Another Study of Woman by Honoré de Balzac;Ellen Marriage
page 48 of 56 (85%)
page 48 of 56 (85%)
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"It would be frightful to let us leave with this horrible picture in our memory," said Madame de Montcornet. "I shall dream of it----" "And what was the punishment of Monsieur de Marsay's 'First'?" said Lord Dudley, smiling. "When the English are in jest, their foils have the buttons on," said Blondet. "Monsieur Bianchon can tell us, for he saw her dying," replied de Marsay, turning to me. "Yes," said I; "and her end was one of the most beautiful I ever saw. The Duke and I had spent the night by the dying woman's pillow; pulmonary consumption, in the last stage, left no hope; she had taken the sacrament the day before. The Duke had fallen asleep. The Duchess, waking at about four in the morning, signed to me in the most touching way, with a friendly smile, to bid me leave him to rest, and she meanwhile was about to die. She had become incredibly thin, but her face had preserved its really sublime outline and features. Her pallor made her skin look like porcelain with a light within. Her bright eyes and color contrasted with this languidly elegant complexion, and her countenance was full of expressive calm. She seemed to pity the Duke, and the feeling had its origin in a lofty tenderness which, as death approached, seemed to know no bounds. The silence was absolute. The room, softly lighted by a lamp, looked like every sickroom at the hour of death. "At this moment the clock struck. The Duke awoke, and was in despair |
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