Should Poland become the
property of other nations, I conjure you, if you survive its fall, to
leave it. When reduced to captivity, it will no longer be an asylum
for a man of honor. I beseech you, should this happen, go that very
hour to England: that is a free country; and I have been told that
the people are kind to the unfortunate. Perhaps you will find that
Pembroke Somerset hath not quite forgotten Poland. Thaddeus! Why do
you delay to answer me? Remember, these are your mother's dying
words!"
"I will obey them, my mother!"
"Then," continued she, taking from her bosom a small miniature, "let
me tie this round your neck. It is the portrait of your father."
Thaddeus bent his head, and the countess fastened it under his neck-
cloth. "Prize this gift, my child; it is likely to be all that you
will now inherit either from me or that father. Try to forget his
injustice, my dear son; and in memory of me, never part with that
picture. O, Thaddeus! From the moment in which I first received it
until this instant, it has never been from my heart!"
"And it shall never leave mine," answered he, in a stifled voice,"
whilst I have being."
The countess was preparing to reply, when a sudden volley of firearms
made Thaddeus spring upon his feet. Loud cries succeeded. Women
rushed into the apartment, screaming, "The ramparts are stormed!" and
the next moment that quarter of the building rocked to its
foundation.
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