Her companions hovered round her, not knowing what to make of
this sudden dawn of reason. Her lover sobbed aloud. She opened her
eyes again, and looked upon them with an air of the sweetest
acknowledgment. "You are all so good to me!" said she, faintly.
The physician drew the father aside. "Your daughter's mind is
restored," said he; "she is sensible that she has been deranged; she
is growing conscious of the past, and conscious of the present. All
that now remains is to keep her calm and quiet until her health is
re-established, and then let her be married in God's name!"
"The wedding took place," continued the good priest, "but a short time
since; they were here at the last fete during their honeymoon, and a
handsomer and happier couple was not to be seen as they danced under
yonder trees. The young man, his wife, and mother, now live on a fine
farm at Pont l'Eveque; and that model of a ship which you see yonder,
with white flowers wreathed round it, is Annette's offering of thanks
to Our Lady of Grace, for having listened to her prayers, and
protected her lover in the hour of peril."
The captain having finished, there was a momentary silence. The
tender-hearted Lady Lillycraft, who knew the story by heart, had led
the way in weeping, and indeed had often begun to shed tears before
they had come to the right place.
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