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Page 28
"And it proved to be all right, my Ad�le. Your father and I were both
young, and the course the Count de Rossillon took with us, was a good
though severe test of our affection. In the meanwhile, I was secretly
sustained by the hope that your father's efforts would be crowned with
success, and that, after a few years, he would return and my uncle,
having found, that nothing could draw me from my attachment to him,
would out of his own love for me and consideration for my happiness,
at last consent to our union.
"We crossed the Alps and went into Italy. Here a new world was opened
to me,--a world of beauty and art. It bestowed upon me many hours of
exquisite enjoyment. The Count travelled with his own carriage and
servants, and we lingered wherever I felt a desire to prolong my
observations. He purchased a collection of pictures, statues, and
other gems and curiosities of art. Among the rest, the Madonna there,
my Ad�le, which he presented to me, because I so much liked it. But I
must not linger now. On our return to France, we spent a month at
Paris, and there, though too young to be introduced into society, I
met in private many distinguished and fashionable people, who were
friends of the Count.
"We were absent from the chateau one year. It was pleasant to get back
to the dear old place, where I had spent such a happy childhood, the
scene too of so many precious interviews with your beloved father. We
returned again to our former life of quiet ease, enlivened at frequent
intervals by the visits of guests from abroad and by those of friends
and acquaintances among the neighboring nobility. Though I received no
tidings from your father, a secret hope still sustained me. A few
times only, during the first three years of his absence, did I lose
my cheerfulness. Those were, when some lover pressed his suit and I
knew that in repelling it, I was upsetting some cherished scheme of my
uncle. But I will do him the justice to say that he bore it patiently,
and, only at long intervals, gave vent to his vexation and
disappointment.
"It was when my hope concerning your father's return began to fail, and
anxiety respecting his fate began to be indulged in its stead, that my
spirits gave way. At the close of the fourth year of his absence, my
peace was wholly gone and my days were spent in the restless agony of
suspense. My health was rapidly failing, and my uncle who knew the
cause of my prostration, instead of consulting a physician, in the
kindness of his heart, took me to Paris. But the gayeties to which I
was there introduced were distasteful to me. I grew every moment more
sad. Just when my uncle was in despair, I was introduced accidentally
to the Countess de Morny, a lovely lady, who had lost her husband and
three children, and had passed through much sorrow.
"Gradually, she drew me to her heart and I told her all my grief. She
dealt very tenderly with me, my Ad�le. She did not seek to cheer me by
inspiring fresh hopes of your father's return. No. She told me, I
might never be Claude Dubois's happy bride, but that I might be the
blessed bride of Jesus. In short, she led me gently into the
consolations of our Holy Church. Under her influence and guidance I
came into a state of sweet resignation to the divine will,--a peaceful
rest indeed, after the terrible alternations of suspense and despair
I had suffered. But, my Ad�le, it was only by constant prayers to the
blessed _Marie_ that my soul was kept from lapsing into its former
state of dreadful unrest. _Ma ch�re_ Ad�le, you know not what you do,
when you speak slightingly of our Holy Church. I should then have
died, had I not found rest in my prayers to the blessed mother. Now,
you are young and gay, but the world is full of sorrow. It may
overtake you as it did me. Then you will need a hope, a consolation, a
refuge. There is no peace like that found at the foot of the cross,
imploring the intercession of the compassionate, loving _Marie_. Do
not wander away from the sweet eyes of the mother of Christ, _ma
fille_".
Here Mrs. Dubois ceased speaking, and turned a tearful, affectionate
gaze upon her daughter. Ad�le's eyes, that had been fixed upon her
mother with earnest, absorbed attention, filled with tears, instantly.
"_Ma ch�re m�re_, I would not make you unhappy. I will try not to give
you pain. Please go on and tell me all".
"_Eh! bien! ma ch�re_, my uncle was pleased to see me becoming more
peaceful. Finding I was not attracted by the pleasures of the gay
city, he proposed our return to the chateau, and begged the Countess
de Morny to accompany us. At my urgent request, she consented.
"On the day of our arrival, the Countess weary with the journey, having
gone to her own apartments, I went to stroll in the beautiful, beloved
park. It was June,--that month so full of leaves, flowers, birds, and
balmy summer winds. I sat at the foot of an old beech-tree, leaning
my head against its huge trunk, listening to the flow of the river,
indulging in dangerous reverie,--dangerous certainly to my peace of
mind. Suddenly, I was startled by the sound of footsteps. Before I
could collect my scattered senses, your father stood before me.
'_Marie_,' he said, '_Marie_.'
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