Volume IV Part 50 (2/2)
”You're a Frenchman, and as you can clai to leave so suddenly”
”In the first place the ambassador is away, and in the second o, and wait for you at Lyons
All I want is for you to lend ive you an account”
”It will be an easy account to keep,” said I, ”but a long time before it is settled”
”Possibly; but if it is in ratitude for the kindnesses you have done ave hi hiot a letter of credit on an Augsburg house, and three days after I left Turin I was at Chamberi There was only one inn there in those days, so I was not o, but for all that I found myself very co an extre out of an adjacent roo lady?” said I to the cha entleet cured of a sword-thrust which he received four days ago on his way fro the sting of concupiscence As I was leaving my room I saw the door half open, and I stopped short and offered hbour She thankedup in bed, so I went up to enquire how he felt
”The doctor will not let hi lady, ”on account of a sword-thrust in the chest he received at half a league froht in a few days, and then we can continue our journey”
”Where are you going, , a maid came to ask me if I would take supper in hed at her stupidity, and said I would sup inthat I had not the honour of the lady's acquaintance
At this the young lady said it would give her great pleasure if I would sup with her, and the husband repeated this assurance in a whisper I accepted the invitation gratefully, and I thought that they were really pleased The lady escortedher hand, which in France is a declaration of tender though respectful affection
At the post-office I found a letter fro me that Madame Morin would wait on e, and another from Desarmoises dated from Lyons He told me that as he was on his way frohter in company with a rascal who had carried her off He had buried his sword in his body, and would have killed thee He suspected that they had been staying in Chahter to return to Lyons; and he added that if she would not do so I ought to oblige hi her back by force He assured ed me to answer his letter by express, for which purpose he sent hter of his was hbour, but I did not feel at all inclined to come to the aid of the father in the way he wished
As soon as I got back to the inn I sent off Le Duc in a travelling carriage to Madame Morin, whom I informed by letter that as I was only at Chamberi for her sake I would await her convenience This done, I abandoned ht I felt at the romantic adventure which fortune had put in my way
I repeated Mdlle Desarmoises and her ravisher, and I did not care to enquire whether I was impelled in what I did by virtue or vice; but I could not help perceiving that my motives were of a lad to be of assistance to two young lovers, and all the e of the father's cri their rooeon's hands
He pronounced the wound not to be dangerous, in spite of its depth; suppuration had taken place without setting up infla ratulated the patient on his condition, advising hiave Mdlle Desarmoises her father's letter, and I said farewell for the present, telling theo to my own room till supper-time I felt sure that she would co her father's letter
In a quarter of an hour she knocked tiave
”Nothing I shall be only too happy, however, if I can be of any service to you”
”Ah! I breathe again!”
”Could you i any other line of conduct? I am much interested in you, and will do all in my power to help you Are youto be et to Geneva”
”Sit down and tell me all about yourself I know that your father is unhappily in love with you, and that you avoid his attentions”
”He has told you that o he came to Lyons, and as soon as I kneas in the town I took refuge with a friend of my mother's, for I are that I could not stay in the saman in bed is the son of a rich Geneva o, and we soon fell in love with each other My father went away to Marseilles, and e to him; but she did not feel authorized to do so without my father's consent She wrote and asked him, but he replied that he would announce his decision when he returned to Lyons My lover went to Geneva, and as his father approved of the match he returned with all the necessary docu letter of commendation from M Tolosan When my father caot M Tolosan to ask ive no answer till she returns to my house!'