m in England, that would have been one way. Paris
would have been troublesome, we might have had again the days of
the Fronde, but in the end the king's party would have won.

"However, that was not the way tried. They began by concessions,
they go on with concessions, and each concession is made the ground
for more. It is like sliding down a hill; when you have once begun
you cannot stop yourself, and you go on until there is a crash;
then it may be you pick yourself up sorely wounded and bruised,
and begin to reclimb the hill slowly and painfully; it may be that
you are dashed to pieces. I am not a politician. I do not care much
for the life of Paris, and am well content to live quietly here on
our estates; but even I can see that a storm is gathering; and as
for my brother Auguste, he goes about shaking his head and wringing
his hands, his anticipations are of the darkest. What can one
expect when fellows like Voltaire and Rousseau were permitted by
their poisonous preaching to corrupt and inflame the imagination
of the people? Both those men's heads should have been cut off the
instant they began to write.

"The scribblers are at the root of all the trouble with their
pestilent doctrines; but it is too late now, the mischief is done.
If we had a king strong and determined all might yet be well; but
Louis is weak in decision, he listens one moment to Mirabeau and the
next to the queen, who is more firm and courageous. And so things
drift on from bad to worse, and the Assembly, backed by the turbulent
scum of Paris, are masters of the situation."

For some time Harry lived a quiet life at the chateau. He found
his position a very pleasant one. The orders of the marquis that
he should be treated as one of the family were obeyed, and there
was no distinction made between himself and Ernest. In the morning
the two boys and himself worked with the abbe, a quiet and gentle
old man; in the afternoon they rode and fenced, under the instructions
of M. du Tillet or one or other of the gentlemen of the marquis
establishment; and on holidays shot or fished as they chose on
the preserves or streams of the estate. For an hour each morning
the two younger girls shared in their studies, learning Latin and
history with their brothers. Harry got on very well with Ernest,
but there was no real cordiality between them. The hauteur and
insolence with which the young count treated his inferiors were a
constant source of exasperation