by Alexandre Dumas
Today's excerpt is from Chapter 41.
Then the young man tremblingly comprehended what a terrible thirst for vengeance urged this woman on to destroy him, as well as all who loved him, and how well she must be acquainted with the affairs of the court, since she had discovered all. There could be no doubt she owed this information to the cardinal. But amid all this he perceived, with a feeling of real joy, that the queen must have discovered the prison in which poor Mme. Bonacieux was explaining her devotion, and that she had freed her from that prison; and the letter he had received from the young woman, and her passage along the road of Chaillot like an apparition, were now explained.
Then also, as Athos had predicted, it became possible to find Mme. Bonacieux, and a convent was not impregnable.
This idea completely restored clemency to his heart. He turned toward the wounded man, who had watched with intense anxiety all the various expressions of his countenance, and holding out his arm to him, said, "Come, I will not abandon you thus. Lean upon me, and let us return to the camp."
"Yes," said the man, who could scarcely believe in such magnanimity, "but is it not to have me hanged?"
"You have my word," said he; "for the second time I give you your life."
Continued next week. Tomorrow's installment from Innocents Abroad by Mark Twain.
This French novel, written in 1844 has been the subject of numerous movies. The 2004 Disney poster advertises the latest.
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