"As soon," he said, when conversing with me one day upon our present circumstances, and our future prospects--"as soon as it be possible, I will put the last seal to your union. I look upon it, indeed, as an atonement I owe you both for not having seen your mutual affection, as I might well have done, and for all that I was obliged to make you suffer in consequence of my own blindness. We must, however, in the first instance, suffer the memory of this other business to die away in some slight degree, especially as you well know that it is, in this country, necessary to obtain the consent of his Majesty in the first place. I feel sure, indeed, that both your services and mine will plead too strongly in our favour for any difficulty to occur in our obtaining the royal approbation, which is seldom, if ever, refused where no obstacle is raised on the part of the parents. But still, under all circumstances, I should much wish you to serve through another campaign, in the course of which I doubt not that you will establish new and powerful claims upon the throne."
"I do not know, monseigneur," I replied, laughing; "but one thing I feel very sure of, which is, that, with all the inducements I now have to love life, and the things that it contains, I shall be certainly much more careful of my own person than I used to be in days of old."
"That will be no disadvantage, De Juvigny," replied Monsieur de Villardin, almost gravely. "You were always too careless of your own person; and, in the last campaign, rash to a vice. To observe it in you was a matter of pain and surprise to me, till I discovered your love for Laura; and then, though fully appreciating the generous feelings which made you prefer death rather than wrong me in the least point, yet I was sorry to find that you should think any circumstances sufficient to justify a man in seeking to terminate his own existence. Do you think, De Juvigny, that I have not had cause sufficient to snatch at death, if ever man ought to do it? Do you think that I have not had temptations to self-destruction, had I not felt that such an act is base and cowardly, as well as absurd?"
"I do not deny, my lord," I replied, "that some feelings, such as you suppose, might influence me at first, after discovering what was the state of my own heart towards Mademoiselle de Villardin. But I soon saw the folly of yielding to them; and I can assure you, upon my honour, that if, during the rest of the campaign, I exposed myself unnecessarily, it was done unconsciously."
"I am glad to hear it, De Juvigny; I am glad to hear it," replied Monsieur de Villardin; "for it was certainly the greatest fault I ever saw you commit. However, when you join the army again, be as careful of your own person as it is in your nature to be; and remember, that if you fall, Laura loses a husband, and I lose a son. There are few men," he added, smiling, "to whom one would willingly address such cautions in sending them forth to battle. But I know that it would be difficult to put too many checks upon you."
Although I certainly did not anticipate any farther impediment to my happiness, yet it was very natural that I should desire to call Laura my wife before I again joined the army. Nor did I fail to let Monsieur de Villardin know that such was the case; but he, of course, preferred his plan to mine, and I was obliged to yield with a good grace. At the time that this conversation took place, which was about three weeks after my return from Dumont, there still remained full two, if not three, months, ere I was likely again to be called to the field; and as one probably makes up one's mind to that which is remote more easily than to that which is near at hand, Laura and myself did not suffer the prospect of being once more separated before our union, to disturb our happiness in the meantime.
There was only one thing, however, which gave me uneasiness, which was, to observe that, although the surgeons had declared Monsieur de Villardin to be well, and had consequently taken their leave, yet that he himself did not seem to think his recovery so perfect as they did. The ball was still lodged in his body, the surgeons declaring that it had formed itself a bed under the shoulder bone, whence it could not be extracted, and where it could occasion neither inconvenience nor injury; but still Monsieur de Villardin complained of occasional pain, and I remarked that, in the morning, he was more than commonly gloomy and depressed, while every evening his spirits rose to a much higher pitch than had been usual with him for many years, and a bright flush took possession of his cheek, very different from its usual colour.
All this made me uneasy; and I saw that he himself was not satisfied with his own situation, often talking of going to some of those places in the Pyrenees, the waters of which are famous for the cure of gunshot wounds. I did all that I could to encourage this idea, and also to amuse and occupy his mind in the morning when he seemed most depressed. But it was in vain that I made the latter attempt; he seemed to love solitude, and to be somewhat impatient of interruption or society. The autumn proved a very rainy one; and, when he was not able to go out, he passed the greater part of the time in his library', busily occupied in writing and arranging his papers and affairs. From the rapid and accurate manner in which he prepared for the future, one would have supposed that he anticipated a very speedy termination of his life, and yet his conversation did not show that to be the case. He spoke of many years to come, and laid out long plans for after life: but yet, when forced to stay at home, he busied himself with everything that could imply the speedy approach of death.
When the weather was fine, his occupations were very different. He would saunter slowly out for hours, sometimes accompanied by Father Ferdinand, but more frequently alone; and indeed, as I have before said, he did not seem to covet any society. At night he sat with Laura and myself till we separated for the evening; and I never, even when first I knew him, beheld him so bright, so cheerful, as he appeared on these occasions, during nearly ten days after his wound was healed.
At length one night he expressed his determination of going to Barège, as soon as the season permitted; and laid out a plan by which I might accompany him and Laura thither, even if an early commencement of the campaign prevented me from remaining with them all the time of their stay. The whole arrangement seemed to please him, and he retired to rest, in high spirits, at about ten o'clock. The next morning he came down sad and gloomy; and, after breakfast, ordered his hat and cloak to be brought in, scarcely interchanging a word with any one. A glance from Laura's eye made me offer to accompany him on his walk, but he replied decidedly, though in a kindly tone, "No, I thank you, my dear boy; I would rather be alone. It is a fine day, however, for the time of year, and you and Laura had better ride or walk out together." Thus saying, he left us; and about an hour afterwards Laura and myself--followed by Lise, and with Clement de la Marke hovering round us, like a scared lapwing, now hanging close to my side, now walking on at a great distance, and affecting, with boyish playfulness, not to intrude on the conversation of the lovers--set out to take advantage of the short sunshine of that season.