No Surrender! | Page 7

is
the work on the place to look after, there is shooting, there is visiting,
and visiting here means something hearty, and not like the formal work
in the town. Here no one troubles his head over politics. They may
quarrel as they like, in Paris, but it does not concern La Vendee.
"Here the peasants love their masters, and the masters do all in their
power for the comfort and happiness of the peasants. It is not as in
many other parts of France, where the peasants hate the nobles, and the
nobles regard the peasants as dirt under their feet. Here it is more like
what I believe it was in England, when you had your troubles, and the
tenants followed their lords to battle. At any rate, life here would be
very preferable to being in business with my father, in Nantes. I should
never have settled down to that; and as my elder brother seems
specially made for that sort of life, fortunately I was able to go my own
way, to take to the sea in the lugger, and become the carrier of the firm,
while taking my share in the general profits."

"How is it that your brother does not live at home? It would seem
natural that he should have had the pavilion, when he married."
"He likes going his own way," Jean said shortly. "As far as business
matters go, he and my father are as one; but in other matters they differ
widely. Jacques is always talking of reforms and changes, while my
father is quite content with things as they are. Jacques has his own
circle of friends, and would like to go to Paris as a deputy, and to mix
himself up in affairs.
"Though none of us cared for the lady that he chose as his wife, she had
money, and there was nothing to say against her, personally. None of
us ever took to her, and there was a general feeling of relief when it
was known that Jacques had taken a house in the business quarter.
"He looks after the carrying business. Of course, my lugger does but a
very small proportion of it. We send up large quantities of brandy to
Tours, Orleans, and other towns on the Loire; and have dealings with
Brittany and Normandy, by sea, and with the Gironde. He looks after
that part of the business. My father does the buying and directs the
counting house. Though my art is a very inferior one, I have no reason
to complain of my share of the profits."
The first eighteen months of Patsey's married life passed quietly and
happily. She could now speak French fluently and, having made several
stays at the country chateau, could make herself understood in the
patois. Leigh spoke French as well as English. Fortunately he had
picked up a little before leaving home, partly from his tutor, partly from
endeavouring to talk with French fishermen and sailors who came into
Poole. He frequently made trips in the Henriette, sometimes to Havre
and Rouen, at others to Bordeaux. He had grown much, and was now a
very strong, active lad. He got on very well with Monsieur Martin; but
kept as much apart as he could from his eldest son, for whom he felt a
deep personal dislike, and who had always disapproved of Jean's
marriage to an Englishwoman.
Jacques Martin was the strongest contrast to his brother. He was
methodical and sententious, expressed his opinion on all subjects with

the air of a man whose judgment was infallible, and was an ardent
disciple of Voltaire and Rousseau. It was very seldom that he entered
his father's house, where his opinions on religious subjects shocked and
horrified his mother and sister. He lived with an entirely different set,
and spent most of his time at the clubs which, in imitation of those of
Paris, had sprung up all over the country.
"What is all the excitement about, Jean?" Leigh asked his
brother-in-law, one evening. "There are always fellows standing on
casks or bales of timber along the wharf, shouting and waving their
arms about and, sometimes, reading letters or printed papers; and then
those who listen to them shout and throw up their caps, and get into a
tremendous state of excitement."
"They are telling the others what is being done at the Assembly."
"And what are they doing there, Jean?"
"They are turning things upside down."
"And is that good?"
"Well, there is no doubt that things are not as well managed as they
might be, and that there is a great deal of distress and misery. In some
parts of France the taxation has been very heavy, and the extravagance
of the court has excited an immense deal