The Swiss made one of those quick movements which betray surprise, and it
was very apparent, that, just at the moment, he was more affected by some
interest of his friend, than by the apprehensions which usually beset him
when any very direct allusion was made to his surviving child.
"Gaetano, thou hast a son!"
"He is lost--hopelessly--irretrievably lost--at least, to me!"
These were brief but painful glimpses into each other's concerns, and
another melancholy and embarrassed pause followed. As the Baron de
Willading witnessed the sorrow that deeply shadowed the face of the
Genoese, he almost felt that Providence, in summoning his own boys to
early graves, might have spared him the still bitterer grief of mourning
over the unworthiness of a living son.
"These are God's decrees, Melchior," the Italian continued of his own
accord, "and we, as soldiers, as men, and more than either, as Christians,
should know how to submit. The letter, of which I spoke, contained the
last direct tidings that I received of thy welfare, though different
travellers have mentioned thee as among the honored and trusted of thy
country, without descending to the particulars of thy private life.
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