Feudal tyrants; or, The Counts of Carlsheim and Sargans, volume 2 (of 4) — John Shaqi
Feudal tyrants; or, The Counts of Carlsheim and Sargans, volume 2 (of 4)Naubert, Benedikte
General
Feudal tyrants; or, The Counts of Carlsheim and Sargans, volume 2 (of 4)
Naubert, Benedikte
German fiction -- Translations into English
—“Yes, it will do well,” said she, after a pause with a look of
satisfaction. “Now then bring my child; let me once again embrace
him.—But alas! it must not be. My boy is very young, and needs much
attention; even in your hands, good Gertrude, he will not be taken
sufficient care of, and I must remain here. Oh! my poor husband, I am
forbid to follow you; but peace, peace to your tortured bones; repose
and pardon to your afflicted spirit!”——
Adelaide with folded hands had sunk on her knees before the
cottage-window, whose casement was illuminated by the beams of the
morning sun. She now rose up, and again demanded, that her baby should
be brought to her.
Her attendants delayed to obey the order. That delay alarmed her; she
insisted with increased earnestness on seeing her child, and they were
at last compelled to acknowledge, that on the evening before it had
expired.
—“Dead!” she exclaimed, and the tone in which she spoke it exprest by
that single word at once all the feelings of agony, which a mother’s
heart can suffer.—“Dead!” she again repeated, after some moments of
silence. Then as if she had suddenly discovered a ray of comfort, she
added—“that is right! quite right!—but still I must see it!—my child!
show me my child!”—
They conducted her to the cradle, in which the pallid infant lay, and
appeared to smile even in death. She kist it without shedding a single
tear, and desired to be conducted back to her couch, and to be left
alone.
Gertrude was too much on her guard to grant the sufferer more than the
first half of her request. She seated herself by her bedside, and for
some time watched unremittingly.—But wearied with her long vigils during
Adelaide’s insensibility, she at length found her powers inadequate to
fulfill her good intentions. About midnight sleep completely overcame
her; and now was an opportunity afforded to the wife of my unfortunate
brother, to execute that wild resolution whose consequences soon
re-united her to the husband whom she adored.
Adelaide rose silently from her bed, and left the house without being
observed. Through the shadows of night she wandered towards the place,
where her broken heart panted to arrive. Her weakness made her long in
accomplishing this painful journey. On the day before her arrival
Rodolpho had already undergone the torture of the rack; yet did Adelaide
reach the place of execution time enough to receive his last breath and
his last blessing. His breaking eyes recognized her well-known features,
before they closed for ever; he murmured her name, and she sank upon his
bleeding bosom[1].
Footnote 1:
Some historians assert, that the sufferings of Rodolpho of the
Beacon-Tower lasted for three whole days. During this time his wife
could not be persuaded to quit the place of execution, and it was not
till he had breathed his last, that she suffered herself to be
conveyed to Basle, where she soon after expired.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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