Madame de Lisle was like a sister, she and her maid remained with us all night; and there was nothing that sympathy and tenderness could dictate which this lovely young woman did not offer to us in the way of assistance. Mamma thought my uncle too ill to listen to an account of what had happened, and till the morning she did not come to me, as she judged it better that Adelaide should continue in perfect quiet. A sleeping-dose had been administered, and she lay in a sort of stupor, interrupted from time to time by words uttered in delirium: “Where are my jewels?” “Did you see Castelle?” “When will Arthur come?” were the only sentences that Frederick and I could hear distinctly, though she’ talked a great deal, and apparently with anger at intervals. It was determined upon to remove her as quickly as possible from the theatre of such horror, and accordingly apartments were immediately prepared in a house adjoining that in which we live. The body was disposed of, and every arrangement that we could devise carried into effect with the utmost celerity to change the scene for Adelaide.
When I look back upon the last week, the whole appears like a terrific dream! For an hour together I never lose sight of that corse, weltering in its blood; nor cease to think of that spirit, hurried into the presence of its God! The subject is too awful, and the mind will not dwell upon it. I sometimes feel as if I should lose my senses. Adelaide seems quite unconscious of all that has happened, and never mentions her husband. The physician assures us, that she is not in danger unless the fever increase.
After the lapse of many days I find my letter only half written; but anxiety thickens upon us, and my Julia will excuse me. My poor aunt Howard’s situation is so precarious, that we know not what a day may bring forth. My dear uncle declines, alas, too visibly to leave a doubt that the dreaded moment is at hand! and though Lady Crayton is recovering rapidly, she is, to my eye, a more melancholy object than even death itself. La Tour’s words vibrate on my senses: they are a true picture; “elle se consolera bientôt!” Yes; elle se console, and with so little reference to decency, that though at the arrival of every English mail we expect the last accounts of her mother’s existence, and her husband’s bleeding image seems to dwell amongst us, she is able to talk of indifferent matters, and her only solicitude literally appears at present to display itself only in contrivances for rendering her weeds becoming. She wishes for Arthur, not that she may enjoy a brother’s sympathy, but to know the utmost that can be done to make her independent. On hearing from mamma that a considerable sum had been remitted for the payment of Lord Crayton’s debts in Milan, conceive her proposing that Arthur should be written to directly, to desire that he might reserve this money for her use, and leave her husband’s debts unpaid! Oh, Julia, poor Adelaide was not worse than others by nature; and is this the end of a fashionable education?
I am sick at heart, and turn from the contemplation of my cousin’s future career to rest on the pleasing thought of Madame de Lisle, with whom we are delighted. Though evidently bent on seclusion, and desirous of avoiding even a limited society, she would not refuse us the pleasure of calling upon her; and, from her first interview with mamma, she has not required that we should again solicit her acquaintance. I never saw such sympathy between two beings so far separated by different age and country.
I told you that I had remarked a change in Mr. Otway’s colour when he first saw this deeply interesting young woman. Since that time he has been minutely inquiring about the handkerchief which Fanny picked up, and is fully confirmed by the letters marked upon it in the belief that he has known her family in former days, and seen her when a child; but some circumstances, which I am unable to fathom, deter him from putting any question to her that might determine the point. Perhaps she married without the consent of her friends; yet she seems so good that it would take much evidence to convince me that she had ever made her parents unhappy. Again, were she not so perfectly elegant, so modest and refined in her ways of thinking, it might be supposed that she had conformed to the vulgar views of high life, by marrying some mere man of fashion, in whom she had been disappointed, and by whom, perhaps, she may have been left to mourn over conduct, at the remembrance of which she blushes; but Madame de Lisle cannot be a hypocrite, and if not her husband must have been worthy of her. No ignoble motive could have induced this sweet and lovely creature to bestow her hand without her heart. Whatever be the reason, she desires concealment, and we alone, I believe, constitute her attraction to Turin. If Mr. Otway be right in his conjecture, she is the daughter of an English nobleman; but he will not tell us more till he brings the matter to a certainty.
I am this moment informed, that a letter is just received by Frederick from Arthur, announcing his mother’s death. Excellent young man! he rejoices in the idea of having been with her, and enabled, to the last moment, to minister to her comfort. He speaks of her tranquil exit with feelings of the deepest gratitude to heaven; and mentions, that she had from time to time derived the greatest relief from unburthening her heart to an admirable clergyman, who visited her frequently in the latter days of her life.
The letters which informed the family at Selby of all that had taken place here, had not reached England when Arthur wrote. It is his intention to come here as soon as possible, accompanied by my cousin Louisa.
You shall hear regularly from me of all that passes.
Loves from, to all.
Ever my dearest Julia’s affectionate,