Cameron of Lochiel
and said, with scrupulous politeness:
"Let us leave to each man's own conscience the remembrance of past
wrongs. You are here, Captain de Lochiel, and as the bearer of letters
from my son you are entitled to every welcome on my part. The family
will be glad to see you. You will receive at my house--a cordial
hospitality." He was going to say bitterly a princely hospitality, but
the reproach died upon his lips. The lion was as yet but half appeased.
Archie instinctively put out his hand to grasp that of his old friend;
but Captain D'Haberville responded with a visible effort, and his hand
lay passive in the young man's clasp.
A sigh burst from Archie's lips, and for a time he seemed uncertain
what to do. At length he said sorrowfully:
"Captain D'Haberville can refuse to forgive him whom once he loved and
overwhelmed with benefits, but he has too noble a soul to wantonly
inflict a punishment too great to be endured. To see again the places
which will recall such poignant memories will be trial enough in
itself, without meeting there the cold welcome which hospitality
extends to the stranger. Farewell, Captain D'Haberville; farewell
forever to him whom I once called my father, if he will no longer
regard me as a son. I call Heaven to witness that every hour has
been embittered with remorse since the fatal day when my duty as a
soldier under orders forced me to enact a barbarism at which my very
soul sickened. I swear to you that a great weight has lain ceaselessly
upon my heart, through the hours of excitement on the battle-field, of
gayety at ball and festival, not less than through the silence of the
long and weary nights. Farewell forever, for I perceive that you have
refused to hear from the lips of the good superior the story of my pain
and my despair. Farewell for the last time, and, since all intercourse
must cease between us, tell me, oh, tell me, I implore you, that some
measure of peace and happiness has been restored to your family! Oh,
tell me that you are not continually miserable! Nothing remains for me
but to pray God on my knees that he will shed his best blessings on a
family which I so deeply love! To offer to repair with my own fortune
the losses which I caused would be an insult to a D'Haberville."
Though M. D'Haberville had refused to listen to his sister, he had
none the less been impressed by the recital of M. de Saint-Luc, and by
Archie's devotion in offering to sacrifice his fortune and his future
to a sentiment of gratitude. Hence the degree of welcome with which he
had received him. Otherwise, it is probable he would have turned his
back upon him.
The suggestion of pecuniary compensation made M. D'Haberville start as
if he had been touched with a red-hot iron; but this passing emotion
was forgotten in the conflict of his feelings. He clasped his breast
with both hands, as if he would tear out the bitterness which, in spite
of him, clung to his heart. Making Lochiel a sign to remain where he
was, he strode rapidly down the shore; then he came back slowly and
thoughtfully, and said:
"I have done my utmost, Archie, to banish the last of my bitterness;
but you know me, and you know it will be a work of time to blot it
completely from my remembrance. All that I can say is that my heart
forgives you. My sister the superior told me all. I listened to her,
after hearing of your good offices in interceding with the governor
on my behalf, of which I learned through my friend de Saint-Luc.
I concluded that he who was ready to sacrifice rank and fortune
for his friends could only have been acting by compulsion in those
circumstances to which I now allude for the last time. If you should
notice occasionally any coldness in my attitude toward yourself, please
pay no attention to it. Let us leave it all to time."
He pressed Lochiel's hand cordially. The lion was appeased.
"As it is probable," said M. D'Haberville, "that the calm is going to
continue, send back your sailors after they have had something to eat;
and if by chance a favorable wind should arise, my good nag Lubine will
carry you to Quebec in six hours--that is, if your business prevents
your staying with us so long as we would wish. This will be convenient
for you, will it not?"
With these words, he passed his arm under that of Archie and they
walked together toward the house.
"Now, Archie," said the captain, "how does it happen that you bring
letters and good news from my son?"
"I left Jules in Paris seven weeks ago," answered Archie, "after having
stayed a month with him at the house of his uncle M. de Germain, who
did not wish me to be separated from my friend during my stay in
France; but it will be pleasanter for you to learn all from his own
hand, so permit me to say no more."
If it saddened Lochiel to see what one would have called before the
conquest the D'Haberville village replaced by three or four poor
cottages, nevertheless, he had an agreeable surprise in the prosperous
appearance of the manor. These buildings, new and freshly white-washed,
this garden gay with flowers, these two orchards laden with fine fruit,
the harvesters returning from the meadows with fragrant loads of
hay--all this tended to dissipate the impression of gloom that had at
first almost overwhelmed him. With the exception of a sofa and a dozen
arm-chairs of mahogany, and a few other small articles of furniture
snatched from the flames, everything was of extreme simplicity within
the new dwelling. All the furniture was in plain wood. The walls were
guiltless of pictures, as the floors of carpets. The family portraits,
which had been the pride of the D'Habervilles, no longer occupied
their places in the dining-room; the only ornaments of the new rooms
were some fir-boughs standing in the corners and a generous supply
of flowers in baskets made by the natives. This absence of costly
adornment, however, was not without its charm. One breathed deeply in
that atmosphere, wholesome with the fragrance of fir-boughs, flowers,
and new wood. There was everywhere a flavor of freshness, which made it
hard to regret the absence of more costly appointments.
