"I trust it to thy gentle care;
For all that here remains with me
Lives but to think of all that's there,
To love and to remember thee."
[12]It is impossible to translate this passage so as adequately to convey the meaning of the text, "on avait pris terre par un brouillard dans un pays brouillé et brouillon."—TRANSLATOR.
CONCLUSION
Gabriel did not reach St. Quentin until August 16. At the entrance to the town he found Jean Peuquoy awaiting him.
"Ah, here you are at last, Monsieur le Comte!" cried the honest weaver. "I was sure that you would come! But you are too late, alas! too late!"
"What! too late?" asked Gabriel, in alarm.
"Alas! yes. Did not Madame Diane de Castro in her letter ask you to be here yesterday, the 15th?"
"To be sure," said Gabriel; "but no particular stress was laid upon the date, nor did Madame de Castro say why she desired my presence."
"Well, Monsieur le Comte," rejoined Jean, "yesterday was the day on which Madame de Castro—I should say, Sister Bénie—pronounced the words which make her a nun forever, with no possibility of returning to the world."