I have made it a last request that my remains are to be sent home, and
as I know K. I. won't go to the expense, he'll have to bear all the
disgrace of neglecting my dying entreaty. That's my legacy to him,
Molly; and if it's not a very profitable one, the "duty" will not be
heavy.
Remember me affectionately to everybody, and say that to the last my
heart was in my own country; and indeed, Molly, I never did hear so much
good about Ireland as since we left it!
I have just taken a draught that has restored me wonderfully. It has a
taste of curaçoa, and evidently suits my constitution. Maybe Providence,
in his mercy, means to reserve me for more trials and misfortunes; for
I feel stronger already, and am going to taste a bit of roast duck, with
sage and onions. Betty has done it for me herself.
If I do recover, Molly, I promise you K. I. won't find me the poor
submissive worm he has been trampling upon these more than twenty years!
I feel more like myself already; the "mixture" is really doing me good.
You may write to me to this place, with directions to be opened by Mary
Anne, if I 'm no more. The very thought of it overwhelms me. The idea of
one's own death is the most terrible of all afflictions; and as for me,
I don't think I could ever survive it.
I mean to send for K. I., to take leave of him, and forgive him,
before I go. I 'm not sure that I 'd do so, Molly, if it wasn't for the
opportunity of telling him my mind about all his cruelty to me, and that
I know well what he's at, and that he'll be married again before six
months. That's the treachery of men; but there's one comfort,--they are
well paid off for it when they marry--as they always do--some young minx
of nineteen or twenty. It's exactly what K. I. is capable of; and I mean
to show him that I see it, and all the consequences besides.
The mixture is really of service to me, and I feel as if I could take a
sleep. Mary Anne will seal this if I 'm not awake before post hour. #
LETTER XIII. FROM K. I. DODD TO THOMAS PURCELL, ESQ., OF THE GRANGE, BRUFF
Liège, Tuesday Evening.
My dear Tom,--Your reproaches are all just, but I really have not had
courage to wield a pen these last three weeks, nor have I now patience
to go back on the past. Perhaps when we meet--if ever that good time
is to come round again--I may be able to tell you something of my final
exit from Brussels; but now with the shame yet fresh, and the disgrace
recent, I cannot find pluck for it.
Here we are at what they call the "Pavilion," having changed from the
Hotel d'Angleterre yesterday. You must know, Tom, that this same city
of Liège is the noisiest, most dinning, hammering, hissing, clanking,
creaking, welding, smelting, and furnace-roaring town in Europe.
Something like a hundred thousand tinkers are at work every day; and
from an egg saucepan to a steam-boiler there is something to be hammered
at by every capacity!
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account