Narrative and Miscellaneous Papers by Thomas De Quincey
page 54 of 482 (11%)
page 54 of 482 (11%)
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communication with a stranger, especially one whose discretion I could
not estimate in making discoveries to me with the requisite caution, I asked her simply what o'clock it was. 'Eleven in the forenoon,' she replied. 'And what day of the month?' 'The second,' was her brief answer. I felt almost a sense of shame in adding--; 'The second! but of what month?' 'Of June,' was the startling rejoinder. On the 8th of April I had fallen ill, and it was now actually the 2d of June. Oh! sickening calculation! revolting register of hours! for in that same moment which brought back this one recollection, perhaps by steadying my brain, rushed back in a torrent all the other dreadful remembrances of the period, and now the more so, because, though the event was still uncertain as regarded my knowledge, it must have become dreadfully certain as regarded the facts of the case, and the happiness of all who were concerned. Alas! one little circumstance too painfully assured me that this event had not been a happy one. Had Agnes been restored to her liberty and her home, where would she have been found but watching at my bed-side? That too certainly I knew, and the inference was too bitter to support. On this same day, some hours afterwards, upon Hannah's return from the city, I received from her, and heard with perfect calmness, the whole |
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