecting your birth. We +have found out who were your parents, and your father +is known to us."</p> + +<p>The voice of Rodolph trembled so much while pronouncing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> +these words that Fleur-de-Marie, herself deeply +affected, turned quickly towards him, but, fortunately, +he managed to conceal his countenance from her.</p> + +<p>A somewhat ridiculous occurrence also served at this +instant to call off the attention of the Goualeuse from +too closely observing the prince's emotion,—the worthy +squire, who still remained behind the curtain, feigning +to be very busily occupied in gazing upon the garden +belonging to the hôtel, suddenly blew his nose with a +twanging sound that reëchoed through the salon; for, +in truth, the worthy man was crying like a child.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear Marie," said Clémence, hastily, "your +father is known to us—he is still living."</p> + +<p>"My father!" cried La Goualeuse, in a tone of tender +delight, that subjected the firmness of Rodolph to +another difficult test.</p> + +<p>"And some day," continued Clémence,—"perhaps +very shortly, you will see him. But what will, no doubt, +greatly astonish you, is that he is of high rank and +noble birth."</p> + +<p>"And my mother, shall I not see her, too, madame?"</p> + +<p>"That is a question your father will answer, my dear +child. But tell me, shall you not be delighted to see +him?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, madame," answered Fleur-de-Marie, casting +down her eyes.</p> + +<p>"How much you will love him when you know him!" +said Clémence.</p> + +<p>"A new existence will commence for you from that +very day, will it not, Marie?" asked the prince.</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, M. Rodolph," replied Fleur-de-Marie, artlessly; +"my new existence began when you took pity +on me, and sent me to the farm."</p> + +<p>"But your father loves you fondly—dearly!" said +the prince.</p> + +<p>"I know nothing of my father, M. Rodolph; but to +you I owe everything in this world and the next."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then you love me better, perhaps, than you would +your father?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, M. Rodolph, I revere and bless you with all my +heart! For you have been a saviour and preserver to +me both of body and soul," replied La Goualeuse, with a +degree of fervour and enthusiasm that overcame her +natural diffidence.</p> + +<p>"When this kind lady was so good as to visit me in +prison, I said to her, as I did to every one else, 'Oh, if +you have any trouble, only let M. Rodolph know it, and +he will be sure to relieve you.' And when I saw any +person hesitating between good and evil, I used to +advise them to try and be virtuous, telling them +M. Rodolph always found a way to punish the wicked. +And to such as were far gone in sin, I said, 'Take care, +M. Rodolph will recompense you as you deserve.' And +even when I thought myself dying, I felt comfort in persuading +myself that God would pity and pardon me, +since M. Rodolph had deigned to do so."</p> + +<p>Carried away by her intense feelings of gratitude +and reverence for her benefactor, Fleur-de-Marie broke +through her habitual timidity; while thus expressing +herself a bright flush coloured her pale cheeks, while +her soft blue eyes, raised towards heaven as though in +earnest prayer, shone with unusual brilliancy.</p> + +<p>A silence of some seconds succeeded to this burst of +enthusiasm, while the spectators of the scene were too +deeply affected to attempt a reply.</p> + +<p>"It seems, then, my dear child," said Rodolph, at +length, "that I have almost usurped your parent's place +in your affections?"</p> + +<p>"Indeed, M. Rodolph, I cannot help it! Perhaps it +is very wrong in me to prefer you as I do, but I know +you, and my father is a stranger to me." Then letting +her head fall on her bosom, she added, in a low, confused +manner, "And besides, M. Rodolph, though you +are acquainted with the past, you have loaded me with<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> +kindness; while my father is ignorant of—of—my +shame,—and may, probably, regret, when he does know, +having found an unfortunate creature like myself. And +then, too," continued the poor girl, with a shudder, +"madame tells me he is of high birth; how, then, can +he look upon me without shame and aversion?"</p> + +<p>"Shame!" exclaimed Rodolph, drawing himself up +with proud dignity; "no, no, my poor child, your grateful, +happy father will raise you to a position so great, so +brilliant, that the richest and highest in the land shall +behold you with respect. Despise and blush for you!—never! +You shall take your place among the first +princesses of Europe, and prove yourself worthy of the +blood of queens which flows in your veins."</p> + +<p>"My lord! My lord!" cried Clémence and Murphy +at the same time, equally alarmed at the excited manner +of Rodolph, and the increasing paleness of Fleur-de-Marie, +who gazed on her father in silent amazement.</p> + +<p>"Ashamed of you!" continued he. "Oh, if ever I +rejoiced in my princely rank it is now that it affords me +the means of raising you from the depths to which the +wickedness of others consigned you. Yes, my child! +My long-lost, idolised child! In me behold your +father!" And utterly unable longer to repress his +feelings, the prince threw himself at the feet of +Fleur-de-Marie, and covered her hand with tears and +caresses.</p> + +<p>"Thanks, my God," exclaimed Fleur-de-Marie, passionately +clasping her hands, "for permitting me to +indulge that love for my benefactor with which my heart +was filled. My father! Oh, blessed title, that enables +me to love him even as I—" And unable to bear up +against the suddenness of the disclosure, Fleur-de-Marie +fell fainting in the prince's arms.</p> + +<p>Murphy rushed to the waiting-room, and shouted +vehemently:</p> + +<p>"Send for Doctor David directly! Directly, do you<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> +hear? For his royal highness,—no—no, for some one +who is suddenly taken ill here."</p> + +<p>"Wretch that I am!" exclaimed Rodolph, sobbing +almost hysterically at his daughter's feet, "I have +killed her! Marie, my child, look up! It is your father +calls you! Forgive—oh, forgive my precipitancy—my +want of caution in disclosing to you this happy news! +She is dead! God of heaven! Have I then but found her +to see her torn from me for ever?"</p> + +<p>"Calm yourself, my lord," said Clémence, "there is +no danger, depend upon it. The colour returns to her +cheeks; the surprise overcame her."</p> + +<p>"But so recently risen from a bed of sickness that +surprise may kill her! Unhappy man that I am, doomed +for ever to misery and suffering!"</p> + +<p>At this moment the negro doctor, David, entered the +room in great haste, holding in one hand a small case +filled with phials, and in the other a paper he handed to +Murphy.</p> + +<p>"David!" exclaimed Rodolph, "my child is dying! +I once saved your life, repay me now by saving that of +my daughter."</p> + +<p>Although amazed at hearing the prince speak thus, +David hurried to Fleur-de-Marie, whom Madame d'Harville +was supporting in her arms, examined her pulse and +the veins of her temples, then turning towards Rodolph, +who in speechless agony was awaiting his decree, he +said:</p> + +<p>"Your royal highness has no cause for alarm; there +is no danger."</p> + +<p>"Can it be true? Are you quite sure she will +recover?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly so, my lord; a few drops of ether administered +in a glass of water is all that is requisite to +restore consciousness."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, thanks, my good, my excellent David!" +cried the prince, in an ecstasy of joy. Then addressing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> +Clémence, Rodolph added, "Our daughter will +be spared to us."</p> + +<p>Murphy had just glanced over the paper given him +by David; suddenly he started, and gazed with looks of +terror at the prince.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my old and faithful friend," cried Rodolph, misinterpreting +the expression of Murphy's features, "ere +long my daughter will enjoy the happiness of calling the +Marquise d'Harville mother."</p> + +<p>"Yesterday's news," said Murphy, trembling violently, +"was false."</p> + +<p>"What say you?"</p> + +<p>"The report of the death of the Countess Macgregor, +my lord, is unfounded; her ladyship had undergone a +severe crisis of her illness, and had fallen into a state of +insensibility, which was mistaken by those around her +for death itself, and from hence originated the account of +her having expired; but to-day hopes are entertained +of her ultimate recovery."</p> + +<p>"Merciful heavens! Can this be possible?" exclaimed +the prince, filled with sudden alarm; while Clémence, +who understood nothing of all this, looked on with +undisguised astonishment.</p> + +<p>"My lord," said David, still occupied with Fleur-de-Marie, +"there is no need of the slightest apprehension +respecting this young lady, but it is absolutely necessary +she should be in the open air; this chair might be easily +rolled out on the terrace, by opening the door leading +to the garden; she would then immediately recover +consciousness."</p> + +<p>Murphy instantly ran to open the glass door, which +led to a broad terrace, then, aided by David, he gently +rolled the armchair on to it.</p> + +<p>"Alas!" cried Rodolph, as soon as Murphy and David +were at a distance, "you have yet to learn that the +Countess Sarah is the mother of Fleur-de-Marie; and I +believed her dead."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span></p> + +<p>A few moments of profound silence followed; Madame +d'Harville became deadly pale, while an icy coldness +seemed to chill her heart.</p> + +<p>"Let me briefly explain," continued Rodolph, in extreme +agitation, mingled with bitter sarcasm, "that this +ambitious and selfish woman, caring for nothing but my +rank and title, contrived, during my extreme youth, to +draw me into a secret marriage, which was afterwards +annulled. Being desirous of contracting a second marriage, +the countess occasioned all the misfortunes of +her unhappy child, by abandoning her to the care of +mercenary and unprincipled people."</p> + +<p>"Now I can account for the repugnance you manifested +towards her."</p> + +<p>"And you may likewise understand why she so +bitterly pursued you, and had twice so nearly effected +your destruction by her infamous slanders. Still a +prey to her insatiate ambition, she hoped, by separating +me from any other attachment, to draw me a second +time within her snares. And this heartless woman still +exists."</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay, my lord, that tone of bitter regret is not +worthy of you, any more than the feeling which dictated +it."</p> + +<p>"You do not know the wretchedness she has already +caused me; and even now that I had dared to dream of +happiness, and looked forward to obtaining in you the +comfort and solace of my life, as well as a mother for +my newly recovered child, this woman again crosses my +path, and, like the spirit of evil, dashes the cup from +my lips ere it is tasted."</p> + +<p>"Come, come, my lord," said poor Clémence, striving to +look cheerful, though her tears flowed fast, spite of all her +efforts to restrain them, "take courage, you have a great +and holy duty to perform. But just now, when impelled +by a natural burst of paternal affection, you said that +the future destiny of your daughter should be happy and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> +prosperous as her past life had been the reverse, that +you would elevate her in the eyes of the world even +more than she had been sunken and depressed. To do +this you must legitimise her birth, and the only means +by which that can be achieved is by espousing the +Countess Macgregor."</p> + +<p>"Never, never! That would be to reward the perjury, +selfishness, and unbridled ambition of the unnatural +mother of my poor child. But Marie shall not suffer by +my resolution. I will publicly acknowledge her, you will +kindly take her under your protection, and, I venture to +hope, afford her a truly maternal shelter."</p> + +<p>"No, my lord, you will not act thus! You will not +permit the cloud of doubt or mystery to hang over the +birth of your daughter. The Countess Sarah is descended +from an ancient and noble family; such an alliance is, +certainly, disproportionate for you, but still is an +honourable one; it will effectually legitimise your daughter, +and whatever may be her future destiny, she will +have cause to boast of her father, and openly declare +who was her mother."</p> + +<p>"But think not I can or will resign you! It were +easier to lay down my life than surrender the blessed +hope of dividing my time and affection between two +beings I so dearly love as yourself and my daughter."</p> + +<p>"Your child will still remain to you, my lord. Providence +has miraculously restored her to you; it would be +sore ingratitude on your part to deem your happiness +incomplete."</p> + +<p>"You could not argue thus if you loved as I love."</p> + +<p>"I will not undeceive you, great as is your error; on +the contrary, I would have you persist in that belief, it +will make the task I recommend less painful to you."</p> + +<p>"But if you really loved me,—if you suffered as bitterly +and severely as I do at the thoughts of my marrying +another, you would be wretched as I am. What will +console you for our separation?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> + +<p>"My lord, I shall try to find solace in the discharge of +my charitable duties,—duties I first learned to love and +practise from your counsels and suggestions, and which +have already afforded me so much consolation and sweet +occupation."</p> + +<p>"Hear me, I beseech you,—since you tell me it is +right, I will marry this woman; but the sacrifice once +accomplished, think not I will remain a single hour +with her, or suffer her to behold my child; thus +Fleur-de-Marie will lose in you the best and tenderest +of mothers."</p> + +<p>"But she will still retain the best and tenderest of +fathers. By your marriage with the Countess Sarah +she will be the legitimate daughter of one of Europe's +sovereign princes, and, as you but just now observed, my +lord, her position will be as great and splendid as it has +been miserable and obscure."</p> + +<p>"You are then pitilessly determined to shut out all +hope from me? Unhappy being that I am!"</p> + +<p>"Dare you style yourself unhappy,—you so good, so +just, so elevated in rank, as well as in mind and feeling? +Who so well and nobly understand the duty of self-denial +and self-sacrifice? When but a short time since you +bewailed your child's death with such heartfelt agony, +had any one said to you, 'Utter the dearest wish of your +soul and it shall be accomplished,' you would have cried, +'My child—my daughter! Restore her to me in life +and health!' This unexpected blessing is granted you, +your daughter is given to your longing arms, and yet +you style yourself miserable! Ah, my lord, let not Fleur-de-Marie +hear you, I beseech you!"</p> + +<p>"You are right," said Rodolph, after a long silence, +"such happiness as I aspired to would have been too +much for this world, and far beyond my right even to +dream of. Be satisfied your words have prevailed,—I +will act according to my duty to my daughter, and +forget the bleeding wound it inflicts on my own heart.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> +But I am not sorry I hesitated in my resolution, +since I owe to it a fresh proof of the perfection of your +character."</p> + +<p>"And is it not to you I owe the power of struggling +with personal feelings and devoting myself to the good +of others? Was it not you who raised and comforted +my poor depressed mind, and encouraged me to look for +comfort where only it could be found? To you, then, be +all the merit of the little virtue I may now be practising, +as well as all the good I may hereafter achieve. But take +courage, my lord, bear up, as becomes one of your firm, +right-minded nature. Directly Fleur-de-Marie is equal +to the journey, remove her to Germany; once there, she +will benefit so greatly by the grave tranquillity of the +country that her mind and feelings will be soothed and +calmed down to a placidity and gentle enjoyment of the +present, while the past will seem but as a troubled +dream."</p> + +<p>"But you—you?"</p> + +<p>"Ah, I may now confess with joy and pride that my +love for you will be, as it were, a shield of defence from +all snares and temptations,—a guardian angel that will +preserve me from all that could assail me in body or +mind. Then I shall write to you daily. Pardon me +this weakness, 'tis the only one I shall allow myself; +you, my lord, will also write to me occasionally, if but +to give me intelligence of her whom once, at least, I +called my daughter," said Clémence, melting into tears +at the thoughts of all she was giving up, "and who will +ever be fondly cherished in my heart as such; and when +advancing years shall permit me fearlessly and openly to +avow the regard which binds us to each other, then, my +lord, I vow by your daughter that, if you desire it, I will +establish myself in Germany, in the same city you yourself +inhabit, never again to quit you, but so to end a life +which might have been passed more agreeably, as far as +our earthly feelings were concerned, but which shall, at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> +least, have been spent in the practice of every noble and +virtuous feeling."</p> + +<p>"My lord," exclaimed Murphy, entering with eagerness, +"she whom Heaven has restored to you has +regained her senses. Her first word upon recovering +consciousness was to call for you. 'My father!—my +beloved father!' she cried, 'oh, do not take me from +him!' Come to her, my lord, she is all impatience +again to behold you!"</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>A few minutes after this Madame d'Harville quitted +the prince's hôtel, while the latter repaired in all haste +to the house of the Countess Macgregor, accompanied by +Murphy, Baron de Graün, and an aide-de-camp.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span></p> +<h3>CHAPTER VII.</h3> + +<h5>THE MARRIAGE.</h5> + + +<p>From the moment in which she had learnt from +Rodolph the violent death of Fleur-de-Marie, Sarah +had felt crushed and borne down by a disclosure so +fatal to all her ambitious hopes. Tortured equally by +a too late repentance, she had fallen into a fearful nervous +attack, attended even by delirium; her partially +healed wound opened afresh, and a long continuation of +fainting fits gave rise to the supposition of her death. +Yet still the natural strength of her constitution sustained +her even amid this severe shock, and life seemed +to struggle vigorously against death.</p> + +<p>Seated in an easy chair, the better to relieve herself +from the sense of suffocation which oppressed her, Sarah +had remained for some time plunged in bitter reflections, +almost amounting to regrets, that she had been permitted +to escape from almost certain death.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the door of the invalid's chamber opened, +and Thomas Seyton entered, evidently struggling to +restrain some powerful emotion. Hastily waving his +hand for the countess's attendants to retire, he approached +his sister, who seemed scarcely to perceive +her brother's presence.</p> + +<p>"How are you now?" inquired he.</p> + +<p>"Much the same; I feel very weak, and have at +times a most painful sensation of being suffocated. +Why was I not permitted to quit this world during my +late attack?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Sarah," replied Thomas Seyton, after a momentary +silence, "you are hovering between life and death,—any +violent emotion might destroy you or recall your feeble +powers and restore you to health."</p> + +<p>"There can be no further trial for me, brother!"</p> + +<p>"You know not that—"</p> + +<p>"I could now even hear that Rodolph were dead without +a shock. The pale spectre of my murdered child—murdered +through my instrumentality, is ever before me. +It creates not mere emotion, but a bitter and ceaseless +remorse. Oh, brother, I have known the feelings of a +mother only since I have become childless."</p> + +<p>"I own I liked better to find in you that cold, calculating +ambition, that made you regard your daughter but as +a means of realising the dream of your whole existence."</p> + +<p>"That ambition fell to the ground, crushed for ever +beneath the overwhelming force of the prince's reproaches. +And the picture drawn by him of the horrors +to which my child had been exposed awakened in +my breast all a mother's tenderness."</p> + +<p>"And how," said Seyton, hesitatingly and laying deep +emphasis on each word he uttered, "if by a miracle, a +chance, an almost impossibility, your daughter were still +living, tell me how you would support such a discovery."</p> + +<p>"I should expire of shame and despair!"</p> + +<p>"No such thing! You would be but too delighted at +the triumph such a circumstance would afford to your +ambition; for had your daughter survived, the prince +would, beyond a doubt, have married you."</p> + +<p>"And admitting the miracle you speak of could happen, +I should have no right to live; but so soon as the prince +had bestowed on me the title of his consort, my duty +would have been to deliver him from an unworthy spouse, +and my daughter from an unnatural mother."</p> + +<p>The perplexity of Thomas Seyton momentarily increased. +Commissioned by Rodolph, who was waiting +in an adjoining room, to acquaint Sarah that Fleur-de-Marie<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> +still lived, he knew not how to proceed. So feeble +was the state of the countess's health, that an instant +might extinguish the faint spark that still animated her +frame; and he saw that any delay in performing the +nuptial rite between herself and the prince might be +fatal to every hope. Determined to legitimise the birth +of Fleur-de-Marie by giving every necessary formality to +the ceremony, the prince had brought with him a clergyman +to perform the sacred service, and two witnesses in +the persons of Murphy and Baron de Graün. The Duc +de Lucenay and Lord Douglas, hastily summoned by +Seyton, had arrived to act as attesting witnesses on the +part of the countess.</p> + +<p>Each moment became important, but the remorse of +Sarah, mingled as it was with a maternal tenderness +that had entirely replaced the fiery ambition that once +held sway in her breast, rendered the task of Seyton +still more difficult. He could but hope that his sister +deceived either herself or him, and that her pride and +vanity would rekindle in all their former brightness +at the prospect of the crown so long and ardently +coveted.</p> + +<p>"Sister," resumed Seyton, in a grave and solemn +voice, "I am placed in a situation of cruel perplexity. +I could utter one word of such deep importance that it +might save your life or stretch you a corpse at my +feet."</p> + +<p>"I have already told you nothing in this world can +move me more."</p> + +<p>"Yes, one—one event, my sister."</p> + +<p>"And what is that?"</p> + +<p>"Your daughter's welfare."</p> + +<p>"I have no longer a child,—she is dead!"</p> + +<p>"But if she were not?"</p> + +<p>"Cease, brother, such useless suppositions,—we exhausted +that subject some minutes since. Leave me to +unavailing regrets!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Nay, but I cannot so easily persuade myself that if, +by some almost incredible chance, some unhoped-for aid, +your daughter had been snatched from death, and still +lived—"</p> + +<p>"I beseech you talk not thus to me,—you know not +what I suffer."</p> + +<p>"Then listen to me, sister, while I declare that, as the +Almighty shall judge you and pardon me, your daughter +lives!"</p> + +<p>"Lives! said you? My child lives?"</p> + +<p>"I did, and truly so; the prince, with a clergyman +and the necessary witnesses, awaits in the adjoining +chamber; I have summoned two of our friends to act as +our witnesses. The desire of your life is at length +accomplished, the prediction fulfilled, and you are +wedded to royalty!"</p> + +<p>As Thomas Seyton slowly uttered the concluding part +of his speech, he observed, with indescribable uneasiness, +the want of all expression in his sister's countenance, +the marble features remained calm and imperturbable, +and her only sign of attending to her brother's words +was a sudden pressure of both hands to her heart, as if +to still its throbbing, or as though under the influence of +some acute pain, while a stifled cry escaped her trembling +lips as she fell back in her chair. But the feeling, +whatever it was, soon passed away, and Sarah became +fixed, rigid, and tranquil, as before.</p> + +<p>"Sister!" cried Seyton, "what ails you? Shall I +call for assistance?"</p> + +<p>"'Tis nothing! Merely the result of surprise and +joy at the unhoped-for tidings you have communicated +to me. At last, then, the dearest wish of my heart is +accomplished!"</p> + +<p>"I was not mistaken," thought Seyton, "ambition +still reigns paramount in her heart, and will carry her +in safety through this trial. Well, sister," said he, +aloud, "what did I tell you?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You were right," replied she, with a bitter smile, as +she penetrated the workings of her brother's thoughts, +"ambition has again stifled the voice of maternal tenderness +within me!"</p> + +<p>"You will live long and happily to cherish and delight +in your daughter."</p> + +<p>"Doubtless I shall, brother. See how calm I am!"</p> + +<p>"Ah, but is your tranquillity real or assumed?"</p> + +<p>"Feeble and exhausted, can you imagine it possible +for me to feign?"</p> + +<p>"You can now understand the difficulty I felt in +breaking this news to you?"</p> + +<p>"Nay, I marvel at it, knowing as you did the extent +of my ambition. Where is the prince?"</p> + +<p>"He is here."</p> + +<p>"I would fain see and speak with him before the +ceremony." Then, with affected indifference, she +added, "And my daughter is also here, as a matter of +course?"</p> + +<p>"She is not here at present; you will see her by and +by."</p> + +<p>"True, there is no hurry; but send for the prince, +I entreat of you."</p> + +<p>"Sister, I know not why, but your manner alarms me, +and there is a strangeness in your very looks as well as +words!"</p> + +<p>And Seyton spoke truly. The very absence of all +emotion in Sarah inspired him with a vague and indefinable +uneasiness; he even fancied he saw her eyes +filled with tears she hastily repressed. But unable to +account for his own suspicions, he at once quitted the +chamber.</p> + +<p>"Now, then," said Sarah, "if I may but see and embrace +my daughter, I shall be satisfied. I fear there +will be considerable difficulty in obtaining that happiness; +Rodolph will refuse me, as a punishment for the +past. But I must and will accomplish my longing<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> +desire! Oh, yes! I cannot—will not be denied! But +the prince comes!"</p> + +<p>Rodolph entered, and carefully closed the door after him. +Addressing Sarah in a cold, constrained manner, he said:</p> + +<p>"I presume your brother has told you all?"</p> + +<p>"He has!"</p> + +<p>"And your ambition is satisfied."</p> + +<p>"Quite—quite satisfied?"</p> + +<p>"Every needful preparation for our marriage has been +made; the minister and attesting witnesses are in the +next room."</p> + +<p>"I know it."</p> + +<p>"They may enter, may they not, madame?"</p> + +<p>"One word, my lord. I wish to see my daughter."</p> + +<p>"That is impossible!"</p> + +<p>"I repeat, my lord, that I earnestly desire to see my +child."</p> + +<p>"She is but just recovering from a severe illness, and +she has undergone one violent shock to-day; the interview +you ask might be fatal to her."</p> + +<p>"Nay, my lord, she may be permitted to embrace her +mother without danger to herself."</p> + +<p>"Why should she run the risk? You are now a +sovereign princess!"</p> + +<p>"Not yet, my lord; nor do I intend to be until I have +embraced my daughter!"</p> + +<p>Rodolph gazed on the countess with unfeigned astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Is it possible," cried he, "that you can bring yourself +to defer the gratification of your pride and ambition?"</p> + +<p>"Till I have indulged the greater gratification of a +mother's feelings. Does that surprise you, my lord?"</p> + +<p>"It does indeed!"</p> + +<p>"And shall I see my daughter?"</p> + +<p>"I repeat—"</p> + +<p>"Have a care, my lord,—the moments are precious,—mine +are possibly numbered! As my brother said,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +the present trial may kill or cure me. I am now +struggling, with all my power, with all the energy I +possess, against the exhaustion occasioned by the discovery +just made to me. I demand to see my daughter, +or otherwise I refuse the hand you offer me, and, if I +die before the performance of the marriage ceremony, +her birth can never be legitimised!"</p> + +<p>"But Fleur-de-Marie is not here; I must send for her."</p> + +<p>"Then do so instantly, and I consent to everything +you may propose; and as, I repeat, my minutes are +probably numbered, the marriage can take place while +they are conducting my child hither."</p> + +<p>"Although 'tis a matter of surprise to hear such +sentiments from you, yet they are too praiseworthy to +be treated with indifference. You shall see Fleur-de-Marie; +I will write to her to come directly."</p> + +<p>"Write there—on that desk—where I received my +death-blow!"</p> + +<p>While Rodolph hastily penned a few lines, the countess +wiped from her brows the cold damps that had gathered +there, while her hitherto calm and unmovable features +were contracted by a sudden spasmodic agony, which +had increased in violence from having been so long +concealed. The letter finished, Rodolph arose and said +to the countess:</p> + +<p>"I will despatch this letter by one of my aides-de-camp; +she will be here in half an hour from the time +my messenger departs. Shall I, upon my return to you, +bring the clergyman and persons chosen to witness our +marriage, that we may at once proceed?"</p> + +<p>"You may,—but no, let me beg of you to ring the +bell; do not leave me by myself; let Sir Walter despatch +the letter, and then return with the clergyman."</p> + +<p>Rodolph rang; one of Sarah's attendants answered +the summons.</p> + +<p>"Request my brother to send Sir Walter Murphy +here," said the countess, in a faint voice. The woman<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> +went to perform her mistress's bidding. "This marriage +is a melancholy affair, Rodolph," said the countess, +bitterly, "I mean as far as I am concerned; to you it +will be productive of happiness." The prince started at +the idea. "Nay, be not astonished at my prophesying +happiness to you from such a union; but I shall not live +to mar your joys."</p> + +<p>At this moment Murphy entered.</p> + +<p>"My good friend," said the prince, "send this letter +off to my daughter. Colonel —— will be the bearer of +it, and he can bring her back in my carriage; then +desire the minister and all concerned in witnessing +the marriage ceremony to assemble in the adjoining +room."</p> + +<p>"God of mercy!" cried Sarah, fervently clasping her +hands as the squire disappeared, "grant me strength to +fold my child to my heart! Let me not die ere she +arrives!"</p> + +<p>"Alas! why were you not always the tender mother +you now are?"</p> + +<p>"Thanks to you, at least, for awakening in me a +sincere repentance for the past, and a hearty desire to +devote myself to the good of those whose happiness I +have so fearfully disturbed! Yes, when my brother +told me, a short time since, of our child's preservation,—let +me say our child, it will not be for long I shall +require your indulgence,—I felt all the agony of knowing +myself irrecoverably ill, yet overjoyed to think that +the birth of our child would be legitimised; that done, +I shall die happy!"</p> + +<p>"Do not talk thus."</p> + +<p>"You will see I shall not deceive you again; my +death is certain."</p> + +<p>"And you will die without one particle of that insatiate +ambition which has been your return! By what +fatality has your repentance been delayed till now?"</p> + +<p>"Though tardy, it is sincere; and I call Heaven to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> +witness that, at this awful moment, I bless God for +removing me from this world, and that I am spared the +additional misery of living, as I am aware I should have +been a weight and burden to you, as well as a bar to +your happiness elsewhere. But can you pardon me? +For mercy's sake, say you do! Do not delay to speak +forgiveness and peace to my troubled spirit until the +arrival of my child, for in her presence you would not +choose to pronounce the pardon of her guilty mother. +It would be to tell her a tale I would fain she never +knew. You will not refuse me the hope that, when I +am gone, my memory may be dear to her?"</p> + +<p>"Tranquillise yourself, she shall know nothing of the +past."</p> + +<p>"Rodolph, do you too say I am forgiven! Oh, forgive +me—forgive me! Can you not pity a creature +brought low as I am? Alas, my sufferings might well +move your heart to pity and to pardon!"