"I will take her with me," said she in a low tone to her governess, "and then tell everything to Ragaud; our family never keeps a secret from this old servant."
When mademoiselle had withdrawn, under the pretext of showing some new article of the toilet to Jeannette, Dame Berthe carefully closed the door, and approached Ragaud.
"Can I rely on your devotion?" she asked in such a solemn manner Ragaud could only bow his head in assent. "And even on your life?" continued Dame Berthe with a still more serious air.
"If I must give it in exchange for that of my master, yes, certainly," replied the faithful old fellow without any hesitation.
"Very well. Sit down, Ragaud; you are going to learn a secret—the greatest secret a Christian can keep."
Ragaud sat down, rather astonished, his heart beating in spite of himself. However, strictly speaking, the words of Dame Berthe appeared a little exaggerated, and he felt so without being able to account for it, except from his own good sense.
"Master Ragaud," said the governess, who was a devoted reader of newspapers, and had learned to talk in their style, "great events are preparing, and, before long, the face of the world will be changed."
"Ah!" said Ragaud. "Excuse me, my good lady, but the face of the world, ... I don't know what that means."
"When I speak of the world," resumed Dame Berthe, "I mean France—France—Ragaud, our country."
"Now I understand better; yes, I know that France is our country. Well, then, what is going to be changed in France?"