But I had been soundly instructed and I had, what you call, a competent skill on the instrument. But in my present situation, these sides of myself were, for various reasons, not so presentable as the pianoforte side. At another time, I had been bedchamber-woman to a great lady in Paris. In the days of my vicissitudes (before my marriage) I had at one time had a share in a millinery establishment in Lyons. (Ah, poor humanity!) My best side was my musical side. One always advertises the best side of oneself. In this sad case, what does an honest woman who is bent on winning her own independence by her own work, do? She takes three and sixpence out of her little humble store and she advertises herself in a newspaper. Without dwelling on my disasters, let it be enough to say that I got up one morning, with three pounds, seven shillings, and fourpence in my purse with my fervid temper, and my republican principles-and with absolutely nothing in prospect, that is to say with not a halfpenny more to come to me, unless I could earn it for myself. What right has anybody to be rich? I defy you, whoever you may be, to prove that anybody has a right to be rich. Of all the wealth about me-the prodigal, insolent, ostentatious wealth-none fell to my share. I returned again to London, with recommendations: and encountered inconceivable disasters in the effort to earn a living honorably. But it was not in my nature to remain and be a burden on them at home. I went back for awhile to good Papa and my sisters in Paris. I was left a widow-with nothing but the inheritance of my husband's noble sentiments to console me. My poor Pratolungo was in truth worn out. I suppose we should have starved, and made a sad little paragraph in the English newspapers-if the end had not come in another way. But my glorious husband could not spare me away from him. The affairs of Central America went on without us. Ah, you monarchy-people, sitting fat and contented under tyrants, respect that! My husband condemned to death in his absence and I with my pockets empty. Before we had been a year married, the Doctor had to fly (for the sixteenth time) to escape being tried for his life. Dictators and filibusters flourished in spite of us. All my money went in helping the sacred cause of the people. For, alas! everything is expensive in this world including the destruction of tyrants and the saving of Freedom. Who could avoid falling in love with such a man? I was proud when he proposed to devote me on the altar of his adopted country, as well as himself-me, and my money. He had been fifteen times exiled, and condemned to death in his absence, when I met with him in Paris-the picture of heroic poverty, with a brown complexion and one lame leg. Wherever the people of the Southern New World rose and declared their independence-and, in my time, that fervent population did nothing else-there was the Doctor self-devoted on the altar of his adopted country. From his youth upwards he had followed the glorious profession of Patriot. Having become man and wife, Doctor Pratolungo and I took ship to Central America-and devoted our honey-moon, in those disturbed districts, to the sacred duty of destroying tyrants.Īh! the vital air of my noble husband was the air of revolutions. Some people do one thing, and some do another, in the way of celebrating the event of their marriage. To these qualifications I added another, the most precious of all, when I married the Doctor namely-a strong infusion of ultra-liberal principles. They ended in leaving me (at an age which is of no consequence to anybody) with some experience of the world with a cultivated musical talent on the pianoforte and with a comfortable little fortune unexpectedly bequeathed to me by a relative of my dear dead mother (which fortune I shared with good Papa and with my younger sisters). Before I married the Doctor, I went through many vicissitudes in my own country. I am Madame Pratolungo-widow of that celebrated South American patriot, Doctor Pratolungo. I may make myself known to you as briefly as I can. And I take it on myself-for reasons which will presently appear-to tell the story. The persons principally concerned in the Event are:-a blind girl two (twin) brothers a skilled surgeon and a curious foreign woman. You are here invited to read the story of an Event which occurred in an out-of-the-way corner of England, some years since. Published by Good Press, 4057664637277 Table of ContentsĬHAPTER THE FIRST Madame Pratolungo presents Herself
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |