‘It is, my most noble master!’ answered O’Donell, almost choking with joy. The young princes instantly embraced him, while he almost smothered them with caresses.
After awhile they became tranquil, and then O’Donell, at the request of the Duke, related all his adventures since he parted with them, not omitting the condition on which he was now in the palace.
When he had ended a loud voice was heard saying that he was free from his promise and might spend the rest of his days in his native city.
Some time after this, as O’Donell was walking in the streets, he met a gentleman whom he thought he had seen before, but could not recollect where or under what circumstances. After a little conversation he discovered that he was Alexander Delancy, that he was now a rich merchant in the city of Paris, and high in favour with the Emperor Napoleon. As may be supposed they both were equally delighted at the discovery. They ever after lived happily in their separate cities; and so ends my little tale.
C. Brontë,
August 17th, 1829.
THE ADVENTURES OF ERNEST ALEMBERT
First printed, from the original manuscript, in 1896, in an edition limited to thirty copies for private circulation only. Edited by Thomas J. Wise. This volume contains facsimiles of two pages of the manuscript. Reprinted in Literary Anecdotes of the Nineteenth Century, edited by W. Robertson Nicoll, M.A., and Thomas J. Wise, vol. ii., 1896, pp. 47-79.
In the Preface to the privately printed volume we are informed by Mr. Wise, that—
The manuscript of ‘The Adventures of Ernest Alembert’ consists of sixteen octavo pages, measuring 7 1/4 by 4 1/2 inches, stitched in a wrapper of coarse brown paper, with the following title written in Charlotte’s hand upon the front: ‘The Adventures of Ernest Alembert. A Tale by C. Brontë. May 25, 1880.’ The book is written in a free running hand, far more readily deciphered than the minute characters employed in the majority of these early books. Unlike most of these it has no title-page save that on the wrapper, but a large portion of the final page is occupied by an inscription, after the manner of a colophon.