THE WEDDING.
Since Rudolph had informed her of the murder of Fleur-de-Marie, Countess
Sarah M'Gregor, overwhelmed by this revelation, which ruined all her hopes,
tortured by deep remorse, had been attacked by violent nervous spasms, and
a frightful delirium; her wound, hardly healed, reopened, and a fainting
fit of long duration had caused her attendants to suppose her dead.
However, from the strength of her constitution, she did not sink under this
severe attack; a new glimmering of life once more reanimated her. Seated in
an arm-chair, in order to relieve the oppression which suffocated her,
Sarah, almost regretting the death from which she had just escaped, was
occupied with bitter thoughts. Suddenly Thomas Seyton entered the chamber
of the countess; he with difficulty restrained some internal agitation; at
a sign from him her two women withdrew.
"How are you now?" said he to his sister.
"In the same state--I am very weak, and from time to time almost
suffocated. Why did not heaven take me away from this world during my last
attack?"
"Sarah," said Thomas Seyton, after a pause, "you are between life and
death--a violent emotion might kill you, as it might save you."
"I have now no more emotions to experience, my brother."
"Perhaps--"
"The death of Rudolph would find me indifferent; the ghost of my drowned
daughter--drowned by my fault--is there--always there, before me. It is not
an emotion--it is incessant remorse. I am really a mother now, since I no
longer have a child."
"I would prefer to find in you that cold ambition which made you regard
your daughter as a means to realize the dream of your life."
"The frightful reproaches of the prince have killed this ambition; the
maternal sentiment is awakened in me at the picture of the extreme misery
of my daughter."
"And," said Seyton, hesitating and weighing each word, "if by
chance-supposing an impossible thing--a miracle--you were informed that
your daughter still lived--how would you support such a discovery?"
"I should die with shame and despair at the sight of her."
"Do not believe that--you would be too much elated with the triumph of your
ambition; for, if your daughter had lived, the prince would have married
you--he told you so."
"In admitting this mad supposition, it seems to me that I should not have a
right to live. After having received the hand of the prince, my duty would
be to deliver him of an unworthy wife--my daughter of an unnatural mother."
The embarrassment of Thomas Seyton increased every moment. Charged by
Rudolph, who was in an adjoining room, to inform Sarah that Fleur-de-Marie
was alive, he did not know how to accomplish it. The state of the countess
was so critical that she might expire from one moment to another; there
was, then, no time to be lost in celebrating the marriage _in extremis_
which was to legitimate the birth of Fleur-de-Marie. For this sad ceremony,
the prince had brought with him a clergyman, with Murphy and Baron de Graun
as witnesses; the Duke de Lucenay and Lord Douglas, notified in haste by
Seyton, were to serve as witnesses for the countess, and had just arrived.
Time was pressing; but remorse, feelings of maternal tenderness, which
replaced, in Sarah's heart, her merciless ambition, rendered the task of
Seyton still more difficult. All his hope was that his sister deceived him
or deceived herself, and that her pride would be awakened, as soon as she
had gained this crown, so long and ambitiously coveted.
"Sister," said Thomas Seyton, "I am in a terrible perplexity; one word from
me, perhaps, will restore you to life--perhaps will send you to your tomb."
"I have already told you that I have no more emotions to dread."
"One alone, however--"
"Which?"
"If it concerned your child?"
"My child is dead."
"If she were not?"
"We have exhausted this supposition already. Enough, brother, my remorse
suffices."
"But if it were not a supposition? if by chance--an incredible chance--your
daughter had been rescued from death; if she lived?"
"You alarm me; do not talk thus."
"Well, then, may God pardon me and judge you! she lives still."
"My daughter?"
"She lives, I tell you. The prince is here with a clergyman. I have sent
for two of your friends for witnesses; the wish of your life is at length
realized--the prediction is fulfilled--you are a sovereign."
Thomas Seyton pronounced these words while fixing on his sister a look of
anguish, watching for each sign of emotion. To his great astonishment, the
features of Sarah remained almost impassible; she placed her hand upon her
heart, and falling back in her chair, suppressed a slight cry, which
appeared to have been caused by some sudden and excruciating pain, after
which her face became composed and calm.
