“Were they not fearful?” said Mr. X——-, smiling tranquilly. “After reading them, I regarded myself as a moral and political monster!”
I could not forbear from laughing as the portly statesman uttered the words. He seemed to derive a species of careless enjoyment from the recollection of his “flayings.”
“I expect to talk over these little affairs with Daniel hereafter,” he said. “We shall have a great deal of time on our hands—in Canada.”
And Mr. X——- smiled, and went on smoking. It was the second time he had uttered that phrase—“in Canada.”
I laughed now, and said:—
“You continue to regard Toronto, or Montreal, or Quebec, as your future residence?”
“Yes; I think I prefer Quebec. The view from Cape Diamond is superb; and there is something English and un-American in the whole place, which I like. The Plains of Abraham bring back the history of the past,—which is more agreeable to me at least than the history of the present.”
“You adhere more than ever, I see, to your opinion that we are going to fail?”
“It is not an opinion, my dear colonel, but a certainty.”
My head sank. In the army I had been hopeful. When I came to Richmond, those high intelligences, John M. Daniel and Mr. X——-, did not even attempt to conceal their gloomy views.