His face
was not only pale, but livid. The greater portion of it had been
enveloped in bandages, which he had partly removed with his own hand,
that his mouth might be free, so that he could use his weak voice to
address his comrades, perhaps for the last time. He uttered neither
complaint or groan, but the compressed lips, careworn cheeks, and sunken
eyes, gave too certain signs of the agony which he suffered. Henri was
there, but he knew the proposal which his cousin was about to make, and
he felt, not only that he was unequal to the heavy task which was about
to be put on his shoulders, but also that there were still some among
their number who were superior to him in skill, rank, and age, and who
were to be excluded from the dangerous dignity by the partial admiration
which was felt for himself He sat apart in a corner of the room, with
his face buried in his handkerchief; his manly heart was overcome; and
while de Lescure named him as the only person possessed of sufficient
nerve and authority to give the Vendeans a chance of an escape from
utter ruin, he was shedding tears like a child.
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