Tales and Stories: Now First CollectedShelley, Mary Wollstonecraft
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Tales and Stories: Now First Collected
Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft
English fiction -- 19th century; Short stories, English
“What have I told thee?” he continued feebly; “I have said how a mere
handful of men attacked the palace, and drove back the guards—how we
strove in vain to make good our entrance—fresh troops were on their
way—there was no alternative; we fired the palace. Deep in the seclusion
of the harem the women had retreated, a herd of frightened deer. One
alone stood erect. Her eyes bent on the intruders—a dagger in her
hand—majestic and fearless, her face was marked with traces of passed
suffering, but at the moment the stern resolution her soft features
expressed was more than human. The moment she saw me, all was changed;
the angel alone beamed in her countenance. Her dagger fell from her
hand—she was in my arms—I bore her from the burning roof—the rest you
know; have I not said it? Some miscreant, who survived the slaughter,
and yet lay as dead on the earth, aimed a deadly shot. She did not
shriek. At first she clung closer to my neck, and then I felt her frame
shiver in my arms and her hold relax. I trusted that fear alone moved
her; but she knew not fear—it was death. Horses had been prepared, and
were waiting; a few hours more and I hoped to be on our way to the west,
to that portion of Greece that was free. But I felt her head fall on my
shoulder. I heard her whisper, ‘I die, my brother! carry me to our
father’s tomb.’
“My soul yearned to comply with her request; but it was impossible. The
city was alarmed; troops gathering from all quarters. Our safety lay in
flight, for still I thought that her wound was not mortal. I bore her to
the spot where we had left our horses. Here two or three of my comrades
speedily joined me; they had rescued the women of the harem from the
flames, but the various sounds denoting the advance of the Turkish
soldiery caused them to hurry from the scene. I leapt on my horse, and
placed my sweet sister before me, and we fled amain through desert
streets, I well knew how to choose, and along the lanes of the suburbs
into the open country, where, deviating from the high-road, along which
I directed my companions to proceed in all haste—alone with my beloved
burden, I sought a solitary, unsuspected spot among the neighbouring
hills. The storm which had ceased for a time, now broke afresh; the
deafening thunder drowned every other sound, while the frequent glare of
the lightning showed us our path; my horse did not quail before it.
Euphrasia still lay clinging to me; no complaint escaped her; a few
words of fondness, of encouragement, of pious resignation, she now and
then breathed forth. I knew not she was dying, till at last entering a
retired valley, where an olive wood afforded shelter, and still better
the portico of a fallen ancient temple, I dismounted and bore her to the
marble steps, on which I placed her. Then indeed I felt how near the
beloved one was to death, from which I could not save her. The lightning
showed me her face—pale as the marble which pillowed it. Her dress was
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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