"No, no," she said, "I will be generous. Farewell. In coming with you
here I did not think of my past nor of your future--I was beside
myself."
"You cannot mean that you will leave me now when I offer you my life?"
"You offer it in a moment of passion--of desire."
"I offer it without regret, and forever," he replied.
She returned to the room they had left. Hiding his emotions the
marquis continued the conversation.
"That fat priest whose name you asked is the Abbe Gudin, a Jesuit,
obstinate enough--perhaps I ought to say devoted enough,--to remain in
France in spite of the decree of 1793, which banished his order. He is
the firebrand of the war in these regions and a propagandist of the
religious association called the Sacre-Coeur. Trained to use religion
as an instrument, he persuades his followers that if they are killed
they will be brought to life again, and he knows how to rouse their
fanaticism by shrewd sermons. You see, it is necessary to work upon
every man's selfish interests to attain a great end. That is the
secret of all political success."
"And that vigorous, muscular old man, with the repulsive face, who is
he? I mean the one in the ragged gown of a barrister."
"Barrister! he aspires to be considered a brigadier-general. Did you
never hear of de Longuy?"
"Is that he!" exclaimed Mademoiselle de Verneuil, horrified.
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