The priest, on his knees, implored in a loud
voice the mercy of Providence for the king and all his subjects.
Had any person conceived the design of working on my fears so
far as to induce me to abandon a life at court, they could not
have succeeded more entirely than by exhibiting to me the scene
I have been describing. Had not many contending ideas enabled
me to bear up under all I saw and heard, my senses must have
forsaken me; under common circumstances, the aspect of the brother
alone would have terrified me exceedingly; and even now, I cannot
recollect without a shudder, the looks of dark and sinister
meaning he alternately directed at me and at comte Jean. At this
moment, the doctor who had the charge of the unhappy girl arrived.
The warmth and eagerness of manner with which he addressed me
directly he perceived my presence, might have proved to all around
that I was not the hateful creature I had been described. This
well-timed interruption restored me to the use of my faculties,
and repulsing the well-meant attentions of my medical friend, I
exclaimed, "Do not heed me, I conjure you, I am only temporarily
indisposed. But hasten to that poor girl whose dangererous state
requires all your care."
My brother-in-law, recovering himself by a strong effort, profited
by the present opportunity to remove me into another apartment,
the pure air of which contributed to cool my fevered brain; but
my trembling limbs refused to support me, and it was necessary
to apply strong restoratives ere I was sufficiently recovered to
quit the fatal spot.
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