Had not the tone of Monsieur de Villardin been so very decided in regard to his wish for solitude, we might have endeavoured to meet him on his walk; but now we felt that it was necessary rather to choose some path which he was not likely to take. As Laura left it to me to determine, I proposed that we should go to the spot which had been our place of meeting when regret, and sorrow, and expectation of speedy separation, served sadly to allay the brief joy of being in each other's society for a time. We had not been there since the whole had been reversed; and as our fears for the future had then served to deaden the enjoyments of the present, the remembrances of the past now tended only to enhance, in the highest degree, all the delight of the moment, and the anticipation of bright joys in the time to come. Everything that we saw as we walked along recalled some idea of painful separations now to take place no more--of dreams constantly dispelled by the consciousness that they were but dreams--of happiness turned into misery, by the certainty that it must end--of wishes that had become pangs, from the expectation of their disappointment. But now the recollection of such things in the past added, as I have said, a zest to all the joy of our hearts; and it would be necessary to know, or rather to feel, how deeply two hearts can be attached to each other, before any one can conceive how bright--how glorious--how dream-like was the happiness that we then experienced!
Thus we wandered on from meadow to meadow, and from grove to grove, till at length the scene of our meetings, the tall gigantic trees, the soft green turf, the small rise in the ground, connected in my mind with so many various memories, presented themselves to our eyes, still beautiful and soft, though any leaves that lingered on the trees were withered, and the grey hue of approaching winter was over all the scene.
A few steps taken forward, however, showed me something lying in a heap, as it were, upon the very grave of the Count de Mesnil; and a sudden sinking of my heart took place, with feelings of apprehension that I could not well explain. The same sight had caught the eyes of Laura also; and, pointing forward, she exclaimed, "What is that?" As she did so, she paused for a single instant, but at that moment fear seemed to become prophetic in her bosom. Where we stood it was certainly impossible for her to discern even the form of a human being; but exclaiming, "Good God! it is my father!" she drew her arm from mine, and darted on with the speed of light.
I followed as quick as possible; but ere I overtook her, she reached the foot of the tree, and, with a shriek of horror, dropped down as if she had been shot. There was, indeed, sufficient cause: for there, stretched upon the very grave in which his hand and mine had laid his adversary, with his hat fallen off on one side, and his outstretched hand clasping a rosary, appeared the inanimate form of Monsieur de Villardin, with an immense quantity of blood which had flowed from his mouth and nostrils, deluging the turf on every side, and dabbling his mantle and his left arm, which was stretched upon the ground.
The great loss of blood, the position in which he had fallen, the rigidity of his form when I endeavoured to raise him, all showed me that he, who, for so many years, had been my friend, and more than my father--with whom I had gone through such scenes of interest--who had shown me such undeviating and disinterested affection,--was no more a being of this earth. I never felt mortality more bitterly; but on him all care was vain, and my attention--as well as that of Lise and the page--was directed towards his unhappy child, whose temporary loss of feeling and reflection was, perhaps, the best thing that could happen to her at the time. I bore her in my arms to one of the woodmen's cottages at about half a mile distance, sending the boy back with all speed to the château for aid and assistance.
All the inhabitants of the building were soon poured forth; the body of Monsieur de Villardin was removed to the castle; and the carriage having been procured, poor Laura was carried back to her own apartments, falling from one fainting fit into another, with intervals only sufficient to recall the horrible sight she had beheld, ere she was again lost in unconsciousness.
[CHAPTER XLI.]
I Left Laura in the hands of her women; and despatching a messenger for medical aid from Rennes, turned, with a heavy heart, to the library, in which the body of the Duke had been placed. The room was crowded with servants, gathered together in a semi-circle at the end nearest the door, and gazing forward towards the corpse, while a feeling of reverence and awe kept them from approaching farther, as Father Ferdinand, with a degree of emotion which I had never before beheld in him, stood near the head of his dead friend, and wept aloud. Clement de la Marke had crept close up, and wept also; and passing on, I, too, gazed upon the countenance which had beamed so many kind things upon me, and I joined my tears to theirs.
It was a sad and sorrowful sight; and in grief and deep mourning passed over that day, and many that succeeded. Messengers were sent round all the country to every relation and friend of the deceased nobleman; and as there was no necessity for immediate interment, the funeral was delayed till the old Count de Loris could arrive, as it was believed that to him had been assigned the temporary guardianship of Mademoiselle de Villardin, and the execution of the will of the deceased. Every direction was given, and every measure taken by Father Ferdinand, who seemed to feel himself fully justified, by his long friendship with Monsieur de Villardin, to take the command of all, till such time as his own will could be ascertained. Laura was, of course, incompetent to make any of the painful arrangements herself; and to me and Father Ferdinand she seemed to cling with redoubled affection, from the bereavement which she had just undergone. During the ten days which the funeral was delayed, the body of Monsieur de Villardin was embalmed, and in the course of that operation, it was discovered that the ball which he had received in the forest had lodged close upon one of the large blood vessels of the chest, and although it had not wounded the artery at the time, yet that it had created a degree of inflammation round it, which had gradually worn it away, so that probably the great emotion to which Monsieur de Villardin had subjected himself, in visiting, for the first time, the scene of the Count de Mesnil's death, had caused a rupture of the vessel, which might not otherwise have taken place for months.
At length Monsieur de Loris arrived; the friends and relations of the deceased nobleman were all assembled; and the funeral took place. I shall not pause on so sad a ceremony, which was, perhaps, more painful to my feelings, from the careless indifference of the many who attended it, contrasting with the grief of my own heart. As soon as it was over, the notaries opened the seals which had been placed upon all the papers of Monsieur de Villardin; and as Laura had refused to be present, Monsieur de Loris, on her part, received the large packet of freshly written papers, to which the notary, who had been so constantly with the Duke for some weeks, guided us at once. The first thing that appeared was the will of the deceased nobleman, which had been drawn up a few days before his death; and which, though it gave great dissatisfaction to his two nearest cousins, was exactly such as those who knew him best might have anticipated. He appointed three guardians to his daughter--Father Ferdinand, the Count de Loris, and myself, at the same time expressing, in the strongest manner, his will that she should become my wife as soon as a decent space of mourning for his loss was over. He here, too, pointed out what had been evident before, that he felt his life would not be of long duration; and he stated precisely that it was his intention to see me united to his daughter, if he lived long enough; in which case, of course, that will was to be considered as null and void. He then went on to dispose of his property, leaving all his hereditary estates, which, as well as those of his wife, naturally descended to his daughter, to follow the legal course; but from the wealth which, in the retired life he had generally led, he had accumulated to a very great extent, and from the lands he had purchased, he made many bequests. All his old servants were amply provided for; a number of charities and religious institutions were remembered with great liberality; a year's rent was remitted to all his tenants; and stating it to be a personal mark of his affection and gratitude towards me, for many benefits that he could never sufficiently repay, he left me all the rest of his purchased lands, forming, together, a fortune superior to that of many of the first nobles in France.--His relations in general, with whom, as I have before stated, he lived in terms of no great affection, were not even mentioned; and I could see many a heavy brow knit upon me, with passions which might have found a louder tongue, had it not been well known that I was not one to pass over insult or injury in silence. The same persons who had been appointed guardians to Mademoiselle de Villardin were required to see the will put in execution; and to them were added Monsieur de Vins, the governor of the province of Brittany, to whom a handsome legacy had also been assigned.