"
"But I do--but I do," said the old woman. "Had he only lived to call you
his wife, there would have been. honour in that--there would have been
real glory in that. People would then not have dared to say that after
all Cathelineau was only a postillion."
"Do not regard what people say. Had a Princess given him her hand, his
fame could not be brighter than it was. There was no thought of marriage
between us, since we first knew each other. There has been no time for
such thoughts; but his memory to me is that of a dear--dear friend."
From the time when Cathelineau first went to Durbelliere, after the
battle of St. Florent, his mother had expressed the greatest dislike at
his attempting to associate with those who were so much above himself
in rank; with those who would, as she said, use him and scorn him. She
had affected to feel, or perhaps really felt, a horror of the insolence
of the great, and had quarrelled with her son for throwing himself among
them. This feeling, however, arose, not from contempt, but from
admiration and envy.
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