At the end of three weeks Paul was able to
walk, yet his mind seemed to droop in proportion as his frame gathered
strength. He was insensible to every thing; his look was vacant; and when
spoken to, he made no reply. Madame de la Tour, who was dying, said to him
often, 'My son, while I look at you, I think I see Virginia.' At the name
of Virginia he shuddered, and hastened from her, notwithstanding the
entreaties of his mother, who called him back to her friend. He used to
wander into the garden, and seat himself at the foot of Virginia's cocoa
tree, with his eyes fixed upon the fountain. The surgeon to the governor,
who had shown the most humane attention to Paul, and the whole family, told
us that, in order to cure that deep melancholy which had taken possession
of his mind, we must allow him to do whatever he pleased, without
contradiction, as the only means of conquering his inflexible silence.
"I resolved to follow this advice. The first use which Paul made of his
returning strength was to absent himself from the plantation. Being
determined not to lose sight of him, I set out immediately, and desired
Domingo to take some provisions and accompany us. Paul's strength and
spirits seemed renewed as he descended the mountain. He took the road of
the Shaddock Grove; and when he was near the church, in the Alley of
Bamboos, he walked directly to the spot where he saw some new-laid earth,
and there kneeling down, and raising up his eyes to heaven, he offered up a
long prayer, which appeared to me a symptom of returning reason; since this
mark of confidence in the Supreme Being showed that his mind began to
resume its natural functions.
Pages:
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132