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over her frame; by the start of terror; by the look that did not
dare to turn behind。 Bitterly he repented his confession;
bitterly he felt that between his sufferings and human sympathy
there could be no gentle and holy commune; vainly he sought to
retract;to undo what he had done; to declare all was but the
chimera of an overheated brain!
And brave and generous was this denial of himself; for; often and
often; as he thus spoke; he saw the Thing of Dread gliding to her
side; and glaring at him as he disowned its being。 But what
chilled him; if possible; yet more than her wasting form and
trembling nerves; was the change in her love for him; a natural
terror had replaced it。 She turned paler if he approached;she
shuddered if he took her hand。 Divided from the rest of earth;
the gulf of the foul remembrance yawned now between his sister
and himself。 He could endure no more the presence of the one
whose life HIS life had embittered。 He made some excuses for
departure; and writhed to see that they were greeted eagerly。
The first gleam of joy he had detected since that fatal night; on
Adela's face; he beheld when he murmured 〃Farewell。〃 He
travelled for some weeks through the wildest parts of Scotland;
scenery which MAKES the artist; was loveless to his haggard eyes。
A letter recalled him to London on the wings of new agony and
fear; he arrived to find his sister in a condition both of mind
and health which exceeded his worst apprehensions。
Her vacant look; her lifeless posture; appalled him; it was as
one who gazed on the Medusa's head; and felt; without a struggle;
the human being gradually harden to the statue。 It was not
frenzy; it was not idiocy;it was an abstraction; an apathy; a
sleep in waking。 Only as the night advanced towards the eleventh
hourthe hour in which Glyndon had concluded his taleshe grew
visibly uneasy; anxious; and perturbed。 Then her lips muttered;
her hands writhed; she looked round with a look of unspeakable
appeal for succour; for protection; and suddenly; as the clock
struck; fell with a shriek to the ground; cold and lifeless。
With difficulty; and not until after the most earnest prayers;
did she answer the agonised questions of Glyndon; at last she
owned that at that hour; and that hour alone; wherever she was
placed; however occupied; she distinctly beheld the apparition of
an old hag; who; after thrice knocking at the door; entered the
room; and hobbling up to her with a countenance distorted by
hideous rage and menace; laid its icy fingers on her forehead:
from that moment she declared that sense forsook her; and when
she woke again; it was only to wait; in suspense that froze up
her blood; the repetition of the ghastly visitation。
The physician who had been summoned before Glyndon's return; and
whose letter had recalled him to London; was a commonplace
practitioner; ignorant of the case; and honestly anxious that one
more experienced should be employed。 Clarence called in one of
the most eminent of the faculty; and to him he recited the
optical delusion of his sister。 The physician listened
attentively; and seemed sanguine in his hopes of cure。 He came
to the house two hours before the one so dreaded by the patient。
He had quietly arranged that the clocks should be put forward
half an hour; unknown to Adela; and even to her brother。 He was
a man of the most extraordinary powers of conversation; of
surpassing wit; of all the faculties that interest and amuse。 He
first administered to the patient a harmless potion; which he
pledged himself would dispel the delusion。 His confident tone
woke her own hopes; he continued to excite her attention; to
rouse her lethargy; he jested; he laughed away the time。 The
hour struck。 〃Joy; my brother!〃 she exclaimed; throwing herself
in his arms; 〃the time is past!〃 And then; like one released
from a spell; she suddenly assumed more than her ancient
cheerfulness。 〃Ah; Clarence!〃 she whispered; 〃forgive me for my
former desertion;forgive me that I feared YOU。 I shall live!
I shall live! in my turn to banish the spectre that haunts my
brother!〃 And Clarence smiled and wiped the tears from his
burning eyes。 The physician renewed his stories; his jests。 In
the midst of a stream of rich humour that seemed to carry away
both brother and sister; Glyndon suddenly saw over Adela's face
the same fearful change; the same anxious look; the same
restless; straining eye; he had beheld the night before。 He
rose;he approached her。 Adela started up。 〃looklooklook!〃
she exclaimed。 〃She comes! Save me;save me!〃 and she fell at
his feet in strong convulsions as the clock; falsely and in vain
put forward; struck the half…hour。
The physician lifted her in his arms。 〃My worst fears are
confirmed;〃 he said gravely; 〃the disease is epilepsy。〃 (The
most celebrated practitioner in Dublin related to the editor a
story of optical delusion precisely similar in its circumstances
and its physical cause to the one here narrated。)
The next night; at the same hour; Adela Glyndon died。
CHAPTER 5。VI。
La loi; dont le regne vous epouvante; a son glaive leve sur vous:
elle vous frappera tous: le genre humain a besoin de cet
exemple。Couthon。
(The law; whose reign terrifies you; has its sword raised against
you; it will strike you all: humanity has need of this example。)
〃Oh; joy; joy!thou art come again! This is thy handthese thy
lips。 Say that thou didst not desert me from the love of
another; say it again;say it ever!and I will pardon thee all
the rest!〃
〃So thou hast mourned for me?〃
〃Mourned!and thou wert cruel enough to leave me gold; there it
is;there; untouched!〃
〃Poor child of Nature! how; then; in this strange town of
Marseilles; hast thou found bread and shelter?〃
〃Honestly; soul of my soul! honestly; but yet by the face thou
didst once think so fair; thinkest thou THAT now?〃
〃Yes; Fillide; more fair than ever。 But what meanest thou?〃
〃There is a painter herea great man; one of their great men at
Paris; I know not what they call them; but he rules over all
here;life and death; and he has paid me largely but to sit for
my portrait。 It is for a picture to be given to the Nation; for
he paints only for glory。 Think of thy Fillide's renown!〃 And
the girl's wild eyes sparkled; her vanity was roused。 〃And he
would have married me if I would!divorced his wife to marry me!
But I waited for thee; ungrateful!〃
A knock at the door was heard;a man entered。
〃Nicot!〃
〃Ah; Glyndon!hum!welcome! What! thou art twice my rival!
But Jean Nicot bears no malice。 Virtue is my dream;my country;
my mistress。 Serve my country; citizen; and I forgive thee the
preference of beauty。 Ca ira! ca ira!〃
But as the painter spoke; it hymned; it rolled through the
streets;the fiery song of the Marseillaise! There was a crowd;
a multitude; a people up; abroad; with colou