"The sergeant bowed, and grinned.
"'But sabre de bois! 't is the little daughter I want,' said Chataigneur.
"'They are at prayer in their little oratory, I believe,' urged the chevalier, who was the least wicked among us.
"'Praying!' reiterated Jacques with intense disgust; 'I shall soon change their cheer. Are there any guitars or mandolins here? The girl—what's her name? Virginia shall bear us company in a merry chorus, or shall ride the cheval de bois with a vengeance.'
"'Let us have her by all means,' said one of the Imperial guardsmen; 'we must teach this young creature the first rudiments of love and coquetry.'
"'Will some of you lend a hand to undo the clasp of this infernal sword-belt?' grumbled Jacques, who was very tipsy. 'Avaunt, Jean Graule, thou art drunk, man! Vivancourt, most redoubtable chevalier of the immortal legion of honour, lend me thine aid. Corboeuf! I am swollen like a huge tortoise with Ciudal Real. Now, messieurs, remember that I am the senior officer here, and that whoever follows me does so at his peril.'
"And half-dancing, half staggering, he swaggered out of the room accompanied by Jean Graule.
"We continued to enjoy ourselves with supreme nonchalance, for the Imperial Guard and the 23rd Grenadiers were the most reckless routiers in the army. Believe me, we were too much accustomed to storming to trouble ourselves much about the little Spanish girl; but I am forgetting that you are not a Frenchman; so, fearing to shock your cold British prejudices, I will, as the novelists say, draw a veil over what passed;" and M. de St. Florian smiled complacently as he emptied and refilled his glass.
"Is it possible!" I exclaimed, with something of incredulity in my manner; "is it possible that brave soldiers, and gentlemen of France—France, once so famous for its spirit of honour and chivalry—could behave thus?"
"Monsieur, my word is never doubted," replied the other good-humouredly; "how could you expect us to behave like saints or apostles, or perhaps like the cool stoics that compose a regiment of kilts?