e seeing those I loved, saved me.

It was about six months after, on the 15th of July, 1814, that
Catharine and I were married; Monsieur Goulden, who loved us as his own
children, gave me half his business, and we lived together as happy as
birds.

Then the wars were ended; the allies gradually returned to their homes;
the Emperor went to Elba, and King Louis XVIII. gave us a reasonable
amount of liberty. Once more the sweet days of youth returned--the
days of love, of labor, and of peace. The future was once more full of
hope--of hope that every one, by good conduct and economy, would at
some time attain a position in the world, win the esteem of good men,
and raise his family without fear of being carried off by the
conscription seven or eight years after.

Monsieur Goulden, who was not too well satisfied at seeing the old
kings and nobility return, thought, notwithstanding, that they had
suffered enough in foreign lands to understand that they were not the
only people in the world, and to respect our rights; he thought, too,
that the Emperor Napoleon would have the good sense to remain
quiet--but he was mistaken. The Bourbons returned with their old
notions, and the Emperor only awaited the moment of vengeance.

All this was to bring more miseries upon us, which I would willingly
relate, if this story did not seem already long enough. But here let
us rest. If people of sense tell me that I have done well in relating
my campaign of 1813--that my story may show youth the vanity of
military glory, and prove that no man can gain happiness save by peace,
liberty, and labor--then I will take up my pen once more, and give you
the story of Waterloo!

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Conscript, by
Emile Erckmann and Alexandre Chatrian

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