This terrible news threw
me into a frightful state of anxiety and excitement. Feeling sure, as
I did, that you were my own daughter, I shuddered at the thought of the
horrible crime that I might not be in time to prevent, and without one
moment's delay set out for this place--suffering such agony by the
way as I do not like even to think of. You were already delivered from
danger when I arrived, as you know, and without having suffered anything
beyond the alarm and dread--which must have been terrible indeed, my
poor child! And then, the amethyst ring on your finger confirmed, past
any possibility of doubt, what my heart had told me, when first my eyes
beheld you in the theatre."
"I pray you to believe, dear lord and father," answered Isabelle, "that
I have never accused you of anything, nor considered myself neglected.
Accustomed from my infancy to the roving life of the troupe I was with,
I neither knew nor dreamed of any other. The little knowledge that I had
of the world made me realize that I should be wrong in wishing to
force myself upon an illustrious family, obliged doubtless by powerful
reasons, of which I knew nothing, to leave me in obscurity. The confused
remembrance I had of my origin sometimes inspired me--when I was very
young--with a certain pride, and I would say to myself, when I noticed
the disdainful air with which great ladies looked down upon us poor
actresses, I also am of noble birth.
Pages:
551
552
553
554
555
556
557
558
559
560
561
562
563
564
565
566
567
568
569
570
571
572
573
574
575