"
"No, madame," he cried, quickly, "no, I would much rather you would
not tell the queen, for who knows whether the news is good, or
whether it would not trouble the noble heart of the queen, and then
my name, if she should learn it, would only be disagreeable to her--
rather that she should never hear it than that it should be
connected with unpleasant associations to her."
"Then you do not know what the sentence is?" replied Campan,
astonished. "Have you come to bring me the sentence, and yet do not
know yourself what it is?"
"I do not know what it is, madame. The councillor, the father of my
sweetheart, has sent it by me in writing, and I have not allowed
myself to take time to read it. Perhaps, too, I was too cowardly for
it, for if I had seen that it contained any thing that would trouble
the queen, I should not have had courage to come here and deliver
the paper to you. So I did not read it, and thought only of this,
that I might perhaps save the queen a quarter of an hour's disquiet
and anxious expectation. Here, madame, is the paper which contains
the sentence. Take it to her majesty, and may the God of justice
grant that it contain nothing which may trouble the queen!"
He stood up, and handed Madame de Campan a paper. "And now, madame,"
he continued, "allow me to retire, that I may return to Paris, for
my sweetheart is expecting me, and, besides, they are expecting some
disturbance in the city.
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