master! Theirs is no ordinary affection. If love be
the fulfilling of the law, all law is fulfilled in these two, for never
did the elements of happiness mingle more sweetly in the soul of a man
and a woman than in Pierre and Amelie!"

"It will restore your youth, dame, to live with Pierre and Amelie,"
replied the Bourgeois. "Amelie insists on it, not because of Pierre, she
says, but for your own sake. She was moved to tears one day, dame, when
she made me relate your story."

Dame Rochelle put on her spectacles to cover her eyes, which were fast
filling, as she glanced down on the black robe she wore, remembering for
whom she wore it.

"Thanks, master. It would be a blessed thing to end the remaining days
of my mourning in the house of Pierre and Amelie, but my quiet mood
suits better the house of my master, who has also had his heart saddened
by a long, long day of darkness and regret."

"Yes, dame, but a bright sunset, I trust, awaits it now. The descending
shadow of the dial goes back a pace on the fortunes of my house! I hope
to welcome my few remaining years with a gayer aspect and a lighter
heart than I have felt since we were driven from France. What would you
say to see us all reunited once more in our old Norman home?"

The dame gave a great start, and clasped her thin hands.

"What would I say, master? Oh, to return to France, and be buried in the
green valley of the Cote d'Or by the side of him, were next to rising in
the resurrection of the just at the last day."

The Bourgeois knew well whom she meant by "him." He reverenced her
feeling, but continued the topic of a return to France.

"Well, dame, I will do for Pierre what I would not do for myself. I
shall repurchase the old chateau, and use every influence at my command
to prevail on the King to restore to Pierre the honors of his ancestors.
Will not that be a glorious end to the career of the Bourgeois
Philibert?"

"Yes, master, but it may not end there for you. I hear from my quiet
window many things spoken in the street below. Men love you so, and need
you so, that they will not spare any supplication to bid you stay in the
Colony; and you will stay and die where you have lived so many years,
under the shadow of the Golden Dog. Some men hate you, too, because you
love justice and stand up for the right. I have a request to make, dear
master."

"What is that, dame?" asked he kindly, prepared to grant any request of
hers.

"Do not go to th