</p> + +<p>"I do forgive you from my innermost soul!" said the +prince, deeply affected.</p> + +<p>The scene was most heartrending. Rodolph opened +the folding-doors, and beckoned in the clergyman with +the company assembled there, that is to say, Murphy and +Baron de Graün as witnesses on the part of Rodolph, +and the Duc de Lucenay and Lord Douglas on the part +of the countess; Thomas Seyton followed close behind. +All were impressed with the awful solemnity of the +melancholy transaction, and even M. de Lucenay seemed +to have lost his usual petulance and folly.</p> + +<p>The contract of marriage between the most high and +powerful Prince Gustave Rodolph, fifth reigning Duke of +Gerolstein, and Sarah Seyton of Halsburg, Countess Macgregor, +which legitimised the birth of Fleur-de-Marie, +had been previously drawn up by Baron de Graün, and, +being read by him, was signed by the parties mentioned +therein, as well as duly attested by the signature of their +witnesses.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p> + +<p>Spite of the countess's repentance, when the clergyman, +in a deep solemn voice, inquired of Rodolph +whether his royal highness was willing to take Sarah +Seyton of Halsburg, Countess Macgregor, for his wife, +and the prince had replied in a firm, distinct voice, +"I will," the dying eyes of Sarah shone with unearthly +brilliancy, an expression of haughty triumph passed +over her livid features,—the last flash of expiring +ambition.</p> + +<p>Not a word was spoken by any of the spectators of +this mournful ceremony, at the conclusion of which the +four witnesses, bowing with deep but silent respect to +the prince, quitted the room.</p> + +<p>"Brother," said Sarah, in a low voice, "request the +clergyman to accompany you to the adjoining room, and +to have the goodness to wait there a moment."</p> + +<p>"How are you now, my dear sister?" asked Seyton. +"You look very pale."</p> + +<p>"Nay," replied she, with a haggard smile, "fear not +for me; am I not Grand Duchess of Gerolstein?" Left +alone with Rodolph, Sarah murmured in a feeble and +expiring voice, while her features underwent a frightful +change, "I am dying; my powers are exhausted! I +shall not live to kiss and bless my child!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, you will. Calm yourself; she will soon +be here."</p> + +<p>"It will not be! In vain I struggle against the approach +of Death. I feel too surely his icy hand upon +me; my sight grows dim; I can scarcely discern even +you."</p> + +<p>"Sarah!" cried the prince, chafing her damp, cold +hands with his. "Take courage, she will soon be here; +she cannot delay much longer!"</p> + +<p>"The Almighty has not deemed me worthy of so +great a consolation as the presence of my child!"</p> + +<p>"Hark, Sarah! Methinks I hear the sound of wheels. +Yes, 'tis she,—your daughter comes!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Promise me, Rodolph, she shall never know the unnatural +conduct of her wretched but repentant mother," +murmured the countess, in almost inarticulate accents.</p> + +<p>The sound of a carriage rolling over the paved court +was distinctly heard, but the countess had already ceased +to recognise what was passing around her, her words became +more indistinct and incoherent. Rodolph bent over +her with anxious looks; he saw the rising films of death +veil those beautiful eyes, and the exquisite features grow +sharp and rigid beneath the touch of the king of terrors.</p> + +<p>"Forgive me,—my child! Let me—see—my—child! +Pardon—at least! And—after—death—the +honours—due—to my—rank—" she faintly +said, and these were the last articulate words she +uttered,—the one, fixed, dominant passion of her +life mingled, even in her last moments, with the +sincere repentance she expressed and, doubtless, felt. +Just at that awful moment Murphy entered.</p> + +<p>"My lord," cried he, "the Princess Marie is arrived!"</p> + +<p>"Let her not enter this sad apartment. Desire Seyton +to bring the clergyman hither." Then pointing to +Sarah, who was slowly sinking into her last moments, +Rodolph added, "Heaven has refused her the gratification +of seeing her child!"</p> + +<p>Shortly after that the Countess Sarah Macgregor +breathed her last.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span></p> +<h3>CHAPTER VIII.</h3> + +<h5>BICÊTRE.</h5> + + +<p>A fortnight had elapsed since Sarah's death, and it +was mid-Lent Sunday. This date established, we will +conduct the reader to Bicêtre, an immense building, +which, though originally designed for the reception +of insane persons, is equally adapted as an asylum +for seven or eight hundred poor old men, who are +admitted into this species of civil invalid hospital when +they have reached the age of seventy years, or are +afflicted with severe infirmities.</p> + +<p>The entrance to Bicêtre is by a large court, planted +with high trees, and covered in the centre by a mossy +turf, intersected with flower beds duly cultivated. Nothing +can be imagined more healthful, calm, or cheerful +than the promenade thus devoted to the indigent old +beings we have before alluded to. Around this square +are the spacious and airy dormitories, containing clean, +comfortable beds; these chambers form the first floor of +the building, and immediately beneath them are the +neatly kept and admirably arranged refectories, where +the assembled community of Bicêtre partake of their +common meal, excellent and abundant in its kind, and +served with a care and attention that reflects the highest +praise on the directors of this fine institution.</p> + +<p>In conclusion of this short notice of Bicêtre, we will +just add that at the period at which we write the building +also served as the abode of condemned criminals, +who there awaited the period of their execution.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was in one of the cells belonging to the prison that +the Widow Martial and Calabash were left to count the +hours till the following day, on which they were to suffer +the extreme penalty of the law.</p> + +<p>Nicholas, the Skeleton, and several of the same description +of ruffians had contrived to escape from La Force +the very night previous to the day on which they were to +have been transferred to Bicêtre.</p> + +<p>Eleven o'clock had just struck as two <i>fiacres</i> drew +up before the outer gate; from the first of which descended +Madame Georges, Germain, and Rigolette, and +from the second Louise Morel and her mother. Germain +and Rigolette had now been married for some +fifteen days.</p> + +<p>We must leave the reader to imagine the glow of happiness +that irradiated the fair face of the grisette, whose +rosy lips parted but to smile, or to lavish fond words +upon Madame Georges, whom she took every occasion of +calling "her dear mother." The countenance of Germain +expressed a more calm and settled delight. With +his sincere affection for the merry-hearted being to whom +he was united was mingled a deep and grateful sense of +the kind and disinterested conduct of Rigolette towards +him when in prison, although the charming girl herself +seemed to have completely forgotten all about it, and +even when Germain spoke of those days she would +entreat him to change the subject, upon the plea of +finding all such recollections so very dull and dispiriting. +Neither would the pretty grisette substitute a bonnet +for the smart little cap worn before her marriage, +and certainly never was humility and avoidance of pretension +better rewarded; for nothing could have been +invented more becoming to the piquant style of Rigolette's +beauty than the simple cap <i>à la paysanne</i>, trimmed +with a large orange-coloured rosette at each side, contrasting +so tastefully with the long tresses of her rich +dark hair, now worn in long hanging curls; for, as she<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> +said, "she could now allow herself to take a little pains +with her appearance."</p> + +<p>The fair bride wore a handsome worked muslin collar, +while a scarf, of similar colour to the trimmings of her +cap, half concealed her graceful, pliant figure, which, +notwithstanding her having leisure to adorn herself, was +still unfettered by the artificial restraints of stays; although +the tight gray silk dress she wore fitted without +a fold or a crease over her lightly rounded bosom, resembling +the beautiful statue of Galatea in marble. Madame +Georges beheld the happiness of the newly married pair +with a delight almost equal to their own.</p> + +<p>As for Louise Morel, she had been set at liberty after +undergoing a most searching investigation, and when a +post-mortem examination of her infant had proved that +it had come to its death by natural means; but the +countenance of the poor victim of another's villainy had +lost all the freshness of youth, and bore the impress of +deep sorrow, now softened and subdued by gentleness +and resignation. Thanks to Rodolph, and the excellent +care that had been taken of her through his means, the +mother of Louise, who accompanied her, had entirely +recovered her health.</p> + +<p>Madame Georges having informed the porter at the +lodge that she had called by the desire of one of the +medical officers of the establishment, who had appointed +to meet herself and the friends by whom she was accompanied +at half past eleven o'clock, she was requested to +choose whether she would await the doctor within doors +or in the large square before the building; determining +to do the latter, and supporting herself on the arm of +her son, while the wife of Morel walked beside her, she +sauntered along the shady alleys that bordered this +delightful spot, Louise and Rigolette following them.</p> + +<p>"How very glad I am to see you again, dear Louise," +said the bride. "When we came to fetch you on our +arrival from Bouqueval, I wanted to run up-stairs to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> +you, but my husband would not let me; he said I should +tire myself, so I stayed in the coach, and that is the +reason why we meet now for the first time since—"</p> + +<p>"You so kindly came to console me in prison, Mlle. +Rigolette," cried Louise, deeply affected. "You are so +feeling for all in trouble, whether of body or mind!"</p> + +<p>"In the first place, my dear Louise," replied the +grisette, hastily interrupting praises that were to her +oppressive, "I am not Mlle. Rigolette any longer, but +Madame Germain. I do not know whether you heard—"</p> + +<p>"That you were married? Oh, yes, I did. But pray +let me thank you as you deserve."</p> + +<p>"Ah, but Louise," persisted Madame Germain, "I am +quite sure you have not learnt all the particulars; how +my marriage is all owing to the generosity of him who +was at once the protector and benefactor of yourself and +family, Germain, his mother, and my own self."</p> + +<p>"Ah, yes, M. Rodolph,—we bless his name morning +and evening. When I came out of prison the lawyer +who had been to see me from time to time, by +M. Rodolph's order, told me that, thanks to the same +kind friend who had already interested himself so much +for us, M. Ferrand (and here at the very mention of the +name an involuntary shudder passed over the poor +girl's frame) had settled an annuity on my poor father +and myself,—some little reparation for the wrongs +he had done us. You are aware that my poor dear +father is still confined here, though still improving in +health."</p> + +<p>"And I also know that the kind doctor who has +appointed our being here to-day even hopes your dear +parent may be enabled to return with you to Paris; he +thinks that it will be better to take some decided steps +to throw off this malady, and that the unexpected presence +of persons your father was in the daily habit of seeing +may produce the most favourable effects,—perhaps +cure him; and that is what I think will be the case."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah, mademoiselle, I dare not hope for so much +happiness."</p> + +<p>"Madame Germain, my dear Louise, if it is all the +same to you; but to go on with what I was telling you, +you have no idea, I am sure, who M. Rodolph really is?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have,—the friend and protector of all who +are unhappy."</p> + +<p>"True, but that is not all. Well, as I see you really +are ignorant of many things concerning our benefactor, +I will tell you all about it."</p> + +<p>Then addressing her husband, who was walking before +her with Madame Georges, she said, "Don't walk so very +fast, Germain, you will tire our mother!" And, with a +look of proud satisfaction, she said, turning to Louise, +"Does not he deserve to have a good wife? See how +attentive he is to his mother! He certainly is very +handsome, too,—a thousand times more so than Cabrion, +or M. Girandeau, the travelling clerk! You +remember him, don't you, Louise?</p> + +<p>"Talking of Cabrion puts me in mind to ask you +whether M. Pipelet and his wife have arrived yet? The +doctor wished them to come here to-day with us, because +your father has talked much about them during his +wanderings."</p> + +<p>"No, they are not here at present, but they will not +be long. When we called for them they had already +set out."</p> + +<p>"And then as for being punctual in keeping an +appointment, M. Pipelet is as exact as a clock to the +hour and minute! But let me tell you a little more +about my marriage and M. Rodolph. Only think, Louise, +it was he who sent me with the order for Germain's +liberation! You can imagine our delight at quitting +that horrid prison. Well, we went home to my room, +and there Germain and I together prepared a nice little +bit of dinner; but, bless you! we might just as well +have spared ourselves the trouble, for, after it was ready,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> +neither of us could eat a bit for joy. When evening +came Germain left me, promising to return the next +day.</p> + +<p>"Well, at five o'clock next morning, I got up and sat +down to my work, for I was terribly behindhand with it. +As eight o'clock struck some one knocked at the door; +who should it be but M. Rodolph! Directly I saw him, +I began to thank him from the bottom of my heart for +all he had done for Germain and myself. He would not +allow me to proceed. 'My kind neighbour,' said he, +'I wish you to give this letter to Germain, who will soon +be here. Then you will take a <i>fiacre</i>, and proceed without +delay to a small village, near Ecouen, called Bouqueval. +Once there, inquire for Madame Georges; and I +wish you all imaginable pleasure from your trip.' 'M. +Rodolph,' I said, 'pray excuse me, but that will make +me lose another day's work and I have already got two +to make up for.' 'Make yourself perfectly easy, my +pretty neighbour,' said he, you will find plenty of work at +Madame Georges's, I promise you; she will prove an excellent +customer, I have no doubt, and I have particularly +recommended you to her.' 'Oh, that alters the case, +M. Rodolph, then I'm sure I shall be but too glad to +go.' 'Adieu, neighbour,' said M. Rodolph. 'Good-bye,' +cried I, 'and many thanks for so kindly recommending +me.'</p> + +<p>"When Germain came, I told him all about it; so as +we were quite sure M. Rodolph would not send us upon +any foolish errand, we set off as blithe as birds. Only +imagine, Louise, what a surprise awaited us on our arrival! +I declare I can scarcely think of it without tears +of happiness coming into my eyes. We went to the very +Madame Georges you see walking before us, and who +should she turn out to be but the mother of Germain!"</p> + +<p>"His mother?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, his own very mother, from whom he had been +taken when quite a baby! You must try to fancy their<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> +mutual joy! Well, when Madame Georges had wept +over her son, and embraced and gazed at him a hundred +times, my turn came to be noticed.</p> + +<p>"No doubt M. Rodolph had written something very +favourable about me, for, clasping me in her arms, she +said, 'She was acquainted with my conduct towards her +son.' 'Then, mother,' interposed Germain, 'it only rests +with you to ask her, and Rigolette will be your child as +well as I.' 'And I do ask her to be my daughter with +all my heart,' replied his mother, 'for you will never +find a better or a prettier creature to love as your wife.'</p> + +<p>"So there I was quite at home, in such a sweet farm, +along with Germain, his mother, and my birds; for I +had taken the poor, little, dear things with me, just to +hear how delightedly they would sing when they found +themselves in the country. The days passed like a dream. +I did only just what I liked,—helped Madame Georges, +walked about with Germain, and danced and sung like a +wild thing.</p> + +<p>"Well, our marriage was fixed to take place on yesterday +fortnight; the evening before, who should arrive but +a tall, elderly, bald-headed gentleman, who looked so kind; +and he brought me a <i>corbeille de mariage</i> from M. Rodolph. +Only think, Louise, what a beauty it must have been,—made +like a large rosewood box, with these words written +in letters of gold, on medallion of blue china, 'Industry +and Prudence—Love and Happiness.' And what +do you suppose this charming box contained? Why, a +number of lace caps similar to the one I have now on, +pieces for gowns, gloves, ornaments, a beautiful shawl, +and this pretty scarf. Oh, I thought I should lose my +senses with delight! But that is not all. At the bottom +of the box I found a handsome pocketbook, with these +words written on a bit of paper affixed to it, 'From a +friend to a friend.' Inside were two folded papers, one +addressed to Germain, and the other to me. In that +addressed to Germain was an order for his appointment<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> +as director of a bank for the poor with a salary of four +thousand francs a year; while he found under the +envelope, directed to me, a money order for forty thousand +francs on the treasury,—yes, that's the word; +it was called my marriage portion.</p> + +<p>"I did not like to take so large a sum, but Madame +Georges said to me, 'My dear child, you both can and +must accept it, as a recompense for your prudence, +industry, and devotion to those who were in misfortune; +for did you not run the risk of injuring your health, +and probably deprive yourself of your only means of +support, by sitting up all night at work, in order to make +up for the time you spent in attending to others?'"</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is quite true," exclaimed Louise, with +fervour. "I do not think there is any one upon earth +who would have done all that you have done, Mademoi—Madame +Germain!"</p> + +<p>"There's a good girl, she has learned her lesson at +last! Well, I said to the elderly gentleman that I did +not merit such a reward, that what little I had done was +purely because it afforded me pleasure. To which he +answered, 'That makes no difference; M. Rodolph is +immensely rich, and he sends you this dowry as a mark +of his friendship and esteem, and your refusal of it +would pain him very much indeed. He will himself be +present at your marriage, and then he will compel you +to take it.'"</p> + +<p>"What a blessing that so charitable a person as M. +Rodolph should be possessed of such riches!"</p> + +<p>"Of course it is! But I haven't told you all yet. +Oh, Louise, you never can guess who and what M. +Rodolph turns out to be; and to think of my making +him carry large parcels for me! But have a little +patience, you will hear about it directly.</p> + +<p>"The night before the marriage the elderly gentleman +came again very late, and in great haste,—it was to +tell us that M. Rodolph was ill, and could not attend<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> +the wedding, but that his friend, the bald-headed gentleman, +would take his place. And then only, my dear +Louise, did we learn that our benefactor was—guess +what—a prince! A prince, do I say? Bless you, +ever so much higher than that! A royal highness!—a +reigning duke!—a sort of a second-rate king! +Germain explained all about his rank to me!"</p> + +<p>"M. Rodolph a prince!—a duke!—almost a king!"</p> + +<p>"Just think of that, Louise! And imagine my having +asked him to help me to clean my room! A pretty +state of confusion it threw me into when I recollected +all that, and how free I had spoken to him! So of +course you know when I found that he was as good +as a king, I did not dare refuse his gracious wedding +present.</p> + +<p>"Well, my dear, when we had been married about a +week, M. Rodolph sent us word that he should be glad +if Germain, his mother, and myself would pay him a +wedding visit; so we did. I can tell you my heart beat +as though it would come through my side! Well, we +stopped at a fine palace in the Rue Plumet, and were +ushered into a number of splendid apartments, filled +with servants in liveries, all covered with gold lace, +gentlemen in black, with silver chains around their necks +and swords by their sides, officers in rich uniforms, and +all sorts of gay looking people. The rooms we passed +through were all gilt, and filled with such beautiful +things they quite dazzled my eyesight only to look at +them.</p> + +<p>"At last we got to the apartment where the bald-headed +old gentleman was sitting, with a quantity of +grand folks, all covered with gold lace and embroidery. +Well, when our elderly friend saw us, he rose and +conducted us to an adjoining room, where we found +M. Rodolph—I mean the prince—dressed so simply, +and looking so good and kind—just like the M. Rodolph +we first knew—that I did not feel at all frightened at<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> +the recollection of how I had set him to pin my shawl +for me, mend my pens, and walked with him arm in +arm in the street, just like two equals, as, certainly, then +I thought we were."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I should have trembled like a leaf if I had been +you!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I did not mind it at all, he smiled so encouragingly; +and, after kindly welcoming Madame Georges, he +held out his hand to Germain, and then said, smilingly, +to me, 'Well, neighbour, and how are "Papa Crétu" and +"Ramonette?"' (Those were the names I called my birds +by. Was it not kind of him to recollect them?)</p> + +<p>"'I feel quite sure,' added he, 'that yourself and +Germain can sing as merry songs as your birds.' 'Yes, +indeed, my lord,' replied I (Madame Georges had taught +me as we came along how I was to address the prince), +'we are as happy as it is possible to be, and our +happiness is the greater because we owe it to you.'</p> + +<p>"'Nay, nay, my good child,' said he, 'you may thank +your own excellent qualities and that of Germain for the +felicity you enjoy,' etc. I need not go on with that part +of the story, Louise, because it would oblige me to +repeat all the charming praises I received; and, certainly, +I cannot recollect ever doing more than my +strict duty, though the prince was pleased to think +differently.</p> + +<p>"Well, we all came away more sorrowful than we +went, for we found it was to be our farewell visit to +our benefactor, he being about to return to Germany. +Whether or not he has gone I cannot tell you, but, +absent or present, our most grateful remembrance and +respectful esteem will ever attend him.</p> + +<p>"I forgot to tell you that a dear, good girl I knew +when we were both in prison together had been living +at the farm with Madame Georges; it seems my young +friend had, fortunately, found a friend in M. Rodolph, +who had placed her there. But Madame Georges particularly<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> +cautioned me not to say a word on the subject +to the prince, who had some reason for desiring it +should not be talked about,—no doubt because he +could not bear his benevolent deeds should be known. +However, I learnt one thing that gave me extreme pleasure, +that my sweet Goualeuse had found her parents, +and that they had taken her a great, great way from +Paris; I could not help feeling grieved, too, that I had +not been able to wish her good-bye before she went.</p> + +<p>"But forgive me, dear Louise, for being so selfish as +to keep talking to you of every one's happiness when +you have so much reason to be sorrowful yourself."</p> + +<p>"Had my child but been spared to me," said poor +Louise, sadly, "it would have been some consolation to +me; for how can I ever hope to find any honest man +who would make me his wife, although I have got +money enough to tempt any one."</p> + +<p>"For my part, Louise, I feel quite sure that one of +these days I shall see you happily married to a good and +worthy partner, who will pity you for your past troubles, +and love and esteem you for the patience with which +you endured them."</p> + +<p>"Ah, Madame Germain, you only say so to try and +comfort me; but whether you really believe what you +say or no, I gratefully feel and thank you for your kindness. +But who are these? I declare, M. and Madame +Pipelet! How very gay he looks; so different from +the sad, dejected appearance he always wore, while M. +Cabrion was tormenting him as he did!"</p> + +<p>Louise was right. Pipelet advanced in high spirits, +and as though treading on air; on his head he wore the +well-known bell-crowned hat, a superb grass-green coat +adorned his person, while a white cravat, with embroidered +ends, was folded around his throat, in such a manner +as to permit the display of an enormous collar, reaching +nearly up to his eyes, and quite concealing his cheeks. +A large, loose waistcoat, of bright buff, with broad<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> +maroon-coloured stripes, black trousers, somewhat short +for the wearer, snowy white stockings, and highly polished +shoes completed his equipment.</p> + +<p>Anastasie displayed a robe of violet-coloured merino, +tastefully contrasted with a dark blue shawl. She +proudly exhibited her freshly curled Brutus wig to the +gaze of all she met, while her cap was slung on her +arm by its bright green strings, after the manner of a +reticule.</p> + +<p>The physiognomy of Alfred—ordinarily so grave, +thoughtful, and dejected—was now mirthful, jocund, +and hilarious. The moment he caught a glimpse of +Rigolette and Louise, he ran towards them, exclaiming +in his deep, sonorous voice, "Delivered! Gone!"</p> + +<p>"How unusually joyful you seem, M. Pipelet," said +Rigolette. "Do pray tell us what has occasioned such +a change in your appearance!"</p> + +<p>"Gone! I tell you, mademoiselle,—or, rather, madame, +as I may, do, and ought to say, now that, like +my Anastasie, you are tied up for life."</p> + +<p>"You are very polite, M. Pipelet; but please to tell +me who has gone?"</p> + +<p>"Cabrion!" responded M. Pipelet, inspiring and respiring +the air with a look of indescribable delight, as +though relieved of an enormous weight; "he has quitted +France for ever—for a perpetuity! At length he has +departed, and I am myself again."</p> + +<p>"Are you quite sure he has gone?"</p> + +<p>"I saw him with my eyes ascend the diligence, en +route for Strasburg with all his luggage and baggage; +that is to say, a hat-case, a maul-stick, and a box of +colours."</p> + +<p>"What is my old dear chattering about?" cried Anastasie, +as she came puffing and panting to the spot where +the little group were assembled; "I'll be bound he was +giving you the history of Cabrion's going off—I'm sure +he has talked of nothing else all the way we came."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Because I'm half wild with delight; I seem to have +got into another world,—such a lightness has come +over me. A little while ago my hat used to seem as +though loaded with lead, and as if it pressed forwards in +spite of me; now I seem as though borne on the breeze +towards the firmament, to think that he is gone—actually +set out—and never to return!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, the blackguard is off at last!" chimed in +Madame Pipelet.</p> + +<p>"Anastasie," cried her husband, "spare the absent! +Happiness calls for mercy and forbearance on our parts. +I will obey its dictates, and merely allow myself to remark +that Cabrion was a—a—worthless scoundrel!"</p> + +<p>"But how do you know that he has gone to Germany?" +inquired Rigolette.</p> + +<p>"By a friend of our 'king of lodgers.' Talking of +that dear man, you haven't heard that, owing to the +handsome manner in which he recommended us, Alfred +has been appointed house-porter to a sort of charitable +bank, established in our house by a worthy Christian, who +wishes, like M. Rodolph, to do all the good he can?"</p> + +<p>"Ah!" replied Rigolette. "And, perhaps, you don't +know, either, that my dear Germain is appointed manager +of this same bank? All owing to the kind intervention +of M. Rodolph."</p> + +<p>"Well, I never!" exclaimed Madame Pipelet, "all +our good luck comes together; and I'm sure I'm heartily +glad we shall keep old friends and acquaintances around +us. I hate fresh faces, for my part. I'm certain I would +not change my old duck of a husband even for your young +handsome one, Madame Germain.</p> + +<p>"But to go back to Cabrion. Only imagine a bald-headed, +stout, elderly gentleman, coming to tell us of +Alfred's new situation, and at the same time inquiring +if a talented artist of the name of Cabrion did not once +lodge in the house with us. Oh, my poor darling! +Directly Cabrion's name was mentioned down went<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> +the boot he was mending, and if I had not caught him +he would have swooned away. But, fortunately, the +bald gentleman added, 'This young painter has been engaged +by a very wealthy person to do some work, which +will occupy him for years, and he may, very probably, +establish himself in another country.' In confirmation +of which the old gentleman gave my Alfred the date of +Cabrion's departure, with the address of the office from +which he started."</p> + +<p>"And I had the unhoped-for satisfaction of reading on +the ticket, 'M. Cabrion, artist in painting, departs for +Strasburg, and further, by the company's diligence.' +The hour named was for this morning. I need not +say I was in the inn yard with my wife."</p> + +<p>"And there we saw the rascal take his seat on the +box beside the driver."</p> + +<p>"Just as the vehicle was set in motion Cabrion perceived +me, turned around, and cried,'Yours for ever! I +go to return no more.' Thank heaven! The loud blast +of the guard's horn nearly drowned these familiar and +insulting words, as well as any others he might have +intended to utter. But I pity and forgive the wretched +man,—I can afford to be generous, for I am delivered +from the bane and misery of my life."</p> + +<p>"Depend upon it, M. Pipelet," said Rigolette, endeavouring +to restrain a loud fit of laughter,—"depend upon +it, you will see him no more. But listen to me, and I +will tell you something I am sure you are ignorant of +and which it will be almost difficult for you to credit. +What do you think of our M. Rodolph not being what +we took him for, but a prince in disguise,—a royal +highness!"</p> + +<p>"Go along with you!" said Anastasie. "That is a +joke!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, but really," cried Rigolette, "I am not joking; +it is as true as—as—that I am married to my dear +Germain."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Goodness gracious me!" exclaimed Anastasie. "My +king of lodgers a royal highness! Oh, dear, here's a +pretty go! And I asked him to mind the lodge for me. +Oh, pardon! Pardon! Pardon!" And then, carried +away by the excess of her reverence and regret for +having so undervalued a prince, though a disguised one, +Madame Pipelet placed her cap on her head, as though +she imagined herself in the presence of royalty.</p> + +<p>Alfred, on the contrary, manifested his respect for +royalty in a manner diametrically the reverse of the +form adopted by his wife. Snatching off his hat, +that hat which had never before been seen to quit his +head, he commenced bowing to empty space, as though +standing in the presence of the august personage he +apostrophised, while he exclaimed, "Have I, then, been +honoured by a visit from royalty? Has my poor lodge +been so far favoured? And to think of his illustrious +eyes having seen me in my bed, when driven thither by +the vile conduct of Cabrion!"</p> + +<p>At this moment Madame Georges, turning around, +cried out:</p> + +<p>"My children, the doctor comes."</p> + +<p>Doctor Herbin, the individual alluded to, was a man +of about the middle age, with a countenance expressive +of great kindness and benevolence, united to extreme +skill and penetration in discovering the extent of malady +with which his unfortunate patients were affected. His +voice, naturally harmonious, assumed a tone of gentle +suavity when he spoke to the poor lunatics; who, however +bereft of reason, seemed always to listen with peculiar +delight to his soft, soothing words, which frequently +had the effect of subduing the invariable irritability attendant +on this fearful complaint. M. Herbin had been +among the first to substitute, in his treatment of madness, +sympathy and commiseration for the frightful remedies +ordinarily employed. He abandoned the coercive system, +so repugnant to every principle of humanity, for kind<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> +words, conciliating looks, and a ready attention to every +request that could reasonably be granted. He banished +chains, whips, drenching with cold water, and even +solitary confinement, except in cases of urgent +necessity.