The prejudices of Christian lands, which attribute blame to the
wife who does not yield herself a living sacrifice to a life of
desolation from a false regard to her husband's memory, are, if not so
horrid, every whit as unreasonable; such a sentiment is an attempt to
counteract God's beneficence, who cures the wounds which he inflicts."
Henri's first care, after having seen Marie and Madame de Lescure, was
to provide for their transit, and that of his wounded friend, to the
other side of the water; for he felt that if the blues came upon St.
Florent before that was done, nothing could prevent the three from being
made prisoners. No tidings had yet been received of the advance of the
republicans from Cholet towards St. Florent, and the precautions which
Henri had taken were such as to ensure him some few hours' notice of
their approach. He knew, however, that those hours would be hours of
boundless confusion; that the whole crowd of unfortunate wretches who
might then still be on the southern side of the river, would crowd into
the small boats, hurrying themselves and each other to destruction; that
discipline would be at an end, and that all his authority would probably
be insufficient to secure a passage for his party.
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