Volume III Part 65 (1/2)
”Your sadness,” said she, ”is not like you; it frightensine that s from any unworthy motive, I only want to be of service to you You e you to speak freely, and to give you that trust in me which I think I deserve, I will tell you what I know and what I have learnt about yourself My knowledge has not been obtained by any unworthy stratagems, or by a curiosity in affairs which do not concern me”
”I am pleased hat you say, rateful to you Tellood You are the lover and the beloved of Madame---- The hom you have treated badly has played you some trick which has involved you with your mistress, and then the wretched woman has 477 left your house with the most unpardonable rudeness this tortures you You fear some disastrous consequences from which you cannot escape, your heart and le in your breast between passion and senti, but yesterday you seemed to me happy and to-day miserable I pity you, because you have inspired s of friendshi+p I did ht be free to talk to the wife, who seems to me orthy of your love”
”All that you have said is true Your friendshi+p is dear to h opinion of your intellectual powers Theis a monster who has made e myself on her Honour will not allow me to tell you any more, and indeed it would be irief that overwhelms me It may possibly be my death, but in the mean time, my dear Dubois, I entreat you to continue your friendshi+p towards me, and to treat me with entire candour I shall always attend to what you say, and thus you will be of the greatest service to ht as I had expected, for anger, the eance, always made me sleepless, while sudden happiness had so for Le Duc early in the ly little attendant came, and toldme my chocolate She came in directly after, and I had no sooner sed the chocolate than I was seized with a violent attack of sickness, the effect of anger, which at its height e called for vengeance on the dreadful , the chocolate caer, and if it had not been rejected I should have been killed; as it was I was quite exhausted Looking at my housekeeper I saw she was in tears, and asked her why she wept
”Good heavens! Do you think I have a heart of stone?”
”Calm yourself; I see you pity et some sleep”
I went to sleep soon after, and I did not wake till I had slept for seven hours I felt restored to life I rang the bell, eon of the place had called She looked very ladness reappearing on her pretty face
”We will dine together, dearest,” said I, ”but tell the surgeon to come in I want to knohat he has to say tocarefully round the room to see that ere alone, he came up to me, and whispered in my ear that Le Duc had a , as I had been expecting some terrible news
”My dear doctor,” said I, ”do all you can to cure him, and I will pay you handsomely, but next ti to tell hty”
”May God help you!”
I was all the more ready to sympathize with my poor Spaniard, as I expected to findthere is between the unfortunate! The poor man will seek in vain for true compassion at the rich man's doors; what he receives is a sacrifice to ostentation and not true benevolence; and the man in sorrow should not look for pity from one to whom sorrow is unknown, if there be such a person on the earth
My housekeeper came in to dress me, and asked me what had been the doctor's business
”He h”
”Yes, and I should like to tell you what it was; but before I do so I must ask you if you knohat the venereal disease is?”
”Yes, I do; Lady Montagu's footood, but you should pretend not to knohat it is, and inorance which well becoot this disease”
”Poor fellow, I a at that?”
”No; it was the air of mystery assumed by the old doctor which amused me”
”I too have a confidence to ive me or send me away directly”
”Here is another bother What the devil can you have done? Quick! tell me”
”Sir, I have robbed you!”