"I will do everything you recommend; indeed, for some weeks before you came, I had put a constraint upon myself and forced myself to be very still; but the effect of that was, that acting upon their theory they said that I was sinking into the last or "melancholy-mad" state of mania, and they put me in here with the incurables."
"Lady," said Traverse, respectfully taking her hand, "now that I am acquainted in some slight degree with the story of your heavy wrongs, do not suppose that I will ever leave you until I see you restored to your friends."
"Friends! ah, young man, do you really suppose that if I had had friends I should have been left thus long unsought? I have no friends, Doctor Rocke, except yourself, newly sent me by the Lord; nor any relatives except a young daughter whom I have seen but twice in my life!--once upon the dreadful night when she was born and torn away from my sight and once about two years ago, when she must have been sixteen years of age. My little daughter does not know that she has a poor mother living, and I have no friend upon earth but you, whom the Lord has sent."
"And not in vain!" said Traverse, fervently, "though you have no other friends, yet you have the law to protect you. I will make your case known and restore you to liberty. Then, lady, listen: I have a good mother, to whom suffering has taught sympathy with the unfortunate, and I have a lovely betrothed bride, whom you will forgive her lover for thinking an angel in woman"s form; and we have a beautiful home among the hills of Virginia, and you shall add to our happiness by living with us."
The lady looked at Traverse Rocke with astonishment and incredulity.
"Boy," she said, "do you know what you are promising--to a.s.sume the whole burthen of the support of a useless woman for her whole life?
What would your mother or your promised wife say to such a proposition?"
"Ah! you do not know my dear mother nor my Clara--no, nor even me. I tell you the truth when I say that your coming among us would make us happier. Oh, Madam, I myself owe so much to the Lord and to His instruments, the benevolent of this world, for all that has been done for me. I seize with grat.i.tude the chance to serve in my turn any of His suffering children. Pray believe me!"
"I do! I do, Doctor Rocke! I see that life has not deprived you of a generous, youthful enthusiasm," said the lady, with the tears welling up into her glorious black eyes.
After a little, with a smile, she held out her hand to him, saying:
"Young friend, if you should succeed in freeing me from this prison and establishing my sanity before a court of justice, I and my daughter will come into the immediate possession of one of the largest estates in your native Virginia! Sit you down, Doctor Rocke, while I tell you my true story, and much, very much more of it than I have ever confided to any human being."
"Lady, I am very impatient to hear your history, but I am your physician, and must first consider your health. You have been sufficiently excited for one day; it is late; take your tea and retire early to bed. To-morrow morning, after I have visited the wards and you have taken your breakfast, I will come, and you shall tell me the story of your life."
"I will do whatever you think best," said the lady.
Traverse lifted her hand to his lips, bowed, and retreated from the cell.
That same night Traverse wrote to his friend, Herbert Greyson, in Mexico, and to his mother and Clara, describing his interesting patient, though as yet he could tell but little of her, not even in fact her real name, but promising fuller particulars next time, and declaring his intention of bringing her home for the present to their house.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
END OF THE LADY"S STORY.
Of the present naught is bright, But in the coming years I see A brilliant and a cheerful light, Which burns before thee constantly.
--W. D. Gallagher.
At the appointed hour the next morning Traverse Rocke repaired to the cell of his mysterious patient.
He was pleased to find her up, dressed with more than usual care and taste and looking, upon the whole, much better in health and spirits than upon the preceding day.
"Ah, my young hero, it is you; you see that I am ready for you," she said, holding out her hand.
"You are looking very well this morning," said Traverse, smiling.
"Yes, hope is a fine tonic, Doctor Rocke."
She was seated by the same window at which Traverse had first seen her, and she now beckoned the young doctor to come and take a seat near her.
"My story is almost as melodramatic as a modern romance, Doctor Rocke,"
she said.
Traverse bowed gravely and waited.
"My father was a French patriot, who suffered death in the cause of liberty when I, his only child, was but fourteen years of age. My mother, broken-hearted by his loss, followed him within a few months. I was left an orphan and penniless, for our estate was confiscated."
"Ah, your sorrows came early and heavily indeed," said Traverse.
"Yes; well, a former servant of my father held an humble situation of porter on the ground floor of a house, the several floors of which were let out to different lodgers. This poor man and his wife gave me a temporary home with themselves. Among the lodgers of the house there was a young Virginian gentleman of fortune, traveling for pleasure and improvement; his name was Mr. Eugene Le Noir."
"Le Noir!" cried Traverse, with a violent start.
"Yes--what is the matter?"
"It is a familiar Virginia name, Madam, that is all; pray go on."
"Mr. Le Noir was as good and kind as he was wise and cultivated. He used to stop to gossip with old Cliquot every time he stopped at the porter"s room to take or to leave his key. There he heard of the poor little orphan of the guillotine, who had no friend in the world but her father"s old servant. He pitied me, and after many consultations with Father and Mother Cliquot, he a.s.sumed the position of guardian to me, and placed me at one of the best schools in Paris. He lingered in the city and came to see me very often; but always saw me in the presence of Madame, the directress. I clung to him with affection as to a father or an elder brother, and I knew he loved me with the tender, protecting affection that he would have given a younger sister, had he possessed one. Ah! Doctor Rocke, tell me, besides yourself, are there many other men in your State like him?"
"I knew but one such; but go on, dear Madam."
"When I had been to school some months he came to me one day scarcely able to conceal his woe. He told me that his father was ill and that he should have to sail in the first packet from Havre, and that, in fact, he had then come to take leave of me. I was wild with grief, not only upon his account but upon my own, at the prospect of losing him, my only friend. I was but a child, and a French child to boot. I knew nothing of the world; I regarded this n.o.ble gentleman, who was so much my superior in years as in everything else, as a father, guardian or elder brother; so in an agony of grief I threw myself into his arms, sobbing and weeping bitterly and imploring him not to break my heart by leaving me. It was in vain Madame the Directress exclaimed and expostulated at these improprieties. I am sure I did not hear a word until he spoke. Putting me out of his arms, he said:
""I must go, my child; duty calls me."
""Then take me with you; take your poor little one with you, and do not pull her out of your warm, good heart, or she will wither and die like a flower torn up by the roots!" I cried, between my sobs and tears.
"He drew me back to his bosom and whispered:
"There is but one way in which I can take you with me, my child. Will you be my wife, little Capitolie?"
"Capitola!" cried Traverse, with another great start.
"Yes! Why? What is the matter now?"
"Why, it is such an odd name, that is all! Pray proceed, Madam."
"We were married the same day, and sailed the third morning thereafter from Havre for the United States, where we arrived, alas! only to find the n.o.ble gentleman, my Eugene"s father, laid in his grave. After Mr.
Le Noir"s natural grief was over we settled down peaceably to our country life at the Hidden House----"
"The Hidden House!" again exclaimed Traverse Rocke.
"Yes! that is another odd name, isn"t it? Well, I was very happy. At first when I understood my real position, I had been afraid that my husband had married me only from compa.s.sion; but he soon proved to me that his love was as high, as pure and as n.o.ble as himself. I was very happy. But one day, in the midst of my exultant joy, a thunderbolt fell and shattered my peace to destruction forever! Oh, Doctor Rocke, my husband was murdered by some unknown hand in his own woods, in open day! I cannot talk of this!" cried the widow, breaking down, overwhelmed with the rush of terrible recollections.
Traverse poured out a gla.s.s of water and handed it to her.
She drank it, made an effort at self-control, and resumed: