four o’clock in the morning
I collected wine and cordials , and whatever could be of service , and after his first outburst my young brother-in-law helped me in a way I can never forget . No doubt the pestiferous air caused by the horrible carnage of Freiburg had poisoned the wound . As soon as possible my husband was removed ; but the mischief had been already done ; the wound was in a bad state , fever had set in , and though he struggled on stage after stage , declaring that he should be well when he saw me , the agony had been such on the last day that they barely got him to Brisach , and he there became delirious , so that M. de Solivet decided on remaining with him , while the Count came on to fetch me . He had ridden ever since four o'clock in the morning , and yet was ready to set out again as soon as my preparations were complete . Oh , I can never overlook what he was to me on that journey ! Hope kept us up through that dismal country -- the path of war , where instead of harvest on the August day we saw down-trodden , half-burned wheat fields , where a few wretched creatures were trying to glean a few ears of wheat . Each village we passed showed only blackened walls , save where at intervals a farmhouse had been repaired to serve as an estafette for couriers from the French army .