CHAPTER XI. BY SURPRISE.
“C'est ce qu'on ne dit pas qui explique ce qu'on dit.”
From the Rue du Cherche-Midi in Paris to the Casa Perucca in Corsica is as complete a change as even the heart of woman may desire. For the Rue du Cherche-Midi is probably the noisiest corner of that noisy Paris that lies south of the Seine; and the Casa Perucca is one of the few quiet corners of Europe where the madding crowd is non-existent, and that crowning effort of philanthropic folly, the statute holiday, has yet to penetrate.
“Yes,” said Mademoiselle Brun, one morning, after she and Denise had passed two months in what she was pleased to term exile—“yes; it is peaceful. Give me war,” she added grimly, after a pause.
They were standing on the terrace that looked down over the great valley of Vasselot. There was not a house in sight except the crumbling chateau. The month was June, and the river, which could be heard in winter, was now little more than a trickling stream. A faint breeze stirred the young leaves of the copper-beech, which is a silent tree by nature, and did not so much as whisper now. There are few birds in Corsica, for the natives are great sportsmen, and will shoot, sitting, anything from a man to a sparrow in season and out.
“Listen,” said Mademoiselle Brun, holding up one steady, yellow finger; but the silence was such as will make itself felt. “And the neighbours do not call much,” added mademoiselle, in completion of her own thoughts.
Denise laughed. She had been up early, for they were almost alone in the Casa Perucca now. The servants who had obeyed Mattei Perucca in fear and trembling, had refused to obey Denise, who, with much spirit, had dismissed them one and all. An old man remained, who was generally considered to be half-witted; and Maria Andrei, the widow of Pietro, who was shot at Olmeta. Denise superintended the small farm.
“That cheery Maria,” said Mademoiselle Brun, “she is our only resource, and reminds me of a cheap funeral.”
“There is the colonel,” said Denise. “You forget him.”
“Yes; there is the colonel, who is so kind to us.”