</p> + +<p>"Monsieur," said Madame Georges, addressing the +doctor, "I have ventured hither with my son and +daughter, although personally unknown to M. Morel; +but my interest in his unfortunate state made me desirous +of witnessing the experiment you are about to make +to restore his reason. You have every hope of succeeding, +have you not?"</p> + +<p>"I certainly reckon much, madame, on the good +effects likely to be produced by the sight of his daughter +and the persons he has been in the constant habit of +seeing."</p> + +<p>"When my husband was arrested," said Morel's wife, +pointing to Rigolette, "our kind young friend here was +nursing me and my children."</p> + +<p>"And my father knew M. Germain quite well," said +Louise; then directing the attention of M. Herbin to +Alfred and Anastasie, she added, "Monsieur and madame +here were porters at the house, and assisted our family +to the utmost of their ability."</p> + +<p>"I am greatly obliged to you, my worthy friend," said +the doctor, addressing Alfred, "for quitting your occupation +to come hither; but I see by your amiable countenance +that you have cheerfully sacrificed your time to +visit your poor lodger here."</p> + +<p>"Sir-r!" replied Pipelet, gravely bowing. "Men +should help each other in this sublunary world, and +remember that all are brothers; added to which your +unfortunate patient was the very cream and essence of +an honest man, and therefore do I respect him."</p> + +<p>"If you are not afraid, madame," said Doctor Herbin +to Madame Georges, "of the sight of the poor creatures +here, we will cross some of the yards leading to that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> +part of the building where I have deemed it advisable to +remove Morel, instead of allowing him to accompany the +others to the farm as usual."</p> + +<p>"The farm!" exclaimed Madame Georges. "Have +you a farm here?"</p> + +<p>"Your surprise is perfectly natural, madame. Yes, +we have a farm, the produce of which is most serviceable +to the establishment, although entirely worked by the +patients."</p> + +<p>"Is it possible? Can you make these lunatics work, +and allow them to be at liberty while they do so?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly; exercise, the calm tranquillity of the +fields, with the aspect of nature, are among our most +certain means of cure. Only one keeper goes with them, +and we have rarely had an instance of any patient endeavouring +to get away; they are delighted to be +employed, and the trifling reward they gain serves +still to improve their condition, by enabling them to +purchase different little indulgences. But we have +reached the gate conducting to one of these courts." +Then perceiving a slight appearance of alarm on the +countenance of Madame Georges, the doctor added, "Lay +aside all apprehension, madame; in a very few minutes +you will feel as tranquil as I do myself."</p> + +<p>"I follow you, sir. Come, my children."</p> + +<p>"Anastasie," whispered Pipelet, "when I think that, +had the persecutions of that odious Cabrion continued, +your poor dear Alfred might have become mad, like the +unhappy wretches we are about to behold, clad in the +most wild and singular state, chained up by the middle, +or confined in dens like the wild beasts in the 'Jardin +des Plantes—'"</p> + +<p>"Oh, bless your dear old heart, don't talk of such +a thing! La! I've heard say that them as has gone +mad for love are for all the world like born devils +directly they see a woman; dashing against the bars +of their dens, and making all sorts of horrid noises, till<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> +the keepers are forced to flog them till they drop, or else +turn great taps of water on their heads before they can +quiet them."</p> + +<p>"Anastasie," rejoined Pipelet, gravely, "I desire you +will not go too close to these dreadful creatures, an +accident so soon happens."</p> + +<p>"Besides," answered Anastasie, with a tone of sentimental +melancholy, "poor things, I have no business to +show myself just for the sake of tantalising them. 'Tis +woman's beauty and fascination reduces them to this +horrid state. I declare I feel a cold shudder creep over +me as I reflect that, perhaps, if I had refused to make +you a happy man, Alfred, you might at this very minute +be raving mad for love, and shut up in one of these +dens, roaring out the moment you caught sight of a +woman; while as it is, my poor old duck is glad to get +out of the way of the naughty females that will be trying +to make him notice them."</p> + +<p>"'Tis true, my modesty is easily alarmed. But, Anastasie, +the door opens, I tremble with dread of what we +are about to witness; no doubt the most hideous looking +people, and all sorts of dreadful noises, rattling of chains, +and grinding of teeth."</p> + +<p>The door being opened admitted them into a long +courtyard, planted with rows of trees, under which +benches were placed. On each side was a well-constructed +and spacious portico, or covered stone terrace, +with which a range of large, airy cells communicated. +A number of men, all alike clad in a gray dress, were +walking, talking, or conversing in this pleasant retreat, +while others were seated on the benches, enjoying the +refreshing shade and fresh open air.</p> + +<p>At the sight of Doctor Herbin a number of the unfortunate +lunatics pressed around him, with every manifestation +of joy and delight, extending to him their hands +with an expression of grateful confidence, to which he +cordially responded, by saying:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Good day—good day, my worthy fellows! I am +glad to see you all so well and happy."</p> + +<p>Some of the poor lunatics, too far from the doctor to +be able to seize his hand, ventured, with a sort of timid +hesitation, to offer theirs to the persons who were with +him.</p> + +<p>"Good morning, friends," said Germain, shaking +hands in a manner so cordial as to fill the unfortunate +beings with happiness.</p> + +<p>"Are these the mad patients?" inquired Madame +Georges.</p> + +<p>"Nearly the worst belonging to the establishment," +answered the doctor, smiling; "they are permitted to +be together during the day, but at night they are locked +up in the cells you see there."</p> + +<p>"Can it be possible that these men are really mad! +But when are they violent?"</p> + +<p>"Generally at the first outbreak of their malady, when +they are brought here. After a short time the soothing +treatment they experience, with the society of their companions, +calms and amuses them, so that their paroxysms +become milder and less frequent, until at length, by the +blessing of God, they recover their senses."</p> + +<p>"What are those individuals talking so earnestly +about?" inquired Madame Georges. "One of them +seems referring to a blind man, who, in addition to +the loss of sight, seems likewise deprived of speech +and reason. Have you such a one among your patients, +or is the existence of this person but a mere coinage of +the brain?"</p> + +<p>"Unhappily, madame, it is a fact but too true, and +the history connected with it is a most singular one. +The blind man concerning whom you inquire was found +in a low haunt in the Champs Elysées, in which a gang +of robbers and murderers of the worst description were +apprehended; this wretched object was discovered, +chained in the midst of an underground cave, and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> +beside him lay stretched the dead body of a woman, +so horribly mutilated that it was wholly impossible +to attempt to identify it. The man himself was hideously +ugly, his features being quite destroyed by the +application of vitriol. He has never uttered a single +word since he came hither; whether his dumbness be +real or affected I know not, for, strange to say, his paroxysms +always occur during the night, and when I am +absent, so as to baffle all conjecture as to his real situation; +but his madness seems occasioned by violent rage, +the cause of which we cannot find out, for, as I before +observed, he never speaks or utters an articulate sound. +But here he is."</p> + +<p>The whole of the party accompanying the doctor +started with horror at the sight of the Schoolmaster, +for he it was, who merely feigned being dumb and mad +to procure his own safety. The dead body found beside +him was that of the Chouette, whom he had murdered, +not during a paroxysm of madness, but while under the +influence of such a burning fever of the brain as had +produced the fearful dream he had dreamed the night he +passed at the farm of Bouqueval.</p> + +<p>After his apprehension in the vaults of the tavern in +the Champs Elysées, the Schoolmaster had awakened +from his delirium to find himself a prisoner in one of +the cells of the Conciergerie, where mad persons are +temporarily placed under restraint. Hearing all about +him speak of him as a raving and dangerous lunatic, he +resolved to continue to enact the part, and even feigned +absolute dumbness for the purpose of avoiding the chance +of any questions being attempted to be put to him.</p> + +<p>His scheme succeeded. When removed to Bicêtre he +affected occasional fits of furious madness, taking care always +to select the night for these outrageous bursts, the +better to escape the vigilant eye of the head surgeon; the +house doctor, hastily summoned, never arriving in time +to witness either the beginning or ending of these attacks.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> + +<p>The few of his accomplices who knew either his name, +or the fact of his having escaped from the galleys at +Rochefort, were ignorant of what had become of him; +and even if they did, what interest could they have in +denouncing him? Neither would it have been possible +to establish his identity—burnt and mutilated as he +was—with the daring felon of Rochefort. He hoped, +therefore, by continuing to act the part of a madman, to +be permitted to abide permanently at Bicêtre; such was +now the only desire of the wretch, unable longer to +indulge his appetite for sinful and violent deeds.</p> + +<p>During the solitude in which he lived in Bras Rouge's +cellar, remorse gradually insinuated itself into his strong +heart; and, cut off from all communication with the +outer world, his thoughts fled inwards, and presented +him with ghastly images of those he had destroyed, till +his brain burned with its own excited torture.</p> + +<p>And thus this miserable creature, still in the full +vigour and strength of manhood, before whom were, +doubtless, long years of life, and enjoying the undisturbed +possession of his reason, was condemned to linger out +the remainder of his days as a self-imposed mute, and +in the company of fools and madmen; or if his imposition +was discovered, his murderous deeds would conduct +him to a scaffold, or condemn him to perpetual banishment +among a set of villains, for whom his newly +awakened penitence made him feel the utmost horror.</p> + +<p>The Schoolmaster was sitting on a bench; a mass of +grizzled, tangled locks hung around his huge and hideous +head; leaning his elbow on his knee, he supported his +cheek in his hand. Spite of his sightless eyes and mutilated +features, the revolting countenance still expressed +the most bitter and overwhelming despair.</p> + +<p>"Dear mother," observed Germain, "what a wretched +looking object is this unfortunate blind man!"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 328px;"><a name="image172" id="image172"></a> +<img src="images/i176.jpg" width="328" height="500" alt=""The Schoolmaster Was Sitting on a Bench" +Original Etching by Porteau" title=""The Schoolmaster Was Sitting on a Bench" +Original Etching by Porteau" /> +<span class="caption">"<i>The Schoolmaster Was Sitting on a Bench</i>"<br /> +<span class="artist">Original Etching by Porteau</span></span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, my son!" answered Madame Georges; "it +makes one's heart ache to behold a fellow creature so +heavily afflicted. I know not when anything has so completely +shocked me as the sight of this deplorable being."</p> + +<p>Scarcely had Madame Georges given utterance to +these words than the Schoolmaster started, and his +countenance, even despite its cicatrised and disfigured +state, became of an ashy paleness. He rose and turned +his head in the direction of Madame Georges so suddenly +that she could not refrain from faintly screaming, though +wholly unsuspicious of who the frightful creature really +was; but the Schoolmaster's ear had readily detected +the voice of his wife, and her words told him she was +addressing her son.</p> + +<p>"Mother!" inquired Germain, "what ails you? Are +you ill?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing, my son; but the sudden movement made +by that man terrified me. Indeed, sir," continued she, +addressing the doctor, "I begin to feel sorry I allowed +my curiosity to bring me hither."</p> + +<p>"Nay, dear mother, just for once to see such a place +cannot hurt you!"</p> + +<p>"I tell you what, Germain," interposed Rigolette, "I +don't feel very comfortable myself; and I promise you +neither your mother nor I will desire to come here again—it +is too affecting!"</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! You are a little coward! Is she not, M. +le Docteur?"</p> + +<p>"Why, really," answered M. Herbin, "I must confess +that the sight of this blind lunatic affects even me, who +am accustomed to such things."</p> + +<p>"What a scarecrow, old ducky! Isn't he?" whispered +Anastasie; "but, la! to my eyes every man looks +as hideous as this dreadful blind creature in comparison +with you, and that is why no one can ever boast of my +having granted him the least liberty,—don't you see, +Alfred?"</p> + +<p>"I tell you what, Anastasie," replied Pipelet, "I shall +dream of this frightful figure. I know he will give me<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> +an attack of nightmare. I won't eat tripe for supper +till I have quite forgot him."</p> + +<p>"And how do you find yourself now, friend?" asked +the doctor of the Schoolmaster; but he asked in vain, +no attempt was made to reply. "Come, come!" continued +the doctor, tapping him lightly on the shoulder, "I +am sure you hear what I say; try to make me a sign at +least, or speak,—something tells me you can if you +will!"</p> + +<p>But the only answer made to this address was by the +Schoolmaster suddenly drooping his head, while from +the sightless eyes rolled a tear.</p> + +<p>"He weeps!" exclaimed the doctor.</p> + +<p>"Poor creature!" murmured Germain, in a compassionate +tone.</p> + +<p>The Schoolmaster shuddered; again he heard the +voice of his son, breathing forth commiseration for his +wretched, though unknown parent.</p> + +<p>"What is the matter?" inquired the doctor; "what +is it grieves you?"</p> + +<p>But, without taking any notice of him, the Schoolmaster +hid his face with his hands.</p> + +<p>"We shall make nothing of him," said the doctor. +Then, perceiving how painfully this scene appeared to +affect Madame Georges, he added, "Now, then, madame, +we will go to Morel, and, if my expectations are fulfilled, +you will be amply rewarded for the pain you have felt +hitherto, in witnessing the joy of so good a husband and +father in being restored to his family."</p> + +<p>With these words the doctor, followed by the party +that had accompanied him, proceeded on his way, leaving +the Schoolmaster a prey to his own distracting thoughts, +the most bitter of which was the certainty of having +heard his son's voice, and that of his wife, for the last +time. Aware of the just horror with which he inspired +them, the misery, shame, and affright with which they +would have heard the disclosure of his name made him<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> +prefer a thousand deaths to such a revelation. One only, +but great, consolation remained in the certainty of having +awakened the pity of his son; and, with this thought to +comfort him, the miserable being determined to endure +his sufferings with repentance and submission.</p> + +<p>"We are now about to pass by the yard appropriated +to the use of the idiot patients," said the doctor, stopping +before a large grated door, through which the poor idiotic +beings might be seen huddled together, with every +appearance of the most distressing imbecility.</p> + +<p>Spite of Madame Georges's recent agitation, she could +not refrain from casting a glance through the railing.</p> + +<p>"Poor creatures!" said she, in a gentle, pitying voice; +"how dreadful to think their sufferings are hopeless! +for I presume there is no remedy for such an affliction +as theirs?"</p> + +<p>"Alas, none, madame!" replied the doctor. "But I +must not allow you to dwell too long on this mournful +picture of human misery. We have now arrived at the +place where I expect to find Morel, whom I desired +should be left entirely alone, in order to produce a more +startling effect in the little project on which I build my +hopes for his restoration to reason."</p> + +<p>"What idea principally occupies his mind?" asked +Madame Georges.</p> + +<p>"He believes that if he cannot earn thirteen hundred +francs by his day's work, in order to pay off a debt +contracted with one Ferrand, a notary, his daughter will +perish on a scaffold."</p> + +<p>"That man Ferrand was, indeed, a monster!" exclaimed +Madame Georges; "poor Louise Morel and her +father were not the only victims to his villainy, he has +persecuted my son with the bitterest animosity."</p> + +<p>"I have heard the whole story from Louise," replied +the doctor. "Happily the wretch can no more wring +your hearts with agony. But be so good as to await me +here while I go to ascertain the state of Morel." Then,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> +addressing Louise, he added, "You must carefully watch +for my calling out 'Come!' Appear instantly; but let +it be alone. When I call out 'Come!' for the second +time, the rest of the party may make their appearance."</p> + +<p>"Alas, sir, my heart begins to fail me!" replied +Louise, endeavouring to suppress her tears. "My poor +father! What if the present trial fail!"</p> + +<p>"Nay, nay, keep up your courage! I am most sanguine +of success in the scheme I have long meditated for +the restoration of your father's reason. Now, then, all +you have to do for the present is carefully to attend to +my directions." So saying, the doctor, quitting his party, +entered a small chamber, whose grated window looked +into the garden.</p> + +<p>Thanks to rest, care, sufficiency of nourishing diet, +Morel was no longer the pale, careworn, haggard creature +that had entered those walls; the tinge of health +began to colour his before jaundiced cheek, but a melancholy +smile, a fixed, motionless gaze, as though on some +object for ever present to his mental view, proved too +plainly that Reason had not entirely resumed her empire +over him.</p> + +<p>When the doctor entered, Morel was sitting at a table, +imitating the movements of a lapidary at his wheel.</p> + +<p>"I must work," murmured he, "and hard, too. +Thirteen hundred francs! Ay, thirteen hundred is +the sum required, or poor Louise will be dragged to a +scaffold! That must not be! No, no, her father +will work—work—work! Thirteen hundred francs! +Right!"</p> + +<p>"Morel, my good fellow," said the doctor, gently advancing +towards him, "don't work so very hard; there +is no occasion now, you know that you have earned the +thirteen hundred francs you required to free Louise. +See, here they are!" and with these words the doctor +laid a handful of gold on the table.</p> + +<p>"Saved! Louise saved!" exclaimed the lapidary,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> +catching up the money, and hurrying towards the +door; "then I will carry it at once to the notary."</p> + +<p>"Come!" called out the doctor, in considerable trepidation, +for well he knew the success of his experiment +depended on the manner in which the mind of the +lapidary received its first shock.</p> + +<p>Scarcely had the doctor pronounced the signal than +Louise sprang forwards, and presented herself at the +door just as her father reached it. Bewildered and +amazed, Morel let fall the gold he clutched in his hands, +and retreated in visible surprise. For some minutes he +continued gazing on his daughter with a stupefied and +vacant stare, but by degrees his memory seemed to +awaken, and, cautiously approaching her, he examined +her features with a timid and restless curiosity.</p> + +<p>Poor Louise, trembling with emotion, could scarcely +restrain her tears; but a sign from the doctor made her +exert herself to repress any manifestation of feeling +calculated to disturb the progress of her parent's +thoughts.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Morel, bending over his daughter, and +peering, with uneasy scrutiny, into her countenance, +became very pale, pressed his hands to his brows, and +then wiped away the large damp drops that had +gathered there. Drawing closer and closer to the +agitated girl, he strove to speak to her, but the +words expired on his lips. His paleness increased, +and he gazed around him with the bewildered air of +a person awakening from a troubled dream.</p> + +<p>"Good, good!" whispered the doctor to Louise; "now, +when I say 'Come,' throw yourself into his arms and +call him 'father!'"</p> + +<p>The lapidary, pressing his two hands on his breast, +again commenced examining the individual before him +from head to foot, as if determined to satisfy his mind as +to her identity. His features expressed a painful uncertainty, +and, instead of continuing to watch the features of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> +his daughter, he seemed as if trying to hide himself from +her sight, saying, in a low, murmuring, broken tone:</p> + +<p>"No, no! It is a dream! Where am I? It is impossible! +I dream,—it cannot be she!" Then, observing +the gold strewed on the floor, he cried, "And this +gold! I do not remember,—am I then awake? Oh, +my head is dizzy! I dare not look,—I am ashamed! +She is not my Louise!"</p> + +<p>"Come!" cried the doctor, in a loud voice.</p> + +<p>"Father! Dearest father!" exclaimed Louise. "Do +you not know your child,—your poor Louise?" And +as she said these words she threw herself on the lapidary's +neck, while the doctor motioned for the rest of +the group to advance.</p> + +<p>"Gracious heavens!" exclaimed Morel, while Louise +loaded him with caresses. "Where am I? What has +happened to me? Who are all these persons? Oh, I +cannot—dare not believe the reality of what I see!"</p> + +<p>Then, after a short silence, he abruptly took the head +of Louise between his two hands, gazed earnestly and +searchingly at her for some moments, then cried, in a +voice tremulous with emotion, "Louise?"</p> + +<p>"He is saved!" said the doctor.</p> + +<p>"My dear Morel,—my dear husband!" exclaimed +the lapidary's wife, mingling her caresses with those +of her daughter.</p> + +<p>"My wife! My child and wife both here!" cried +Morel.</p> + +<p>"Pray don't overlook the rest of your friends, M. +Morel," said Rigolette, advancing; "see, we have all +come to visit you at once!"</p> + +<p>"I for one am delighted to renew my acquaintance +with the worthy M. Morel," said Germain, coming +forward and extending his hand.</p> + +<p>"And your old acquaintances at the lodge beg that +they may not be overlooked," chimed in Anastasie, leading +Alfred up to the astonished and delighted lapidary.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> +"You know us, don't you, M. Morel,—the Pipelets—the +hearty old Pipelets, and your everlasting friends? +Come, pluck up courage, and look about you, M. Morel! +Hang it all, Daddy Morel, here's a happy meeting! May +we see many such! <i>Ail-l-l-l-ez donc!</i>"</p> + +<p>"M. Pipelet and his wife! Everybody here! It seems +to me so long since—but—but no matter—'tis you, +Louise, my child—'tis you, is it not?" exclaimed he, +joyfully pressing his daughter in his arms.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, my dearest father, 'tis your own poor +Louise! And there is my mother; here are all our +kind friends. You will never quit us more, never +know sorrow or care again, and henceforward we shall +all be happy and prosperous!"</p> + +<p>"Happy? Let me try and recollect a little of past +things. I seem to have a faint recollection of your +being taken to prison—and—and then, Louise, all +seems a blank and confusion here," continued Morel, +pressing his hand to his temples.</p> + +<p>"Never mind all that, dearest father! I am here and +innocent,—let that comfort and console you."</p> + +<p>"Stay, stay! That note of hand I gave! Ah, now +I remember it all!" cried the lapidary, with shuddering +horror. Then, in a voice of assumed calmness, he said, +"And what has become of the notary?"</p> + +<p>"He is dead, dearest father," murmured Louise.</p> + +<p>"Dead? He dead? Then indeed I may hope for +happiness! But where am I? How came I here? +How long have I left my home, and wherefore was I +brought hither? I have no recollection of any of these +things!"</p> + +<p>"You were extremely ill," said the doctor, "and you +were brought here for air and good nursing. You have +had a severe fever, and been at times a little lightheaded."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes, I recollect now; and when I was taken +ill I remember I was talking with my daughter, and some<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +other person,—who could it be? Ah, now I know!—a +kind, good man, named M. Rodolph, who saved me +from being arrested. Afterwards, strange to say, I +cannot recall a single circumstance."</p> + +<p>"Your illness was attended with an entire absence of +memory," said the doctor.</p> + +<p>"And in whose house am I now?"</p> + +<p>"In that of your friend, M. Rodolph," interposed +Germain, hastily; "it was thought that country air +would be serviceable to you, and promote your recovery."</p> + +<p>"Excellent!" said the doctor, in a low tone; then +speaking to a keeper who stood near him, he said, "Send +the coach around to the garden-gate to prevent the necessity +of taking our recovered patient through the different +courts, filled with those less fortunate than himself."</p> + +<p>As frequently occurs in cases of madness, Morel had +not the least idea or recollection of the aberration of +intellect under which he had suffered.</p> + +<p>Shortly afterwards, Morel, with his wife and daughter, +ascended the <i>fiacre</i>, attended also by a surgeon of the +establishment, who, for precaution's sake, was charged +to see him comfortably settled in his abode ere he left +him; and in this order, and followed by a second carriage, +conveying their friends, the lapidary quitted +Bicêtre without entertaining the most remote suspicion +of ever having entered it.</p> + +<p>"And do you consider this poor man effectually +cured?" asked Madame Georges of the doctor, as he +led her to the coach.</p> + +<p>"I hope so, at least; and I wished to leave him wholly +to the beneficial effects of rejoining his family, from +whom it would now be almost dangerous to attempt to +separate him; added to which, one of my pupils will remain +with him and give the necessary directions for his +regimen and treatment. I shall visit him myself daily, +until his cure is confirmed, for not only do I feel much +interested in him, but he was most particularly recommended<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> +to me when he first came here by the <i>chargé +d'affaires</i> of the Grand Duke of Gerolstein."</p> + +<p>A look of intelligence was exchanged between Germain +and his mother.</p> + +<p>Much affected with all they had seen and heard, the +party now took leave of the doctor, reiterating their +gratification at having been present during so gratifying +a scene, and their grateful acknowledgments for the +politeness he had shown them in conducting them over +the establishment.</p> + +<p>As the doctor was reëntering the house, he was met +by one of the superior officers of the place, who said to +him,—</p> + +<p>"Ah, my dear M. Herbin, you cannot imagine the +scene I have just witnessed; it would have afforded an +inexhaustible fund of reflection for so skilful an observer +as yourself."</p> + +<p>"To what do you allude?"</p> + +<p>"You are aware that we have here two females, a +mother and a daughter, who are condemned to death, +and that their execution is fixed for to-morrow. Well, +in my life, I never witnessed such a cool indifference as +that displayed by the mother; she must be a female +fiend!"</p> + +<p>"You allude to the Widow Martial, I presume; what +fresh act of daring has she committed?"</p> + +<p>"You shall hear. She had requested permission to +share her daughter's cell until the final moment arrived; +her wish was complied with. Her daughter, far less +hardened than her parent, appeared to feel contrition as +the hour of execution approached, while the diabolical +assurance of the old woman seemed, if possible, to augment. +Just now the venerable chaplain of the prison +entered their dungeon to offer to them the consolations +of religion. The daughter was about to accept them, +when the mother, without for one instant losing her coolness +or frigid self-possession, began to assail the chaplain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> +with such insulting and derisive language that the venerable +priest was compelled to quit the cell, after trying +in vain to induce the violent and unmanageable woman +to listen to one word he said.</p> + +<p>"It is a fearful fact connected with this family that +a sort of depravity seems to pervade it. The father was +executed, a son is now in the galleys, a second has only +escaped a public and disgraceful end by flight; while +the eldest son and two young children have alone been +able to resist this atmosphere of moral contagion.</p> + +<p>"What a singular circumstance connected with this +double execution it is that the day of mid-Lent should +have been selected. At seven o'clock to-morrow, the +hour fixed, the streets will be filled with groups of masqueraders, +who, having passed the night at the different +balls and places of entertainment beyond the barriers, +will be just returning home; added to which, at the +place of execution, the Barrière St. Jacques, the noise +of the revels still being kept up in honour of the carnival +can be distinctly heard."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The following morning's sun rose bright and cloudless. +At four o'clock in the morning various troops of +soldiers surrounded the approaches to Bicêtre.</p> + +<p>We shall now return to Calabash and her mother in +their dungeon.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> +<h3>CHAPTER IX.</h3> + +<h5>THE TOILET.</h5> + + +<p>The condemned cell of Bicêtre was situated at the end +of a gloomy passage, into which a trifling portion of +light and air was admitted by means of small gratings +let into the lower part of the wall. The cell itself would +have been wholly dark but for a kind of wicket, let into +the upper part of the door, which opened into the corridor +before mentioned.</p> + +<p>In this wretched dungeon, whose crumbling ceiling, +damp, mouldy walls, and stone-paved floor struck a death-chill +like that of the grave, were confined the Widow +Martial, and her daughter Calabash.</p> + +<p>The harsh, angular features of the widow stood out +amidst the imperfect light of the place, cold, pale, and +immovable as those of a marble statue. Deprived of +the use of her hands, which were fastened beneath her +black dress by the strait-waistcoat of the prison, formed +of coarse gray cloth and tightly secured behind her, she +requested her cap might be taken off, complaining of an +oppression and burning sensation in her head; this done, +a mass of long, grizzled hair fell over her shoulders.</p> + +<p>Seated at the side of her bed, she gazed earnestly and +fixedly at her daughter, who was separated from her by +the width of the dungeon, and, wearing like her mother +the customary strait-waistcoat, was partly reclining and +partly supporting herself against the wall, her head bent +forward on her breast, her eye dull and motionless, and +her breathing quick and irregular. From time to time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> +a convulsive tremor rattled her lower jaw, while her +features, spite of their livid hue, remained comparatively +calm and tranquil.</p> + +<p>Within the cell, and immediately beneath the wicket +of the entrance door, was seated an old, gray-headed +soldier, whose rough, sunburnt features betokened his +having felt the scorch of many climes, and borne his part +in numerous campaigns. His duty was to keep constant +watch over the condemned prisoners.</p> + +<p>"How piercing cold it is here!" exclaimed Calabash; +"yet my eyes burn in my head, and I have a burning, +quenchless thirst!" Then addressing the bald-headed +veteran, she said, "Water! Pray give me a drink of +water!"</p> + +<p>The old soldier filled a cup of water from a pitcher +placed near him, and held it to her lips. Eagerly swallowing +the draught, she bowed her head in token of thankfulness, +and the soldier proceeded to offer the same +beverage to the mother.</p> + +<p>"Would you not like to moisten your lips?" asked he, +kindly.</p> + +<p>With a rough, repulsive gesture, she intimated her +disinclination, and the old man sat down again.