“Father, dear father!” and Mercèdes clung to him. “How did you come? We have been straining our eyes to catch the first glimpse of you on the high road.”
“Have you forgotten the short cut through the village at the back of the Château, Mercèdes? I left my escort to come on by the high road, and myself came across country, through the pine forest. I did this to gain time. I have not an hour to lose. I must leave you the day after to-morrow; for you may congratulate me, I have received my nomination as General-in-Chief of his Majesty’s army in Canada.”
“Oh, father!” exclaimed Mercèdes.
“My dear husband!” said Madame de Montcalm, holding his hand.
“Mother,” said the General, embracing the old lady, from whose eyes tears fell fast.
“It will be a last farewell between thee and me, my son,” she said.
“Nay; wherefore take this gloomy view of the situation?” he answered. “If I remained here I should be nominated to a regiment, and should, I hope, see some service. It is only a change of country, with the superior advantages of a higher position and better chances for the future. My eldest son is to go back with me to Versailles, to be presented to the King and given a commission. Why, mother, I thought you would rejoice, and hurried on to bring you the good news. I may be absent a year—two perhaps, if the English prove very stubborn. Who knows? I may be Military Governor of Canada when the war is over, and come home and fetch you all out, and you will hold your court like a queen in the Government House at Quebec,” and he laughed so brightly that the clouds seemed to break and the natural fears of those who loved him to dispel in the sunshine of his presence.
“You were always hopeful, Louis,” said his mother.
“Why should I be otherwise?” he answered. “We have desired this appointment; and though at first I hesitated because of the heavy responsibilities it entails, I have come to the conclusion that I am as capable as another, and that Canada is worth fighting for. It is a French colony, inhabited for generations past by our own people. It is ‘New France.’ Surely it were a national disgrace to let it slip through our fingers.”
He spoke enthusiastically: all his patriotism, all his ambition, was aroused; a fresh life was opening out before him, and he rejoiced in the prospect.