Abbé Busoni came to visit you at your request in the prison at Nîmes.”
“The story will be very long, excellency.”
“What matter? you know I take but little sleep, and I do not suppose you are very much inclined for it either.”
Bertuccio bowed, and resumed his story.
“Partly to drown the recollections of the past that haunted me, partly to supply the wants of the poor widow, I eagerly returned to my trade of smuggler, which had become more easy since that relaxation of the laws which always follows a revolution. The southern districts were ill-watched in particular, in consequence of the disturbances that were perpetually breaking out in Avignon, Nîmes, or Uzès. We profited by this respite on the part of the government to make friends everywhere.
Since my brother’s assassination in the streets of Nîmes, I had never entered the town;