</p> + +<p>"What's o'clock?" inquired Calabash.</p> + +<p>"Nearly half past four," replied the soldier.</p> + +<p>"Only three hours!" replied Calabash, with a sinister +and gloomy smile. "Three hours more! And then—" +She could proceed no further.</p> + +<p>The widow shrugged up her shoulders. Her daughter +divined her meaning, and said, "Ah, mother, you have +so much more courage than I have,—you never give +way, you don't."</p> + +<p>"Never!"</p> + +<p>"I see it, and I know you too well to expect it. You +look at this moment as calm and collected as if we were +sitting sewing by our own fireside. Ah! those happy +days are gone,—gone forever!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Folly! Why prate thus?"</p> + +<p>"Nay, mother, I cannot bear to rest shut up with my +own wretched thoughts! It relieves my heart to talk +of bygone times, when I little expected to come to this."</p> + +<p>"Mean, cowardly creature!"</p> + +<p>"I know I am a coward, mother. I am afraid to die! +Every one cannot boast of your resolution. I do not +possess it. I have tried as much as I could to imitate +you. I refused to listen to the priest because you did +not like it. Still I may have been wrong in sending the +holy man away; for," added the wretched creature, with +a shudder, "who can tell what is after death? Mother, +do you hear me? After, I say! And it only wants—"</p> + +<p>"Exactly three hours, and you will know all about +it!"</p> + +<p>"How can you speak so indifferently on such a dreadful +subject? Yet true enough; in three short hours, we +who now sit talking to each other, who, if at liberty, +should ail nothing, but be ready to enjoy life, must die. +Oh, mother, can you not say one word to comfort me?"</p> + +<p>"Be bold, girl, and die as you have lived, a true +Martial!"</p> + +<p>"You should not talk thus to your daughter," interposed +the old soldier, with a serious air; "you would +have acted more like a parent had you allowed her to +listen to the priest when he came."</p> + +<p>Again the widow contemptuously shrugged her +shoulders, and, without deigning to notice the soldier +further than by bestowing on him a look of withering +contempt, she repeated to Calabash:</p> + +<p>"Pluck up your courage, my girl, and let the world +see that women have more courage than men, with their +priests and cowardly nonsense!"</p> + +<p>"General Leblond was one of the bravest officers of +the regiment he belonged to. Well, this dauntless man +fell at the siege of Saragossa, covered with wounds, and +his last expiring act was to sign himself with the cross,"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span> +said the veteran. "I served under him. I only tell +you this to prove that to die with a prayer on our lips is +no sign of cowardice!"</p> + +<p>Calabash eyed the bronzed features of the speaker +with deep attention. The scarred and weather-beaten +countenance of the old man told of a life passed in +scenes of danger and of death, encountered with calm +bravery. To hear those wrinkled lips urging the necessity +of prayer, and associating religion with the memory +of the good and valiant, made the miserable, vacillating +culprit think that, after all, there could be no cowardice +in recommending one's soul to the God who gave it, and +breathing a repentant supplication for the past.</p> + +<p>"Alas, alas!" cried she. "Why did I not attend to +what the priest had to say to me? It could not have +done me any harm, and it might have given me courage +to face that dreadful afterwards, that makes death so +terrible."</p> + +<p>"What! Again?" exclaimed the widow, with bitter +contempt. "'Tis a pity time does not permit of your +becoming a nun! The arrival of your brother Martial +will complete your conversion; but that honest man and +excellent son will think it sinful to come and receive the +last wishes of his dying mother!"</p> + +<p>As the widow uttered these last words, the huge lock of +the prison was heard to turn with a loud sound, and then +the door to open.</p> + +<p>"So soon!" shrieked Calabash, with a convulsive +bound. "Surely the time here is wrong,—it cannot +be the hour we were told! Oh, mother! Mother! +Must we die at least two hours before we expected?"</p> + +<p>"So much the better if the executioner's watch deceives +me! It will put an end to your whining folly, +which disgraces the name you bear!"</p> + +<p>"Madame," said an officer of the prison, gently +opening the door, "your son is here,—will you see +him?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes," replied the widow, without turning her head.</p> + +<p>Martial entered the cell, the door of which was left +open that those without in the corridor might be +within hearing, if summoned by the old soldier, who +still remained with the prisoners.</p> + +<p>Through the gloom of the corridor, lighted only by +the faint beams of the early morning, and the dubious +twinkling of a single lamp, several soldiers and gaolers +might be seen, the former standing in due military +order, the later sitting on benches.</p> + +<p>Martial looked as pale and ghastly as his mother, +while his features betrayed the mental agony he suffered +at witnessing so afflicting a sight. Still, spite of +all it cost him, as well as the recollection of his mother's +crimes and openly expressed aversion for himself, he had +felt it imperatively his duty to come and receive her last +commands. No sooner was he in the dungeon than the +widow, fixing on him a sharp, penetrating look, said, in +a tone of concentrated wrath and bitterness, with a view +to rouse all the evil passions of her son's mind:</p> + +<p>"Well, you see what the good people are going to do +with your mother and sister!"</p> + +<p>"Ah, mother, how dreadful! Alas, alas! Have I +not warned you that such would be the end—"</p> + +<p>Interrupting him, while her lips became blanched with +rage, the widow exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Enough! 'Tis sufficient that your mother and sister +are about to be murdered, as your father was!"</p> + +<p>"Merciful God!" cried Martial. "And to think that +I have no power to prevent it! 'Tis past all human +interference. What would you have me do? Alas! +Had you or my sister attended to what I said, you +would not now have been here."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no doubt!" returned the widow, with her usual +tone of savage irony. "To you the spectacle of mine +and your sister's sufferings is a matter of delight to your +proud heart; you can now tell the world without a lie<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> +that your mother is dead,—you will have to blush for +her no more!"</p> + +<p>"Had I been wanting in my duty as a son," answered +Martial, indignant at the unjust sarcasms of his mother, +"I should not now be here."</p> + +<p>"You came but from curiosity! Own the truth if you +dare!"</p> + +<p>"No, mother! You desired to see me, and I obeyed +your wish."</p> + +<p>"Ah, Martial," cried Calabash, unable longer to +struggle against the agonising terror she endured, +"had I but listened to your advice, instead of being +led by my mother, I should not be here!" Then losing +all further control of herself, she exclaimed, "'Tis all +your fault, accursed mother! Your bad example and +evil counsel have brought me to what I am!"</p> + +<p>"Do you hear her?" said the widow, bursting into a +fiendish laugh. "Come, this will repay you for the +trouble of paying us a last visit! Your excellent sister +has turned pious, repents of her own sins, and curses her +mother!"</p> + +<p>Without making any reply to this unnatural speech, +Martial approached Calabash, whose dying agonies seemed +to have commenced, and, regarding her with deep compassion, +said:</p> + +<p>"My poor sister! Alas, it is now too late to recall +the past!"</p> + +<p>"It is never too late to turn coward, it seems!" cried +the widow, with savage excitement. "Oh, what a race +you are! Happily Nicholas has escaped; François and +Amandine will slip through your fingers; they have +already imbibed vice enough, and want and misery will +finish them!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, Martial," groaned forth Calabash, "for the love +of God, take care of those two poor children, lest they +come to such an end as mother's and mine!"</p> + +<p>"He may watch over them as much as he likes," cried<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> +the widow, with settled hatred in her looks, "vice and +destitution will have greater effect than his words, and +some of these days they will avenge their father, mother, +and sister!"</p> + +<p>"Your horrible expectations, mother, will never be +fulfilled," replied the indignant Martial; "neither my +young brother, sister, nor self have anything to fear +from want. La Louve saved the life of the young girl +Nicholas tried to drown, and the relations of the young +person offered us either a large sum of money or a +smaller sum and some land at Algiers; we preferred the +latter, and to-morrow we quit Europe, with the children, +for ever."</p> + +<p>"Is that absolutely true?" asked the widow of +Martial, in a tone of angry surprise.</p> + +<p>"Mother, when did I ever tell you a falsehood?"</p> + +<p>"You are doing so now to try and put me into a +passion!"</p> + +<p>"What, displeased to learn that your children are +provided for?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, to find that my young wolves are to be turned +into lambs, and to hear that the blood of father, mother, +and sister have no prospect of being avenged!"</p> + +<p>"Do not talk so—at a moment like this!"</p> + +<p>"I have murdered, and am murdered in my turn,—the +account is even, at any rate."</p> + +<p>"Mother, mother, let me beseech you to repent ere +you die!"</p> + +<p>Again a peal of fiendish laughter burst from the +pallid lips of the condemned woman.</p> + +<p>"For thirty years," cried she, "have I lived in crime; +would you have me believe that thirty years' guilt is to +be repented of in three days, with the mind disturbed +and distracted by the near approach of death? No, no, +three days cannot effect such wonders; and I tell you, +when my head falls its last expression will be rage and +hatred!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Brother, brother," ejaculated Calabash, whose brain +began to wander, "help, help! Take me from hence," +moaned she in an expiring voice; "they are coming to +fetch me—to kill me! Oh, hide me, dear brother, hide +me, and I will love you ever more!"</p> + +<p>"Will you hold your tongue?" cried the widow, +exasperated at the weakness betrayed by her daughter. +"Will you be silent? Oh, you base, you disgraceful +creature! And to think that I should be obliged to call +myself your parent!"</p> + +<p>"Mother," exclaimed Martial, nearly distracted by +this horrid scene, "will you tell me why you sent for +me?"</p> + +<p>"Because I thought to give you heart and hatred; but +he who has not the one cannot entertain the other. Go, +coward, go!"</p> + +<p>At this moment a loud sound of many footsteps was +heard in the corridor; the old soldier looked at his +watch.</p> + +<p>A rich ray of the golden brightness, which marked the +rising of that day's sun, found its way through the loopholes +in the walls, and shed a flood of light into the very +midst of the wretched cell, rendered now completely +illumined by means of the opening of the door at the +opposite end of the passage to that in which the condemned +cell was situated. In the midst of this blaze of +day appeared two gaolers, each bearing a chair; an +officer also made his appearance, saying to the widow in +a voice of sympathy:</p> + +<p>"Madame, the hour has arrived."</p> + +<p>The mother arose on the instant, erect and immovable, +while Calabash uttered the most piercing cries. Then +four more persons entered the cell; four of the number, +who were very shabbily dressed, bore in their hands +packets of fine but very strong cord. The taller man +of the party was dressed in black, with a large cravat; +he handed a paper to the officer. This individual was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> +the executioner, and the paper a receipt signifying his +having received two females for the purpose of guillotining +them. The man then took sole charge of these +unhappy creatures, and, from that moment, was responsible +for them.</p> + +<p>To the wild terror and despair which had first seized +Calabash, now succeeded a kind of stupefaction; and so +nearly insensible was she that the assistant executioners +were compelled to seat her on her bed, and to support +her when there; her firmly closed jaws scarcely enabled +her to utter a sound, but her hollow eyes rolled vacantly +in their sockets, her chin fell listlessly on her breast, and, +but for the support of the two men, she would have fallen +forwards a lifeless, senseless mass.</p> + +<p>After having bestowed a last embrace on his wretched +sister, Martial stood petrified with terror, unable to +speak or move, and as though perfectly spellbound by +the horrible scene before him.</p> + +<p>The cool audacity of the widow did not for an instant +forsake her; with head erect, and firm, collected manner, +she assisted in taking off the strait-waistcoat +she had worn, and which had hitherto fettered her +movements; this removed, she appeared in an old black +stuff dress.</p> + +<p>"Where shall I place myself?" asked she, in a clear, +steady voice.</p> + +<p>"Be good enough to sit down upon one of those +chairs," said the executioner, pointing to the seats +arranged at the entrance of the dungeon.</p> + +<p>With unfaltering step, the widow prepared to follow +the directions given her, but as she passed her daughter +she said, in a voice that betokened some little emotion:</p> + +<p>"Kiss me, my child!"</p> + +<p>But as the sound of her mother's voice reached her +ear, Calabash seemed suddenly to wake up from her +lethargy, she raised her head, and, with a wild and +almost frenzied cry, exclaimed:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Away! Leave me! And if there be a hell, may it +receive you!"</p> + +<p>"My child," repeated the widow, "let us embrace +for the last time!"</p> + +<p>"Do not approach me!" cried the distracted girl, +violently repulsing her mother; "you have been my +ruin in this world and the next!"</p> + +<p>"Then forgive me, ere I die!"</p> + +<p>"Never, never!" exclaimed Calabash; and then, +totally exhausted by the effort she had made, she sank +back in the arms of the assistants.</p> + +<p>A cloud passed over the hitherto stern features of +the widow, and a moisture was momentarily visible on +her glowing eyeballs. At this instant she encountered +the pitying looks of her son. After a trifling hesitation, +during which she seemed to be undergoing some powerful +internal conflict, she said:</p> + +<p>"And you?"</p> + +<p>Sobbing violently, Martial threw himself into his +mother's arms.</p> + +<p>"Enough!" said the widow, conquering her emotion, +and withdrawing herself from the close embrace of her +son; "I am keeping this gentleman waiting," pointing +to the executioner; then, hurrying towards a chair, she +resolutely seated herself, and the gleam of maternal +sensibility she had exhibited was for ever extinguished.</p> + +<p>"Do not stay here," said the old soldier, approaching +Martial with an air of kindness. "Come this way," +continued he, leading him, while Martial, stupefied by +horror, followed him mechanically.</p> + +<p>The almost expiring Calabash having been supported +to a chair by the two assistants, one sustained her all +but inanimate form, while the other tied her hands +behind with fine but excessively strong whipcord, +knotted into the most inextricable meshes, while with a +cord of the same description he secured her feet, allowing +her just so much liberty as would enable her to<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> +proceed slowly to her last destination. The widow having +borne a similar pinioning with the most imperturbable +composure, the executioner, drawing from his pocket a +pair of huge scissors, said to her with considerable +civility:</p> + +<p>"Be good enough to stoop your head, madame."</p> + +<p>Yielding immediate obedience to the request, the +widow said:</p> + +<p>"We have been good customers to you; you have had +my husband in your hands, and now you have his wife +and daughter!"</p> + +<p>Without making any reply, the executioner began to +cut the long gray hairs of the prisoner very close, +especially at the nape of the neck.</p> + +<p>"This makes the third time in my life," continued the +widow, with a dismal smile, "that I have had my head +dressed by a professor: when I took my first communion +the white veil was arranged; then on my marriage, +when the orange-flowers were placed there; and +upon the present occasion; upon my word, I hardly +know which became me most. You cannot guess what +I am thinking of?" resumed the widow, addressing +the executioner, after having again contemplated her +daughter.</p> + +<p>But the man made her no sort of answer, and no +sound was heard but that of the scissors, and the sort of +convulsive and hysterical sob that occasionally escaped +from Calabash.</p> + +<p>At this moment a venerable priest approached the +governor, and addressed him in a low, earnest voice, +the import of which was to express his desire to +make another effort to rescue the souls of the condemned.</p> + +<p>"I was thinking that at five years old my daughter, +whose head you are going to cut off, was the prettiest +child I ever saw, with her fair hair and red cheeks. +Who that saw her then would have said that—" She<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span> +was silent for a moment, and then said, with a burst of +indescribable laughter, "What a farce is destiny!"</p> + +<p>At this moment the last of her hair was cut off.</p> + +<p>"I have done, madame," said the executioner, politely.</p> + +<p>"Many thanks; and I recommend my son Nicholas to +you," said the widow; "you will cut off his hair some +day." A turnkey came in and said a few words to her +in a low tone. "No,—I have already said no!" she +answered, angrily.</p> + +<p>The priest hearing these words, and seeing any further +interference useless, immediately withdrew.</p> + +<p>"Madame, we are all ready to go. Will you take +anything?" inquired the executioner, civilly.</p> + +<p>"No, I thank you; this evening I shall take a mouthful +of earth." And after this remark the widow rose +firmly. Her hands were tied behind her back, and a +rope was also attached to each ankle, allowing her +sufficient liberty to walk. Although her step was firm +and resolute, the executioner and his assistant offered to +support her; but she turned to them disdainfully, and +said, "Do not touch me, I have a steady eye and a firm +foot, and they will hear on the scaffold whether or not +I have a good voice." Calabash was carried away in a +dying state.</p> + +<p>After having traversed the long corridor, the funereal +cortège ascended a stone staircase, which led to an +exterior court, where was a picquet of <i>gens-d'armes</i>, +a hackney-coach, and a long, narrow carriage with a +yellow body, drawn by three post-horses, who were +neighing loudly.</p> + +<p>"We shall not be full inside," said the widow, as she +took her seat.</p> + +<p>The two vehicles, preceded and followed by the +picquet of <i>gens-d'armes</i>, then quitted the outer gate of +Bicêtre, and went quickly towards the Boulevard St. +Jacques.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> +<h3>CHAPTER X.</h3> + +<h5>MARTIAL AND THE CHOURINEUR.</h5> + + +<p>Before we proceed we have a few words to say as to +the acquaintance recently established between the Chourineur +and Martial.</p> + +<p>When Germain had left the prison, the Chourineur +proved very easily that he had robbed himself; and +making a statement of his motive for this singular +mystification to the magistrate, he was set at liberty, +after having been severely admonished.</p> + +<p>Desirous of recompensing the Chourineur for this fresh +act of devotion, Rodolph, in order to realise the wishes +of his rough protégé, had lodged him in the hôtel of the +Rue Plumet, promising that he should accompany him +on his return to Germany.</p> + +<p>The Chourineur's blind attachment to Rodolph was +like that of a dog for his master. When, however, the +prince had found his daughter, all was changed, and, in +spite of his warm gratitude for the man who had saved +his life, he could not make up his mind to take with him +to Germany the witness of Fleur-de-Marie's fallen state; +yet, determined to carry out the Chourineur's wishes, he +sent for him, and told him that he had still another +service to ask of him. At this the Chourineur's countenance +brightened up; but he was greatly distressed +when he learned that he must quit the hôtel that +very day, and would not accompany the prince to +Germany.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span></p> + +<p>It is useless to mention the munificent compensations +which Rodolph offered to the Chourineur,—the money +he intended for him, the farm in Algeria, anything he +could desire. The Chourineur was wounded to the +heart, refused, and (perhaps for the first time in his +life) wept. Rodolph was compelled to force his presents +on him.</p> + +<p>Next day the prince sent for La Louve and Martial, +and inquired what he could do for them. Remembering +what Fleur-de-Marie had told him of the wild taste of +La Louve and her husband, he proposed to the hardy +couple either a considerable sum of money, or half the +sum and land in full cultivation adjoining the farm he +had bought for the Chourineur, believing that by bringing +them together they would sympathise, from their desire +to seek solitude, the one in consequence of the past, +and the other from the crimes of his family.</p> + +<p>He was not mistaken. Martial and La Louve accepted +joyfully; and then, talking the matter over with the +Chourineur, they all three rejoiced in the prospects +held out to them in Algeria. A sincere good feeling +soon united the future colonists. Persons of their class +judge quickly of each other, and like one another as +speedily.</p> + +<p>The Chourineur accompanied his new friend Martial +to the Bicêtre and awaited him in the hackney-coach, +which conducted them back to Paris after Martial, +horror-struck, had left the dungeon of his mother and +sister.</p> + +<p>The countenance of the Chourineur had completely +changed; the bold expression and jovial humour which +usually characterised his harsh features had given way +to extreme dejection; his voice had lost something +of its coarseness; a grief of heart, until then unknown +to him, had broken down his energetic temperament. He +looked kindly at Martial, and said:</p> + +<p>"Courage! You have done all that good intentions<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span> +could do; it is ended. Think now of your wife, and the +children whom you have prevented from becoming criminals +like their father and mother. To-night we leave +Paris never to return to it, and you will never again hear +of what so much distresses you now."</p> + +<p>"True—true! But, after all, they are my sister and +mother!"</p> + +<p>"Yes; but when things must be, we must submit!" +said the Chourineur, checking a deep sigh.</p> + +<p>After a moment's silence, Martial said, kindly, "And +I ought, in my turn, to try and console you who are so +sad. My wife and I hope that when we have left Paris +this will cease."</p> + +<p>"Yes," said the Chourineur, with a shudder, "if I +leave Paris!"</p> + +<p>"Why, we go this evening!"</p> + +<p>"Yes,—you do; you go this evening!"</p> + +<p>"And have you changed your intention, then?"</p> + +<p>"No! Yet, Martial, you'll laugh at me; but yet I +will tell you all. If anything happens to me it will +prove that I am not deceived. When M. Rodolph asked +if we would go to Algeria together, I told you my mind +at once, and also what I had been."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you did; let us mention it no more. You +underwent your punishment, and are now as good as +any one. But, like myself, I can imagine you would +like to go and live a long way off, instead of living +here, where, however honest we may be, they might at +times fling in your teeth a misdeed you have atoned +for and repented, and, in mine, my parents' crimes, +for which I am by no means responsible. The past is +the past between us, and we shall never reproach each +other."</p> + +<p>"With you and me, Martial, the past is the past; but, +you see, Martial, there is something above,—I have +killed a man!"</p> + +<p>"A great misfortune, assuredly; but, at the moment,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> +you were out of your senses,—mad. And besides, you +have since saved the lives of other persons, and that will +count in your favour."</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you why I refer to my misdeed. I used to +have a dream, in which I saw the sergeant I killed. I +have not had it for a long time until last night, and +that foretells some misfortune for to-day. I have a +foreboding that I shall not quit Paris."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you regret at leaving our benefactor! The +thought of coming with me to the Bicêtre agitated you; +and so your dream recurred to you."</p> + +<p>The Chourineur shook his head sorrowfully and said, +"It has come to me just as M. Rodolph is going to start,—for +he goes to-day. Yesterday I sent a messenger +to his hôtel, not daring to go myself. They sent me +word that he went this morning at eleven o'clock by the +barrier of Charenton, and I mean to go and station myself +there to try and see him once more,—for the last +time!"</p> + +<p>"He seems so good that I easily understand your love +for him."</p> + +<p>"Love for him!" said the Chourineur, with deep and +concentrated emotion. "Yes, yes, Martial,—to lie on +the earth, eat black bread, be his dog, to be where he +was, I asked no more. But that was too much,—he +would not consent."</p> + +<p>"He has been very generous towards you!"</p> + +<p>"Yet it is not for that I love him, but because he told +me I had heart and honour. Yes, and that at a time +when I was as fierce as a brute beast. And he made me +understand what was good in me, and that I had repented, +and, after suffering great misery, had worked hard for an +honest livelihood, although all the world considered me +as a thorough ruffian,—and so, when M. Rodolph said +these words to me, my heart beat high and proudly, and +from this time I would go through fire and water to +serve him."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why, it is because you are better than you were that +you ought not to have any of those forebodings. Your +dream is nothing."</p> + +<p>"We shall see. I shall not try and get into any mischief, +for I cannot have any worse misfortune than not +to see again M. Rodolph, whom I hoped never again to +leave. I should have been in my way, you see, always +with him, body and soul,—always ready. Never mind, +perhaps he was wrong,—I am only a worm at his feet; +but sometimes, Martial, the smallest may be useful to +the greatest."</p> + +<p>"One day, perhaps, you may see him."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no; he said to me, 'My good fellow, you must +promise never to seek nor see me,—that will be doing +me a service.' So, of course, Martial, I promised; and +I'll keep my word, though it is very hard."</p> + +<p>"Once at Algeria, you will forget all your vexations."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes; I'm an old trooper, Martial, and will face +the Bedouins."</p> + +<p>"Come, come, you'll soon recover your spirits. +We'll farm and hunt together, and live together, or separate, +just as you like. We'll bring up the children like +honest people, and you shall be their uncle,—for we are +brothers, and my wife is good at heart; and so we'll be +happy, eh?" And Martial extended his hand to the +Chourineur.</p> + +<p>"So we will, Martial," was the reply; "and my sorrow +will kill me, or I shall kill my sorrow."</p> + +<p>"It will not kill you. We shall pass our days +together; and every evening we will say, 'brother, +thanks to M. Rodolph,'—that shall be our prayer to, +him."</p> + +<p>"Martial, you comfort me."</p> + +<p>"Well, then, that is all right; and as to that stupid-dream, +you will think no more of it, I hope?"</p> + +<p>"I'll try."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Well, then, you'll come to us at four o'clock; the +diligence goes at five."</p> + +<p>"Agreed. But I will get out here and walk to the +barrier at Charenton, where I will await M. Rodolph, +that I may see him pass."</p> + +<p>The coach stopped, and the Chourineur alighted.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span></p> +<h3>CHAPTER XI.</h3> + +<h5>THE FINGER OF PROVIDENCE.</h5> + + +<p>The Chourineur had forgotten that it was the day after +mid-Lent, and was consequently greatly surprised at the +sight, at once hideous and singular, which presented +itself to his view when he arrived at the exterior boulevard, +which he was traversing to reach the barrier of +Charenton.</p> + +<p>He found himself suddenly in the thickest of a dense +throng of people, who were coming out of the cabarets +of the Faubourg de la Glacière, in order to reach the +Boulevard St. Jacques, where the execution was to +take place.</p> + +<p>Although it was broad daylight, there was still heard +the noisy music of the public-houses, whence issued particularly +the loud echoes of the cornets-à-piston. The +pencil of Callot, of Rembrandt, or of Goya is requisite +to limn the strange, hideous, and fantastical appearance +of this multitude.</p> + +<p>Almost all of them, men, women, and children, were +attired in old masquerade costumes. Those who could +not afford this expense had on their clothes rags of bright +colours. Some young men were dressed in women's +clothes, half torn and soiled with mud. All their countenances, +haggard from debauchery and vice, and furrowed +by intoxication, sparkled with savage delight at +the idea that, after a night of filthy orgies, they should +see two women executed on the scaffold prepared for +them.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span></p> + +<p>The foul and fetid scum of the population of Paris,—this +vast mob—was formed of thieves and abandoned +women, who every day tax crime for their daily bread, +and every evening return to their lairs with their vicious +spoils.<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a></p> + +<div class="footnotes"> +<div class="footnote"><p><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> It is calculated that there are in Paris 30,000 persons who have no other +means of existence but theft.</p></div></div> + +<p>The crowd entirely choked up the means of circulation, +and, in spite of his gigantic strength, the Chourineur +was compelled to remain almost motionless in the +midst of this compact throng. He was, however, willing +to remain so, as the prince would not pass the barrier +of Charenton until eleven o'clock, and it was not yet +seven; and he had a singular spectacle before him.</p> + +<p>In a large, low apartment, occupied at one end by +musicians, surrounded by benches and tables laden with +the fragments of a repast, broken plates, empty bottles, +etc., a dozen men and women, in various disguises and +half drunk, were dancing with the utmost excitement +that frantic and obscene dance called <i>La Chahut</i>.</p> + +<p>Amongst the dissipated revellers who figured in this +saturnalia, the Chourineur remarked two couples who +obtained the most overwhelming applause, from the +revolting grossness of their attitudes, their gesticulations, +and their language. The first couple consisted +of a man disguised as a bear, and nearly covered with +a waistcoat and trousers of black sheepskin. The head +of the animal, being too troublesome to carry, had been +replaced by a kind of hood with long hair, which entirely +covered his features; two holes for his eyes, and +a long one for his mouth, allowed him to see, speak, +and breathe.</p> + +<p>This man—one of the prisoners escaped from La +Force (amongst whom were Barbillon and the two +murderers arrested at the ogress's at the <i>tapis-franc</i>, +at the beginning of this recital)—this man so masked +was Nicholas Martial, the son and brother of the two<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span> +women for whom the scaffold was prepared but a few +paces distant.</p> + +<p>Induced into this act of atrocious insensibility and +infamous audacity by one of his associates, this wretch +had dared with this disguise to join in the last revels of +the carnival. The woman who danced with him, dressed +as a <i>vivandière</i>, wore a round leather cap with ragged +ribands, a kind of bodice of threadbare red cloth, ornamented +with three rows of brass buttons, a green skirt, +and trousers of white calico. Her black hair fell in +disorder all about her head, and her haggard and +swollen features evinced the utmost effrontery and +immodesty. The <i>vis-à-vis</i> of these dancers were no less +disgusting.</p> + +<p>The man, who was very tall, and disguised as Robert +Macaire, had so begrimed his features with soot that it +was impossible to recognise him, and, besides, a large +bandage covered his left eye; the white of the right eye +being thus the more heightened, rendered him still more +hideous. The lower part of the Skeleton's countenance +(for it was he) disappeared in a high neckcloth made of +an old red shawl.