In exitu Israel

by S. Baring-Gould

'You are a foolish little peasantess,' she said; 'what can you do?'

'Did not Madame Legros obtain the release of Latude? Why, then, should I despair?'

'Madame Legros had a hard time of it. She worked for three years, she left no stone unturned, she was a woman of indomitable will.'

'And why should not I—with my faith?'

'Faith in what? in the righteousness of your cause? More the reason that it should fail. Violence and injustice alone gain the day now.'

'Madeleine, I will see the king.'

'The king is nothing, he is in the hands of the queen.'

'Then I will see the queen.'

'The queen!' echoed Madeleine, with a shrug. 'If you are to prevail with her, you must interest her vanity, her ambition, her love of display, her passion for pleasure,—those are the only springs that will move her.'

'Madeleine, I am sure I could persuade her to obtain the release of Madame Berthier.'