“He is calling you,” said the count; “he to whom you have confided your destiny – he from whom death would have separated you, calls you to him. Happily, I vanquished death. Henceforth, Valentine, you will never again be separated on earth; since he has rushed into death to find you. Without me, you would both have died. May God accept my atonement of these two existences!”
Valentine seized the count’s hand, and, in her irresistible impulse of joy, carried it to her lips.
“Oh! thank me again!” said the count; “tell me till you are weary that I have restored you to happiness; you do not know how much I require this assurance.”
“Oh! yes, yes, I thank you with all my heart,” said Valentine; “and if you doubt the sincerity of my gratitude, oh, then, ask Haydee! ask my beloved sister Haydee, who, ever since our departure from France, has caused me to wait patiently for the happy day, which to-day shines for me, while talking to me of you.”
“You then love Haydee?” asked Monte-Cristo, with an emotion he in vain endeavored to dissimulate.
“Oh, yes! with all my soul.”
“Well, then! listen, Valentine,” said the count; “I have a favor to ask of you.”
“Of me! Oh, am I happy enough for that?”
“Yes; you have called Haydee your sister; let her become so indeed, Valentine; render her all the gratitude you fancy you owe me. Do you and Morrel protect her, for” (the count’s voice was thick with emotion) “henceforth she will be alone in the world.”
“Alone in the world!” repeated a voice behind the count, “and why?”
Monte-Cristo turned round. Haydee was standing, pale, motion? looking at the count with an expression of fearful amazement.
“Because to-morrow, Haydee, you will be free; you will then assume your proper position in society, for I will not allow my destiny to over shadow yours. Daughter of a prince! I restore to you the riches and name of your father.”
Haydee became pale, and lifting her transparent hands to heaven, exclaimed, in a voice hoarse with tears: –
“Then you leave me, my lord?”
“Haydee, Haydee! you are young and beautiful; forget even my name, and be happy!”
“It is well,” said Haydee; “your order shall be executed, my lord; I will forget even your name, and be happy.” And she stepped back to retire.
“Oh, heavens!” exclaimed Valentine, who was supporting the head of Morrel on her shoulder, “do you not see how pale she is? Do you not see how she suffers?”
Haydee answered with a heartrending expression.
“Why should he understand this, my sister? He is my master, and I am his slave; he has the right to notice nothing.”
The count shuddered at the tones of a voice which penetrated the inmost recesses of his heart; his eyes met those of the young girl, and he could not bear their brilliancy.
“Oh, heavens!” exclaimed Monte-Cristo, “can my suspicions be correct? Haydee, would it please you not to leave me?”
“I am young,” gently replied Haydee; “I love the life you have made so sweet to me, and should regret to die.”
“You mean, then, that if I leave you, Haydee –”
“I should die; yes, my lord.”
“Do you, then, love me?”
“Oh, Valentine! he asks if I love him. Valentine, tell him if you love Maximilian.”
The count felt his heart dilate and throb; he opened his arms, and Haydee, uttering a cry, sprang into them.
“Oh, yes!” she cried, “I do love you! I love you as one loves a father, brother, husband! I love you as my life, for you are the best, the noblest of created beings!”
“Let it be, then, as you wish, sweet angel; God has sustained me in my struggle with my enemies, and has given me this victory; he will not let me end my triumphs with this penance; I wished to punish myself, but he has pardoned me! Love me, then, Haydee! Who knows? perhaps your love will make me forget all I wish to forget.”
“What do you mean, my lord?”
“I mean that one word from you has enlightened me more than twenty years of slow experience; I have but you in the world, Haydee; through you I again connect myself with life, through you I shall suffer, through you rejoice.”
“Do you hear him, Valentine?” exclaimed Haydee; “he says that through me he will – suffer through me, who would yield my life for his.”
The count drew back for a moment. “Have I discovered the truth?” he said; “but whether it be for recompense or punishment, I accept my fate. Come, Haydee, come!” And throwing his arm round the young girl’s waist, he pressed the hand of Valentine, and disappeared.
An hour had nearly passed, during which Valentine, breathless and motionless, watched steadfastly over Morrel. At length she felt his heart beat, a faint breath played upon his lips, a slight shudder announcing the return of life passed through the young man’s frame. At length, his eyes opened, but they were at first fixed and expressionless; then sight returned, and, with it, feeling and grief.