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to the bone ; the wound was not unlikely to prove mortal, and 
he was carried with much difficulty to Bath. 
In the meantime the Viscountess had sent everywhere. A 
report of the death of the Viscount had got abroad, but her 
servants did not venture to acquaint her with it. As I was leaving 
Count de Rice’s, I met her house-steward who was looking for 
me. He came to inform me that his mistress was in the greatest 
uneasiness ; that she was absolutely resolved to go out to inquire 
for her husband, and that he no longer knew what pretext to 
make use of to prevent her. I ran immediately to Mrs. 
Macartney, one of the ladies of Bath in whom she had the most 
confidence, and begged her to go with me to the Viscountess. 
She went to her first ; she told her that I had brought intelligence 
of her husband having fought with Count de Rice and being 
mortally wounded. I went in a quarter of an hour afterwards 
and found her in such affliction as may be more easily imagined 
than described. I concluded by increasing it to the utmost, on 
informing her by degrees, of the fatal event of the duel ; she 
gave way to an excess of grief which appeared to me profound 
and real, notwithstanding the cruel attempts of the most atrocious 
calumny, which dared to attack her under circumstances so 
entitled to compassion. It was pretended that Count de Rice had 
excited the jealousy of the Viscount, and that the Viscountess had 
been the first cause of their quarrel. She now wrote to him ; but 
as he was not in a state to answer in writing, I offered to carry 
the note and to bring back a verbal answer. As she did not 
acquaint me with the subject of the letter, I mentioned this to the 
Count when I delivered it, and advised him to give me an 
answer in general terms, which could only be comprehended by 
the Viscountess. He requested me to say that he had already 
given orders for what she desired, and he begged me to send the 
Viscountess’s valet-de-chambre to him as he had something to 
communicate to him. He wrote to her, however, by this valet- 
de-chambre, and everybody was astonished at seeing a correspon- 
