صفحة 779 من 896

"This lasted twenty-six hours from the time when I first saw her.

I had come and gone twice, and was again sitting by her, when she

began to falter. I did what little could be done to assist that

opportunity, and by-and-bye she sank into a lethargy, and lay

like the dead.

"It was as if the wind and rain had lulled at last, after a long

and fearful storm. I released her arms, and called the woman to

assist me to compose her figure and the dress she had torn. It

was then that I knew her condition to be that of one in whom the

first expectations of being a mother have arisen; and it was then

that I lost the little hope I had had of her.

"'Is she dead?' asked the Marquis, whom I will still describe as

the elder brother, coming booted into the room from his horse.

"'Not dead,' said I; 'but like to die.'

"'What strength there is in these common bodies!' he said,

looking down at her with some curiosity.

"'There is prodigious strength,' I answered him, 'in sorrow and

despair.'