My thoughts were sad and solemn, yet not of unmingled pain. The very excess

of our misery carried a relief with it, giving sublimity and elevation to

sorrow. I felt that I carried with me those I best loved; I was pleased,

after a long separation to rejoin Adrian; never again to part. I felt that

I quitted what I loved, not what loved me. The castle walls, and long

familiar trees, did not hear the parting sound of our carriage-wheels with

regret. And, while I felt Idris to be near, and heard the regular breathing

of my children, I could not be unhappy. Clara was greatly moved; with

streaming eyes, suppressing her sobs, she leaned from the window, watching

the last glimpse of her native Windsor.

Adrian welcomed us on our arrival. He was all animation; you could no

longer trace in his look of health, the suffering valetudinarian; from his

smile and sprightly tones you could not guess that he was about to lead

forth from their native country, the numbered remnant of the English

nation, into the tenantless realms of the south, there to die, one by one,

till the LAST MAN should remain in a voiceless, empty world.

Adrian was impatient for our departure, and had advanced far in his

preparations. His wisdom guided all. His care was the soul, to move the

luckless crowd, who relied wholly on him. It was useless to provide many

things, for we should find abundant provision in every town. It was

Adrian's wish to prevent all labour; to bestow a festive appearance on this

funeral train. Our numbers amounted to not quite two thousand persons.

These were not all assembled in London, but each day witnessed the arrival

433

The Last Man