Page:Hoffmann's Strange Stories - Hoffman - 1855.djvu/366

 out speaking, hastened away. Cardillac was still living, and, with infinite labor and exertion, I contrived to bear him home on my shoulders, and convey him by the secret passage into his own workshop.

"The rest is already known to you, and requires no farther notice. You perceive that my only guilt consisted in my not having had sufficient firmness and resolution to betray Madelon's father to the officers of justice, and thus put an end at once to his assassinations. In other respects I am wholly blameless; but no torture would force from me the disclosure of his guilt, by which alone I could be cleared in the eye of the law. It has hitherto been the merciful will of Providence that the horrid truth should be withheld from Madelon; therefore I shall never, in order to save my own life, withdraw the veil by which her father's real character has been concealed.

"Could I endure the thought that she should behold the remains of a parent, whom she so long loved and respected, dragged from the tomb, and branded in the Place de Greve, by the public executioner?—No! my dearest Madelon will weep for me as one who died innocent, and time will alleviate her sorrow; but, were she at once to learn the whole truth, the shock would be so unsupportable, that madness, perhaps, would ensue—at all events, she could never, in this world, be restored to peace of mind."

Olivier here broke off abruptly, and burst into tears. He threw himself at de Scuderi's feet, and implored her compassion. "You are convinced of my innocence," said he; "I know it must be so! Have pity, then, on my sufferings, and tell me how is Madelon!" De Scuderi made no answer, but rang for Martiniere, and in the next moment, Madelon was in her lover's arms. "Now, all is well again," she exclaimed, "for you are here! I was, indeed, sure that this noble minded lady would find means to set you at liberty! "Over and over again were such expressions of joy and confidence repeated by the poor girl, while Olivier too, appeared for the time perfectly happy, forgetting his own real situation, and