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_27 May, 1895._
My dear Lucie:
I profit by each mail to Cayenne to write to you, because I want to give
you news of me as often as possible. During the month I wrote you a long
letter. I sent it on the 18th.
Although I have not heard from you since my departure--all the letters
having been dated earlier than our last interview--I am hoping that by
the time that you receive this letter the denouement of our tragic story
will be at hand.
However that may be, I cry to you always with all the strength of my
soul: Courage and perseverance!
My nerves often get the better of me, but my moral energy remains
unshaken; it is to-day greater than ever.
Let us, then, arm our hearts against every feeling of anxiety or grief;
let us conquer our sufferings and our miseries, so that we may see
nothing before us but the supreme object--our honor, the honor of our
children! Everything should be effaced by that.
Then, still, courage, my dear Lucie. I will sustain you with all my
energy, with all the strength that my innocence gives me, with all the
longing that I have, to see the light shine out, full, perfect,
absolute, as it must shine, for our sakes, for that of our children, of
our two families.
Good kisses for the dear little ones.