Page:The Czar, A Tale of the Time of the First Napleon.djvu/266

256 it hard to be lying here, helpless and suffering, while your Emperor and your companions in arms enjoy their triumph?"

"Oh no, madame," he said with animation; "I cannot think of that. Nor could you, if you belonged to my Czar. If you had seen the flames of Moscow; had heard the thunder when the mines exploded that laid half our Kremlin in ruins; had witnessed the faith and courage that upheld him then, had watched the long and weary conflict he has waged from that hour until now—patient, wise, self-sacrificing, undaunted, —you would rejoice for him in the very depths of your heart that the goal is won at last, that he stands a conqueror in the midst of Paris, and possesses the gate of his enemies!" In his eagerness he half raised himself, his eyes sparkled, and his whole face flushed with excitement.

"Gently, gently, my poor young friend," said Madame de Talmont in a tone of almost motherly tenderness. "I fear you will hurt yourself."

"Oh no, madame;"—but even as he spoke his colour changed rapidly, and his lip quivered with the pain he tried to hide.

Meanwhile, many thoughts were passing through the mind of the silent but observant Clémence. There was a little stand beside the bed, upon which were a phial containing medicine, a small book, and a clean white cambric handkerchief. She saw, with interest and pleasure, that the book was a copy of