"What is the matter, sister?"
"Nothing--surprise--unhoped-for joy. At length my wishes are crowned."
"I was not deceived," thought Thomas Seyton. "Ambition rules--she is
saved." Then, addressing his sister, he said, "What did I tell you?"
"You were right," replied she, with a bitter smile, divining her brother's
thoughts; "ambition has once more stifled maternity within me."
"You will live; and will love your daughter?"
"I do not doubt it--I shall live--see how calm I am. Where is the prince?"
"He is here."
"I wish to see him before the ceremony. My daughter is here also, without
doubt."
"No; you will see her afterward."
"Now that I have the time, ask, I pray you, the prince to come."
"My sister, I do not know why--but your manner is strange."
"Would you have me laugh? Do you think satisfied ambition has a soft and
tender expression? Let the prince come!"
In spite of himself, Seyton was uneasy at Sarah's calmness. For a moment he
thought he saw in her eyes restrained tears; after a little longer
hesitation, he opened a door, which he left open, and went out.
"Now," said Sarah, "let me but see and embrace my child, I shall be
satisfied. It will be very difficult to be obtained: Rudolph, to punish me,
will refuse; but I will succeed."
Rudolph entered and closed the door.
"Your brother has told you all?" demanded the prince, coldly.
"All!"
"Your ambition is satisfied?"
"It is satisfied."
"The clergyman and the witnesses are here."
"I know it. One word, my lord."
"Speak, madame."
"I wish to see my daughter."
"It is impossible."
"I tell your highness that I wish to see my child."
"She is hardly convalescent--she has been quite ill this morning; this
interview might be fatal to her."
"But at least she will embrace her mother."
"For what purpose? You are now a sovereign."
"I am not yet, and I will not be until I have embraced my child."
Rudolph looked at the countess with profound astonishment. "How!" he cried,
"you subject the satisfaction of your pride--"
"To the satisfaction of my maternal tenderness; that surprises your
highness."
"Alas! yes."
"Shall I see my child?"
"But--"
"Take care, my lord; my moments are perhaps counted. As my brother said,
this crisis may save or kill me. At this moment I collect all my strength,
all my energy, and I need them much to struggle against the shock of such a
discovery. I wish to see my child, or I refuse your hand; and if I die, her
birth is not legitimate."
"Fleur-de-Marie is not here; I should have to send for her at my house."
"Send for her at once, and I consent to all. As my moments, perhaps, are
counted, I have said it. The marriage can take place while some one goes
for Fleur-de-Marie."
"Although this feeling astonishes me, it is too praiseworthy to be
disregarded. You shall see Fleur-de-Marie; I will write to her."
"There, on the desk where I was wounded." While Rudolph hastily wrote a few
lines, the countess wiped away the icy sweat which stood upon her brow; her
features now betrayed violent and concealed suffering.
His note being written, Rudolph arose and said to the lady, "I will send
this to my daughter by one of my aids-de-camp. She will be here in half an
hour. Shall I bring with me, on my return, the clergyman and witnesses?"
"You can, or, rather, I beg you will do so. Ring--do not leave me alone!"
Rudolph rang the bell, and requested the servant who answered the summons
to desire Sir Walter Murphy to come to him.
"This union is sad, Rudolph," said the countess, bitterly; "sad for me. For
you it will be happy, for I shall not survive it."
At this moment Murphy entered.
"My friend," said Rudolph, "send this letter immediately by the colonel; he
will bring my daughter back with him in the carriage. Beg the clergyman and
witnesses to walk into the next room."
"Oh, heaven!" cried Sarah, in a supplicating tone, when the squire had
departed, "grant me strength enough to see her--let me not die before she
arrives!"
"Oh, why have you not always been as good a mother?"
"Thanks to you, at least, I know repentance--devotion--self-denial. Yes,
just now, when my brother said our child lived--let me say _our_
child--I felt that I was stricken unto death. I did not tell him, but I was
happy. The birth of our child will be legitimatized and I should die
afterward."
"Do not speak thus!"
"Oh! this time I do not deceive you--you will see."
"And no vestige remains of that implacable ambition which has ruined you!
Why has fate willed that your repentance should be so late?"
