I could not believe
my eyes. That evening you told me the truth, that you were a nobleman
and immensely rich. O my darling, why did you tell me?"
Had she her reason, or was this a mere delirium?
Great tears rolled down the Count de Commarin's wrinkled face, and the
doctor and the priest were touched by the sad spectacle of an old man
weeping like a child.
Only the previous evening, the count had thought his heart dead; and now
this penetrating voice was sufficient to regain the fresh and powerful
feelings of his youth. Yet, how many years had passed away since then!
"After that," continued Madame Gerdy, "we left the Quai Saint-Michel.
You wished it; and I obeyed, in spite of my apprehensions. You told me,
that, to please you, I ought to look like a great lady. You provided
teachers for me, for I was so ignorant that I scarcely knew how to sign
my name. Do you remember the queer spelling in my first letter? Ah, Guy,
if you had really only been a poor student! When I knew that you were so
rich, I lost my simplicity, my thoughtlessness, my gaiety. I feared that
you would think me covetous, that you would imagine that your fortune
influenced my love.
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