White Lies | Page 7

and the blue veins rose to sight in it, though her voice and eyes

were mastered.
So keen was the strife, so matched the antagonists, so hard the victory.
For ire and scorn are mighty. And noble blood in a noble heart is heroic.
And Love is a giant.
CHAPTER II
.
The French provinces were now organized upon a half military plan, by
which all the local authorities radiated towards a centre of government.
By-the-by, this feature has survived subsequent revolutions and
political changes.
In days of change, youth is at a premium; because, though experience is
valuable, the experience of one order of things unfits ordinary men for
another order of things. So a good many old fogies in office were
shown the door, and a good deal of youth and energy infused into the
veins of provincial government. For instance, Edouard Riviere, who
had but just completed his education with singular eclat at a military
school, was one fine day ordered into Brittany to fill a responsible post
under Commandant Raynal, a blunt, rough soldier, that had risen from
the ranks, and bore a much higher character for zeal and moral integrity
than for affability.
This officer was the son of a widow that kept a grocer's shop in Paris.
She intended him for spice, but he thirsted for glory, and vexed her. So
she yielded, as mothers will.
In the armies of the republic a good soldier rose with unparalleled
certainty, and rapidity, too; for when soldiers are being mowed down
like oats, it is a glorious time for such of them as keep their feet.
Raynal mounted fast, and used to write to his mother, and joke her
about the army being such a bad profession; and, as he was all for glory,
not money, he lived with Spartan frugality, and saved half his pay and
all his prize money for the old lady in Paris.
But this prosperous man had to endure a deep disappointment; on the
very day he was made commandant and one of the general's aides-de-
camp, came a letter into the camp. His mother was dead after a short
illness. This was a terrible blow to the simple, rugged soldier, who had
never had much time nor inclination to flirt with a lot of girls, and
toughen his heart. He came back to Paris honored and rich, but

downcast. The old home, empty of his mother, seemed to him not to
have the old look. It made him sadder. To cheer him up they brought
him much money. The widow's trade had taken a wonderful start the
last few years, and she had been playing the same game as he had,
living on ten-pence a day, and saving all for him. This made him sadder,
if anything.
"What," said he, "have we both been scraping all this dross together for?
I would give it all to sit one hour by the fire, with her hand in mine, and
hear her say, 'Scamp, you made me unhappy when you were young, but
I have lived to be proud of you.'"
He applied for active service, no matter what: obtained at once this post
in Brittany, and threw himself into it with that honest zeal and activity,
which are the best earthly medicine for all our griefs. He was busy
writing, when young Riviere first presented himself. He looked up for a
moment, and eyed him, to take his measure; then put into his hand a
report by young Nicole, a subordinate filling a post of the same nature
as Riviere's; and bade him analyze that report on the spot: with this he
instantly resumed his own work.
Edouard Riviere was an adept at this sort of task, and soon handed him
a neat analysis. Raynal ran his eye over it, nodded cold approval, and
told him to take this for the present as a guide as to his own duties. He
then pointed to a map on which Riviere's district was marked in blue
ink, and bade him find the centre of it. Edouard took a pair of
compasses off the table, and soon discovered that the village of
Beaurepaire was his centre. "Then quarter yourself at Beaurepaire; and
good-day," said Raynal.
The chateau was in sight from Riviere's quarters, and he soon learned
that it belonged to a royalist widow and her daughters, who all three
held themselves quite aloof from the rest of the world. "Ah," said the
young citizen, "I see. If these rococo citizens play that game with me, I
shall have to take them down." Thus a fresh peril menaced this family,
on whose hearts and fortunes such heavy blows had fallen.
One evening our young official, after a day spent in the service of the
country, deigned