"It is late, but profound--sincere; I swear it to you. At this solemn
moment, if I thank heaven to take me from the world, it is because my life
has been to you a horrible burden."
"Sarah, in mercy--"
"Rudolph, a last prayer--your hand."
The prince, turning away his eyes, gave his hand to the countess, who
placed it between her own.
"Oh! your hands are icy cold," cried Rudolph with affright.
"Yes, I am dying. Perhaps for a last punishment, heaven does not will that
I should embrace my child."
"Oh! yes, yes, it will be moved by your remorse."
"And you, my friend, are you touched? do you pardon me? Oh! in mercy, say
it. Directly, when our child shall be here--if she comes in time--you
cannot pardon me before her; that would be to teach her how guilty I have
been, and that you would not like. When I am once dead, what matters it to
you if she love me?"
"Be comforted; she shall know nothing."
"Rudolph, pardon! oh! pardon! Will you be without pity! Am I not
sufficiently unhappy?"
"Well, may heaven pardon the evil you have done to your child, as I pardon
what you have done to me, unhappy woman."
"You pardon me--from the bottom of your heart?"
"From the bottom of my heart," replied the prince.
The lady pressed the hand of Rudolph to her dying lips in an ecstasy of joy
and gratitude, and said, "Let the clergyman come in, my friend, and tell
him that afterward he must stay. I feel myself very weak."
This scene was heart-rending; Rudolph opened the folding-doors, and the
clergyman entered, followed by the witnesses. All the actors in this sad
scene were grave and sad; M. de Lucenay himself had forgotten his habitual
frivolity. The contract of marriage between the most illustrious and very
puissant prince, His Serene Highness, Gustavus Rudolph V., reigning Grand
Duke of Gerolstein, and Sarah Seyton of Halsbury, Countess M'Gregor, had
been prepared by the care of Baron de Graun: it was read by him, and signed
by the bride and groom and their witnesses. Notwithstanding the repentance
of the countess, when the clergyman said, with a solemn voice, to Rudolph,
"Does your royal highness consent to take for wife Madame Sarah Seyton of
Halsbury, Countess M'Gregor?" and the prince had answered "YES!" with a
loud and firm voice, the deathlike countenance of the lady brightened; a
rapid and transitory expression of triumphant pride passed over her livid
features; it was the last flash of the ambition which died with her. During
this sad and imposing ceremony, not a word was uttered by the witnesses.
When it was finished, they all came forward, profoundly saluted the prince,
and retired.
"Brother," said Sarah in a low tone, "beg the clergyman to have the
goodness to wait a moment in the adjoining room."
"How do you feel now, my sister? you are very pale."
"I am sure to live now--am I not the Grand Duchess of Gerolstein?" added
she, with a bitter smile.
Remaining alone with Rudolph, Sarah murmured, in an exhausted voice, while
her features changed in an alarming manner, "My strength is gone. I feel
that I am dying--I shall never see her."
"Yes, yes, calm yourself, Sarah--you will see her."
"I have no more hope--this delay--oh! it needs a strength superhuman. My
sight fails already."
"Sarah!" said the prince, approaching, and taking her hands within his own,
"she will come--now she cannot delay."
"God has not willed this last consolation."
"Sarah, listen--listen. I hear a carriage--yes--it is she; here is your
child!"
"Rudolph, you will not tell her that I was a bad mother?" articulated the
countess, slowly. The noise of a carriage resounded on the pavement of the
court. The countess could not hear it. Her words were more and more
incoherent. Rudolph leaned over her with anxiety; he saw her eyes covered
with a film.
"Pardon--my child--see, my child--pardon--at least--after my death--the
honors--of--my--rank----" These were her last intelligible words. The
fixed, predominating thought of her whole life returned again,
notwithstanding her sincere repentance. At this moment Murphy entered the
room.
"Your highness, the Princess Marie----"
"No," cried Rudolph, quickly, "let her not enter. Tell Seyton to bring the
clergyman." Then, pointing to Sarah, who was gradually expiring, Rudolph
added, "Heaven refuses her the last consolation of embracing her child."
Half an hour afterward, the Countess M'Gregor had ceased to exist.