Avarice--Anger: Two of the Seven Cardinal SinsSue, Eugène
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Avarice--Anger: Two of the Seven Cardinal Sins
Sue, Eugène
French fiction -- Translations into English
"We had been sailing around about three-quarters of an hour, when all at
once we saw a bright light stream up on the coast above the cliffs. A
careful scrutiny convinced the captain that the house where we lived was
on fire; and almost at the same moment, the first mate, with the aid of
a night telescope, discovered the schooner riding at anchor, with all
her boats at the foot of the cliff where the English had doubtless
landed. The captain ordered the long-boat lowered, and sprang into it in
company with me and twenty picked men. We reached the scene of action in
a quarter of an hour. M. Yvon received his first wound while striking
down the leader of the bandits, a Captain Russell, who figured so
prominently in the abduction of M. Yvon a short time ago. Wounded by
your father and left a prisoner at Dieppe, he had nevertheless managed
to make his escape and concoct this new conspiracy. This, Mlle. Sabine,
is the whole truth with regard to M. Yvon. He has suffered, oh, how he
has suffered these three last days! and this is nothing to what he will
suffer up to the time of your marriage; but after that, when he knows
you are happy, I fear that he can endure it no longer. No human being
could and--"
"My father, where is my father?" cried Sabine, trembling with grief,
anxiety, and long repressed tenderness.
"Really, mademoiselle, I do not know that I ought--"
"My father, is he here?" repeated the girl breathlessly.
"He is not very far off, perhaps," replied Segoffin, nearly wild with
joy; "but if he returns, it must be never to leave you again."
"Oh, can he ever forgive me for having doubted his love and his nobility
of soul for one moment? If he will, all the rest of my life shall be
devoted to him. My God! you are silent, you are all weeping--you are all
looking toward that room as if my father were there. Thank Heaven! my
father is there!" cried Sabine, her face radiant with inexpressible joy
as she ran toward the door leading into the next room.
The door suddenly opened, and in another instant father and daughter
were locked in each other's arms.
* * * * *
One month afterward, a double marriage united Suzanne and Segoffin,
Sabine and Onésime.
The famous Doctor Gasterini, equally celebrated as a gourmand and as a
physician, had restored Onésime's sight.
On returning from the church, Segoffin remarked to Suzanne with a
triumphant air:
"Ah, well, my dear, was I not right in telling you that, 'what is to be,
will be?' Haven't I always predicted that you would be Madame Segoffin
some day? Are you, or are you not?"
"Oh, well, I suppose one must make the best of it," responded Madame
Segoffin, with a pretended sigh, though she really felt as proud of her
husband as if he had been one of the heroes of the _Grande Armée_ she
was so fond of raving about. "There's no help for it, I suppose, as
'that which is done cannot be undone.'"
THE END.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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