THE MEMOIRS OF A PHYSICIAN (Complete Edition: Volumes 1-5). Alexandre Dumas
move iron filings on a sheet of paper by waving a magnet underneath it.
"Alas! vanquished and subjugated, with no power to withstand this attraction, I bent toward him, clasping my hands as in worship, and with lips and heart I sent him my thanks. My sisters stared at me with surprise, for they had not comprehended my words nor my movement. To follow the direction of my gesture and glance, they rose on tiptoe to peer over into the nave, and I trembled; but the stranger had disappeared. They questioned me, but I only blushed and faltered, as next I turned pale.
"From that time, madame," said Lorenza, in despair, "I have lived in the control of the devil!"
"I cannot say I see anything supernatural in this," observed the princess, with a smile. "Pray be calm, and proceed."
"You do not know what I feel. The demon possesses me entirely—body and soul. Love would not make me suffer so much; would not shake me like a tree by the storm, and would not give me the wicked thoughts coming to me. I ought to confess these to the priest, and the demon bids me not to think of such a thing.
"One day a pious friend, a neighbor and a Roman lady, came to see me. She passed most of the time praying before the image of the Virgin. That night in undressing I found a note in the lining of my robe. It contained these lines:
"'It is death here in Rome for a nun to love a man. But will you not risk death for him who saved your life?'
"That made his possession of me complete, lady; for I should lie if I said that I thought about anybody more than I do about that man."
Frightened at her own words, Lorenza stopped to study the abbess' sweet and intelligent countenance.
"This is not demoniac possession," said Louise of France with firmness. "It is but an unfortunate passion, and unless in the state of regret, human passions have no business here."
"Regret? you see me in tears, on my knees, entreating you to deliver me from the power of this infernal wretch, and you talk of my regret? More than that, I feel remorse!
"My misery could not escape my companions' eyes. The superior was notified, and she acquainted my mother. Only three days after I had taken the vows, I saw the three persons enter my cell who were my only kin—my mother, father and brother. They came to embrace me for the last time, they said, but I saw that they had another aim. Left alone with me, my mother questioned me. The influence of the demon was plain once more, for I was stubbornly silent.
"The day when I was to take the black veil came amid a terrible struggle with myself, for I feared that then the fiend would work his worst. Yet I trusted that heaven would save me as it had when the robbers seized me, forgetting that heaven had sent that man to rescue me.
"The hour of the ceremonial arrived. Pale, uneasy, but not apparently more agitated than usual, I went down into the church. I hurriedly assented to everything, for was I not in the holy edifice and was I not my own mistress while that demon was out of the way? All at once I felt that his step was on the sill; irresistible attraction as before caused me to turn my eyes away from the altar, whatever my efforts.
"All my strength fled me, even while the scissors were thrust forward to cut my hair off—my soul seemed to leap out of my throat to go and meet him, and I fell prostrate on the stone slabs. Not like a woman swooning but like one in a trance. I only heard a murmur, when the ceremony was interrupted by a dreadful tumult."
The princess clasped her hands in compassion.
"Was not this a dreadful event," said the Roman, "in which it was easy to recognize the intervention of the enemy of mankind?"
"Poor woman!" said the abbess, with tender pity; "take care! I am afraid that you are apt to attribute to the wonderful what was but natural weakness. I suppose you saw this man, and you fainted away. There was nothing more. Continue."
"Madame, when I came to my senses," said Lorenza, "it was night. I expected to find myself in the chapel or in my cell. But I saw rocks and trees around me; clouds; I was in a grotto and beside me was a man, that persecutor! I touched myself to make sure if I were alive and not dreaming. I screamed, for I was clad in bridal white. On my brow was a wreath or white roses—such as the bride of man—or in religion—wears."
The princess uttered an exclamation.
"Next day," resumed the Italian, sobbing, and hiding her head in her hands, "I reckoned the time which had elapsed, I had been three days in the trance, ignorant of what transpired."
Chapter XXXII.
The Nun's Husband.
A deep silence long surrounded the two women, one in painful meditation, the other in astonishment readily understood.
"If you were removed out of the nunnery," said Lady Louise, to break this silence, "you are unaware of how it was done? Yet a convent is well enclosed and guarded, with bars to the windows, walls of height and a warder who keeps the keys. In Italy it is particularly so, where the regulations are stricter than in France."
"What can I tell your ladyship, when I puzzle my brains without finding a clue?"
"But if you saw this man, did you not blame him for the abduction?"
"I did, but he excused himself on the plea that he loved me. I told him that he frightened me, and that I was sure that I did not like him. The strange feeling is another kind. I am not myself when he is by, but his; whatever he wills, I must do; one look fascinates me and subdues me. You see, lady, this must be magic."
"At least, it is strange, if not supernatural," said the princess. "But you are in the company of this man?"
"Yes; but I do not love him."
"Then why not appeal to the authorities, your parents, the ecclesiastical powers?"
"He so watched me that I could not move."
"But you could have written."
"On the road, he stopped at houses where everything is owned by him and he is master of everybody. When I asked the people about for writing materials, they gave no answer; they were his bondwomen."
"But how did you travel?"
"At first in a postchaise; but at Milan, he had a kind of house on wheels to continue the journey in."
"Still, he must have left you alone sometimes?"
"Yes; but then he bade me sleep, and sleep I did, only waking up when he returned."
"You could not have strongly wanted to get away," observed Princess Louise, shaking her head, "or else you would have managed it."
"Alas! I was so fascinated."
"By his loving speech and endearments?"
"Seldom did he speak of love, and I remember me of no caresses save a kiss night and morning."
"Really, this is very strange?" muttered the abbess; but as a suspicion struck her, she resumed: "Repeat to me that you do not love him, and that as no worldly tie unites you, he would have no claim on you if he came."
"He has none."
"But tell me how you came here through all; for I am in a fog," said the princess.
"I took advantage of a violent thunderstorm, which broke on us near a town called Nancy, I believe. He left me to go into a part of his travelling house which is inhabited by an old man; I leaped upon his horse and fled. My resolution was to hide in Paris, or some great city where I could be lost to all eyes, especially to his. When I arrived here, all were talking of your highness' retirement into the Carmelite convent. All extolled your piety, solicitude for the unhappy, and compassion for the afflicted. This was a ray of heavenly light, showing me that you alone were generous enough to receive me and powerful enough to defend me."
"You continually appeal to power, my child, as though he were