</p> + +<p>Wearing an old, white, napless hat with a crushed +side, dirty, and without a crown, a green coat in rags, +and tight mulberry-coloured pantaloons, patched in every +direction, and tied around the instep with pieces of packthread, +this assassin outraged the most <i>outré</i> and revolting +attitudes of the <i>Chahut</i>, darting from right to left, +before and behind, his lanky limbs as hard as steel, and +twisting and twining, and springing and bounding with +such vigour and elasticity, that he seemed set in motion +by steel springs.</p> + +<p>A worthy coryphée of this filthy saturnalia, his lady +partner, a tall and active creature with impudent and +flushed features, attired <i>en débardeur</i>, wore a flat cap +on one side of a powdered wig with a thick pigtail, a +waistcoat and trousers of worn green velvet, adjusted<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span> +to her shape by an orange scarf, with long ends flowing +down her back.</p> + +<p>A fat, vulgar, coarse woman, the brutal ogress of the +<i>tapis-franc</i>, was seated on one of the benches, holding +on her knees the plaid cloaks of this creature and the +<i>vivandière</i>, whilst they were rivalling the bounds, and +jumps, and gross postures of the Skeleton and Nicholas +Martial.</p> + +<p>Amongst the other dancers there was a lame boy, +dressed like a devil, by means of a black net vest, much +too large for him, red drawers, and a green mask hideous +and grotesque. In spite of his infirmity, this little monster +was wonderfully agile, and his precocious depravity +equalled, if it could not exceed, that of his detestable +companions, and he gambolled as impudently as any +of them before a fat woman, dressed as a shepherdess, +who excited her partner the more by her shouts of +laughter.</p> + +<p>No charge having been raised against Tortillard (our +readers have recognised him), and Bras Rouge having +been for the while left in prison, the boy, at his father's +request, was reclaimed by Micou, the receiver of the +passage of the Brasserie, who had not been denounced +by his accomplices.</p> + +<p>As secondary figures in this picture, let imagination +conceive all there is of the lowest, most shameful, and +most monstrous, in this idle, wanton, insolent, rapacious, +atheistical, sanguinary assemblage of infamy, which is +most hostile to social order, and to which we would call +the attention of all thinking persons as our recital +draws to a close.</p> + +<p>Excited by the shouts of laughter and the cheers of +the mob assembled around the windows, the actors in +the infamous dance cried to the orchestra for a finale +galop. The musicians, delighted to reach the end of +their labours, complied with the general wish, and played +a galoppade with the utmost energy and rapidity. At<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> +this the excitement redoubled; the couples encircled +each other and dashed away, following the Skeleton and +his partner, who led off their infernal round amidst the +wildest cries and acclamations.</p> + +<p>The crowd was so thick, so dense, and the evolutions +so multiplied and rapid, that these creatures, inflamed +with wine, exercise, and noise, their intoxication became +delirious frenzy, and they soon ceased to have space for +their movements. The Skeleton then cried, in a breathless +voice, "Look out at the door! We will go out on +to the boulevard."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes!" cried the mob at the windows; "a galop +as far as the Barrière St. Jacques!"</p> + +<p>"The two 'mots' will soon be here."</p> + +<p>"The headsman cuts double! How funny!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, with a cornet-à-piston accompaniment."</p> + +<p>"I'll ask the widow to be my partner."</p> + +<p>"And I the daughter."</p> + +<p>"Death to the informers!"</p> + +<p>"Long live the prigs and lads of steel!" cried the +Skeleton in a voice of thunder, as he and the dancers, +forcing their way in the midst of the mass, set the whole +body in motion; and then were heard cries, and imprecations, +and shouts of laughter, which had nothing +human in their sound.</p> + +<p>Suddenly this uproar reached its height by two fresh +incidents. The vehicle which contained the criminals, +accompanied by its escort of cavalry, appeared at the +angle of the boulevard, and then all the mob rushed in +that direction, shouting and roaring with ferocious +delight.</p> + +<p>At this moment, also, the crowd was met by a courier +coming from the Boulevard des Invalides, and galloping +towards the Barrière de Charenton. He was dressed in +a light blue jacket with yellow collar, with a double row +of silver lace down the seams, but, as a mark of deep +mourning, he wore black breeches and high boots; his<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> +cap also, with a broad band of silver, was encircled +with crape, and on the winkers of his horse were the +arms of Gerolstein.</p> + +<p>He walked his horse, his advance becoming every +moment more difficult, and he was almost obliged to stop +when he found himself in the midst of the sea of people +we have described. Although he called to them, and +moved his horse with the greatest caution, cries, abuse, +and threats were soon directed against him.</p> + +<p>"Does he want to ride us down, that vagabond?"</p> + +<p>"He's got lots o' silver on his precious body!" cried +Tortillard.</p> + +<p>"If he comes against us we'll make him alight and +strip the 'tin' off his jacket to go to the melter's," said +Nicholas.</p> + +<p>"And we'll take the seams out of your carcase if you +are not careful, you cursed jockey!" added the Skeleton, +addressing the courier and seizing the bridle of his horse,—for +the crowd was so dense that the ruffian had given +up his idea of dancing to the barrier.</p> + +<p>The courier, who was a powerful and resolute fellow, +said to the Skeleton, lifting the handle of his whip, "If +you do not let go my bridle I'll lay my whip over you. +Let me pass; my lord's carriage is coming close behind. +Let me go forward, I say."</p> + +<p>"Your lord!" said the Skeleton; "what is your lord +to me? I'll slit his weasand if I like! I never did for +a lord; I should like to try my hand."</p> + +<p>"There are no more lords now. <i>Vive la Charte!</i>" +shouted Tortillard; and as he said so he whistled a +verse of the "Parisienne," and clinging to one of the +courier's legs nearly drew him out of his saddle. A blow +with the handle of his whip on Tortillard's head punished +his insolence; but the populace instantly attacked the +courier, who in vain spurred his horse,—he could not +advance a step.</p> + +<p>Dismounted, amidst the shouts of the mob, he would<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> +have been murdered but for the arrival of Rodolph's +carriage, which took off the attention of these +wretches.</p> + +<p>The prince's travelling carriage, drawn by four horses, +had for some time past advanced at only a foot pace, and +one of the two footmen had got down from the rumble +and was walking by the side of the door, which was very +low; the postilions kept crying out to the people, and +went forward very cautiously.</p> + +<p>Rodolph was dressed in deep mourning, as was also +his daughter, one of whose hands he held in his own, +looking at her with affection. The gentle and lovely +face of Fleur-de-Marie was enclosed in a small capot of +black crape, which heightened the dazzling brilliancy +of her skin and the beautiful hue of her lovely brown +hair; and the azure of this bright day was reflected in +her large eyes, which had never been of more transparent +and softened blue. Although her features wore +a gentle smile, and expressed calmness and happiness +when she looked at her father, yet a tinge of melancholy, +and sometimes of undefinable sadness, threw its +shadow over her countenance when her eyes were not +fixed on her father.</p> + +<p>At this moment the carriage came amongst the crowd +and began to slacken its pace. Rodolph lowered the +window, and said in German to the lackey who was +walking by the window, "Well, Frantz, what is the +meaning of this?"</p> + +<p>"Monseigneur, there is such a crowd that the horses +cannot move."</p> + +<p>"What has this assemblage collected for?"</p> + +<p>"Monseigneur, there is an execution going on."</p> + +<p>"Ah, frightful!" said Rodolph, throwing himself +back in his carriage.</p> + +<p>"What is it, my dear father?" asked Fleur-de-Marie +with uneasiness.</p> + +<p>"Nothing—nothing, dearest."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Only listen,—these threatening cries approach us! +What can it be?"</p> + +<p>"Desire them to reach Charenton by another road," +said Rodolph.</p> + +<p>"Monseigneur, it is too late, the crowd has stopped +the horses."</p> + +<p>The footman could say no more. The mob, excited +by the savage encouragement of the Skeleton and Nicholas, +suddenly surrounded the carriage, and, in spite of +the threats of the postilions, stopped the horses, and +Rodolph saw on all sides threatening, furious countenances, +and above them all the Skeleton, who came to +the door of the carriage.</p> + +<p>"Take care, my dear father!" exclaimed Fleur-de-Marie, +throwing her arms around Rodolph's neck.</p> + +<p>"Oh, you are the 'my lord,' are you?" said the +Skeleton, thrusting his hideous head into the carriage.</p> + +<p>Had it not been for his daughter's presence, Rodolph +would have given way to the natural impetuosity of his +character at this insolence; but he controlled himself, +and coolly replied:</p> + +<p>"What do you want, and why do you stop my +carriage?"</p> + +<p>"Because we choose," said the Skeleton. "Each in +his turn. Yesterday you trampled on the mob, and +to-day the mob will crush you if you stir."</p> + +<p>"Father, we are lost!" murmured Fleur-de-Marie.</p> + +<p>"Take courage, love! I understand," replied the +prince; "it is the last day of the carnival,—these +fellows are tipsy; I will get rid of them."</p> + +<p>"I say, my 'covey,' come, get out, and your 'mot' with +you!" cried Nicholas; "why should you trample upon a +parcel of poor people!"</p> + +<p>"You seem to have drunk a good deal, and to desire +to drink more," said Rodolph; "here, take this, and do +not delay my carriage any longer," and he threw out +his purse, which Tortillard caught.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, what, you are going to travel, eh? Well, then, +you've got your pockets well lined, no doubt. Come, +shell out, my blade, or I'll have your life." And he +opened the door suddenly.</p> + +<p>Rodolph's patience was exhausted. Alarmed for +Fleur-de-Marie, whose alarm increased every moment, +and believing that a display of vigour would daunt +the wretch, whom he believed to be only drunk, he +sprung from the carriage, intending to seize the Skeleton +by the throat. The latter suddenly receded, and +then, drawing a long knife-dirk from his pocket, rushed +at Rodolph. Fleur-de-Marie, seeing the dirk raised to +stab her father, gave a shriek, sprung from the carriage, +and threw her arms around him.</p> + +<p>Her father's life must have been sacrificed but for the +Chourineur, who at the commencement of this tumult, +having recognised the livery of the prince, had contrived, +by superhuman efforts, to reach the Skeleton; and at the +moment when that ruffian menaced the prince with his +knife the Chourineur seized on his arm with one hand, +and, with the other grasping his collar, threw him +backwards.</p> + +<p>Although surprised, and from behind too, the Skeleton +turned around, and, recognising the Chourineur, cried, +"What! the man in the gray blouse from La Force? +This time, then, I'll do for you!" and rushing furiously +at the Chourineur, he plunged his knife in his breast. +The Chourineur staggered, but did not fall. The crowd +kept him on his legs.</p> + +<p>"The guard! Here come the guard!" exclaimed +several voices in alarm.</p> + +<p>At these words, and at the sight of the murder +of the Chourineur, all this dense crowd, fearing +to be compromised in the assassination, dispersed +as if by magic, and fled in every direction; the Skeleton, +Nicholas, Martial, and Tortillard amongst the +earliest.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span></p> + +<p>When the guard came up, guided by the courier (who +had escaped when the crowd had let him go to surround +the prince's carriage), there only remained in this sad +scene, Rodolph, his daughter, and the Chourineur, bathed +in his blood. The two servants of the prince had seated +him on the ground, with his back to a tree.</p> + +<p>All this passed more quickly than it can be described, +and at a few paces from the <i>guinguette</i> from which the +Skeleton and his band had issued.</p> + +<p>The prince, pale and agitated, held in his arms Fleur-de-Marie, +half fainting, whilst the postilions were repairing +the harness broken in the scuffle.</p> + +<p>"Quick!" said the prince to his servants engaged in +aiding the Chourineur, "convey this poor fellow to the +cabaret; and you," he added, turning to the courier, +"get on the box, and gallop back for Doctor David at the +hôtel; you will find him there, as he does not leave +until eleven o'clock."</p> + +<p>The carriage went away at a great speed, and the two +servants conveyed the Chourineur to the low apartment +in which the orgies had taken place; several of the +women were still there.</p> + +<p>"My poor, dear child!" said Rodolph, to his daughter, +"let me take you to some room in this place where +you can await me, for I cannot abandon this brave fellow, +who has again saved my life."</p> + +<p>"Oh, my dearest father, I entreat you do not leave +me!" exclaimed Fleur-de-Marie, with alarm, and seizing +Rodolph's arm. "Do not leave me alone! I +should die with fright! Where you go I will go!"</p> + +<p>"But this frightful spectacle?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, thanks to this worthy man, you still live for +me, my father, and therefore allow me to join you in +thanking and consoling him."</p> + +<p>The prince's perplexity was very great. His daughter +evinced so much just fear of remaining alone in a room +in this low haunt that he made up his mind to allow her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span> +to enter with him into the apartment, where they found +the Chourineur.</p> + +<p>The mistress of the tavern and many of the women +who had remained (and amongst whom was the ogress +of the <i>tapis-franc</i>) had hastily laid the wounded man +on a mattress, and then stanched and bound his wound +with napkins. The Chourineur opened his eyes as +Rodolph entered. At the sight of the prince his features, +pale with approaching death, became animated. He +smiled painfully, and said in a low voice:</p> + +<p>"Ah, M. Rodolph, it was very fortunate I was +there!"</p> + +<p>"Brave and devoted as ever!" said the prince, in an +accent of despair. "Again you have saved my life!"</p> + +<p>"I was going to the barrier of—Charenton—to try +and see you go by—see you for the last time. Fortunately—I +was unable to get in for the crowd—besides—it +was—to happen—I told Martial so—I had a +presentiment."</p> + +<p>"A presentiment?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, M. Rodolph—the dream—of the sergeant—last +night."</p> + +<p>"Oh, try and forget such ideas! Let us hope the +wound is not mortal."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, the Skeleton struck home! Never mind—I +told Martial that a worm of the earth like me—might +sometimes be useful—to a great lord—like you."</p> + +<p>"But my life—I owe my life again to you!"</p> + +<p>"We are quits, M. Rodolph. You told me—that +I had—heart and honour. That word, you see—oh, +I am choking! Sir, without—my asking—do +me the honour—to give me your hand—I feel I am +sinking."</p> + +<p>"No, no! Impossible!" exclaimed the prince, bending +towards the Chourineur, and clasping in his hands +the icy hand of the dying man, "no—you will live—you +will live!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span></p> + +<p>"M. Rodolph, there is something, you see, above—I +killed—with a blow of a knife—I die from the blow of +a knife!" said the Chourineur, who was sinking fast.</p> + +<p>At this moment his eyes turned towards Fleur-de-Marie, +whom he had not before perceived. Amazement +was depicted on his dying features; he made a movement, +and said:</p> + +<p>"Ah!—the Goualeuse!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, my daughter, who blesses you for having preserved +her father!"</p> + +<p>"She—your daughter—here? That reminds me +of how our acquaintance began—M. Rodolph—and +the blows—with the fist; but this blow with a knife +will be the last—last blow. I slashed—and in my +turn am slashed—stabbed. It is just." He heaved a +deep sigh—his head fell back—he was dead.</p> + +<p>The sound of horses without was heard; Rodolph's +carriage had met that of Murphy and David, who, in +their desire to rejoin the prince, had anticipated the hour +fixed for their departure.</p> + +<p>"David," said Rodolph, wiping his eyes, and pointing +to the Chourineur, "is there no hope?"</p> + +<p>"None, monseigneur," replied the doctor, after a +moment's examination.</p> + +<p>During this moment there passed a mute and terrible +scene between Fleur-de-Marie and the ogress, whom +Rodolph had not observed. When the Chourineur had +uttered the name of La Goualeuse, the ogress had raised +her head and looked at Fleur-de-Marie. The horrid +hag had already recognised Rodolph; he was called +monseigneur—he called La Goualeuse his daughter. +Such a metamorphosis astounded the ogress, who obstinately +fixed her stupid, wondering eyes on her former +victim.</p> + +<p>Fleur-de-Marie, pale and overcome, seemed fascinated +by her gaze. The death of the Chourineur, the unexpected +appearance of the ogress, which came to awaken<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span> +more painfully than ever the remembrance of her former +degradation, appeared to her a sinister presage. From +this moment, Fleur-de-Marie was struck with one of +those presentiments which, in dispositions like hers, +have most frequently an irresistible influence.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>A few days after these events and Rodolph and his +daughter quitted Paris for ever.</p> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span></p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span></p> +<h2>EPILOGUE.</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 10%;" /> +<h3>CHAPTER I.</h3> + +<h5>GEROLSTEIN.</h5> + + +<p class="center"><i>Prince Henry of Herkaüsen-Oldenzaal to the Count +Maximilian Kaminetz.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="sigs"><span class="smcap">Oldenzaal</span>, 25th August, 1840.</p> + +<p>I am just arrived from Gerolstein, where I have passed +three months with the grand duke and his family. I +expected to find a letter announcing your arrival at +Oldenzaal, my dear Maximilian. Judge of my surprise—of +my regret, on hearing that you will be detained in +Hungary for several weeks.</p> + +<p>For more than four months I have been unable to +write to you, not knowing where to direct my letters, +thanks to your original and adventurous manner of +travelling. You had, however, formally promised me +at Vienna that you would be at Oldenzaal the first of +August; I must then give up the pleasure of seeing you, +and yet I have never had greater need of pouring forth +my sorrows to you, Maximilian, my oldest friend, for +although we are both of us still very young, our friendship +is of long standing, as it dates from our childhood.</p> + +<p>What shall I say to you? During the last three +months a complete revolution has taken place in me. I<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> +am at one of those moments that decide the existence +of a man. Judge, then, how necessary your presence +and your advice are to me. But you will not long be +wanting, whatever motives you have for remaining in +Hungary. Come! Come! I entreat of you, Maximilian, +for I stand in need of you to console me, and +I cannot go to seek you. My father, whose health is +daily declining, has summoned me from Gerolstein. +Each day makes so great an alteration in him that it +is impossible for me to leave him.</p> + +<p>I have so much to say that I shall become tedious, +but I must relate to you the most important—the most +romantic incident of my life. Why were you not there, +my friend? Why were you not there? For three months +my heart has been a prey to emotions equally sweet and +sorrowful, and I was alone—I was alone. Sympathise +with me, you who know the sensibility of my heart, +you who have seen my eyes filled with tears at the +simple recital of a noble or generous action, at the simple +sight of a splendid sunset—of the sky studded with +bright stars.</p> + +<p>Do you recollect last year, on our excursion to the +ruins of Oppenfeld, on the shore of the vast lake, our +reveries during that evening, so full of calm, of poesy, +and of peace? Strange contrast! It was three days +before that bloody duel, in which I would not accept +you for my second, for I should have suffered too much +for you had I been wounded before your eyes,—the duel +in which, for a dispute at play, my second unhappily +killed the young Frenchman, the Comte de Saint-Remy.</p> + +<p>Apropos, do you know what has become of the dangerous +siren whom M. de Saint-Remy brought with him to +Oppenfeld, and whose name was, I think, Cecily David?</p> + +<p>You will doubtless, my friend, smile with pity at +seeing me thus losing myself amongst idle recollections +of the past, instead of coming at once to the grave +disclosures that I have announced my intention of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span> +making; but, in spite of myself, I delay the time from +moment to moment. I know how severe you are, and +I am fearful of being blamed. Yes, blamed; because, +instead of acting with reflection and prudence (prudence +of one and twenty, alas!), I have acted foolishly, or, +rather, I have not acted at all as—I have suffered +myself to be carried away by the stream that urged me +on, and it is only since my return from Gerolstein that +I have been awakened from the enchanting vision that +has lulled me to sleep for the last three months, and +this awaking has been a sorrowful one.</p> + +<p>Now, my friend, my dear Maximilian, I take courage. +Hear me indulgently; I begin with fear and trembling—I +dare not look at you, for when you read these lines, +how grave and stern will your face become, stoic that +you are!</p> + +<p>After having obtained leave of absence for six months, +I left Vienna, and remained some time with my father. +His health was then good, and he advised me to visit +my aunt, the Princess Juliana, superior of the abbey of +Gerolstein. I think I have already told you that my +grandfather was cousin-german to the present duke's +grandfather, and the Duke Gustavus Rodolph, thanks +to this relationship, had always treated my father and +myself as his cousins.</p> + +<p>You also know, I think, that during a long stay the +prince made recently in France my father was left at +the head of the affairs of the duchy. It is not any +feeling of ostentatious pride, as you well know, Maximilian, +that makes me recapitulate all these circumstances, +but to explain to you the causes of the extreme +intimacy that existed between the grand duke and myself +during my stay at Gerolstein.</p> + +<p>Do you recollect that last year, after our voyage on +the banks of the Rhine, we heard that the prince had +found and married, <i>in extremis</i>, the Countess Macgregor, +in order to legitimise the daughter he had had by her<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> +by a previous and secret marriage, afterwards annulled, +because it had been contracted against the consent of +the late grand duke?</p> + +<p>This young girl, thus formally recognised, this charming +Princess Amelie, of whom Lord Dudley, who had +seen her at Gerolstein about a year ago, spoke to us +with an enthusiasm that we suspected of exaggeration, +strange chance! who would have said then—</p> + +<p>But although you have doubtless penetrated my +secret, let me pursue the progress of events.</p> + +<p>The convent of Ste. Hermangeld, of which my aunt is +abbess, is scarcely a quarter of a league from Gerolstein, +for the gardens of the abbey touch the outskirts of the +town. A charming house, perfectly isolated from the +cloisters, had been placed at my disposal by my aunt, +who has, as you know, the affection of a mother for +me. The day of my arrival she informed me a grand +drawing-room would be held the next day, as the grand +duke was going formally to announce his intended +marriage with La Marquise d'Harville, who had just +arrived at Gerolstein with her father, the Comte +d'Orbigny.</p> + +<p>The duke was blamed by some for not having sought +an alliance with some royal house, but others, and +amongst them my aunt, congratulated him on having +chosen, instead of a marriage of ambition, a young and +lovely woman to whom he was deeply attached, and who +belonged to one of the first families in France. You +know, too, that my aunt has always had the greatest +regard for the grand duke, and has always appreciated +his fine qualities.</p> + +<p>"My dear child," said she to me, speaking of the +drawing-room, to which I was going the next day,—"my +dear child, the most astonishing sight you will see +to-morrow will be the pearl of Gerolstein."</p> + +<p>"Of whom are you talking, my dear aunt?"</p> + +<p>"Of the Princess Amelie."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The grand duke's daughter? Lord Dudley spoke +of her at Vienna with warmth we suspected of exaggeration."</p> + +<p>"At my age and in my position," replied my aunt, +"people do not exaggerate, so you can trust to my judgment, +and I assure you I never knew any one more enchanting +than the Princess Amelie. I would speak of her +beauty were it not for an indefinable charm she possesses, +superior even to her beauty. From the first day that the +grand duke presented me to her, I felt myself irresistibly +drawn towards her; and I am not the only person. The +Archduchess Sophia is at Gerolstein, and is the most +proud and haughty princess I know."</p> + +<p>"Very true, aunt; her irony is terrible, very few persons +escape from her sarcasms; at Vienna every one +dreaded her. Can the Princess Amelie have found +favour in her eyes?"</p> + +<p>"The other day she came here after visiting the +asylum placed under the princess's direction. 'Do you +know,' said this redoubtable archduchess to me, 'that if +I resided long with the grand duke's daughter I should +become quite harmless, so contagious is her goodness!'"</p> + +<p>"Why, my cousin must be an enchantress!" said I, +laughing, to my aunt.</p> + +<p>"Her most powerful charm, at least in my eyes," +replied my aunt, "is the mixture of sweetness, modesty, +and dignity that I have told you of, and which gives a +most touching expression to her face."</p> + +<p>"Indeed, aunt, modesty is a rare quality in a princess +so young, so beautiful, and so happy."</p> + +<p>"Reflect that the princess is still more deserving of +praise for her modesty, as her elevation is so very +recent."</p> + +<p>"In her interview with you, aunt, did the princess +make any reference to her early life?"</p> + +<p>"No; but when, notwithstanding my advanced age, +I addressed her with the respect due to her rank, since<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> +her royal highness is the grand duke's daughter, her +ingenuous confusion, mingled with gratitude and veneration +for me, quite overpowered me; for her reserve, +full of dignity and affability, proved to me that her +present elevation did not make her forget her past life, +and that she accorded to my age what I accorded to her +rank."</p> + +<p>"It must require," said I, "the most perfect tact to +observe those nice differences."</p> + +<p>"My dear boy, the more I see of the princess, the +more I congratulate myself on my first impression. +Since she has been here the number of charitable acts +she has done is incredible, and that with a reflection and +a judgment that in a person of her age quite surprises +me. Judge yourself. At her request the grand duke +has founded at Gerolstein an establishment for orphans +of five or six years, and for young girls (who are either +orphans or abandoned by their parents) of the age of +sixteen, that age so fatal to those who are not protected +against the temptations of vice or the pressure of +want.</p> + +<p>"The good sisters of my convent teach and direct the +children of this asylum. During my visits there I have +had ample opportunities of judging of the adoration that +these poor, unfortunate creatures have for the princess. +Every day she spends several hours at this place, which +is placed under her protection, and I repeat that it is +not merely gratitude and respect that the children and +nuns feel towards the princess, it almost amounts to +fanaticism."</p> + +<p>"The princess must be an angel," said I to my aunt.</p> + +<p>"An angel, indeed!" replied she, "for you cannot +conceive with what touching kindness she treats her +young protégées. I have never seen the susceptibility +of misfortune meet with more delicate sympathy. You +would think some irresistible attraction drew the princess +towards this class of unfortunates. Will you believe<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> +it? she, the daughter of a sovereign, only addresses +these poor children as 'my sisters!'"</p> + +<p>At these last words of my aunt I confess I felt my +eyes fill with tears. Do you not also admire the admirable +and pious conduct of this young princess?</p> + +<p>"Since the princess," said I, "is so marvellously gifted, +I shall be greatly embarrassed when I am presented to +her to-morrow. You know how timid I am; you know, +also, that elevation of character imposes upon me more +than high birth, so that I am certain to appear both +stupid and embarrassed to-morrow; so I make up my +mind to that beforehand."</p> + +<p>"Come, come!" said my aunt, smiling, "she will +take pity upon you, the more readily as you are not +quite a stranger to her."</p> + +<p>"I am not a stranger to her, aunt?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly not."</p> + +<p>"How so?"</p> + +<p>"You recollect that when at the age of sixteen you +left Oldenzaal, to travel with your father through Russia +and England, I had your portrait painted in the costume +you wore at the first <i>bal costumé</i> the late duchess gave?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, aunt, the costume of a German page of the +sixteenth century."</p> + +<p>"Our famous painter, Fritz Mocker, whilst he painted a +faithful likeness of you, not only produced a page of that +century, but even the style of the pictures of that time.</p> + +<p>"Some days after her arrival at Gerolstein, the Princess +Amelie, who had come with her father to visit me, +remarked your portrait, and asked what was that charming +picture of olden times. Her father smiled, and said, +'This is the portrait of a cousin of ours, who would be, +were he now alive (as you see by his dress), some three +hundred years old, but who, although very young, made +himself remarkable for his courage and goodness of +heart; has he not bravery in his eyes and goodness +in his smile?'"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span></p> + +<p>Do not, I entreat you, Maximilian, shrug your +shoulders with disdain at seeing me write these +puerile details of myself, which are, alas, necessary +to my story.</p> + +<p>"The Princess Amelie," continued my aunt, "deceived +by this innocent pleasantry, after a long examination +of your portrait, joined with her father in praising +the amiable and determined expression of your face. +Some time after, when I went to Gerolstein, she questioned +me playfully about 'her cousin of the olden time.'</p> + +<p>"I then explained the trick to her, and told her that +the handsome page of the sixteenth century was really +the Prince Henry d'Herkaüsen-Oldenzaal, a young man of +one and twenty, captain in the guards of his majesty the +Emperor of Austria, and in every other respect than +the costume very like his picture. At these words the +princess," continued my aunt, "blushed and became serious, +and has never since spoken of the picture. However, +you see that you are not quite a stranger to your +cousin; so take courage, and maintain the reputation of +your portrait."</p> + +<p>This conversation took place, as I have already told +you, the evening previous to the day on which I was to +be presented to the princess my cousin. I left my aunt, +and returned to my own apartments.</p> + +<p>You have often told me, my dear Maximilian, that I +was totally free from vanity; I must therefore trust to +that to prevent my appearing vain during this recital.</p> + +<p>As soon as I was alone I reflected with a secret satisfaction +that the Princess Amelie, after seeing my portrait, +painted five or six years ago, had inquired after +"her cousin of the olden time."</p> + +<p>Nothing could be more absurd than to build the slightest +hope on so trivial a circumstance, I acknowledge; but +I always treat you with the most perfect confidence, and +I acknowledge that this trifling circumstance delighted +me.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span></p> + +<p>No doubt the praise I had just heard bestowed on the +princess by so grave and austere a person as my aunt, by +raising her in my estimation, rendered this circumstance +more agreeable.