“To scale the walls of the convent, if I cannot get in by the door.”
“What convent?” asked Frances of her son.
“How, father?” cried the latter, rising abruptly. “You still think of that?”
“Why! what else should I think of?”
“But, father, it is impossible; you will never attempt such an enterprise.”
“What is it, my child?” asked Frances, with anxiety. “Where is father going?”
“He is going to break into the convent where Marshal Simon’s daughters are confined, and carry them off.”
“Great God! my poor husband—a sacrilege!” cried Frances, faithful to her pious traditions, and, clasping her hands together, she endeavored to rise and approach Dagobert.
The soldier, forseeing that he would have to contend with observations and prayers of all sorts, and resolved not to yield, determined to cut short all useless supplications, which would only make him lose precious time. He said, therefore, with a grave, severe, and almost solemn air, which showed the inflexibility of his determination: “Listen to me, wife—and you also, my son—when, at my age, a man makes up his mind to do anything, he knows the reason why. And when a man has once made up his mind, neither wife nor child can alter it. I have resolved to do my duty; so spare yourselves useless words. It may be your duty to talk to me as you have done; but it is over now, and we will say no more about it. This evening I must be master in my own house.”
Timid and alarmed, Frances did not dare to utter a word, but she turned a supplicating glance towards her son.