“Do you then already know them?” exclaimed the old servant, much astounded.
“Oh! you were right, old man,” said Paul, throwing himself into his chair. “God orders all things according to His will, and what He does ordain, His wisdom has long before matured.”
They both remained silent for a time, when at length Paul raised his head, and resolutely fixing his eyes on the old man’s face, said:
“Now, I am ready to hear all you have to communicate—you may go on.”
CHAPTER IX.—FATAL LOVE.
I shall a tale unfold
Will harrow up thy soul; freeze thy young blood;
Make thy two eyes like stars, start from their spheres;
Thy knotted and combined locks to part.
And each particular hair to stand on end,
Like quills upon the fretful porcupine.
Shakespeare.
The old man seemed to be summoning up his recollections for a time, and then began:
“They were affianced to each other. I know not what mortal hatred it was that arose between the families and separated them. The Count de Morlaix, broken hearted, could not remain in France. He sailed for Saint Domingo, where his father possessed a large estate; I accompanied him, for the Count de Morlaix reposed much confidence in me. I was the son of her who had nursed him; I had received the same education as himself; he used to call me his brother, and I alone remembered the distance which nature had placed between us. The Marquis de Morlaix confided to me the charge of watching over his son, for I loved him with all the love of a father. We remained two years under a tropical sun; during that two years, your father, lost amid the solitude of that magnificent island, a traveller without an object and without an aim, an ardent and indefatigable sportsman, endeavouring to cure the griefs of the mind, by the fatigues of the body; but so far from succeeding, one would have thought that his heart became still more inflamed under that ardent sun. At length, after two years of trial and incessant struggles, his love conquered. He must either see her again or die. I yielded and we set sail for France. Never was a voyage more beautiful, or more prosperous. The sea and sky seemed to smile upon us; so favourable were they that it would have induced one to believe in lucky omens. Six weeks after our departure from Port au Prince, we landed at Havre. Mademoiselle de Sablé was married. The Marquis d’Auray was at Versailles, fulfilling at the court of Louis XV. the duties of his charge, and his wife, who was too much indisposed to follow him, was at the old chateau d’Auray, the turrets of which you see from this place.”
“Yes, yes,” said Paul, “I know it; pray go on.”