and and imposing stature! He was like a benevolent deity, lifting her out of the mire of poverty and shame, ushering her into a warm heaven full of dignity and glory. She resolved to wholeheartedly follow this noble man, erasing any trace of her own short and frail father from her soul.
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When young Madame Louise Danton finally knocked on the door of the Percys, she could hardly recognise the once lively and cheerful Edith.
Days of tears bathing the cheeks had changed the girl''s appearance, with pale and gaunt face framing a pair of eyes swollen like two peach pits. Edith was no longer dressed in her beloved red, but instead donned a black mourning garment. Even under the radiant sun of early summer, a white shawl loosely d□□d over her shoulders.
The torch-like brightness in her gaze had faded, replaced by an unprecedented melancholy, bestowing upon her a newfound serene beauty.
Witnessing Edith''s nun-like attire and pathetic countenance, the deep longing for departed loved ones all at once surged within Louise''s heart. Tears welled up in her childlike large eyes as she embraced her friend, who shared the burden of their misfortune. "Oh, dearest, poor Edith!"
Inside Edith''s boudoir, darkness prevailed. Heavy curtains had remained drawn ever since the twenty-fourth of Germinal. In this stifling, sombre space, the two young women finally sat by the edge of the bed, sobbing uncontrollably.
"What kind of time is this? Shedding tears openly for one''s parents, children, siblings has become a crime!" Louise choked with sorrow, lamenting, "It is actually the love for truth and the compassion for human that have led my Georges, his upright friend Desmoulins, our poor Lucile and Citizeness Saint-Clemont to the guillotine! To possess conscience and mercy has become a sin today! But let those executioners be ashamed of themselves; we shall weep for them, we shall remember them forever! The epitaph of our friends shall be nobler than Brutus!"
Edith attempted to console her with a hoarse voice but could only emit a feeble sigh.
The anguish unleashed torrents of tears. Tears, while alleviating their anguish, stirred the proudest of strengths within their hearts. Weakness, in tur