The Seats Of The Mighty, Volume 1.

ter, drawled out, "England's Braddock-fool and general-has gone to heaven, Captain Moray, and your papers send y

neral i

it was so, and a sickness crept through me, for at the moment that seemed th

he scene," he replied; "and having little now

e my glance meaning, though I wished to do so. She had served me much, had been a good friend to me, since I was brought a hostage to Quebec from Fort Necessity. There, at that little post on the Ohio, France threw down the gauntlet, and gave us the great Seven Years War. And though it may be thought I speak ras

aid stoutly, "I am sure he made

eturned-"your own Vir

a blunderer, as were

lans of our forts and

ne to France

andkerchief to her mouth as if to stop a word. To make light of the charges against myself was the only thing, and yet I had little heart

my friends," said I, "can ha

the natural son of King Louis, had played the part between La Pompadour and myself in th

nough," said I boldly, "but wh

that I could have stopped his mouth with my hand. "Shall a hostage on parole make sketch

tally breaks his sworn promise, shall th

w his face was troubled and his manner distant. He looked at Monsieur Doltaire a moment steadily, stooped to his wife's hand, and then offered me his own without a word; which done, he went to

Monsieur Doltaire,

of men outside m

languid way, and an

ray-to the

head ere I was thirty-two. Do I not know, the indignities, the miseries I suffered, I owed mostly to him, and that at the last he nearly robbed England of her greatest pride,

ords, and I turned to him and said

and with a courteous if ironical gesture, "tha

e the insolence, and I retorted, "Would I coul

ul!" he rejoined. "I

a Frenchman,

uvarney and said, "I am most sorry that this mishap falls here; but it is not of my d

th came into my voice, and worked upon Madame, or it may be she was glad of my removal from contact with her daughter

bles. Three years before, at Fort Necessity, I had handed my sword to my lieutenant, bidding him make healthy use of it, and, travelling to Quebec on p

long until I tax your courtesy again

t both dine with us. Nay, but I insist," he added, as he saw me shake my head. "Mons

. Alixe met his look without a yes or no in her eyes-so young, yet having such control and wisdom, as I have had reason beyond all men to know. Something, however, in the temper of the scene had filled her with a kind of glow, which added

ternoon, but a messenger shall tell him duty stays me.... If you will excuse me!" he added, going to the door to find a man of his company. He looked back for an ins

they have some comf

to me. "This is a bad business, Moray," he sa

wered. "I am no spy, and I do not fear that I shall lose m

e has been gabble of your doings. I do not forget you bought my life back from

ck, for the blow to our cause and the shado

o Quebec (I own it to my shame) I was inclined to use her youthful friendship for private and patriotic ends; but that soon passed, and then I wished her companionship for true love of her. Also, I had been held back because when I first knew her she seemed but a child. Yet how quickly and how wisely did she grow out of her childhood! She had a playful wit, and her talents were far beyond her years. It amazed me often to hear her su

y shoulder. "Let me advise you," he said, "be friendly with Doltaire. He has great in

"I shall sleep no less sound

r in your trou

my own troubles do not weigh so

ld well have been content with our success against your

him, but I did not

was smiling at some

doll, here comes this gay news of our success on the Ohio; and in that Braddock's death the whining beggars will forget their empty bellies, and bless where they meant to curse. What fools,

ng. "But you, Doltaire-there's no m

does need some skill to fight. The others-to dance, drink, lo

l endurance of defeat or misery, its flippant look upon the world, its scoundrel view of women. Then he and Duvarney talked, and I sat thinking. Perhaps the passion of a cause grows in you as you suffer for it, and I had suffered, and suffered most by a bitter inaction. Governor Dinwiddie, Mr. Washington (alas that, as I write the fragment chapters of my life, among the hills where Montrose my ancestor fought, George leads the

er amours, of which the chief and final was with Bigot the Intendant, to whom the King had given all civil government, all power over commerce and finance in the country. The ri

ies who could be most useful to you, you left out the greatest. There you erred. I say it as a friend, not as an officer,

varney and her daughter

meaning. "But now-Captain Moray dines with us

ame Cournal," rejoin

close and fine, and it was in the power of the Intendant, backed by his confederates, to ruin almost any family in the province if he chose; and that he chose

was wandering between Alixe and me, and he replied urbanely, "I have ambitio

calm, strong-and understanding. By that look I saw she read him; she, who had seen so little of the world, felt what he was, and met his invading interest firmly, yet sadly; for I knew long after that a smother was at her hear

hed it little, I am sure. As she took my arm, her finger-tips plunged softly into the velvet of my sleeve, giving me a thrill of courage. I felt my spirit

had said the first time I went to dinner in her

raised her eyes to mine and answered,

ssip of the doorways (I in my poor French), casting small stones at whatever drew our notice, not forgetting a throw or two at Chateau Bigot, the Intendant's country house at Charlesbourg, five miles away, where base plots were hatched, reputations soiled, and all clean things dishonoured. But Alixe, the sweetest soul France ever gave the w

nly said her father, passing me the wine.

sband has made three

ith dry iro

for, oblique as the suggestion was, he

ng to Versailles about Bigot and C

Governor's action, and maybe had counseled with him, siding against Bigot. If that were so-as it proved to be-he was in a nest of scorpions; for who amo

ith some heat; for she was ever liberal to the poor, and she had seen manor after manor robbed, and peasant farmers made to sell their corn for a song, to b

ging at the heart of things

dour et L

cela, mon p

ribles, ma ch

c'es

our et La

he patois of the native, so that he set us all

horus to the play, with eyes for the preposte

ere; for all my life I have loathed the sordid soul, and I would rather, in these my ripe years, eat with a highwayman who takes his life in his hands than with the civilian who robs his king and the king's poor, and has no better trick than false accounts, nor better friend than the pettifo

f the world beside me at this table, I remembered my mother's word

thing to hold you honest with yourself. 'Tis to be lived for, and

that Alixe should be my wife if better days came; when I was

sing from his seat in the drawing-room, bowed

When I came to take the Seigneur's hand, Doltaire was a distance off, talking to Madame. "Moray,"

come safe th

adieu," he answered, as D

cabinet, very still, a strange glow in her eyes, a new, fine firmness at the lips. I felt I dared not look as I would; I feared there was no chance now to speak what I would. But

l backs were on us. I took her hand and pressed it to my lip

prison," said I, "and I l

iler goes also," she ans

! I love yo

timidly; and then, "I will be brave, I will h

n and said, "They've made of La Friponne a

cap. The Seigneur and Madame stood at the door, but my eyes were for a window where stood Alixe. The reflection of the far-off fire bathed the glass, and h

ice impressively, and then we stepped forward, the great f

and then the air La Pompadour et La Friponne. As we came

he said, po

sparks, and a smell of burni

, then," I added, "no

ded assent, an