Page:Clermont - Roche (1798, volume 4).djvu/130

 both, and on the cold bed of Elenora my Geraldine will soon be laid!'

"I groaned—grasped his hands convulsively in mine, and, in frantic exclamations, expressed my grief. The monk endeavoured to moderate my transports, and the Earl made a feeble effort to aid him.

'Oh! my son (said he), in pity to me, in pity to your child, exert yourself; let me not descend forlorn to my grave, neither let her be cast without a friend upon the world!'

"I started from the ground, and demanded to see my babe. You were laid in a distant chamber, and the monk instantly proceeded thither to dismiss the attendants, after which he cautiously conducted me to it. Oh, my child! how utterly impossible to describe the feelings which pervaded my breast as I gently raised the mantle that covered your sleeping face, and first cast my eyes upon you! I longed to strain you to