I will take you to my
house, and no one, not even my sister, shall know that you are with me.
They will believe that you have thrown yourself into the Seine, and as
the regiment is ordered to Lyons, and will leave in ten days or a
fortnight, there will be no chance, if you are concealed till their
departure, of their knowing that you are alive."

"Thank you, thank you, madame, you know not how happy you have made me,"
replied I, pressing my hand to my heart, which throbbed painfully with
joy. "God bless you, Madame d'Albret. Oh, how I shall pray for you,
kind Madame d'Albret!"

Madame d'Albret shed tears over me after I had done speaking, and then
wishing me good-night, told me that she would see me in the morning, and
let me know what was going on, and then give me further directions for
my conduct. She then left me, and I tried to go to sleep, but I was in
too much pain. Once I did slumber, and dreamt that my mother was
beating me again. I screamed with the pain that the blows gave me and
awoke. I slept no more that night. At daylight I rose, and, as may be
supposed, the first thing that I did was to look into the glass. I was
terrified; my face was swelled so that my features were hardly
distinguishable; one eye was closed up, and the blood had oozed out
through the handkerchief which had been tied round my head by the
surgeon. I was, indeed, an object. The servant brought me up some
coffee, which I drank, and then remained till the colonel's wife came up
to me.

It was the first and only time that I ever beheld that good woman angry.
She called from the top of the stairs for her husband to come up; he
did so, looked at me, said nothing, but went down again. About
half-an-hour afterwards Madame d'Albret and the surgeon came up
together. The latter was interrogated by her as to the effects of the
injuries I had received, and after examination, he replied, that
although it would take some days for the inflammation and marks of the
blows to go away, yet he did not consider that eventually I should be in
any way disfigured. This gave me great pleasure, as I suspect it would
have done any other pretty girl in my situation. Madame d'Albret waited
till the surgeon was gone, and then gave me some further instructions,
which I obeyed to the letter. She also brought me a black veil in case
I had not one of my own. She then left me, saying, that the colonel had
sent for my father, and that she wished to be p