Joseph Wilmot, or, The Memoirs of a Man-Servant — page 47: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

_ Luxembourg 34. JOSKPH WILMOT; OR, THE MEMOIRS OF A MAN-SERVANT. count of the evidence was published in the news-|I refuse it? The veteran Marshal seemed bowed papers; and, if I remember aright, with the excep- tion of Adolphe, Amelie, and the Duke’s valet, the name of no other domestic transpired. At all events I am very certain that my own did not: for I watched all the leading newspapers, both French and English, to make myself certain on this oint. , The intendant of the household issued @ recom- mendation to all the servants to remain with4a doors as much as possible, not only for deceney’s sake until the funeral should have taken place, bat likewise to avoid the chance of being questioned by gossips and other curiosity-inspired persons relative to the details of the tragedy. Moreover, by command of the Marshal, it was determined that the obsequies should be celebrated with the least possible delay,—so that they might be over by the time the young Marquis arrived, and thus spare him an additional cause of excitement as well as of bitterest woe. It was accordingly at eight o’clock in the mornivg of the fourth day after the murder, that the remains of the Duchess de Paulin were borne to their last home. The funeral- ceremony took place at the church of the Made- leine; and in the family-vault beneath the marble pavement, the mangled corpse of the once bril- lianily beautifal lady found its resting-place. But in the interval how had it fared with the Duke de Paulin? From the moment that he was consigned to the Luxembourg, he sank into the complete stupor of apathy,—gazing vacantly on those who addressed him—answering vacuely and incoherently to the questions that were put to him. Tt does nut appear that until the last hour of his life—of which E have soon to speak—he awoke to a consciousness of his own dreadful position. The awful crime which he bad perpetrated, seemed to sit like a tremendous night-mare upon his soul,— crushing and weighing it down—keeping it in a state of numbing consternation—steeping in torpor all its energies—and rendering the wretehed man utterly incapable of deliberate reflection. But what of his last hour? It was about four o’clock in the afternoon of the same day on which the funeral had taken place, that the Marshal— the father of the late Duchess—came to the man- sion; and ordering me into his presence, addressed me in the following manner :— “T have just this moment eome from the prison of the Luxembourg: I have seen that unhappy man— and he is arousing himself from the state of torpor in which he has hitherto remained. I do not think that he has long to live—and this is like- wise his own impression. It seemed as if a pre- sentiment of death’s approach had stolen into his mind,—exciting it to some little degree of energy. He would not listen to me—he would noé speak to me: but he has asked for you—and you must go to him! Let it be under circumstances of the strictest privacy: everything must be avoided that feeds the morbid curiosity of the publie, and sus- tains the excitement which the dreadful transaction has oecasioned. Speak not therefore to the other domestics upon the point: but hasten to the I have already arranged for your prompt admittance to the wretched man’s pre- sence.” it was by no means. an agreeable duty which I was thus called upon to perform: but how could down with the weight of affliction: he spoke with so profound a sadness that it touched me to the very soul; and as he said a few words relative to his deceased daughter—whom he had loved so fondly, and whom he had that same day followed to the tomb—the tears trickled from those eyes which had never quailed nor grown dim when amidst the din, the roar, the tumult, and the crash of battle. I accepted the mission, and hastened to perform it,—my fellow-servants imagining that I was merely going on some ordinary errand on the Marshal’s behalf. Tssuing from the mansion, I entered a cab; and promising the driver a liberal fare, was whirled rapidly along to the Luxembourg. A few weeks back I had proceeded thither to make my appear- ance a3 a witness in a matter where life was con- cerned, in the Chamber of Peers: I now repaired to the same place in a matter where death was concerned, in the prison of the edifice! Solemn thoughts were in my mind: my reflections were of an awe-inspiring character. As the Marshal had intimated, I found no difficulty in at once pro- curing admission to a well-furnished apartment, in which my unhappy master was confined. I was permitted to be with him alone: and never shall I forget that scene! The Duke de Paulin was sitting upon the bed with his arms folded across his chest, and his looks bent downward. Whether it were that he did not hear the door open and shut, nor the uster’s intimation that some one sougat his presence,— or whether if were that he dared not immediately meet my looks, and required time to summon up a sufficiency of fortitude for that purpose,—I can- not say. Heaven alone now knows! —heaven alone, besides that man himself, knew what at that instant was passing in his mind! [f expe- rienced a trouble such as I had never felt before — an undefinable sensation of mingled pity and ab- horrence,—as if E were in the presence of some hideous reptile which was nevertheless writhing in death-agonies, so that it was possible to com- passionate the tortures endured by a stricken being, while it was impossible on the other hand to avoid keeping in view the dread devastation it had caused in its time, Two or three minutes elapsed ere the Duke de Paulin raised his countenance: and then, as he did slowly and gradually lift it,—heavens! what a ghastly face it was which thus revealed itself to my view! Sunken were the cheeks —eavernous the eyes—the skin looked like wrinkled parch- ment upon the bones. I saw too that the hair had grown many, many shades more gray than it was when I first knew him: for then indeed it was only just beginning to turn. And the eyes,—= their lustre was gone: they were dull as if the glaze of death were already upon those balls! Then I observed his hands: they were so wasted —so thin—that it was painful to regard them: and the nails had a blueish tint as if the poison which he had taken at his own mansion, still to some little degree circulated in his veins. As for his form, it was wasted to a shadow: he was naturally of slender shape—but he was now a mere skeleton; and his garments hung loosely upon him. I was cruelly shocked by the spec- tacle thus presented to my view; and sinking upon (EO) NOOK ee ee (E©)