But in my soul has it become tranquil and serene, God dwells
there, and within me is a peace known only to those who have struggled
and overcome, who have expiated their sins with a free will and flayed
breast."
"And your beloved, what became of her?" asked the cardinal. "Did she
pardon your treason, and console herself in the arms of another?"
"In the arms of death!" said Ganganelli, with a low voice. "My silence
and my apparent forgetfulness of her broke her heart; she died of grief,
but she died like a saint, and her last words were: 'May God forgive
him, as I do! I curse him not, but bless him, rather; for through him
am I released from the burden of this life, and all sorrow is overcome!'
She therefore died in the belief of my unfaithfulness; she did, indeed,
pardon me, but yet she believed me a faithless betrayer! And the
consciousness of this was to me a new torment and a penance which I
shall suffer forever and ever! This is the story of my love," continued
Ganganelli, after a short silence. "I have truly related it to you as
it is. May you, my son, learn from it that, when we wish to do right, we
can always succeed, in spite of our own hearts and sinful natures, and
that with God's help we can overcome all and suffer all.
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