As they reached the street, René said, "How just he is, and how clear!"
"Yes. A slowly acting mind, but sure—and in battle, in danger, swift, decisive, and reckless of peril. Are you satisfied?"
"Yes, I am. I shall be, even though this matter is never cleared up."
"It will be. He said so, and I have long since learned to trust his foresight. In all my long experience of the man, I have scarcely ever heard him speak at such length. You may live to see many men in high places; you will never see a greater than George Washington. I know him as few know him."
He was silent for a moment, and then added, "When I was young and hasty, and thought more of Alexander Hamilton than I do to-day, he forgave me an outburst of youthful impertinence which would have made a vainer man desire to see no more of me." De Courval, a less quick-tempered character, wondered that any one should have taken a liberty with the man they had just left.
"But now I must leave you," said Hamilton. "If Schmidt returns, he will land in New York, and I shall come hither with him. Have you seen the new paper, the 'Aurora'? Mr. Bache has taken up the task Freneau dropped—of abusing the President."
"No, I have not seen it. I suppose now it is the English treaty. It will interest me no longer."
"Oh, for a time, for a time. Between us, the President has sent it to the Senate. It will leak out. He will sign it with a reservation as concerns the English claim to seize provisions meant for French ports. Do not speak of it. Randolph is striving to strengthen the President's scruples with regard to a not altogether satisfactory treaty, but, on the whole, the best we can get. It will be signed and will be of great service. Keep this to yourself, and good-by. Randolph is too French for me. I may have said to you once that if we had a navy, it is not peace that the President would desire."
De Courval hastened home to pour into the ear of Margaret so much of his interview as he felt free to speak of.
"My mother," she said, "would speak to thee of me, René." But he asked that she would wait, and his sense of satisfaction soon gave place, as was natural, to a return of depression, which for a time left him only when in the company of Margaret. Her mother, usually so calm, did most uneasily wait while the days went by, but made no effort to interfere with the lovers.