This is part of a series about why Hortense broke the law. When we last left off, Hortense was describing the insurrection in Rome and how a Corsican who knew her servant had an injured son.
[This Corsican’s son was] seriously injured. He wasn’t well enough to be brought back home. The search for him will begin, he will be in prison, he has no doubt about it but his son will not be able to bear the horrors of the dungeon, he will die, wounded as he is.
He asked everywhere seeking refuge, everywhere he faced refusal. I’m the only one, he says, who could save him.
He throws himself at my feet, and like the poor mother, he cries out to me: “Save my son!” I cannot resist relieving a misfortune of this kind, and I consent to take charge of this son, despite all the difficulty which this presents to me.
As I still had my prisoner at home who I had not been able to find a safe opportunity to leave the Roman States, I doubtless think of him as a friend. He will take care of him.
The most dangerous thing is to bring this son into the palace, without arousing suspicion. I decided the smallest details myself, because everything suggested to me was dangerous. My carriage, without livery, leaves at night. The injured is placed there.
I had a valet with sciatica. We tell the porter that it is he who returns from a short walk.
The young man is taken to his home, and during the night, when everyone is sleeping in the palace, my two footmen transport him to the room of the first unfortunate.
However, it is necessary to find a surgeon we can trust. The surgeon found five injuries, two of which were very serious. When he came to realize this, I thought for the first time that this young man might die at my house. What should we do then? Then I forget this sad idea.
I was happy for the poor mother, why should I not be happy for the poor father? However, all these events -
Cela fait partie d'une série sur les raisons pour lesquelles Hortense a enfreint la loi. La dernière fois que nous nous sommes arrêtés, Hortense décrivait l'insurrection à Rome et comment une Corse qui connaissait son serviteur avait été un fils blessée.
