"My child, my beloved child!" exclaimed the weeping mother,
"fear not, God is merciful and will accept your sincere abhorrence
of your fault. I have this day offered in your name a fine wax
taper to your patroness, St. Anne, who will, no doubt, intercede
for you."
"No, no!" replied the unhappy girl, "there is no longer any hope
for me; and the torments I now suffer are but the preludes to
those which I am doomed to endure everlastingly."
This singular scene almost convulsed me with agitation. I seized
the arm of my brother-in-law with the intention of escaping from
so miserable a spot; the invalid perceived my design and
vehemently exclaimed,
"Stay, comtesse du Barry; I have not yet finished with you, I
have not yet announced the full revenge I shall take for your
share in my present hopeless condition; your infamous exaltation
draws to a close, the same poison which is destroying me,
circulates in the veins of him you have too long governed; but
your reign is at an end. He will soon quit his earthly crown,
and my hand strikes the blow which sends him hence. But still,
dying a victim to a cruel and loathsome complaint, I go to my
grave triumphing over my haughty rival, for I shall die the last
possessor of the king's affections. Heavens! what agonies are
these?" cried she; then, after a short silence, she continued,
extending to me her arms hideous with the leprous blotches of
her disgusting malady, "yes, you have been my destruction; your
accursed example led me to sell myself for the wages of infamy,
and to the villainous artifices of the man who brought you here
I owe all my sufferings.
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