He is
certain to become famous."
"And you have come here to command such men as these!" she exclaimed
in horror. "Are /they/ they king's defenders? Where are the gentlemen
and the great lords?"
"Where?" said the marquis, coolly, "they are in all the courts of
Europe. Who else should win over kings and cabinets and armies to
serve the Bourbon cause and hurl them at that Republic which threatens
monarchies and social order with death and destruction?"
"Ah!" she said, with generous emotion, "be to me henceforth the source
from which I draw the ideas I must still acquire about your cause--I
consent. But let me still remember that you are the only noble who
does his duty in fighting France with Frenchmen, without the help of
foreigners. I am a woman; I feel that if my child struck me in anger I
could forgive him; but if he saw me beaten by a stranger, and
consented to it, I should regard him as a monster."
"You shall remain a Republican," said the marquis, in the ardor
produced by the generous words which confirmed his hopes.
"Republican! no, I am that no longer. I could not now respect you if
you submitted to the First Consul," she replied. "But neither do I
like to see you at the head of men who are pillaging a corner of
France, instead of making war against the whole Republic. For whom are
you fighting? What do you expect of a king restored to his throne by
your efforts? A woman did that great thing once, and the liberated
king allowed her to be burned.
Pages:
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205