Volume II Part 6 (2/2)
I broke that sad silence to tell her that the carriage which M Tronchin would provide could not possibly be as comfortable and as safe asher that by accepting it she would give me a last proof of her affection
”I will take in exchange, e sent by the banker”
”I accept the change, darling,” she answered, ”it will be a great consolation to possess soed to you”
As she said these words, she slipped ineach one hundred louis d'or--a slight consolation for my heart, which was al the last twenty-four hours we could boast of no other eloquence but that which finds expression in tears, in sobs, and in those hackneyed but energetic exclamations, which two happy lovers are sure to address to reason, when in its sternness it coht of their felicity Henriette did not endeavour to lure me with any hope for the future, in order to allay my sorrow! Far from that, she said to me,
”Once we are parted by fate, my best and only friend, never enquire after me, and, should chance throw you in aveo back to Parma, but, even if such had not beento that city
She likewise entreated me not to leave Geneva until I had received a letter which she proe on her journey She started at day-break, having with her apreceded by a courier on horseback
I followed her with e, and I was still standing on the sahts rapped up in the beloved object I had lost for ever The world was a blank!
I went back to my room, ordered the waiter not to disturb me until the return of the horses which had drawn Henriette's carriage, and I lay down on rief which tears could not drown
The postillion who had driven Henriette did not return till the next day; he had gone as far as Chatillon He brought le word: Adieu! He told me that they had reached Chatillon without accident, and that the lady had immediately continued her journey towards Lyons As I could not leave Geneva until the following day, I spent alone in my room some of the most lass of athese words which she had traced with the point of a diaet Henriette” That prophecy was not likely to affordto the word ”forget?”
No; she could only mean that tiht not to havebehind her those words which sounded like a reproach No, I have not forgotten her, for even nohen my head is covered hite hair, the recollection of her is still a source of happiness for e I derive happiness only fro liferatulate
The next day I set off again for Italy with a servant recoh the season was not favourable I took the road over Mont St Bernard, which I crossed in three days, with seven e sent by the banker to the beloved woreat sorrow is that nothing else seems painful It is a sort of despair which is not without soer or thirst, or the cold which is so intense in that part of the Alps that the whole of nature seeue inseparable froerous journey
I arrived in Parood health, and took up my quarters at a small inn, in the hope that in such a place I should not meet any acquaintance of mine But I was much disappointed, for I found in that inn M de la Haye, who had a roo co tohiain
On the following day I called upon M d'Antoine, and delivered the letter which Henriette had written to hi another toit, although it was not sealed Thinking, however, that it ht have been Henriette's intention that he should read it because it was open, he asked ranted with pleasure as soon as I had myself perused it He handed it back to ly that I could in everything rely upon him and upon his influence and credit
Here is Henriette's letter
”It is I, dearest and best friend, who have been corief be increased by any thought of h to suppose that we have had a happy dream, and not to complain of destiny, for never did so beautiful a drea!
Let us be proud of the consciousness that for three ave one another the s can boast of so et one another, and to often remember the happy hours of our love, in order to renew theh divided, will enjoy theainst the other Do not make any enquiries about et it for ever I feel certain that you will be glad to hear that I have arranged my affairs so well that I shall, for the remainder of my life, be as happy as I can possibly be without you, dear friend, by my side I do not knoho you are, but I am certain that no one in the world knows you better than I do I shall not have another lover as long as I live, but I do not wish you to iain, and I trust that a good fairy will bring along your path another Henriette
Farewellfarewell”
I met that adorable woman fifteen years later; the reader will see where and hoe come to that period of my life
I went back to my room, careless of the future, broken down by the deepest of sorrows, I locked myself in, and went to bed I felt so low in spirits that I was stunned Life was not a burden, but only because I did not give a thought to life In fact I was in a state of complete apathy, moral and physical Six years later I found myself in a similar predicament, but that time love was not the cause of my sorrow; it was the horrible and too famous prison of The Leads, in Venice
I was not ed in the prison of Buen Retiro, in Madrid, but I must not anticipate events At the end of twenty-four hours, reat, but I did not find the sensation disagreeable, and, in the state of mind in which I was then, I was pleased with the idea that, by increasing, that weakness would at last kill hted to see that no one disturbed ratulateddismissed my servant Twenty-four more hours passed by, and my weakness became complete inanition
I was in that state when De la Haye knocked at my door I would not have answered if he had not said that soot out of bed, and, scarcely able to stand, I opened ain
”There is a stranger here,” he said, ”who, being in want of a carriage, offers to buy yours”