hat his aide, M. de Bougainville, would sail for
France almost immediately--we were then at the beginning of
November--and if I would brave the discomforts of so late a passage,
he would place me under his care; but Mme. de Sarennes protested
so firmly against my undertaking such a voyage that I was spared
a decision.

In truth I did not know what to do. My pride urged me to go; but
my love, in spite of what had passed, drew me closer and closer to
Quebec. I could not go without learning the truth, and yet I could
not bring myself to meet Hugh at the moment, which I should have
to do if I accepted M. de Montcalm's offer; so I allowed matters
to shape themselves without my interference.

"Peace may be proclaimed this winter, and if so, Mme. de St. Just
can go without danger in the spring. Besides, she cannot go until
she knows of the safety of one she is interested in," said Mme. de
Sarennes, decidedly; and her reminder of my duty towards Lucy ended
the discussion.

"Then, madame," said M. de Montcalm, turning to me, "if you are to
stay with us you must renounce your retirement, and give us your
support in our little society. We are too few to spare any possible
addition to it, the more so that if peace be not proclaimed before
spring everything is likely to come to an end, so far as we are
concerned."

"Mon Dieu, Marquis! Do not speak so lightly of disaster," interrupted
Mme. de Sarennes, severely.

"Ma foi, madame! What is the use of shutting our eyes to the
inevitable? We are hemmed in right and left, and the next move will
be directed on us here. It needs no prophet to foretell that."

"But is there not Carillon?"

"There is also the river."

"They can never come up the river! See what befell them before! I
remember well how their fleet was destroyed under their Admiral
Walker."

"Nothing happens but the impossible, madame; and we are no longer
in an age that hopes for miracles."

"Monsieur, it pains me to hear you speak thus. God is not less
powerful now than He was fifty years ago."

"I sincerely trust not, madame; but his Majesty will hardly acquit
me if I rely on a chance tempest or a difficult channel. It is only
the question of a pilot."

"And think you, monsieur, a Canadian would ever consent to pilot
an enemy up our river?"

"Madame, I cannot doubt that even a Canadian will act as other men,
if he have a pistol at the back of his head. No, no, madame; believe
me, the river is our danger, a