</p> + +<p>Why should I tell you? The hopes I conceived from +this trifling event were so mad that, now that I look back +more calmly on the past, I ask myself how I could +have indulged in ideas that must have ended in my +destruction.</p> + +<p>Although related to the grand duke, and always +treated by him with the greatest kindness, yet it was +impossible to entertain the slightest hope of a marriage +with the princess; even had she returned my affection +it would still have been impossible. Our family holds +an honourable position, but it is poor when compared +with the grand duke, the richest prince of the German +confederation; and besides, I was only one and twenty, +a simple captain in the guards, without any reputation +or any position. Never could the grand duke think of +me as a suitor for his daughter.</p> + +<p>All these reflections ought to have saved me from +a passion I did not as yet feel, but of which I had a +strange presentiment.</p> + +<p>Alas! I rather gave way to fresh puerilities; I wore +on my finger a ring that Thecla (the countess of whom I +have so often spoken) had given me, although this souvenir +of a boyish love could not have much embarrassed +me. I sacrificed it to my new flame, and, opening the +window, I cast the ring into the waves of the river that +flowed beneath.</p> + +<p>I have no need to tell you what a night I passed, you +can imagine; I knew the princess was very beautiful; I +sought to picture to myself her features, her air, her +manner, her figure, the sound of her voice; and thinking +of my portrait which she had noticed I recollected +that the artist had flattered me excessively, and I +contrasted the picturesque dress of a page of the sixteenth<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> +century with the simple uniform of a captain +of the Austrian guards.</p> + +<p>But amidst all these absurd ideas some generous +thoughts crossed my mind, and I was overcome,—yes, +overcome by the recollection of the tenderness of the +princess for those poor girls whom she always terms +"my sisters."</p> + +<p>The next day the hour for the reception came. I tried +on several uniforms one after another, found them all +to fit me very ill, and departed very dissatisfied with +myself.</p> + +<p>Although Gerolstein is only a quarter of a league +from Ste. Hermangeld, during the short journey all the +childish ideas that had so occupied me during the night +had given place to one sad and grave thought.</p> + +<p>An invincible presentiment told me I was approaching +one of the crises of my life. A magical inspiration +revealed to me that I was about to love, to love as a +man loves but once in his life; and, as if to complete +my misfortunes, this love, as loftily as deservedly +bestowed, was doomed to be unhappy.</p> + +<p>You do not know the grand ducal palace of Gerolstein. +In the opinion of every one who has visited the +capitals of Europe, there is, with the exception of +Versailles, no royal residence that has a more regal +and imposing appearance.</p> + +<p>If at this time I speak of this, it is because, thinking +over them, I wonder how they did not recall me to myself; +for the Princess Amelie was the daughter of the +sovereign of this palace, these guards, and of these +riches.</p> + +<p>You arrived at the palace by the marble court; so +called, because, with the exception of a drive for the +carriages, it is paved with variegated marble, forming +the most magnificent mosaics, in the centre of which is +a basin of breccia antique, into which a stream of water +flows from a porphyry vase.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> + +<p>This court of honour is surrounded by a row of beautiful +marble statues, holding candelabras of gilt bronze, +from which sprung brilliant jets of gas. Alternately +with these statues are the Medicean vases, raised on +richly sculptured pedestals, and filled with rose laurels, +whose leaves shine in the lights with a metallic lustre.</p> + +<p>The carriages stopped at the foot of the double staircase +leading to the peristyle of the palace. At the foot +of this staircase were stationed on guard, mounted on +their black horses, two soldiers of the regiment of the +guards of the grand duke. You would have been struck +with the stern and warlike appearance of these two +giants, whose cuirasses and helmets, made like those of +the ancients, without crest or plume, sparkled in the +sun.</p> + +<p>These soldiers wore blue coats with yellow collars, +buckskin breeches, and jack-boots. To please you who +are so fond of military details, I add, that at the top +landing of the staircase were stationed, as sentinels, two +grenadiers of the foot-guards of the duke. Their uniform, +with the exception of the colour of the coat +and facings, resembles, I am told, that of Napoleon's +grenadiers.</p> + +<p>After traversing the vestibule, where the porters of +the duke were stationed, halberd in hand, I ascended a +splendid staircase of white marble, which opened upon +a portico, ornamented with jasper columns, and surmounted +by a painted and gilt cupola. There were +two long files of domestics.</p> + +<p>I then entered the guard-room, at the door of which I +found a chamberlain and an aide-de-camp, whose duty it +was to present to his royal highness those persons who +were entitled to this honour. My relationship, though +distant, procured me a special presentation. An aide-de-camp +preceded me into a long gallery, filled with +gentlemen in full court dress or uniform, and splendidly +attired ladies.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span></p> + +<p>Whilst I passed through this brilliant assembly, I +heard here and there remarks that augmented my +embarrassment. Every one admired the angelic beauty +of the Princess Amelie, the charming appearance of the +Marquise d'Harville, and the imperial air of the Archduchess +Sophia, who, recently arrived from Munich with +the Archduke Stanislaus, was about to depart for Warsaw; +but whilst rendering their just tribute of admiration +to the lofty bearing of the duchess and to the charms of +the Marquise d'Harville, every one agreed that nothing +could exceed the loveliness of the Princess Amelie.</p> + +<p>As I approached the spot where the grand duke and +the princess were I felt my heart beat more and more +violently. At the moment that I entered the salon (I +forgot to tell you there was a concert and ball at court) +the famous Liszt sat down to the piano, and instantly +the most profound silence succeeded to the conversation +that was going on. I waited in the embrasure of a door +until Liszt had finished the piece he was playing with +his accustomed taste.</p> + +<p>It was then that I saw the Princess Amelie for the +first time.</p> + +<p>I must tell you all that passed, for I feel an indescribable +pleasure in writing it.</p> + +<p>Picture to yourself a large salon furnished with regal +splendour, brilliantly lighted up, and hung with crimson +silk, embroidered with wreaths of flowers in gold. In +the first row, on large gilt chairs, sat the Archduchess +Sophia with Madame d'Harville on her left, and the +Princess Amelie on her right. Behind them stood the +duke in the uniform of colonel of the guards. He seemed +scarcely thirty, and the military uniform set off his fine +figure and noble features. Beside him was the Archduke +Stanislaus in the uniform of a field-marshal; then came +the princess's maids of honour, the ladies of the grand +dignitaries of the court, and then the dignitaries themselves.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> + +<p>I need scarcely tell you that the Princess Amelie was +less conspicuous by her rank than by her extraordinary +beauty. Do not condemn me without reading this description +of her. Although it falls far short of the +reality, you will understand my adoration. You will +understand that as soon as I saw her I loved her; and +that the suddenness of my passion can only be equalled +by its violence and its eternity.</p> + +<p>The Princess Amelie was dressed in a plain white +watered silk dress, and wore, like the archduchess, the +riband of the imperial order of St. Nepomucenus recently +sent to her by the empress. A diadem of pearls +surrounded her head, and harmonised admirably with +two splendid braids of fair hair that shaded her delicate +cheeks. Her arms, whiter than the lace that ornamented +them, were half hidden in long gloves, reaching nearly +to her elbow.</p> + +<p>Nothing could be more perfect than her figure, nothing +more charming than her foot in its satin slipper. At +the moment when I saw her her beaming blue eyes wore +a pensive expression. I do not know whether some +serious thought came over her, or whether she was impressed +with the grave melody of the piece Liszt was +playing; but the expression of her countenance seemed +to me full of sweetness and melancholy.</p> + +<p>Never can I express my feelings at that moment. All +that my aunt had related of her goodness crossed my +mind.</p> + +<p>Smile if you will, but my eyes became full of tears +when I saw this young girl, so beautiful and so idolised +by such a father, seem so melancholy and pensive.</p> + +<p>You know how scrupulously etiquette and the privileges +of rank are observed by us. Thanks to my title +and my relationship to the grand duke, the crowd in the +midst of which I stood gradually fell back, and I found +myself left almost alone in the embrasure of the door. It +was, no doubt, owing to this circumstance that the princess,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> +awaking from her reverie, perceived, and no doubt +recognised me, for she started and blushed.</p> + +<p>She had seen my portrait at my aunt's, and recognised +me; nothing could be more simple. The princess's +eyes did not rest upon me an instant, but that +look threw me into the most violent confusion. I felt +my cheeks glow, I cast down my eyes, and did not venture +to raise them for some time. When I dared at last +to steal a glance at the princess she was speaking in a +low tone to the archduchess, who seemed to listen to her +with the most affectionate interest.</p> + +<p>Liszt having paused for a few moments between the +pieces he was playing, the grand duke took the opportunity +of expressing his admiration. On returning to his place he +perceived me, nodded kindly to me, and said something to +the archduchess, fixing his eyes on me at the same time. +The duchess, after looking at me a moment, turned to +the duke, who smiled and said something to his daughter +that seemed to embarrass her, for she blushed again. I +was on thorns; but, unfortunately, etiquette forbade my +leaving my place until the concert was over.</p> + +<p>As soon as the concert was finished I followed the +aide-de-camp; he conducted me to the grand duke, who +deigned to advance a few steps towards me, took me by +the arm, and said to the Archduchess Sophia:</p> + +<p>"Permit me to present to your royal highness my +cousin, Prince Henry of Herkaüsen-Oldenzaal."</p> + +<p>"I have seen the prince at Vienna, and meet him here +with pleasure," replied the duchess, before whom I inclined +myself respectfully.</p> + +<p>"My dear Amelie," continued the prince, addressing +his daughter, "this is Prince Henry, your cousin, the +son of one of my most valued friends, Prince Paul, whom +I greatly lament not seeing here to-day."</p> + +<p>"Pray, monseigneur, inform the prince that I equally +regret his absence, for I am always delighted to know +any of my father's friends."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span></p> + +<p>I had not until then heard the princess's voice, and I +was struck with its intense sweetness.</p> + +<p>"I hope, my dear Henry, you will stay some time +with your aunt," said the grand duke. "Come and see +us often about three o'clock <i>en famille</i>; and if we ride +out you must accompany us. You know how great an +affection I have always felt for you, for your noble +qualities."</p> + +<p>"I cannot express my gratitude for your royal highness's +kindness."</p> + +<p>"Well, to prove it," said the grand duke, smiling, +"engage your cousin for the second quadrille; the first +belongs to the archduke."</p> + +<p>"Will your royal highness do me the honour?" said I +to my cousin.</p> + +<p>"Oh, call each other cousin, as in the good old times," +replied the duke, laughing. "There should be no ceremony +between relations."</p> + +<p>"Will you dance with me, cousin?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, cousin," replied the princess.</p> + +<p>I cannot tell how much I felt the touching kindness +of the grand duke, and how bitterly I reproached myself +for yielding to an affection the prince would never +authorise.</p> + +<p>I vowed inwardly that nothing should induce me to +acquaint my cousin with my affection, but I feared my +emotion would betray me.</p> + +<p>I had leisure for these reflections whilst my cousin +danced the first quadrille with the Archduke Stanislaus. +Nothing was more suited to display the graces of the +princess's person than the slow movements of the dance. +I anxiously awaited my turn; and I succeeded in concealing +my emotion when I led her to the quadrille.</p> + +<p>"Does your royal highness sanction my calling you +cousin?" said I.</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, cousin, I am always delighted to obey my +father."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I rejoice in this familiarity, since I have learnt from +my aunt to know you."</p> + +<p>"My father has often spoken of you, cousin; and what +may, perhaps, astonish you," added she, timidly, "I also +knew you by sight; for one day the Abbess of Ste. +Hermangeld, your aunt, for whom I have the greatest +respect, showed me your picture."</p> + +<p>"As a page of the sixteenth century?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, cousin; and my father was malicious enough +to tell me that it was an ancestor of ours, and spoke +so highly of his courage and his other qualities that +our family ought to be proud of their descent from +him."</p> + +<p>"Alas, cousin, I fear my resemblance to my portrait +is not great!"</p> + +<p>"You are mistaken, cousin," said the princess. "For +at the end of the concert I recognised you immediately, +in spite of the difference of costume." Then, wishing +to change the conversation, she added, "How charmingly +M. Liszt plays!—does he not?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. How attentively you listened to him!"</p> + +<p>"Because there is to me a double charm in music +without words. Not only you hear the execution, but +you can adapt your thoughts to the melody. Do you +understand me?"</p> + +<p>"Perfectly; your own thoughts become words to the +air."</p> + +<p>"Yes, you quite comprehend me," said she, with a +gesture of satisfaction. "I feared I could not express +what I felt just now."</p> + +<p>"I thank God, cousin," said I, smiling, "you can have +no words to set to so sad an air."</p> + +<p>I know not whether my question was indiscreet or +whether she had not heard me, but suddenly she exclaimed, +pointing out to me the grand duke, who crossed +the room with the archduchess on his arm, "Cousin, +look at my father, how handsome he is! how noble!<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span> +how good! Every one looks at him as if they loved +him more than they feared him."</p> + +<p>"Ah," cried I, "it is not only here he is beloved. +If the blessing of his people be transmitted to their +posterity, the name of Rodolph of Gerolstein will be +immortal."</p> + +<p>"To speak thus is to be, indeed, worthy of his +attachment."</p> + +<p>"I do but give utterance to the feelings of all present; +see how they all hasten to pay their respects to Madame +d'Harville!"</p> + +<p>"No one in the world is more worthy of my father's +affections than Madame d'Harville."</p> + +<p>"You are more capable than any one of appreciating +her, as you have been in France."</p> + +<p>Scarcely had I pronounced these words than the +princess cast down her eyes, and her features assumed +an air of melancholy; and when I led her back to her +seat the expression of them was still the same. I suppose +that my allusion to her stay in France recalled the +death of her mother.</p> + +<p>In the course of the evening a circumstance occurred +which you may think too trivial to mention, perhaps, +but which evinces the extraordinary influence this young +girl universally inspires. Her bandeau of pearls having +become disarranged, the Archduchess Sophia, who was +leaning on her arm, kindly readjusted the ornament +upon her brow. Knowing, as we do, the hauteur of the +archduchess, such condescension is almost inconceivable.</p> + +<p>The next morning I was invited, together with a few +other persons, to be present at the marriage of the grand +duke with Madame la Marquise d'Harville. I had never +seen the princess so radiant and happy.</p> + +<p>Some days after the duke's marriage I had a long +interview with him. He questioned me about my past +life, my future career. He gave me the most admirable +advice, the kindest encouragement. So much so that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> +the idea crossed my mind that he had perceived my love +and wished to bring me to confess it.</p> + +<p>But this idea was soon dispelled. The prince concluded +by telling me that the great wars were over, that +I ought to avail myself of my name, my connections, +the education I had received, and my father's friendship +with the Prince de M——, prime minister of the emperor, +in order to follow a diplomatic instead of a military +career. In a word, he offered me his sovereign protection +to facilitate my entry in the career he proposed +to me.</p> + +<p>I thanked him for his offers with gratitude, and added +that I felt the weight of his advice and would follow it.</p> + +<p>I at first visited the palace very seldom; but, thanks +to the duke's reiterated invitations, I was soon there +almost every day. We lived in the peaceful retirement +resembling that of some English mansions. When the +weather permitted we rode out with the duke, the +duchess, and the grand personages of the court.</p> + +<p>When we were forced to remain at home we sang, +and I accompanied the grand duchess and my cousin, +who had the sweetest and most expressive voice I ever +heard. At other times we inspected the magnificent +picture galleries and museums, and the library of the +prince, who is one of the most accomplished men in +Europe. I often dined at the palace, and on the opera +nights I accompanied the duke's family to the theatre.</p> + +<p>Could this intimacy have lasted for ever I should have +been happy, perhaps, but I reflected that I should be +summoned to Vienna by my duties. I reflected, also, +that the duke would soon think of finding a suitable +alliance for his daughter.</p> + +<p>My cousin remarked this change in me. The evening +before I quitted Gerolstein she told me she had +for several days remarked my abstracted manner. I +endeavoured to evade this question, saying that my +approaching departure was the cause.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I can scarcely believe it," replied she. "My father +treats you like a son; every one loves you. It would be +ingratitude if you were unhappy."</p> + +<p>"Alas!" said I, unable to restrain my emotion, "it is +grief I am a prey to!"</p> + +<p>"Why, what has happened?"</p> + +<p>"Just now, cousin, you have told me your father +treated me like a son, and that every one loved me; and +yet, ere long, I must quit Gerolstein. It is this that +grieves me."</p> + +<p>"And are the recollections of those you have left as +nothing?"</p> + +<p>"Doubtless; but time brings so many changes."</p> + +<p>"There are affections, at least, that are unchangeable; +such as that of my father for you, such as that I feel for +you. When you are once brother and sister you never +forget each other," added she, looking up, her large blue +eyes full of tears.</p> + +<p>I was on the point of betraying myself; however, I +controlled my feelings in time.</p> + +<p>"Do you think then, cousin," said I, "that when I +return in a few years this affection will continue?"</p> + +<p>"Why should it not?"</p> + +<p>"Because you will be probably married; you will +have other duties to perform, and you will forget your +poor brother."</p> + +<p>This was all that passed; I know not if she was +offended at these words, or whether she was like myself +grieved at the changes the future must bring; but, +instead of answering me, she was silent for a moment, +then, rising hastily from her seat, her face pale and +altered, she left the room, after having looked for a +few seconds at the embroidery of the young Countess +d'Oppenheim, one of her maids of honour.</p> + +<p>The same evening I received a second letter from my +father, urging me to return. The next morning I took +leave of the grand duke. He told me my cousin was<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span> +unwell, but that he would make my adieux; he then +embraced me tenderly, renewed his promises of assistance, +and added that, whenever I had leave of absence, +nothing would give him greater pleasure than to see me +at Gerolstein.</p> + +<p>Happily, on my arrival, I found my father better; +still confined to his bed, and very weak, it is true, but +out of danger. Now that you know all, Maximilian, tell +me, what can I do?</p> + +<p>Just as I finished this letter, my door opened, and, to +my great surprise, my father, whom I believed to be in +bed, entered; he saw the letter on the table.</p> + +<p>"To whom are you writing so long a letter?" said +he, smiling.</p> + +<p>"To Maximilian, father."</p> + +<p>"Oh," said he, with an expression of affectionate +reproach, "he has all your confidence! He is very +happy!"</p> + +<p>He pronounced these last words in so sorrowful a +tone that I held out the letter to him, almost without +reflection, saying:</p> + +<p>"Read it, father."</p> + +<p>My friend, he has read all! After having remained +musing some time he said to me:</p> + +<p>"Henry, I shall write and inform the grand duke of +all that passed during your stay at Gerolstein."</p> + +<p>"Father, I entreat you not!"</p> + +<p>"Is what you have written to Maximilian scrupulously +true?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Do you love your cousin?"</p> + +<p>"I adore her; but—"</p> + +<p>My father interrupted me.</p> + +<p>"Then, in that case, I shall write to the grand duke +and demand her hand for you."</p> + +<p>"But, father, such a demand will be madness on my +part!"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It is true; but still, in making this demand, I shall +acquaint the prince with my reasons for making it. He +has received you with the greatest kindness, and it would +be unworthy of me to deceive him. He will be touched +at the frankness of my demand, and, though he refuse it, +as he certainly will, he will yet know that, should you +ever again visit Gerolstein, you cannot be on the same +familiar terms with the princess."</p> + +<p>You know that, although so tenderly attached to me, +my father is inflexible in whatever concerns his duty; +judge, then, of my fears, of my anxiety.</p> + +<p>I hastily terminate this long letter, but I will soon +write again. Sympathise with me, for I fear I shall go +mad if the fever that preys on me does not soon abate. +Adieu, adieu! Ever yours,</p> + +<p class="sigs"><span class="smcap">Henry d'H.-O.</span></p></div> + +<p>We will now conduct the reader to the palace of +Gerolstein, inhabited by Fleur-de-Marie since her return +from France.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span></p> +<h3>CHAPTER II.</h3> + +<h5>THE PRINCESS AMELIE.</h5> + + +<p>The apartment of Fleur-de-Marie (we only call her +the Princess Amelie officially) had been by Rodolph's +orders splendidly furnished. From the balcony of the +oratory the two towers of the Convent of Ste. Hermangeld +were visible, which, embosomed in the woods, were +in their turn overtopped by a high hill, at the foot of +which the abbey was built.</p> + +<p>One fine summer's morning Fleur-de-Marie gazed listlessly +at this splendid landscape; her hair was plainly +braided, and she wore a high, white dress with blue +stripes; a large muslin collar was fastened around her +throat by a small blue silk handkerchief, of the same +hue as her sash.</p> + +<p>Seated in a large armchair of carved ebony, she leant +her head on her small and delicately white hand. Fleur-de-Marie's +attitude and the expression of her face showed +that she was a prey to the deepest melancholy.</p> + +<p>At this instant a female of a grave and distinguished +appearance entered the room, and coughed gently to +attract Fleur-de-Marie's attention. She started from her +reverie, and, gracefully acknowledging the salutation +of the newcomer, said:</p> + +<p>"What is it, my dear countess?"</p> + +<p>"I come to inform your royal highness that the +grand duke will be here in a few minutes, and, also, +to ask a favour of you."</p> + +<p>"Ask it, you know how happy I am to oblige you."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It concerns an unhappy creature who had unfortunately +quitted Gerolstein before your royal highness +had founded the asylum for orphans and children +abandoned by their parents."</p> + +<p>"What do you wish I should do for her?"</p> + +<p>"The father went to seek his fortune in America, +leaving his wife and daughter to gain a precarious +subsistence. The mother died, and this poor girl, +then only sixteen, was seduced and abandoned. She +fell lower and lower, until at length she became, like +so many others, the opprobrium of her sex."</p> + +<p>Fleur-de-Marie turned red and shuddered. The +countess, fearing she had wounded the delicacy of +the princess by the mention of this girl's condition, +replied:</p> + +<p>"I pray your royal highness to pardon me; I have, +doubtless, shocked you by speaking of this wretched +creature, but her repentance seemed so sincere that I +ventured to plead for her."</p> + +<p>"You were quite right. Pray continue," said Fleur-de-Marie, +subduing her emotion. "Every fault is worthy +of pity when followed by repentance."</p> + +<p>"After two years passed in this wretched mode of +existence she repented sincerely, and came back to +Gerolstein. She chanced to lodge in the house of a +good and pious widow; encouraged by her kindness, +the poor creature told her all her sad story, adding +that she bitterly regretted the faults of her early life, +and that all she desired was to enter some religious +house, where by prayer and penitence she might atone +for her sins. She is only eighteen, very beautiful, and +possesses a considerable sum of money, which she wishes +to bestow on the convent she enters."</p> + +<p>"I undertake to provide for her," said Fleur-de-Marie; +"since she repents, she is worthy of compassion; +her remorse must be more bitter in proportion as +it is sincere."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I hear the grand duke," said the lady in waiting, +without remarking Fleur-de-Marie's agitation; and, as +she spoke, Rodolph entered, holding a large bouquet of +roses in his hand.</p> + +<p>At the sight of the prince the countess retired, and +scarcely had she left the apartment than Fleur-de-Marie +threw herself into her father's arms, and leant +her head on his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Good morning, love," said Rodolph, pressing her to +his heart. "See what beautiful roses; I never saw +finer ones." And the prince made a slight motion as +if to disengage himself from her and look at her, when, +seeing her weeping, he threw down the bouquet, and, +taking her hands, cried:</p> + +<p>"You are weeping! What is the matter?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing, dear father," said Fleur-de-Marie, striving +to smile.</p> + +<p>"My child," replied Rodolph, "you are concealing +something from me; tell me, I entreat you, what thus +distresses you. Never mind the bouquet."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you know how fond I am of roses; I always +was! Do you recollect," added she, "my poor little +rose-tree? I have preserved the pieces of it so carefully!"</p> + +<p>At this terrible allusion, Rodolph cried:</p> + +<p>"Unhappy child! Is it possible that, in the midst of +all the splendour that surrounds you, you think of the +past? Alas! I hoped my tenderness had made you +forget it."</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, dear father; I did not mean what I +said. I grieve you."</p> + +<p>"I grieve, my child, because I know how painful it is +for you thus to ponder over the past."</p> + +<p>"Dear father, it is the first time since I have been +here."</p> + +<p>"The first time you have mentioned it, but not the +first time you have thought of it; I have for a long time<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> +noticed your sadness, and was unable to account for it. +My position was so delicate, though I never told you anything, +I thought of you constantly. When I contracted +my marriage, I thought it would increase your happiness. +I did not venture to hope you would quite forget the +past; but I hoped that, cherished and supported by the +amiable woman whom I had chosen for my wife, you +would look upon the past as amply atoned for by your +sufferings. No matter what faults you had committed, +they have been a thousand times expiated by the good +you have done since you have been here."</p> + +<p>"Father!"</p> + +<p>"Oh, let me tell you all, since a providential chance +has brought about this conversation I at once desired +and dreaded! I would, to secure your happiness, have +sacrificed my affection for Madame d'Harville and my +friendship for Murphy, had I thought they recalled the +past to you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, their presence, when they know what I was, and +yet love me so tenderly, seems a proof of pardon and +oblivion to me! I should have been miserable if for my +sake you had renounced Madame d'Harville's hand."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you know not what sacrifice Clémence herself +would have made, for she was aware of the full extent +of my duties to you!"</p> + +<p>"Duties to me! What have I done to deserve so +much goodness?"</p> + +<p>"Until the moment that Heaven restored you to me, +your life had been one of sorrow and misery, and I +reproach myself with your sufferings as if I had caused +them, and when I see you happy, it seems to me I am +forgiven. My only wish, my sole aim, is to render you +as happy as you were before unhappy, to exalt you +as you have been abased, for the last trace of your +humiliation must disappear when you see the noblest in +the land vie with each other who shall show you most +respect."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Respect to me! Oh, no! It is to my rank and not +to myself they show respect."</p> + +<p>"It is to you, dear child,—it is to you!"</p> + +<p>"You love me so much, dear father, that every one +thinks to please you by showing me respect."</p> + +<p>"Oh, naughty child!" cried Rodolph, tenderly kissing +his daughter; "she will not cede anything to my +paternal pride."</p> + +<p>"Is not your pride satisfied at my attributing the +kindness I receive to you only?"</p> + +<p>"No, that is not the same thing; I cannot be proud +of myself, but of you. You are ignorant of your own +merits; in fifteen months your education has been so +perfected that the most enthusiastic mother would be +proud of you."</p> + +<p>At this moment the door of the salon opened, and +Clémence, grand duchess of Gerolstein, entered, holding +a letter in her hand.</p> + +<p>"Here, love, is a letter from France," said she to +Rodolph; "I brought it myself, because I wished to bid +good-morrow to my dear child, whom I have not yet +seen to-day."</p> + +<p>"This letter arrives most opportunely," said Rodolph. +"We were speaking of the Past; that monster we must +destroy, since he threatens the repose of our child."</p> + +<p>"Is it possible that these fits of melancholy we have +so often remarked—"</p> + +<p>"Were occasioned by unhappy recollections; but now +that we know the enemy we shall destroy him."</p> + +<p>"From whom is this letter?" asked Clémence.</p> + +<p>"From Rigolette, Germain's wife."</p> + +<p>"Rigolette?" cried Fleur-de-Marie. "Oh, I am so +glad!"</p> + +<p>"Do you not fear that this letter may serve to awaken +fresh recollections?" said Clémence, in a low tone to +Rodolph.</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, I wish to destroy these recollections,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span> +and I shall, doubtless, find arms in this letter, +for Rigolette is a worthy creature, who appreciated and +adored our child."</p> + +<p>Rodolph then read the following letter aloud:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="sigs">"<span class="smcap">Bouqueval Farm</span>, August 15, 1841.</p> + +<p>"<i>Monseigneur</i>:—I take the liberty of writing to you +to communicate a great happiness which has occurred to +us, and to ask of you another favour,—of you, to whom +we already owe so much, or rather to whom we owe the +real paradise in which we live, myself, my dear Germain, +and his good mother. It is this, monseigneur: For the +last ten days I have been crazy with joy, for ten days ago +I was confined with such a love of a little girl, which I say +is the image of Germain, he says it is exactly like me, +and our dear mother says it is like us both; the fact is, +it has beautiful blue eyes like Germain, and black curly +hair like mine."