“Madame, I cannot doubt that even a Canadian will act as other men, if he have a pistol at the back of his head. No, no, madame; believe me, the river is our danger, and I would that M. de Vaudreuil might see it as I do.”
“M. de Vaudreuil is a God-fearing man, monsieur.”
“So much the better for him, madame; but, unfortunately, I am responsible for military matters,” he answered, with a bitterness which made me most uncomfortable.
He saw my distress and added, quickly: “But such affairs should not be discussed before ladies; I forget myself. Mme. de Sarennes, I have every respect for your opinion, and it is only my anxiety for our common cause which urges me to exaggerate what may after all be merely possible dangers.”
“Now, Mme. de St. Just, to return to our society. We are dull now, and shall be until the last ships leave; but we will have balls and routs later on, and perhaps may even offer you a novelty in the shape of a winter pique-nique, a fête champêtre in four feet of snow.”
“That, I am sure, must be delightful,” I answered, pleased that the conversation had taken a different turn; “but I am afraid I have little interest in amusement as yet.”
“We have cards, madame, if you are ever tempted to woo the fickle goddess.”
“M. de Montcalm,” asked Mme. de Sarennes, in her severest manner, “do you intend to put an end to scandalous play this winter?”
“Eh, mon Dieu, madame! I must do something, I suppose. It is indeed a scandal that officers should ruin themselves, and I assure you I have had many a bad quarter of an hour over it. It cannot be forbidden altogether, for they must amuse themselves in some manner.”
“They exist without it in Montreal.”