“I wrote yesterday, to inform him fully concerning the new constitution framed by the Assembly. I told him that it should be put in force provisionally, till the pleasure of his government is made known.”
“Oh, then, that must bring an answer.”
Toussaint was silent.
“He must send some sort of answer to that,” pursued Margot. “What answer do you think it will be?”
“You remember the great eagle that I shot, when we lived under the mountains, Margot? Do you remember how the kids played in the pasture, with the shadow of that huge eagle floating above them?”
Margot, trembling, pressed closer to her husband’s side.
“You saw to-day,” he continued, “that troop of gay dolphins, in the smooth sea beyond the island. You saw the shark, with its glaring eyes, opening its monstrous jaws, as it rose near the pretty creatures, and hovered about them.”
“But you shot the eagle,” cried Margot; “and Denis wounded the shark.”
“Heaven only knows how it may end with us,” said Toussaint; “but we have the shadow of Bonaparte’s jealousy over us, and danger all about us. The greater our prosperity, the more certain is it to bring all France down upon us.”
“Oh, can Bonaparte be so cruel?”