The Child of Waterloo, or, The Horrors of the Battle-Field — page 149: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

148 THE CHILD OF WATERLOO, though despair and agony were at his heart. It is needless to say with what rapturous feelings he received the contiding girl, who had now given him so convincing a proof of her affection. He made some hasty arrangements for her comfort, and before she was well missed from her father’s house, she was en route from Berlin, in the acknowledged character of my son’s wife, for such be declared her to be. Alas—alas! whata world of misery followed close upon that step, which had been prompted by unreflecting affection. Bear with me awhile, sir; my heart bleeds at the remembrance of the past.” The old man seemed to pauee at this point in his narrative, as if it were the last one upon which he could dwell with pleasure. There was certainly something romantic and ennobling in that love which could induce a girl, so tenderly nurtured. to forsake her home, her friends, and all those associations which render life dear, for the purpose of throwing herself completely and en- tirely upon the protection of a stranger. ‘‘T pray you, sir,” said Henry, ‘not to lel any fancied im- patience of mine hurry you forward to events, the description of which will give you pain. I own that I am deeply interested in your narrative, perhaps more so than you imagine—the name of your son and yourself, you say, is Rouselli ?” ‘Yes, that is our family name—a name which my poor Adolphe would have been glad to bestow, with every dignity and honor that could appertain to it, upon Marie Mendelson. You will perceive, my young friend, that, unfortunately, in con- sequence of that lapse of time which had enabled the marriage ceremony to be performed between Marie and Sternholde, he had a sort of claim upon her, which he was just the man to urge to its very utmost.” “T understand the church has done its part in effecting this union.’ ‘‘It had; and yet, with all this apparent bar to her being my son’s wife, she so trustingly, you will perceive, flew to his arms. Notwithstanding that the ceremony of marriage had been per- formed between her and Sternholde, my son would not be satis- fied until he had induced a priest, who bad devoted himself to the army, to wed them with such rites and ceremonies as the circumstances in which they were placed rendered possible. Thus was Marie twice married within the short space of almost a few hours; but there can be no doubt she looked upon her first vows as nothing better than a solemn mockery, for she had been dragged to the altar’s foot by her friends, there to pledge her faith to a man whom she could neither respect nor love. It was hard for such a creature, nursed in the lap of luxury, as she had been, to endure the terrors and privations, and the hardships of a campaign; but with a noble fortitude she bore up against every fatigue and every disaster of a campaign peculiarly fatiguing and disastrous. The emperor was in the decay of his fortunes; disaster followed disaster—treachery, opev and unilis- guised, exhibited itself on all hands; so that a brilliant_army was reduced about the year 1814 to a fearful wreck. It was then that in a miserable cottage, somewhere in Flanders, the comicbooks. com