The Argosy — page 376: what you’re looking at

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

The Curé’s Sister. 353 you she is in the straight and thorny path; and may God comfort her in it! May some angel take her by the hand, and lead her away from her own despair.” I erred in saying so much, and I repented as I saw the surprise on Madame Valmine’s honest face, and the startled look in the good Curé’s eyes. “Not despair!” he said gently. ‘‘ They will let her see us often ; we shall not be parted.” How could I tell him that Léonie meant never to see his face again ? I was silent. “ No,” he continued, ‘‘the parting is but nominal: we shall meet so often. And when Léonie gets used to her new position she will be happy. You too, mother, will be proud to see her a great lady ; you will be pleased when this little child of your adoption comes to you in jewels and silks, and calls you mother. Forshe will do this always. Ah ! I feel Léonie is unchanged in heart.” I believe he said this partly to sooth his mother, and partly to cheat himself with a fair dream, which he knew could never come to pass. The foundling Léonie was their own—their very own—but Made- moiselle de St. Erme could never belong to them again. Neverthe- less, I would not utter even a sigh to check their visions; and as they srew in brightness, Madame Valmine’s sorrow diminished, till at last she broke into smiles and joyful anticipations for the future. When I left them, late in the evening, they were still full of wonder, and I had not said a word about the coming marriage! ‘‘T cannot do it,” I said to myself, as I walked homewards. ‘Let him hear it from other lips. I, who have seen _ Léonie’s anguish, dread now the sight of a tortured heart.” When the day came for my dinner at the chateau, I confess I rode thither with feelings of intense curiosity, being most anxious to see how Léonie bore this great change in her position, and the terrible parting that had so shaken her soul. She was sitting alone when I entered the drawing-room, and I was startled to see the girl’s face. It was white as snow, save for the dark veins round the eyes, which showed she had wept much. She was robed in white, her black hair being beautifully wreathed with pearls, but these and the whiteness of her dress, did but increase her paleness. Moreover, unlike a heroine of romance, Léonie looked ul at ease in her rich toilette; and graceful as was her shape naturally, the unaccustomed apparel took from it her native charm, without giving her the acquired elegance of fashion. She held her hand towards me, with a wistful smile. “Say nothing to me of ¢hem,” she murmured, “or my courage will fail.” I obeyed her, and throughout that stately dinner no one would kave guessed from Léonie’s manner that her heart was a very volcano, in which lay a fire terrible and withering in its strength. VOL. XXXIV. AA CONnNICMHOOKS.EO