</p></div> + +<p>"Good, worthy people, they deserve to be happy!" +said Rodolph. "If ever there was a couple well matched +it is they."</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>"But really, monseigneur, I must ask your pardon for +this chatter. Your ears must often tingle, monseigneur, +for the day never passes that we do not talk of you, +when we say to each other how happy we are, how +happy we were, for then your name naturally occurs. +Excuse this blot, monseigneur; but, without thinking of +it, I had written Monsieur Rodolph, as I used to say +formerly, and then I scratched it out. I hope you will +find my writing improved as well as my spelling, for +Germain gives me lessons, and I do not make those long +ugly scrawls I used to do when you mended my pens."</p></div> + +<p>"I must confess," said Rodolph, with a smile, "that +my little protégée makes a mistake, and I am sure Germain<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> +is more frequently employed in kissing the hand of +his scholar than in directing it."</p> + +<p>"My dear duke, you are unjust," said Clémence, looking +at the letter; "it is rather a very large hand, but +very legible."</p> + +<p>"Why, yes, she has really improved," observed Rodolph; +"it would in former days have taken eight pages +to contain what she now writes in two." And he continued:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>"It is quite true, you know, monseigneur, that you +used to mend my pens, and when we think of it, we two +Germains, we feel quite ashamed when we recollect how +free from pride you were. Ah, I am again chattering +instead of saying what we wish to ask of you, monseigneur; +for my husband unites with me, and it is very +important, for we attach a great deal to it, as you will +see. We entreat of you, monseigneur, to have the goodness +to choose for us and give us a name for our dear +little daughter; this has been the wish of the godfather +and godmother,—and who do you think they are, monseigneur? +Two persons whom you and the Marquise +d'Harville have taken from misery and made very +happy, as happy as we are. They are Morel, the lapidary, +and Jeanne Duport, a worthy creature whom I +met in prison when I went there to visit my dear Germain, +and whom the marquise afterwards took out of +the hospital.</p> + +<p>"And now, monseigneur, you must know why we have +chosen M. Morel for godfather, and Jeanne Duport for +godmother. We said it would be one way of again +thanking M. Rodolph for all his kindness, to have, as +godfather and godmother for our little one, worthy +persons who owe everything to him and the marchioness; +whilst, at the same time, Morel and Jeanne Duport are +the worthiest people breathing, they are of our own +class in life, and besides, as we say with Germain, they<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span> +are our kinsfolk in happiness, for, like us, they are of +the family of your protégés."</p></div> + +<p>"Really, my dear father, this idea is most delightful +and excellent!" said Fleur-de-Marie; "to take for godfather +and godmother persons who owe everything to +you and my dear second mother!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed, dearest," said Clémence; "and I am +deeply touched at their remembrance."</p> + +<p>"And I am very happy to find that my favours have +been so well bestowed," said Rodolph, continuing his +letter.</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>"With the money you gave him, Morel has now +become a jewel broker, and earns enough to bring up +his family very respectably. Poor Louise, who is a very +good girl, is going, I believe, to be married to a very +worthy young man, who loves and respects her as he +ought to do, for she has been unfortunate, but not +guilty, and Louise's husband that is to be is perfectly +sensible of this."</p></div> + +<p>Rodolph laid great stress on these last words, looked +at his daughter for a moment, and then continued:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>"I must add, monseigneur, that Jeanne Duport, +through the generosity of the marquise, has been separated +from her husband, that bad man who beat her and +took everything from her; she has now her eldest daughter +with her: they keep a small trimming shop, and are +doing very well. Germain writes to you regularly, +monseigneur, every month, on the subject of the Bank +for Mechanics out of Work and Gratuitous Loans; there +are scarcely any sums in arrear, and we find already the +good effects of it in this quarter. Nine, at least, poor +families can support themselves in the dead season of +work without sending their clothes and bedding to the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> +pawnbroker's. And when work comes in, it does one's +heart good to see the haste with which they return the +money lent, and they bless you for the loans so serviceably +advanced.</p> + +<p>"Yes, monseigneur, they bless you; for, although you +say you did nothing in this but appoint Germain, and +that an unknown did this great benefit, we must always, +suppose it was you who founded it, as it appears to us +the most natural idea. There is, besides, a most famous +trumpet to repeat that it is you who are the real benefactor. +This trumpet is Madame Pipelet, who repeats to +every one that it could be no one but her king of lodgers +(excuse her, M. Rodolph, but she always calls you +so) who established such a charitable institution, and +her old darling Alfred is of the same opinion; he is so +proud and contented with his post as porter to the bank +that he says all the tricks of M. Cabrion would not have +the slightest effect on him now.</p> + +<p>"Germain has read in the newspapers that Martial, a +colonist of Algeria, has been mentioned with great +praise for the courage he had shown in repulsing, at the +head of the settlers, an attack of plundering Arabs, and +that his wife, as intrepid as himself, had been slightly +wounded by his side, where she handled her musket like +a real grenadier; since this time, says the newspaper, +she has been called Madame Carabine.</p> + +<p>"Excuse this long letter, monseigneur, but I think +you will not be displeased to hear from us news of +all those whose benefactor you have been. I write +to you from the farm at Bouqueval, where we have +been since the spring with our good mother. Germain +leaves us in the morning for his business, and +returns in the evening. In the autumn we shall return +to Paris.</p> + +<p>"It is so strange, M. Rodolph, that I, who could never +endure the country, am now so fond of it; I suppose it +is because Germain likes it so very much.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p> + +<p>"As to the farm, M. Rodolph, you who know, no +doubt, where the good little Goualeuse is, will perhaps +tell her that we very often think of her as one of the +dearest and gentlest creatures in the world; and that, +for myself, I never think of my own happy condition +without saying to myself, since M. Rodolph was also the +M. Rodolph of dear Fleur-de-Marie, that, no doubt, she +is by his kindness as happy as we are, and that makes +one feel still more happy. Ah, how I chatter! What +will you say to all this? But you are so good, and then, +you know, it is your fault if I go on as long and as merrily +as Papa Crétu and Ramonette, who no longer have +a chance with me in singing. You will not refuse our +request, will you, monseigneur? If you will give a +name to our dear little child, it will seem to us that it +will bring her good fortune, like a lucky star.</p> + +<p>"If I conclude by saying to you, M. Rodolph, that we +try to give every assistance in our power to the poor, it +is not to boast, but that you may know that we do not +keep to ourselves all the happiness you have given to us; +besides, we always say to those we succour: 'It is not +us whom you should thank and bless; it is M. Rodolph, +the best, most generous person in the world.'</p> + +<p>"Adieu, monseigneur! And pray believe that when +our dear little child begins to lisp, the first word she +shall utter will be your name, M. Rodolph, and the next +those you wrote on the basket which contained your +generous wedding presents to me, 'Labour and discretion, +honour and happiness.' Thanks to these four words, our +love and our care, we hope, monseigneur, that our child +will be always worthy to pronounce the name of him +who has been our benefactor, and that of all the unfortunates +he ever knew—Forgive me, monseigneur, but +I cannot finish without the big tears in my eyes, but they +are tears of happiness. Excuse all errors, if you please; +it is not my fault, but I cannot see very clearly, and I +scribble.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I have the honour to be, monseigneur, your respectful +and most grateful servant,</p> + +<p class="sigs">"<span class="smcap">Rigolette Germain.</span></p> + +<p>"P.S. Ah, monseigneur, in reading my letter over +again, I see I have often written M. Rodolph, but you +will excuse me, for you know, monseigneur, that under +any and every name we respect and bless you alike."</p></div> + +<p>"Dear little Rigolette!" said Clémence, affected by +the letter; "how full of good and right feeling is her +letter!"</p> + +<p>"It is, indeed!" replied Rodolph. "She has an admirable +disposition, her heart is all that is good; and our +dear daughter appreciates her as we do," he added, addressing +Fleur-de-Marie, when, struck by her pale countenance, +he exclaimed, "But what ails you, dearest?"</p> + +<p>"Alas! what a painful contrast between my position +and that of Rigolette. 'Labour and discretion, honour +and happiness,' these four words declare all that my life +has been, all that it ought to have been,—a young, +industrious, and discreet girl, a beloved wife, a happy +mother, an honoured woman, such is her destiny; +whilst I—"</p> + +<p>"What do you say?"</p> + +<p>"Forgive me, my dear father; do not accuse me of +ingratitude. But in spite of your unspeakable tenderness +and that of my second mother, in spite of the +splendour with which I am surrounded, in spite of your +sovereign power, my shame is incurable. Nothing can +destroy the past. Forgive me, dear father. Until now +I have concealed this from you; but the recollection of +my original degradation drives me to despair—kills +me—"</p> + +<p>"Clémence, do you hear?" cried Rodolph, in extreme +distress. "Oh, fatality—fatality! Now I curse my +fears, my silence. This sad idea, so long and deeply<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span> +rooted in her mind, has, unknown to us, made fearful +ravages; and it is too late to contend against this sad +error. Oh, I am indeed wretched!"</p> + +<p>"Courage, my dearest!" said Clémence to Rodolph. +"You said but now that it is best to know the enemy +that threatens us. We know now the cause of our child's +sorrow, and will triumph over it, because we shall have +with us reason, justice, and our excessive love for her."</p> + +<p>"And then she will see, too, that her affliction, if it +be, indeed, incurable, will render ours incurable," said +Rodolph.</p> + +<p>After a protracted silence, during which Fleur-de-Marie +appeared to recover herself, she took Rodolph's and +Clémence's hands in her own, and said in a voice deeply +affected, "Hear me, beloved father, and you my best of +mothers. God has willed it, and I thank him for it, +that I should no longer conceal from you all that I feel. +I must have done so shortly, and told you what I will +now avow, for I could not longer have kept it concealed."</p> + +<p>"Ah, now I comprehend!" ejaculated Rodolph, "and +there is no longer any hope for her."</p> + +<p>"I hope in the future, my dear father, and this hope +gives me strength to speak thus to you."</p> + +<p>"And what can you hope for the future, poor child, +since your present fate only causes you grief and +torment?"</p> + +<p>"I will tell you; but before I do so let me recall to +you the past, and confess before God, who hears me, +what I have felt to this time."</p> + +<p>"Speak—speak—we listen!" was Rodolph's reply.</p> + +<p>"As long as I was in Paris with you, my dearest +father, I was so happy that such days of bliss cannot be +paid for too dearly by years of suffering. You see I +have at least known happiness."</p> + +<p>"For some days, perhaps."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but what pure and unmingled happiness! The +future dazzled me,—a father to adore, a second mother<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> +to cherish doubly, for she replaced mine, whom I never +knew. Then—for I will confess all—my pride was +roused in spite of myself. So greatly did I rejoice in +belonging to you. If then I sometimes thought vaguely +of the past, it was to say to myself, 'I, formerly so +debased, am the beloved daughter of a sovereign prince, +whom everybody blesses and reveres; I, formerly so +wretched, now enjoy all the splendours of luxury, and +an existence almost royal.' Alas! my father, my good +fortune was so unlooked for, your power surrounded me +with so much brilliancy, that I was, perhaps, excusable +in allowing myself to be thus blinded."</p> + +<p>"Excusable! Nothing could be more natural, my +angelic girl. What was there wrong in being proud of +a rank which was your own, in enjoying the advantages +of a position to which I had restored you? I remember +at this time you were so delightfully gay, and said to +me in accents I never can again hope to hear, 'Dearest +father, this is too, too much happiness!' Unfortunately +it was these recollections that begat in me this deceitful +security."</p> + +<p>"Do you remember, my father," said Fleur-de-Marie, +unable to overcome a shudder of horror, "do you remember +the terrible scene that preceded our departure +from Paris when your carriage was stopped?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," answered Rodolph; in a tone of melancholy. +"Brave Chourineur! after having once more saved my +life—he died—there, before our eyes."</p> + +<p>"Well, my father, at the moment when that unhappy +man expired, do you know whom I saw looking steadfastly +at me? Ah, that look—that look! it has +haunted me ever since!" added Fleur-de-Marie, with +a shudder.</p> + +<p>"What look? Of whom do you speak?" cried +Rodolph.</p> + +<p>"Of the ogress of the <i>tapis-franc</i>!" answered Fleur-de-Marie.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span></p> + +<p>"That monster! You saw her!—and where?"</p> + +<p>"Did you not see her in the tavern where the +Chourineur died? She was amongst the women who +surrounded us."</p> + +<p>"Ah, now," said Rodolph, in a tone of despair, "I +understand. Struck with horror as you were at the +murder of the Chourineur, you must have imagined that +you saw something prophetic in the sinister rencontre!"</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed, father, it was so. At the sight of the +ogress I felt a death-like shiver, and it seemed that +under her scowl my heart, which, until then, had been +light, joyous, bounding, was instantly chilled to ice. +Yes, to meet that woman at the very instant when +the Chourineur died, saying, 'Heaven is just!' it +seemed to me as a rebuke from Providence for my +proud forgetfulness of the past, which I was hereafter +to expiate by humility and repentance."</p> + +<p>"But the past was forced on you, and you are not +responsible for that in the sight of God!"</p> + +<p>"You were driven to it—overcome—my poor child!"</p> + +<p>"Once precipitated into the abyss in spite of yourself, +and unable to quit it in spite of your remorse and +despair, through the atrocious recklessness of the society +of which you were a victim, you saw yourself for +ever chained to this den, and it required that chance +should throw you in my way to rescue you from such +thraldom."</p> + +<p>"Then, too, my child, your father says you were the +victim and not the accomplice of this infamy," said +Clémence.</p> + +<p>"But yet, my mother, I have known this infamy!" +replied Fleur-de-Marie, in a tone of deepest grief. +"Nothing can destroy these fearful recollections,—they +pursue me incessantly, not as formerly, in the +midst of the peaceful inhabitants of the farm, or +the fallen women who were my companions in St. +Lazare, but they pursue me even in this palace, filled<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span> +with the élite of Germany; they pursue me even to my +father's arms, even to the steps of his throne!" And +Fleur-de-Marie burst into an agony of tears.</p> + +<p>Rodolph and Clémence remained silent in presence of +this fearful expression of unextinguishable remorse; they +wept, too, for they perceived that their consolations were +vain.</p> + +<p>"Since then," continued Fleur-de-Marie, drying her +tears, "I say to myself every moment in the day, with +bitter shame, 'I am honoured, revered, and the most +eminent and venerated persons surround me with respect +and attention. In the eyes of a whole court the sister +of an emperor has deigned to fasten my bandeau on my +forehead, and I have lived in the mire of the Cité, +familiar with thieves and murderers.' Forgive me, +dearest father, but the more elevated my position, the +more deeply sensitive have I been to the deep degradation +into which I had fallen; and at every homage paid +me I feel myself guilty of profanation, and think it +sacrilege to receive such attentions, knowing what I +have been; and then I say to myself, 'If God should +please that the past were all known, with what deserved +scorn would she be treated whom now they elevate so +high! What a just and fearful punishment!'"</p> + +<p>"But, poor girl, my wife and I know the past; we are +worthy of our rank, and yet we cherish you."</p> + +<p>"Because you feel for me the tenderness of a father +and mother."</p> + +<p>"But remember all the good you have done since your +residence here, and the excellent and holy institution +you have founded for orphans and poor forsaken girls! +Then, too, the affection which the worthy abbess of Ste. +Hermangeld evinces towards you, ought not that to be +attributed to your unfeigned piety?"</p> + +<p>"Whilst the praises of the abbess of Ste. Hermangeld +refer only to my present conduct, I accept it without +scruple; but when she cites my example to the noble<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span> +young ladies who have taken vows in the abbey, I +feel as if I were the accomplice of an infamous falsehood."</p> + +<p>After a long silence Rodolph resumed, with deep +melancholy:</p> + +<p>"I see it is unavailing to persuade you! Reasoning +is impotent against a conviction the more steadfast as +it is derived from a noble and generous feeling. The +contrast of your past and present position must be a +perpetual punishment; forgive me for saying so, my +beloved one!"</p> + +<p>"Forgive you! And for what, my dear father?"</p> + +<p>"For not having foreseen your excessive susceptibility, +which, from the delicacy of your heart, I should have +anticipated. And yet what could I have done? It was +my duty solemnly to recognise you as my daughter; yet +I was wrong—wrong to be too proud of you! I should +have concealed my treasure, and lived in retirement +with Clémence and you, instead of raising you high, so +high that the past would disappear as I hoped from your +eyes."</p> + +<p>Several knocks were heard at this moment, which +interrupted the conversation. Rodolph opened the door, +and saw Murphy, who said:</p> + +<p>"I beg your your royal highness's pardon for thus +disturbing you, but a courier from the Prince of +Herkaüsen-Oldenzaal has just arrived with this letter, +which he says is very important, and must be delivered +immediately to your royal highness."</p> + +<p>"Thanks, good Murphy. Do not go away," said +Rodolph, with a sigh, "I shall want you presently." +And the prince, closing the door, remained a moment +in the ante-room to read the letter which Murphy had +brought him, and which was as follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>"<i>My Lord</i>:—Trusting that the bonds of relationship +existing between us, as well as the friendship with which<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span> +you have ever honoured me, will excuse the boldness of +the step I am about to take, I will at once enter upon +the purport of my letter, dictated as it is by a conscientious +desire to act as becomes the man your highness +deigns to style his friend.</p> + +<p>"Fifteen months have now elapsed since you returned +from France, bringing with you your long-lost daughter, +whom you so happily discovered living with that mother +from whom she had never been parted, and whom you +espoused when <i>in extremis</i>, in order to legitimise the +Princess Amelie.</p> + +<p>"Thus ennobled, of matchless beauty, and, as I learn +from my sister, the abbess of Ste. Hermangeld, endowed +with a character pure and elevated as the princely +race from which she springs, who would not envy your +happiness in possessing such a treasure?</p> + +<p>"I will now candidly state the purport of my letter, +although I should certainly have been the bearer of the +request it contains, were it not that a severe indisposition +detains me at Oldenzaal.</p> + +<p>"During the time my son passed at Gerolstein he had +frequent opportunities of seeing the Princess Amelie, +whom he loves with a passionate but carefully concealed +affection. This fact I have considered it right to acquaint +you with, the more especially as, after having received +and entertained my son as affectionately as though he +had been your own, you added to your kindness by +inviting him to return, as quickly as his duties would +allow, to enjoy that sweet companionship so precious to +his heart; and it is probable that my apprising you of +this circumstance may induce you to withdraw your +intended hospitality to one who has presumed to aspire +to the affections of your peerless child.</p> + +<p>"I am perfectly well aware that the daughter of whom +you are so justly proud might aspire to the first alliance +in Europe, but I also know that so tender and devoted +a parent as yourself would not hesitate to bestow the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span> +hand of the Princess Amelie on my son, if you believed +by so doing her happiness would be secured.</p> + +<p>"It is not for me to dwell upon Henry's merits,—you +have been graciously pleased to bestow your approval +on his conduct thus far, and I venture to hope he will +never give you cause to change the favourable opinion +you have deigned to express concerning him.</p> + +<p>"Of this be assured, that whatever may be your +determination, we shall bow in respectful and implicit +submission to it, and that I shall never be otherwise +than your royal highness's most humble and obedient +servant,</p> + +<p class="sigs"><span style="padding-right: 2em;">"<span class="smcap">Gustave Paul,</span></span><br /> +"<i>Prince of Herkaüsen-Oldenzaal</i>."</p></div> + +<p>After the perusal of this letter Rodolph remained +for some time sad and pensive; then a gleam of hope +darting across his mind, he returned to his daughter, +whom Clémence was most tenderly consoling.</p> + +<p>"My dear child," said he, as he entered, "you yourself +observed that this day seemed destined to be one of +important discoveries and solemn explanations, but I +did not then think your words would be so strikingly +verified as they seem likely to be."</p> + +<p>"Dear father, what has happened?"</p> + +<p>"Fresh sources of uneasiness have arisen."</p> + +<p>"On whose account?"</p> + +<p>"On yours, my child. I fear you have only revealed +to us a portion of your griefs."</p> + +<p>"Be kind enough to explain yourself," said Fleur-de-Marie, +blushing.</p> + +<p>"Then hearken to me, my beloved child. You have, +perhaps, good cause to fancy yourself unhappy. When, +at the commencement of our conversation, you spoke of +the hopes you still entertained, I understood your meaning, +and my heart seemed broken by the blow with +which I was menaced, for I read but too clearly that<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> +you desired to quit me for ever, and to bury yourself in +the eternal seclusion of a cloister. My child, say, have +I not divined your intentions?"</p> + +<p>"If you would consent," murmured forth Fleur-de-Marie, +in a faint, gasping voice.</p> + +<p>"Would you, then, quit us?" exclaimed Clémence.</p> + +<p>"The abbey of Ste. Hermangeld is in the immediate +neighbourhood of Gerolstein, and I should frequently +see yourself and my father."</p> + +<p>"Remember, my child, that vows such as you would +take are not to be recalled. You are scarcely eighteen +years of age, and one day you may—possibly—"</p> + +<p>"Oh, think not I should ever regret my choice! +There is no rest or peace for me save in the solitude of +a cloister. There I may be happy, if you and my second +mother will but continue to me your affection."</p> + +<p>"The duties and consolations of a religious life," said +Rodolph, "might, certainly, if not cure, at least alleviate +the anguish of your lacerated and desponding mind, and +although your resolution will cost me dear, I cannot but +approve of it."</p> + +<p>"Rodolph!" cried the astonished Clémence, "do I +hear aright? Is it possible you—"</p> + +<p>"Allow me more fully to explain myself," replied +Rodolph. Then addressing his daughter, he said, "But +before an irrevocable decision is pronounced, it would +be well to ascertain if nothing more suitable, both to +your inclinations and our own, could be found for you +than the life of a nun."</p> + +<p>Fleur-de-Marie and Clémence started at Rodolph's +words and manner, while, fixing an earnest gaze on his +daughter, the prince said, abruptly:</p> + +<p>"What think you, my child, of your cousin, Prince +Henry?"</p> + +<p>The brightest blush spread over the fair face of Fleur-de-Marie, +who, after a momentary hesitation, threw +herself weeping in her father's arms.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Then you love him, do you not, my darling child?" +cried Rodolph, tenderly pressing her hands. "Fear not +to confide the truth to your best friends."</p> + +<p>"Alas!" replied Fleur-de-Marie, "you know not what +it has cost me to conceal from you the state of my heart! +Had you questioned me on the subject, I would gladly +have told you all, but shame closed my lips, and would +still have done so, but for your inquiry into the nature +of my feelings."</p> + +<p>"And have you any suspicion that Henry is aware of +your love?"</p> + +<p>"Gracious heavens, dearest father!" exclaimed Fleur-de-Marie, +shrinking back in terror, "I trust not!"</p> + +<p>"Do you believe he returns your affection?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no, no! I trust he does not! He would suffer +too deeply."</p> + +<p>"And what gave rise to the love you entertained for +your cousin?"</p> + +<p>"Alas, I know not! It grew upon me almost unconsciously. +Do you remember a portrait of a youth dressed +as a page, in the apartments of the Abbess de Ste. +Hermangeld?"</p> + +<p>"I know; it was the portrait of Henry."</p> + +<p>"Believing the picture to be of distant date, I one +day in your presence remarked upon the extreme beauty +of the countenance, when you jestingly replied that it +was the likeness of an ancestor who, in his youth, had +displayed an extraordinary share of sense, courage, and +every estimable quality; this strengthened my first impression, +and frequently after that day I used to delight +in recalling to my mind the fine countenance and noble +features of one I believed to have been long numbered +with the dead. By degrees these reveries began to form +one of my greatest pleasures, and many an hour have I +passed gazing, amid smiles and tears, on one I fondly +hoped I might be permitted to know and to love in +another world. For in this," continued poor Fleur-de-Marie,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> +with a most touching expression, "I well know I +am unworthy to aspire to the love of any one but you, +my kind, indulgent parents."</p> + +<p>"I can now understand the nature of the reproof you +once gave me for having misled you on the subject of +the portrait."</p> + +<p>"Conceive, dearest father, what was my confusion +when I learnt from the superior that the portrait was a +living subject,—that of her nephew! My trouble was +extreme, and earnestly did I endeavour to erase from +my heart all the fond associations connected with that +picture. In vain! the pertinacity with which I strove +to forget but riveted the impression I had received; +and, unfortunately, dear father, you rendered the task +of forgetting more difficult, by continually eulogising the +heart, disposition, and principles of Prince Henry."</p> + +<p>"You loved him, then, my child, from merely seeing +his likeness and hearing his praises?"</p> + +<p>"Without positively loving him, I felt myself attracted +towards him by an irresistible impulse, for +which I bitterly reproached myself; my only consolation +was the thought that no person knew my fatal secret. +For how could I presume to love? How excuse my +ingratitude in not contenting myself with the tenderness +bestowed on me by you, my father, and you, also, dearest +mother? In the midst of all these conflicting feelings I +met my cousin, for the first time, at a ball given by you +to the Archduchess Sophia; his resemblance to the portrait +too well assured me it was he; and your introducing +Prince Henry to me as a near relative afforded me ample +opportunities of discovering that his manners were as +captivating as his mind was cultivated."</p> + +<p>"It is easy to conceive, then, that a mutual passion +sprung up between you! Indeed, he won +upon my regard ere I was aware of the ground he +had gained; he spoke of you so admiringly, yet so +respectfully."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You had yourself praised him so highly."</p> + +<p>"Not more than he deserved. It is impossible to +possess a more noble nature, or a more generous and +elevated character."</p> + +<p>"I beseech you, dearest father, to spare me the fresh +trial of hearing him thus praised by you. Alas! I am +already wretched enough."</p> + +<p>"Go on, my child. I have a reason in thus extolling +your cousin—I will explain hereafter. Proceed."</p> + +<p>"Though aware of the danger of thus daily associating +with my cousin, I felt unable to withdraw myself from +the pleasure his society afforded me; nor, spite of my +implicit reliance on your indulgence, dear father, durst +I disclose my fears to you. I could then only redouble +my efforts to conceal my unfortunate attachment, and—shall +I confess?—there were moments when, forgetting +the past, I gave myself up to all the dear delights of a +friendship hitherto unknown to me. But the departure +of Prince Henry from your court tore the veil from my +eyes, and showed me how truly and ardently I loved +him, though not with a sister's love, as I had made +myself believe. I had resolved to open my heart entirely +to you on this subject," continued Fleur-de-Marie, whose +strength seemed utterly exhausted by her long confession, +"and then to ask you what remained for one so +every way unfortunate but to seek the repose of a +cloister."</p> + +<p>"Then, dearest daughter, let me answer the question +ere you have put it, by saying there is a prospect as +bright and smiling awaits your acceptance, as that you +propose is cheerless and gloomy."</p> + +<p>"What mean you?"</p> + +<p>"Now, then, listen to me. It was impossible for an +affection as great as mine to be blinded to the mutual +affection subsisting between yourself and your cousin; +my penetration also quickly discovered that his passion +for you amounted to idolatry; that he had but one hope,<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> +one desire on earth,—that of being loved by you. At +the time I played off that little joke respecting the portrait, +I had not the least expectation of Henry's visiting +Gerolstein. When, however, he did come, I saw no +reason for changing the manner in which I had always +treated him, and I therefore invited him to visit us on the +same terms of friendly relationship he had hitherto done. +A very little time had elapsed ere Clémence and myself +saw plainly enough the cause of his frequent visits, or +the mutual delight you felt in each other's society. +Then mine became a difficult task.</p> + +<p>"On the one hand, I rejoiced as a father that one so +every way worthy of you should have won your affection; +then on the other hand, my poor dear child, your +past misfortunes forbade me to encourage the idea of +uniting you to your cousin, to whom I several times +spoke in a manner very different to the tone I should +have adopted, had I contemplated bestowing on him your +hand.</p> + +<p>"Thus placed in a position so delicate, I endeavoured +to preserve a strict neutrality, discouraging Prince +Henry's attentions by every means in my power, and +yet manifesting towards himself the same paternal kindness +with which I had always treated him; and besides, +my poor girl, after a life of so much unhappiness as +yours, I could not bring myself suddenly to tear away +the innocent pleasure you appeared to feel in the company +of your cousin. It was something to see you even +temporarily happy and cheerful, and even now your +acquaintance with Prince Henry may be the means of +securing your future tranquillity."</p> + +<p>"Dear father, I understand you not."