save him because you loved him. And
because I wished to spare you the anguish of beholding his dead body, I
have changed places with him. His life is valuable to some one--mine is
worthless."
The girl can find no words wherein to answer fittingly, but her tears are
falling fast and they are eloquent to him. She understands at last!
"I am so happy," he murmurs presently, "oh, so happy! Had I lived my
head would never have been pillowed on your knee. Had I lived, I
should never have dared to tell you--as I do now, when in the presence
of death all differences of birth and station fade away--that I love you."
The girl trembles violently; then for a second their eyes meet. She were
not a woman did her heart not swell with fondness and pity for the poor
despised fool, who to ensure her happiness has sacrificed his life.
Growing bold in the dread presence of the Reaper--
"Louisa," he gasps, his voice still fainter than before, "I am dying; there
are none to witness, and none will ever know--kiss me!"
Weeping softly, the girl stoops until her loose flowing hair falls about
his head and neck, and her lips, so rich with the blood of life and youth,
touch his, upon which the chill of death is settling.
A quiver runs through his frame, his chest heaves with a long last
sigh--then all is still, but for the gentle sobbing of the girl whose tears
are falling fast upon the upturned face, which smiles upon her in death.
This story appears in The Life and Work of Rafael Sabatini web site.
http://www.rafaelsabatini.com
A free ebook from http://www.dertz.in/
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