human
Maude! Maude! he cried out,
gpt
Yes, as I hope to be forgiven. May God forgive you, Reginald, as I do.
human
You have heard all, Maude?
gpt
Yes; all--all.
human
And you forgive me the great wrong I did you, Maude?
gpt
Freely and fully, from my heart and soul.
human
And you will acknowledge our son when I am gone? Oh, Maude! I loved you through all. I was unworthy of you; but I loved you as none other loved before. Maude, where is he?
gpt
Who? Reginald?
human
Your--Lord De Courcy. Is he here?
gpt
Yes. My dear old friend, I am sorry for this,
human
I am glad you have come--I am glad you are her protector through life. Do you remember our last parting, Lord Ernest?
gpt
That night? Yes.
human
Ah! that night--that night! What a different man I might have lived and died but for that dark, sorrowful night! What trouble and sorrow that night caused you, too! It turned my poor mother's brain, Lord Ernest; and--she stole your child!
gpt
I know it.
human
Do you not want to see her!--have you seen her?
gpt
Not yet. I will see her soon.
human
Where is my daughter, Raymond?
gpt
Up-stairs with her grandmother, madam, said Pet, respectfully.
human
She does not know you are here. Shall I go and tell her.
gpt
Not just yet, said Lord De Courcy.
human
My dearest love, subdue your impatience for a few moments--remember, you are in the presence of the dying. You have waited for her all these years--you can afford to wait a few moments longer now.
gpt
How is my grandmother?
human
The same as you saw her last--in a sort of dull stupor all the time; neither sees, hears, nor feels, apparently. They brought her upstairs this morning, and Erminie has been with her since.
gpt
How does Erminie bear the news of her new-found parents?
human
Very quietly--with a sort of still, deep joy not to be expressed in words. She says she always knew that sweet, lovely lady with the soft, beautiful eyes was something to her, used to come to her in dreams, or something--odd, ain't it? And she's your mother, too, Ray! I declare, it's all the strangest and most romantic thing I ever heard of!
gpt
We, too, have had our troubles, said the dying man, making a faint motion toward Marguerite.
human
Perhaps it was a just retribution of heaven for what you were made to suffer. We, too lost a child; had she lived, even I might have been a different man to-day. She was lost, and all that was originally good in my nature went with her. My poor little Rita!
gpt
What did you say? Rita!
human
Yes. Marguerite was her name; Rita we always called her--why?
gpt
She was lost, did you say? How? did she die?
human
No; she was carried off, perhaps by gipsies--she was kidnapped.
gpt
How old was she at the time?
human
About two years old--why?
gpt
Was she dark, with black hair and eyes.
human
Yes, yes, yes! _Oh, Mon Dieu!_ why?
gpt
Did she wear a cross upon her neck bearing the initials 'M. I. L.?' wildly broke in Marguerite.
human
A little gold cross with these letters, which was mine when I was a girl, and stood for Marguerite Isabella Landry, my maiden name, was round her neck. Oh, madam! in heaven's name, do you know anything of my child?
gpt
I do! I do! I found her, I brought her up as my own and she lives with me now. Just Heaven! how mysterious are thy ways!