se of man
and France has wonderfully triumphed during the past three days is, no
doubt, most true. But this victory, love, I foresaw. Indeed, it was but
the inevitable result of an irresistible cause. It was neither chance,
love, nor a spontaneous burst of patriotism that, on the first day,
filled the boulevards with fifty thousand blouses, which on the second
won over to the people eighty thousand National Guards, and on the third
choked the streets of Paris with barricades constructed by engineers and
defended by men completely armed. The events of the last three days,
Mercedes, have been maturing in the womb of Providence for the past ten
years. It is their birth only which has now taken place, and to some the
parturition seems a little premature, I suppose. This banquet caused the
fright that hastened the event," added Dantes, laughing.

"You are very scientific in your comparisons," replied Mercedes,
slightly blushing, "and I suppose I must admit, very apt. But tell me,
love, is all over? That is, must you be away from me any more at night,
and wander about, Heaven only knows where, in this dark and dangerous
city, or Heaven only knows with whom or for what?"

Dantes kissed his fair wife, and, after a pause, during which he gazed
fondly into her eyes, replied:

"I hope, I trust, I believe, dear, that all is over--at least all that
will take me from you, as during the past week. France has or will have
a Republic. That is as certain as fate can make it. But first she will
have to pass through strife and tribulation--perhaps bloodshed. The end
surely, love, is not yet. But France is now comparatively free. The
dreadful problem is now nearer solution than it ever was. Labor will
hereafter be granted to all, together with the adequate reward of labor.
Destitution will not be deemed guilt. The death-penalty is abolished.
The rich will not with impunity grind the poor into powder beneath their
heels. Asylums for the suffering, the distressed, the abandoned of both
sexes will be sustained. The efforts which, as individuals, we have some
of us made for years to ameliorate the condition of mankind, to assuage
human woes and augment human joys, will henceforth be encouraged and
directly aided by the State. This Revolution, love, is a social
Revolution, and during the sixty-four hours the Provisional Government
was in session, in the Hotel de Ville, I became thoroughly convinced
that the thousands and tens of thousands who,