She admired the genius of the minister who,
sitting in his study, had been able to grasp the true way of procuring
peace. She thought she understood the considerations which act on the
minds of men powerful enough to take a bird's-eye view of an empire;
men whose actions, criminal in the eyes of the masses, are the outcome
of a vast and intelligent thought. There is in these terrible souls
some mysterious blending of the force of fate and that of destiny,
some prescience which suddenly elevates them above their fellows; the
masses seek them for a time in their own ranks, then they raise their
eyes and see these lordly souls above them.
Such reflections as these seemed to Mademoiselle de Verneuil to
justify and even to ennoble her thoughts of vengeance; this travail of
her soul and its expectations gave her vigor enough to bear the
unusual fatigues of this strange journey. At the end of each property
Galope-Chopine made the women dismount from their donkeys and climb
the obstructions; then, mounting again, they made their way through
the boggy paths which already felt the approach of winter. The
combination of tall trees, sunken paths, and enclosed places, kept the
soil in a state of humidity which wrapped the travellers in a mantle
of ice. However, after much wearisome fatigue, they managed to reach
the woods of Marignay by sunrise.
Pages:
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314