Strona 789 z 896

"She kissed the boy, and said, caressing him, 'It is for thine

own dear sake. Thou wilt be faithful, little Charles?' The child

answered her bravely, 'Yes!' I kissed her hand, and she took him

in her arms, and went away caressing him. I never saw her more.

"As she had mentioned her husband's name in the faith that I knew

it, I added no mention of it to my letter. I sealed my letter,

and, not trusting it out of my own hands, delivered it myself

that day.

"That night, the last night of the year, towards nine o'clock, a

man in a black dress rang at my gate, demanded to see me, and

softly followed my servant, Ernest Defarge, a youth, up-stairs.

When my servant came into the room where I sat with my wife--O my

wife, beloved of my heart! My fair young English wife!--we saw

the man, who was supposed to be at the gate, standing silent

behind him.

"An urgent case in the Rue St. Honore, he said. It would not

detain me, he had a coach in waiting.