The sobs of Marguerite
reached his ears, and first recalled him to recollection. They came
blended with the fresh grief of Christine, who felt as if ruthless death
had now robbed her of a brother. There was also the struggling emotion of
one whose interest in him had a still more tender and engrossing claim.
"This is so wonderful!" said the trembling Doge, who dreaded lest the next
syllable that was uttered might destroy the blessed illusion, "so wildly
improbable, that, though my soul yearns to believe it, my reason refuses
credence. It is not enough to utter this sudden intelligence, Balthazar;
it must be proved. Furnish but a moiety of the evidence that is necessary
to establish a legal fact, and I will render thee the richest of thy class
in Christendom! And thou, Sigismund, come close to my heart, noble boy,"
he added, with outstretched arms, "that I may bless thee, while there is
hope--that I may feel one beat of a father's pulses--one instant of a
father's joy!"
Sigismund knelt at the venerable Prince's feet, and receiving his head on
his shoulder, their tears mingled.
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