“You will wear it always?” said Erebus.
“Always!” replied Reine, bursting into tears.
“Ah, now I can die!” said Erebus.
A last ray seemed to illumine his face, as death slowly approached.
“Brother,” said Father Elzear, in an austere voice, as he rose, “this child is about to die.”
Raimond V. understood that the last moments of Erebus belonged to God. He embraced his nephew, called Luquin and Laramée to cany him, and went out with Reine.
The commander remained silent and motionless, seated on the bed of his dying son.
Raimond V. sent Peyrou to him, hoping the watchman’s presence might perhaps recall him to himself.
The watchman, approaching Pierre des Anbiez, said to him, “M. Commander, come.”
Whether the voice of Peyrou, which he had not heard for so long a time, impressed him all the more, or whether he obeyed an inexplicable instinct, the commander rose and followed the watchman, alas! without casting a look upon his son.