If you ask me to judge you, I shall be severe. You have
committed a terrible sin, unnatural and brutal, unheard of till now by
me."
"I bow to all that," said the marquis. "It was brutal, cruel; it was
all you say. But the fact remains that it is done and that a part of
it must be undone."
"Your sense of justice does credit to a great noble like yourself.
Worldly reparation you may make, but you have wounded his heart and
soul beyond all earthly reparation."
"The worldly reparation quite satisfies me," replied the marquis,
fumbling with his lips. "As I observed, sentiment is out of the
question. Monsieur le Comte would not let me love him if I would,"
lightly. "I wish to undo as much as possible the evil I have done. If
he refuses to return to France, that is his affair, not mine. I shall
be the last to urge him. This Monsieur de Saumaise is a poet, I
understand."
"Who writes equally well with his sword."
"I should like to meet him. How long before De Leviston and
D'Herouville will be out of hospital?"
"D'Herouville, any day; De Leviston has a bad fever, having taken cold."
The marquis had not acquired the habit of smoking, so the governor lit
his pipe and smoked alone.
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