I told him I thought I might
one day be happy, if I could hear that he did not give way to despair. I
told him we must never meet again in this world. So now come what will:
show me my duty and I will do it. This endless deceit burns my heart.
Shall I tell my husband? It will be but one pang more, one blush more
for me. But my mother!" and, thus appealed to, Dr. Aubertin felt, for
the first time, all the difficulty of the situation he had undertaken to
cure. He hesitated, he was embarrassed.
"Ah," said Josephine, "you see." Then, after a short silence, she said
despairingly, "This is my only hope: that poor Raynal will be long
absent, and that ere he returns mamma will lie safe from sorrow and
shame in the little chapel. Doctor, when a woman of my age forms
such wishes as these, I think you might pity her, and forgive her
ill-treatment of you, for she cannot be very happy. Ah me! ah me! ah
me!"
"Courage, poor soul! All is now in my hands, and I will save you," said
the doctor, his voice trembling in spite of him. "Guilt lies in the
intention. A more innocent woman than you does not breathe.
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