' I wanted to fly down, he forcibly
prevented me. I tried to throw myself out of the window, he would not
permit it. I was obliged to wait until morning. Then I ran to the
morgue, to the cemeteries, wherever corpses were exposed; I saw many,
oh, a horrible number of them, but I did not find you."
She had blanched to the lips as she spoke, and her eyes looked vacant.
Rudolf drew her toward him and she unconsciously let her head sink upon
his shoulder.
"I was sure that you were dead," she went on, "and that you had been
flung into this common grave. Everybody whom I asked told me so. And
you sent no message? Why not, if you were still in the Hotel Dieu?
Were you not allowed to do so? Were you unconscious?"
"Both, my poor child. For several days I was so ill that I could form
no distinct thoughts. When I grew better, I was placed under rigid
surveillance, for they suspected me of having fought on the barricades.
I was compelled to communicate with my ambassador that he might give
information about me, and answer----"
"But if you could communicate with your ambassador, you could also have
sent me----"
He made no answer.
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