"Oh," I thought to myself, "if I could only now, having so forgotten
care, drop off to sleep for ever, would not this be a better piece
of fortune than any I can ever hope for?"
Of course it would, but we would not take it though it were
offered us. No matter what evil may befall us, we will mostly abide by
it and see it out.
I could see that Ernest felt much as I had felt myself. He said
little, but noted everything. Once only did he frighten me. He
called me to his bedside just as it was getting dusk and said in a
grave, quiet manner that he should like to speak to me.
"I have been thinking," he said, "that I may perhaps never recover
from this illness, and in case I do not I should like you to know that
there is only one thing which weighs upon me. I refer," he continued
after a slight pause, "to my conduct towards my father and mother. I
have been much too good to them. I treated them much too
considerately," on which he broke into a smile which assured me that
there was nothing seriously amiss with him.
On the walls of his bedroom were a series of French Revolution
prints representing events in the life of Lycurgus. There was
"Grandeur d'ame de Lycurgue," and "Lycurgue consulte l'oracle," and
then there was "Calciope a la Cour.
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