All the family, having seen M. D'Haberville in the distance accompanied
by a stranger, had gathered in the drawing-room to receive him. Not
having seen Archie for ten years, nobody but Blanche recognized him.
The girl grew pale at the sight of the friend whom she had never
thought to see again; but recovering herself promptly, as women will to
conceal their strongest feelings, like the other two ladies she made
the deep courtesy which she would have bestowed upon a stranger. As for
Uncle Raoul, he bowed with chilly politeness. He had little love for
the English, and ever since the conquest he had been cursing them with
an eloquence not edifying to pious ears.
"May I be roasted by an Iroquois," exclaimed the captain, addressing
Archie, "if a single one of us knew you. Come, look at this gentleman;
ten years ought not to have blotted him from your memory. As for me, I
knew him at once. Speak, Blanche, you being the youngest should have
better eyes than the rest."
"I think," said Blanche in a low voice, "that it is M. de Lochiel."
"Yes," said M. D'Haberville, "it is Archie, who has seen Jules very
lately in Paris. He brings us letters from him, full of good news. What
are you doing, Archie, that you do not embrace your old friends?"
The family, ignorant of the change in the captain's feelings, were only
awaiting his consent to give Archie a welcome whose warmth brought
tears into his eyes.
The last letter from Jules contained the following passage:
"I have been taking the waters of Baréges for my wounds, and though I
am still weak, I am getting well rapidly. The doctors say that I must
have rest, and that it will be long before I am able to take the field
again. I have obtained an unlimited furlough. Our relative the minister
and all my friends counsel me to leave the army and return to Canada,
the new country of all my family. They advise me to establish myself
there, after taking the oath of allegiance to the English crown; but
I will do nothing without consulting you. My brother Archie, who has
influential friends in England, has sent me a letter of recommendation
from one high in authority to your governor, Sir Guy Carleton, who,
they say, shows great consideration for the Canadian nobility. If
on your advice I decide to remain in Canada, I shall hope to be of
some use to my poor fellow-countrymen. God willing, I shall have the
pleasure of embracing you all again toward the end of September next.
Oh, what happiness, after so long a separation!"
In a postscript Jules added:
"I was forgetting to tell you that I have been presented to the King,
who received me most kindly. He even praised me for what he was pleased
to call my noble conduct, and made me a Knight of the Grand Cross of
the Most Honorable Order of St. Louis. I know not to what pleasantry
I owe this favor, which every Frenchman who carried a sword has as
much deserved as I. I could name ten officers in my own division who
should have been decorated in my place. It is true that I have had the
precious advantage of getting carved up like a fool in every battle.
Truly it is a pity that there was not an order for fools; then I should
have fairly won the distinction which his Most Christian Majesty has
just bestowed upon me. I hope, however, that this act will not shut
the gates of paradise against him, and that St. Peter will find some
other little peccadilloes to object to. Otherwise, I should be greatly
concerned."
Lochiel could scarcely keep from laughing at the words "Most Christian
Majesty." He could see the mocking smile with which his friend would
write the phrase.
"Always the same," exclaimed M. D'Haberville.
"And thinking only of others!" exclaimed the rest, with one voice.
"I will wager my head to a shilling," said Archie, "that he would
rather have seen the honor bestowed upon one of his friends."
"What a son!" exclaimed the mother.
"What a brother!" added Blanche.
"You may well say what a brother," exclaimed Archie fervently.
"And what a nephew have I trained up!" cried Uncle Raoul, making passes
in the air with his cane, as if it were a saber and he on horseback.
"There is a prince who can distinguish merit, and who knows how to
reward it. His Majesty of France shows great discernment. He knows
that with a hundred officers like Jules he could resume the offensive,
overrun Europe with triumphant armies, overleap the Detroit like
another William, crush proud Albion, and reconquer the colonies!"
Again Uncle Raoul carved the air in every direction with his cane, to
the imminent peril of the eyes, noses, and chins of the rest of the
company. Then the chevalier looked about him proudly, and, with the
aid of his cane, he dragged himself to an arm-chair, to repose after
the laurels he had won for the King of France by the help of a hundred
officers like his nephew.
The letters from Jules, and Archie's coming, made that day one of
feverish delight at D'Haberville Manor; and Archie was pursued with
incessant questions about Jules, about their friends in France,
about the Faubourg St. Germain, about the court, and about his own
adventures. Archie wished then to see the servants. In the kitchen,
getting dinner, he found the mulatto woman Lisette, who threw herself
upon his neck as she used to do when he came home for his holidays with
Jules. Her voice was choked with sobs of delight.
This woman, whom Captain D'Haberville had bought when she was only
four years old, had some failings, but she was deeply attached to the
family. She stood in awe of no one but the master. Her mistress she
regarded as a sort of new comer, whom she obeyed or not according to
her whim.