</p> + +<p>"Prince Paul, Henry's father, has just sent me +this letter. While considering such an alliance as an +honour too great to aspire to, he solicits your hand for +his son, who, he states, is inspired with a passion for +you."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Dearest father!" cried Fleur-de-Marie, concealing her +face with her hands, "do you forget?"</p> + +<p>"I forget nothing,—not even that to-morrow you +enter a convent, where, besides, being for ever lost to +me, you will pass the remainder of your days in tears +and austerity. If I must part with you, let it be to give +you to a husband who will love you almost as tenderly +as your father."</p> + +<p>"Married!—and to him, father! You cannot mean +it!"</p> + +<p>"Indeed I do; but on one condition: that directly +after your marriage has been celebrated here, without +pomp or parade, you shall depart with your husband for +some tranquil retreat in Italy or Switzerland, where you +may live unknown, and merely pass for opulent persons +of middle rank. And my reason for attaching this +proviso to my consent is because I feel assured that, in +the bosom of simple and unostentatious happiness, you +would by degrees forget the hateful past, which is now +only more painfully contrasted with the pomp and ceremony +by which you are surrounded."</p> + +<p>"Rodolph is right," said Clémence. "With Henry for +your companion, and happy in each other's affection, past +sorrows will soon be forgotten."</p> + +<p>"And as I could not wholly part with you, Clémence +and I would pay you a visit each year. Then when time +shall have healed your wounded spirit, my poor child, +and present felicity shall have effaced all recollections of +the past, you will return to dwell among us, never more +to part."</p> + +<p>"Forget the past in present happiness!" murmured +Fleur-de-Marie.</p> + +<p>"Even so, my child," replied Rodolph, scarcely able +to restrain his emotion at seeing his daughter's scruples +thus shaken.</p> + +<p>"Can it be possible," cried Fleur-de-Marie, "that such +unspeakable felicity is reserved for me? The wife of<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span> +Henry. And one day to pass my life between him—yourself—and +my second mother!" continued she, +more subdued by the ineffable delight such a picture +created in her mind.</p> + +<p>"All—all that happiness shall be yours, my precious +child!" exclaimed Rodolph, fondly embracing Fleur-de-Marie. +"I will reply at once to Henry's father that +I consent to the marriage. Comfort yourself with the +certainty that our separation will be but short; the +fresh duties you will take upon yourself in a wedded life +will serve to drive away all past retrospections and +painful reminiscences; and should you yourself be a +mother, you will know and feel how readily a parent +sacrifices her own regrets and griefs to promote the +happiness of her child."</p> + +<p>"A mother! I a mother!" exclaimed Fleur-de-Marie, +with bitter despair, awakening at that word from +the sweet illusion in which her memory seemed temporarily +lulled. "Oh, no! I am unworthy to bear that +sacred name! I should expire of shame in the presence +of my own child, if indeed I could survive the horrible +disclosures I must necessarily make to its father of my +past life! Oh, never—never!"</p> + +<p>"My child, for pity's sake, listen to me!"</p> + +<p>Pale and beautiful amidst her deep distress, Fleur-de-Marie +arose with all the majesty of incurable sorrow, +and, looking earnestly at Rodolph, she said, "We forget +that, ere Prince Henry made me his wife, he should be +acquainted with the past!"</p> + +<p>"No, no, my daughter," replied Rodolph, "I had by +no means forgotten what he both ought to know and +shall learn of the melancholy tale."</p> + +<p>"Think you not that I should die, were I thus degraded +in his eyes?"</p> + +<p>"And he will also admit and feel," added Clémence, +"that if I style you my daughter, he may, without fear +or shame, safely call you his wife."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Nay, dearest mother, I love Prince Henry too truly +to bestow on him a hand that has been polluted by the +touch of the ruffians of the Cité."</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>A short time after this painful scene, the following +announcement appeared in the Official Gazette of Gerolstein:</p> + +<p>"The taking of the veil by the most high and mighty +Princess Amelie of Gerolstein took place yesterday in +the Abbey of Ste. Hermangeld, in the presence of the +reigning grand duke and all his court. The vows of the +novice were received by the right reverend and illustrious +Lord Charles Maximus, Archbishop of Oppenheim; Monseigneur +Annibal André, one of the princes of Delphes +and Bishop of Ceuta, <i>in partibus infidelium</i>, and apostolic +nuncio, bestowed the salutation and papal benediction. +The sermon was preached by the most reverend Seigneur +Pierre d'Asfeld, canon of the Chapter of Cologne, +and count of the Holy Roman Empire. <i>Veni Creator +Optime!</i>"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span></p> +<h3>CHAPTER III.</h3> + +<h5>THE VOWS.</h5> + + +<p class="center"><i>Rodolph to Clémence.</i></p> +<div class="blockquot"> +<p class="sigs"><span class="smcap">Gerolstein</span>, 12th January, 1842.</p> + +<p>Your assurance that your father is better induces me +to hope you will be enabled to return here with him +shortly. I dreaded that at Rosenfeld, situated in the +midst of the woods, he would be exposed to the piercing +cold of our rigorous winters, but, unfortunately, his +fondness for hunting rendered all our advice useless.</p> + +<p>I entreat you, Clémence, as soon as your father can +bear the motion of the carriage, quit that country and +this habitation, only fit for those Germans of an iron +frame whose race has now disappeared.</p> + +<p>The ceremony of our poor child's taking the vows is +fixed for to-morrow, the thirteenth of January, the fatal +day on which I drew my sword on my father! Alas! +I thought too soon I was forgiven! The hope of passing +my life with you and my child made me forget that +it was she who had been punished up to the present +time, and that my punishment was to come. And it is +come, when, six months ago, she disclosed the double +torture she suffered,—her incurable shame for the past, +and her hopeless passion for Henry.</p> + +<p>These two sentiments became, by a fatal logic, the +cause of her fixed resolve to take the veil. You know +that we could not conceal from her that, had we been in +her place, we should have pursued the same noble and<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span> +courageous course she has adopted. How could we +answer those humble words, "I love Prince Henry too +much to give him a hand that has been touched by the +bandits of the Cité!"</p> + +<p>I have seen her this morning, and though she seemed +less pale than usual, though she said she did not suffer, +yet her health gives me the most mortal alarm.</p> + +<p>Alas! This morning, when I saw beneath the veil +those noble features, I could not refrain from thinking +how beautiful she looked the day of our marriage; it +seemed that our happiness was reflected on her face.</p> + +<p>As I told you, I saw her this morning. She does not +know that to-morrow the Princess Juliana resigns her +abbatical dignity, and that she has been unanimously +chosen to succeed her.</p> + +<p>Since the beginning of her novitiate there has been +but one opinion of her piety, her charity, and the exactitude +with which she fulfils all the rules of the order; +she even exaggerates their austerity. She exercises in +the convent that authority she exercised everywhere, but +of which she herself is ignorant. She confessed to me +this morning that she is not so absorbed by her religious +duties as to forget the past.</p> + +<p>"I accuse myself, dear father," said she, "because I +cannot help reflecting that, had Heaven pleased to spare +me the degradation that has stained my life, I might +have lived happily with you and my husband. Spite of +myself, I reflect on this, and on what passed in the Cité. +In vain I beseech Heaven to deliver me from these +temptations,—to fill my heart with himself; but he +does not hear my prayers, doubtless because my life has +rendered me unworthy of communion with him."</p> + +<p>"But," cried I, clinging to this faint glimmer of hope, +"it is not yet too late; your novitiate is only over +to-day; you are yet free. Renounce this austere life, +dwell again with us, and our tenderness shall soften +your grief."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span></p> + +<p>Shaking her head sorrowfully, she replied:</p> + +<p>"The cloister is, indeed, solitary for me, accustomed +as I have been to your tender care; doubtless cruel +recollections come over me, but I am consoled by the +knowledge that I am performing my duty. I know +that everywhere else I should be liable to be placed in +that position in which I have already suffered so much. +Your daughter shall do what she ought to do, suffer +what she ought to suffer."</p> + +<p>Without founding any great hopes on this interview, +I yet said to myself, "She can renounce the cloister. +But as she is determined, I can but repeat her words, +'God alone can offer me a refuge worthy of himself.'" +Adieu, dear Clémence! It consoles me to see you grieve +with me, for I can say 'our' child without egotism in my +sufferings. Often this thought lightens my sorrow, for +you are left to me, and what is left to Fleur-de-Marie? +Adieu again; return soon.</p> + +<p class="sigs">R.</p> + +<hr style="width: 10%;" /> +<p class="sigs"><span style="padding-right: 1em;"><span class="smcap">Abbey of Ste. Hermangeld.</span></span><br /> +Four o'clock in the morning.</p> + +<p>Reassure yourself, Clémence! Thank God, the danger +is over, but the crisis was terrible!</p> + +<p>Last evening, agitated by my thoughts, I recollected +the paleness and languor of my poor child, and that she +was obliged to pass almost all the night in the church +in prayer.</p> + +<p>I sent Murphy and David to demand the Princess +Juliana's permission to remain until the morrow in the +mansion that Henry occupied usually; thus my child +would have prompt assistance, and I prompt intelligence, +in case that her strength failed under this rigorous, I +will not say cruel, obligation to pass the whole of a cold +winter's night in the church.</p></div> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 315px;"><a name="image264" id="image264"></a> +<img src="images/i270.jpg" width="315" height="500" alt=""In the Church in Prayer" +Original Etching by Mercier" title=""In the Church in Prayer" +Original Etching by Mercier" /> +<span class="caption">"<i>In the Church in Prayer</i>"<br /> +<span class="artist">Original Etching by Mercier</span></span> +</div> + +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>I wrote to Fleur-de-Marie that, whilst I respected +her religious exercises, I besought her to watch in her +cell and not in the church. This was her reply:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>"<i>My dear Father</i>:—I thank you for this fresh proof of +your tenderness, but be not alarmed, I am sufficiently strong to +perform my duty. Your daughter must be guilty of no weakness. +The rule orders it, I must submit. Should it cause me +some physical sufferings, how joyfully shall I offer them to God! +Adieu, dear father! I cannot say I pray for you, because whenever +I pray to Heaven I cannot help remembering you in my +prayers. You have been to me on earth what God will be, if I +merit it, in heaven. Bless your child, who will be to-morrow the +spouse of Heaven.</p> + +<p class="sigs">"<span class="smcap">Sister Amelie</span>."</p></div> + +<p>This letter, in some measure, reassured me; however +I had, also, a vigil to keep. At nightfall I went to a +pavilion I had built, near my father's monument, in +expiation of this fatal night.</p> + +<p>About one o'clock I heard Murphy's voice. He came +from the convent in order to inform me that, as I had +feared, my unhappy child, spite of her resolution, had +not had sufficient strength to accomplish this barbarous +custom.</p> + +<p>At eight o'clock in the evening Fleur-de-Marie knelt +and prayed until midnight, but, overpowered by her emotion +and the intense cold, she fainted; two nuns instantly +raised her, and bore her to her cell. David was instantly +summoned, and Murphy came to me. I hastened to the +convent, where the abbess assured me that my daughter's +swoon, from which she had recovered, had been caused +only by her weakness, but that David feared that my +presence might seriously affect her. I feared they +were preparing me for something more dreadful, but the +superior said:</p> + +<p>"I assure you, monseigneur, the princess is in no +danger; the restorative the doctor has given her has +greatly recruited her strength."</p> + +<p>David soon returned. She was better, but had insisted +upon continuing her vigil, consenting only to +kneel upon a cushion.</p> + +<p>"She is in the church, then?" cried I.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, monseigneur, but she will quit it in a quarter +of an hour."</p> + +<p>I entered the church, and, by the faint light of a lamp, +I saw her kneeling and praying fervently. Three o'clock +struck; two sisters, seated in the stalls, advanced and +spoke to her; she crossed herself, rose, and traversed +the choir with a firm step, and yet as she passed the +lamp she seemed to me deathly pale. I remain at the +abbey until the ceremony be over. I think now it is +useless to send this letter incomplete. I will forward it +to-morrow, with all the details of this sad day. Adieu, +dearest!—I am heart-broken—pity!</p> + +<p class="sigs">R.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p> +<h3>THE LAST CHAPTER.</h3> + +<h5>THE THIRTEENTH OF JANUARY.</h5> + + +<p class="center"><i>Rodolph to Clémence.</i></p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p>The thirteenth of January! Now a doubly sinister +anniversary! Dearest, we have lost her for ever! All +is over,—ended all. It is true, then, that there is a +horrid pleasure in relating a terrible grief.</p> + +<p>Yesterday I was complaining of the necessity that +kept you from me; to-day, Clémence, I congratulate +myself that you are not here,—you would have suffered +too much. This morning I was in a light slumber, and +was awakened by the sound of bells. I started in affright; +it seemed to me a funereal sound,—a knell! In fact, +our daughter is dead,—dead to us! And from to-day, +Clémence, you must begin to wear her mourning in your +heart, a heart always so maternally disposed towards her. +Whether our child be buried beneath the marble of the +tomb or the vault of the cloister, what is the difference +to us? Hardly eighteen years of age, yet dead to the +world!</p> + +<p>At noon the profession took place, with solemn pomp, +and I was present, concealed behind the curtains of our +pew. I felt, but even with greater intensity, all the +poignant emotion we underwent at her novitiate. How +strange! She is adored! And they believe, universally, +that she was attracted to a religious life by an irresistible +vocation; and yet whilst they believed it was a happy +event for her, an overwhelming sadness weighed down<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span> +the spectators. There appeared in the very air, as it +were, a doleful foreboding, and it was founded, if only +half realised.</p> + +<p>The profession terminated, they led our child into the +chapter-room, where the nomination of the new abbess +was to take place, and, thanks to my sovereign privilege, +I went into this room to await Fleur-de-Marie's +return to the choir. She soon entered; her emotion +and weakness were so excessive that two of the sisters +supported her. I was alarmed, less at her paleness and +the great change in her features, than at the peculiar +expression of her smile, which seemed to me imprinted +with a kind of secret satisfaction.</p> + +<p>Clémence, I say to you, perhaps we may very soon +require all our courage,—I feel within myself that our +child is mortally smitten. May Heaven grant that I am +deceived, and may my presentiments arise only from the +despairing sadness which this melancholy spectacle has +inspired!</p> + +<p>Fleur-de-Marie entered the chapter-room, all the stalls +were filled by the nuns. She went modestly to place herself +last on the left-hand side, still leaning on the arm of +one of the sisters, for she yet appeared very weak.</p> + +<p>The Princess Juliana was seated at the end of the +apartment, with the grand prioress on one side and +another dignitary on the other, holding in her hand +the golden crozier, the symbol of abbatial authority. +There was profound silence; and then the lady abbess +rose, took the crozier in her hand, and said, in a voice of +great emotion:</p> + +<p>"My dear daughters, my great age compels me to +confide to younger hands this emblem of my spiritual +power," and she pointed to the crozier. "I am authorised +by a bull of our holy father; I will, therefore, present +to the benediction of monseigneur the Archbishop +of Oppenheim, and to the approbation of his royal highness +the grand duke our sovereign, whosoever of my dear<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> +daughters shall be pointed out by you to succeed me. +Our grand prioress will inform you of the result of the +election, and she who has been chosen will receive my +crozier and ring."</p> + +<p>I did not take my eyes off my daughter. Standing up +in her stall, her two hands folded over her bosom, her +eyes cast down, and half covered by her white veil and +the long folds of her black gown, she was pensive and +motionless, not supposing for a moment that she would +herself be elected, as this fact had been communicated +by the abbess to no one but myself.</p> + +<p>The grand prioress took a book and read:</p> + +<p>"Each of our dear sisters having been, according to +the rule, requested a week since to place her vote in the +hands of our holy mother, and keep her choice secret +until this moment, in the name of our holy mother I +declare to you, my dear, dear sisters, that one of you +has, by her exemplary piety, merited the unanimous +suffrages of the community, and that she is our sister +Amelie, the most noble and puissant Princess of +Gerolstein."</p> + +<p>At these words a murmur of pleased surprise and +satisfaction went around the apartment; the eyes of all +the nuns were fixed on my daughter with an expression +of tender sympathy, and, in spite of my painful forebodings, +I was myself deeply touched at this nomination, +which, done isolatedly and secretly, had yet presented +such an affecting unanimity.</p> + +<p>The abbess continued, in a serious and loud voice:</p> + +<p>"My dear daughters, if it be, indeed, Sister Amelie +whom you think the most worthy and most deserving of +you all,—if it be she whom you recognise as your +spiritual superior, let each of you reply to me in turn, +my dear daughters."</p> + +<p>And each nun replied in a clear voice:</p> + +<p>"Freely and voluntarily I have chosen, and I do +choose, Sister Amelie for my holy mother and superior."<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span></p> + +<p>Overcome by inexpressible emotion, my poor child fell +on her knees, clasped her hands, and remained so until +each vote was declared. Then the abbess, placing the +crozier and the ring in the hands of the grand prioress, +advanced towards my daughter to take her hand and +conduct her to the abbatial seat.</p> + +<p>"Rise, my dear daughter," said the abbess; "come +and assume the place that belongs to you. Your virtues, +and not your rank, have obtained for you the position +you have gained."</p> + +<p>Fleur-de-Marie, trembling, advanced a few steps, and +said:</p> + +<p>"Pardon me, holy mother, but I would speak to my +sisters."</p> + +<p>"Then first place yourself, my dear child, in your +abbatial seat," said the princess; "it is from thence +your voice shall be heard."</p> + +<p>"That place, holy mother, never can be mine!" +replied Fleur-de-Marie, in a low and tremulous voice.</p> + +<p>"What mean you, my dear daughter?"</p> + +<p>"So high a dignity was not made for me, holy +mother."</p> + +<p>"But the wishes of all your sisters call you to it."</p> + +<p>"Permit me, holy mother, to make here, on my knees, +a solemn confession; and my sisters will see, and you, +also, holy mother, that the humblest condition is not +humble enough for me."</p> + +<p>"This arises from your modesty, my dear child," said +the superior, with kindness, believing that the unhappy +girl was giving way to a feeling of overdelicacy.</p> + +<p>But I divined the confession Fleur-de-Marie was about +to make, and, greatly alarmed, I exclaimed, in a voice +of entreaty:</p> + +<p>"My child, I conjure thee—"</p> + +<p>It is impossible, my dearest Clémence, to describe the +look which Fleur-de-Marie gave me. In an instant she +understood all, and saw how deeply I should share in<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> +the shame of this horrible revelation. She comprehended +that after such a confession they might accuse me of +falsehood, for I had always made it out that Fleur-de-Marie +had never left her mother. At this reflection +the poor dear child thought she would be guilty of the +blackest ingratitude towards me; she had not power +to continue, but bowed down her head, overcome—overwhelmed.</p> + +<p>"Again I assure you, my dear child," said the abbess, +"your modesty deceives you. The unanimity of the +choice of your sisters proves how worthy you are to +replace me. It is not the princess—it is Sister Amelie +who is elected. For us your life began on the day when +you first put foot in this house of the Lord, and it is this +exemplary and holy life that we recompense. I will say +more, my dear daughter; if before you entered this +retreat your life had been as wrong as it has been, on +the contrary, pure and praiseworthy, the heavenly virtues +of which you have given me an example since your +abode here would expiate and ransom, in the eyes of the +Lord, any past life, however culpable. And now, my +dear daughter, judge if your modesty ought not to be +reassured."</p> + +<p>These words of the abbess were, as you may think, my +Clémence, the more precious for Fleur-de-Marie, as she +believed the past ineffaceable. Unfortunately, this scene +had deeply moved her, and, although she affected calmness +and serenity, I saw that her features altered in a +most distressing manner.</p> + +<p>"I believe I have convinced you, my dear daughter," +said the Princess Juliana; "and you will not cause so +great a grief to your sisters as to refuse this mark of +their confidence and affection?"</p> + +<p>"No, holy mother," she said, with an expression which +struck me, and in a voice more and more feeble, "I +think now I may accept; but as I feel myself fatigued +and in pain, if you will permit it, holy mother, the<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> +ceremony of the consecration shall not take place for +a few days."</p> + +<p>"As you wish, my dear daughter; but in the meanwhile, +until your dignity is blessed and consecrated, take +this ring, come to your place, and our dear sisters will +do you homage according to our rules."</p> + +<p>And the superior, putting the pastoral ring on Fleur-de-Marie's +finger, led her to the abbatial seat. It was +a simple and touching sight. Supported on one side +by the grand prioress, bearing the golden crozier, and on +the other by the Princess Juliana, each of the sisters, as +she passed by, made obeisance to our child, and respectfully +kissed her hand. But judge of my affright when +she swooned before the procession of the sisters was terminated. +David had not quitted the convent, and he +hastened to the abbess's apartment, whither we had +conveyed her, and then attended to her.</p> + +<p>The superior having returned to close the sitting of +the chapter, I remained alone with my daughter. After +looking at me for some time, she said:</p> + +<p>"My dear father, can you forget my ingratitude? +Can you forget that at the moment when I was about +to make my painful confession—when you implored +me—"</p> + +<p>"Silence! I beseech you!"</p> + +<p>"And I did not reflect," she continued, with bitterness, +"that, in telling in the face of all the world +from what an abyss of depravity you had rescued me, +I revealed a secret which you had preserved out of +tenderness to me! It would have been to accuse +you publicly—you, my father—of a dissimulation, +which you only resigned yourself to to assure me a +brilliant and honoured existence! Can you ever forgive +me?"</p> + +<p>Instead of replying, I pressed my lips on her forehead; +she felt my tears flow. Having kissed my hands +many times, she said:<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Now I feel better, and, as now I am dead to the +world, I should like to make a few bequests in favour of +several persons; but as all I have comes from you, do +you authorise me, dearest father?"</p> + +<p>"Say, dearest, and I will do all you desire."</p> + +<p>"I should wish my beloved mother to keep always in +the little boudoir in which she usually sits my embroidery-frame, +with the work I began."</p> + +<p>"It shall be so, love; your apartment is as when +you left it. Clémence will be deeply touched by your +thought of her."</p> + +<p>"As for you, dear father, take, I pray, my large +ebony armchair, in which I have thought of—reflected +upon so much."</p> + +<p>"I will put it beside my own, in my own private +closet, and will imagine I see you in it every day, where +you have so often sat," I said, unable to repress my +tears.</p> + +<p>"And now I would leave some souvenirs to those who +took so much interest in me when I was unhappy. To +Madame Georges I would give the writing-desk I have +lately used; she taught me to write originally, so the +gift will be very appropriate," she said, with her sweet +smile. "As to the venerable curé of Bouqueval, who +instructed me in religion, I intend for him the beautiful +crucifix in my oratory."</p> + +<p>"Very well, my dearest child."</p> + +<p>"I should like to send my bandeau of pearls to my +good little Rigolette; it is a simple ornament which she +may wear in her beautiful black hair. And as you know +where Martial and La Louve are in Algeria, I should +like to send to the brave woman who saved my life my +gold enamelled cross. These different keepsakes, dearest +father, I would have sent to them 'from Fleur-de-Marie.'"</p> + +<p>"I will do all you wish,—I will not forget one."</p> + +<p>"I am sure you will not, dearest father."</p> + +<p>"Is there no other person present to your memory?"<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span></p> + +<p>The dear child understood me, and pressed my hand, +whilst a slight blush tinged her pale cheeks as I said, +"He is better—out of danger."</p> + +<p>"And his father?"</p> + +<p>"Better as his son is better. And what will you +give to Henry? A souvenir from you will be a consolation +so dear and precious!"</p> + +<p>"My father, offer him my <i>prie-Dieu</i>. Alas! I have +often watered it with my tears when begging from +Heaven for strength to forget Henry, as I was unworthy +of his love."</p> + +<p>"How happy it will make him to see that you have +had one thought of him!"</p> + +<p>"As to the asylum for the orphans and young girls +abandoned by their parents, I should wish, my dear +father, that—"</p> + +<p>Here Rodolph's letter was broken off by these words, +almost illegible:</p> + +<p>"Clémence, Murphy will conclude this letter! I +am lost,—bereft of sense! Ah, the thirteenth of +January!"</p></div> + +<p>At the end of this letter Murphy had written as +follows:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"> +<p><i>Madame</i>:—By the order of his royal highness I complete +this sorrowful recital. The two letters of monseigneur +will have prepared your royal highness for the +overwhelming news I have to communicate. Three +hours since, whilst monseigneur was writing to your +royal highness, I was waiting in the antechamber for a +letter to be despatched by a courier, when suddenly I saw +the Princess Juliana enter in the greatest consternation.</p> + +<p>"Where is his royal highness?" she said to me, in an +agitated voice.<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Writing to the grand duchess," I replied.</p> + +<p>"Sir Walter," she said, "you must inform monseigneur +of a terrible event. You are his friend,—you +should tell him; from you the blow may be less +terrible!"</p> + +<p>I understood all, and thought it most prudent to +charge myself with the distressing intelligence. The +superior having added that the Princess Amelie was +sinking gradually, and that monseigneur must hasten +to receive his daughter's last sigh, I went into the duke's +room, who saw how pale I was.</p> + +<p>"You have some bad news for me?"</p> + +<p>"Terrible, monseigneur! But courage! Courage!"</p> + +<p>"Ah, my forebodings!" he exclaimed; and, without +adding a word, he ran to the cloisters. I followed +him.</p> + +<p>From the apartment of the superior, the Princess +Amelie had been conveyed to her cell, after her last +interview with monseigneur. One of the sisters watched +over her, and at the end of an hour she perceived that +the Princess Amelie's voice, who spoke to her at intervals, +was weaker, and more and more oppressed. The +sister hastened to inform the superior, who sent for +Doctor David, who administered a cordial; but it was +useless, the pulse was scarcely perceptible. He saw +with despair that the reiterated emotions having probably +exhausted the little strength of the Princess +Amelie, there was not a hope of saving her left. Monseigneur +arrived at this moment. The Princess Amelie +had just received the last sacrament; a slight degree of +consciousness remained. In one hand, crossed over her +chest, she held the remains of her little rose-tree.</p> + +<p>Monseigneur fell on his knees at the foot of the bed, +and sobbed, "My child! My beloved child!" in a voice +of piercing agony. The Princess Amelie heard him, +turned her head a little towards him, opened her eyes, +tried to smile, and said, in a faint voice, "My dearest<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span> +father, pardon!—Henry, too!—and my beloved mother!—pardon!"</p> + +<p>These were her last words. After a slight struggle +of one hour, she rendered her soul to God.</p> + +<p>When his daughter had breathed her last sigh, monseigneur +did not say a word; his calmness and silence +were frightful. He closed the eyelids of the princess, +kissed her forehead several times, took piously from her +hands the relics of the little rose-tree, and left the cell. +I followed him, and he returned to the house outside the +cloister, when, showing me the letter he had commenced +writing to your royal highness, and to which he in vain +endeavoured to add a few words, for his hand trembled +too convulsively, he said to me, "I cannot write! I +am crushed! My senses are gone! Write to the +grand duchess that I have no longer a daughter!"</p> + +<p>I have executed the orders of monseigneur. May I +be allowed, as his old servant, to entreat your royal +highness to hasten your return as soon as the health of +M. d'Orbigny will permit? Nothing but the presence +of your royal highness can calm monseigneur's despair. +He will watch his daughter's remains every night until +the day when she is to be buried in the grand-ducal +chapel.</p> + +<p>I have accomplished my sad task, madame. Deign, to +excuse the incoherence of this letter, and to receive the +expression of respectful devotion with which I have the +honour to be</p> + +<p class="sigs"><span style="padding-right: 1em;">Your royal highness's most obedient servant,</span><br /> +<span class="smcap">Walter Murphy</span>.</p></div> + +<p>On the evening before the funeral of the Princess +Amelie, Clémence arrived at Gerolstein with her father. +Rodolph was not alone on the day of Fleur-de-Marie's +interment.</p> + + +<p class="ending">THE END.</p> + + +<div class="tr"> +<h4>Transcriber's Notes:</h4> + +<p>This e-text was prepared from numbered edition 505 of the 1000 printed.</p> + +<p>Minor punctuation and capitalization corrections have been made without +comment.</p> + +<p>Minor typographical errors of single words, otherwise spelled correctly +throughout the text have been made without comment.</p> + +<p>Word Variations appearing in the original text which have been retained:</p> + +<div class="tns"> +<p>"ante-room" (1) and "anteroom" (1)<br /> +"death-like" (1) and "deathlike" (1)<br /> +"for ever" (1) and "forever" (1)<br /> +"protégés" (1) and "protégées" (1)<br /> +"work-girl" (1) and "workwoman" (1)</p> +</div> + +<p>Throughout the text, illustrations and their captions were placed on +facing pages. For the purpose of this e-text these pages have been +combined into one entry.</p> + +<p>Footnotes, originally at the bottom of a printed page, have been placed +directly below the paragraph in which their anchor symbol appears.</p> +</div> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Mysteries of Paris, Volume 6 of 6, by +Eugène Sue + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE MYSTERIES OF PARIS, V.6 *** + +***** This file should be named 33805-h.htm or 33805-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/8/0/33805/ + +Produced by David Edwards, Christine Aldridge and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(Stanford University, SUL Books in the Public Domain) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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