of his family and station. He was now destined
to bear the remains of her, dead, for whom he had
long been dying, and was now as near dying for her
loss as he had before been for her love. The
melancholy procession was marching slowly, along, when
it was met by the Marquis de Varenbon, who had been
the sole occasion of it. We had not left Namur
long when the Marquis reflected upon his cruel behaviour
towards this unhappy young lady; and his passion (wonderful
to relate) being revived by the absence of her who
inspired it, though scarcely alive while she was present,
he had resolved to come and ask her of her mother
in marriage. He made no doubt, perhaps, of success,
as he seldom failed in enterprises of love; witness
the great lady he has since obtained for a wife, in
opposition to the will of her family. He might,
besides, have flattered himself that he should easily
have gained a pardon from her by whom he was beloved,
according to the Italian proverb, “Che la forza
d’amore non riguarda al delitto” (Lovers
are not criminal in the estimation of one another).
Accordingly, the Marquis solicited Don John to be
despatched to me on some errand, and arrived, as I
said before, at the very instant the corpse of this
ill-fated young lady was being borne to the grave.
He was stopped by the crowd occasioned by this solemn
procession. He contemplates it for some time.
He observes a long train of persons in mourning,
and remarks the coffin to be covered with a white
pall, and that there are chaplets of flowers laid upon
the coffin. He inquires whose funeral it is.
The answer he receives is, that it is the funeral
of a young lady. Unfortunately for him, this
reply fails to satisfy his curiosity. He makes
up to one who led the procession, and eagerly asks
the name of the young lady they are proceeding to bury.
When, oh, fatal answer! Love, willing to avenge
the victim of his ingratitude and neglect, suggests
a reply which had nearly deprived him of life.
He no sooner hears the name of Mademoiselle de Tournon
pronounced than he falls from his horse in a swoon.
He is taken up for dead, and conveyed to the nearest
house, where he lies for a time insensible; his soul,
no doubt, leaving his body to obtain pardon from her
whom he had hastened to a premature grave, to return
to taste the bitterness of death a second time.
Having performed the last offices to the remains of this poor young lady, I was unwilling to discompose the gaiety of the society assembled here on my account by any show of grief. Accordingly, I joined the Bishop, or, as he is called, his Grace, and his canons, in their entertainments at different houses, and in gardens, of which the city and its neighbourhood afforded a variety. I was every morning attended by a numerous company to the garden, in which I drank the waters, the exercise of walking being recommended to be used with them. As the physician who advised me to take them was my own brother, they did not fail