The Sword of Honor; or, The Foundation of the French Republic
Page 50
CHAPTER XXX.
DEATH OF VICTORIA.
Night was come. Across the December fogs glared the watch-fires of therepublican army. The French troops rested on the field of battle,establishing headquarters in the ruins of the chateau of Geisberg, halfdemolished by cannon-balls. A large barn, one of the outbuildings of theestate, was turned over to the hospital corps. There the wounded werestretched upon litters of straw, receiving medical attendance by thelight of torches. Everywhere were heard the moans drawn by the pain ofan amputation, or the extraction of a ball. At one end of the barn, anenclosure of planks set off the threshing floor from the rest of thebuilding. Mortally wounded by the Count of Plouernel, Victoria was atlength carried from the field hospital into this retreat, her sex havingbeen revealed while her wound was receiving its first dressing.
A torch fastened into a post illuminated the scene. John Lebrenn, alsowounded, knelt beside his sister, who lay out-stretched upon her pallet,half wrapped in a coverlet. His back to the wall, Oliver buried his facein his hands and with difficulty checked his sobs, while Castillon,whose manly face was streaming tears, stood a little apart, leaningagainst one of the door posts.
Victoria's pallor, and her broken breathing, announced that her sands oflife were run. Tightly clasped in both of his, her brother held herhand; he felt that hand grow ever colder and colder.
"Adieu, Oliver," said Victoria feebly, as she turned toward the youngfellow. "Love and serve the Republic as you would a mother. Bear in mindthat you are a citizen before you are a soldier. Remember above all thatthose who see in war only a field opened to their ambition and theirpride are the worst enemies of the people." Then, addressing herbrother, Victoria continued: "Adieu, brother. Before the battle I hadthe presentiment that I would die as did our ancestress Anna Bell--whosesad life bears so many resemblances to mine." Then, struck by a suddenidea, Victoria continued on a new train of thought: "The Grand Duke ofGerolstein is taken prisoner, you told me, brother? St. Just should betold of the services rendered to our cause by Franz of Gerolstein, andthe Grand Duke informed that he will be kept in durance until his son isset free. Franz's liberation will mean one soldier the more for theRevolution."
"Your recommendations will be followed, sister dear," replied Johnbetween his sobs; "and oh, dear sister, I weep at our separation. Youare going on a journey without return. I am young yet, and long yearswill pass, perhaps, before I will again be able to behold you."
"Those years will pass for you, brother, as a day--sweetened by thetenderness of your wife, by the love of your children, by the fulfilmentof your civic duties."
Then, just as a lamp before its dying flicker casts still some brightbeams, the young woman rose to a sitting position. Her great black eyesshone radiantly from within; her voice, erstwhile choked and gasping,became sonorous and full; her beautiful features glowed with enthusiasm;she exclaimed:
"Ah, brother, I feel it--my spirit is shaking off my present body, inorder to inhabit a new envelope beyond. The future unrolls before me--
"Hail to that beautiful day predicted by Victoria the Great! Hail!Radiant is its dawn! I see shattered irons, crumbled Bastilles, thronesand altars in dust, and crowning the ruins of the old world a scaffold,the reckoning of Kings! Hail, holy scaffold, symbol of popular justice!O, Republic! Radiant is your birthday! Glorious your sun rises overEurope! Your star, full-orbed, O Republic, pours its torrents of lightupon a regenerate world! It buds--It flowers--It bursts into bloom--Itsheds in peace its treasures, its riches, its glories, its wonders, amidthe joy of its children, free and equal, freed forever from the doubleyoke of Church and Misery--and united forever by the brotherlysolidarity of the confederated peoples--"
The witnesses of the scene, carried away by Victoria's words, deceivedby the clearness of her glance and the superexcitation of which she wascapable in a supreme burst of energy, forgot that the young woman wasdying. Her eyes half-closed, her countenance ashy pale and bathed in anicy sweat, Victoria fell back in her brother's arms; after a moment'sagony she passed out of this life to live again in those worlds whitherwe shall all go.