Part 28 (1/2)

”They would have ive to God--who does not need it--ive o I surrendered it wholly to so into tears, ”I aerman

”Of this union, planned and approved by my dear mother herself, a child was born, which nise, and which kindly peasants are bringing up in the depths of the woods

”My dear, good mother was devotedly fond of my lover, as her nephew

From our very cradles she had always destined us for each other And she persisted inthis match, despite her husband, whose fortune she had ially united by our family priest in the castle chapel My father, ay at sea, caed at my mother's disobedience, and in his fury attempted to stab her with his own hand He eneral opinion in my home is that he was really the author of her death

”Devotedly attached to my husband by ties of love no less than of duty, I fled with hiht-commander of Malta, whose sole heir he was My father, with others, pursued us thither, and scaled the walls of our retreat by night, resolved to kill his nephew first and me afterwards Roused by the noise of the ruffians, my husband seized his firearms Three of his assailants he shot frouised as a common ht The Parliaht it best not to put in an appearance, and after the evidence of sundry witnesses called at random, a warrant for his arrest as a defaulter was issued, a death penalty being attached thereto

”Ever since that tiuise from province to province Doomed to solitude in our once lovely chateau, my father forcedthat if I did so, he would not bringwere truly and faithfully inforrief, and right the injusticethis sad story, I clearly saw that, in some way or other, we should have to induce Mada the vow, and I afterwards deterood friend President de Nesest the right re, I did not deem it fit that he should be consulted in the matter Of course I look upon hireat faes to which the father has not given forun-shot which blinded the gentle, who is devoted to his nobles, would never have pronounced in favour of the Vicoood hu

I deeply sympathised with Madeood-will and protection, but I begged her to approveShe willingly left her fate innote:

MADAME:--You know the vows that bind hted at the foot of the altar Do not persist, I entreat you, do not persist in clai the soleins of the Lord, but ah so young, and the Holy Scriptures tell ar, the kindly hearted,Ishmael

I happened to be with Madaht her this letter On reading it she was norance, and asked her kindly as the reason of her trouble She wished to hide it; but I insisted, and at last persuaded her to let me see the note I read it calmly and with reflection, and afterwards said to the Abbess:

”What! You, sister, whose distress and horror I witnessed when our stern parents shut you up in a cloister,--are you now going to i person, who dreads them, and rejects them as once you rejected the then, and without experience, when I showed such childish repugnance as that of which you speak At that age one knows nothing of religion nor of the eternal verities Only the world, with its frivolous pleasures, is then before one's eyes; and the spectacle blinds our view, even our view of heaven Later on I deplored such resistance, which so grieved my family; and when I saw you at Court, brilliant and adored, I assure you, my dear Marquise, that this convent and its solitude seemed to s”

”You speak thus philosophically,” I replied, ”only because your lot happens to have undergone such a change Fron mistress The book of rules is in your hands; you turn over its leaves wherever you like; you open it at whatever page suits you; and if the book should chance to give you a severe rebuke, you never let others know this Human nature was ever thus No, no, ious life is in itself such an attractive one that you would gladly resunities of your position as an abbess were suddenly wrested froiven to some one else”

”Well, well, if that is so,” said the Abbess, reddening, ”I anation, and so return you your liberality”

”I don't ask you for an abbey which you got fro; ”but the favour, which I ask and solicit you can and ought to grant Madenificant terins of the Lord, and that the gentle Hagar of Holy Writ may not forsake Ishmael

Such a confession plainly hints at an attachion would be a barbarous one, and contrary to nature

”Since God has brought ot to know and appreciate this youthful victiive her my compassion and help,--I, who have no necessity to make conversions by force in order to add to the nurave offence in the eyes of God, I trust that He will pardon ood work that I desire to do I shall write to the King, and Mademoiselle d'Amurande shall not make her vows until his Majesty commands her to do so”

This last speech checkentle, sycophantic, al inthe voould be indefinitely postponed, although the Bishop of Lugon had already prepared his homily, and invitations had been issued to the nobility

Mada I saw that she only wanted to gain time in order to carry out her scheme I did not let ht to work, being deter from Mademoiselle d'Amurande that her friend and ally, the old colad to know that she had in him such a stanch supporter ”It is the worthy commander,” said I, ”who ot the sentence of the first Parliaet her aith me from the convent, as there seely, three days afterwards I dressed her in afor a drive, and the nuns at the gateway bowed low, as usual, whenas abduction

That evening the whole convent see visage, sought to stammer out her reproaches But as there was no law to prevent my action, she had to hide her vexation, and behave as if nothing had happened

The following year I wrote and told her that the judgment of the Rennes Parliament had been cancelled by the Grand Council, as it was based on conflicting evidence The blind Co couple, who carateful to s upon my head

The Abbess wrote back to say that she shared my satisfaction at so happy a conclusion, and that Madame d'Olbruse's disappearance from Fontevrault had scarcely been noticed