Gre.``It has not been used for many years.You are to be carried in it to the levee, and there I have a boat for you.''
Overwhelmed by this kindness, I could not find words to thank him as I got into the chair.My legs were too long for it, I remember.I had a quaint feeling of unreality as I sank back on the red satin cushions and was borne out of the gate between the lions.Monsieur de St.Gre and Nick walked in front, the faithful Lindy followed, and people paused to stare at us as we passed.We crossed the Place d'Armes, the Royal Road, gained the willow-bordered promenade on the levee's crown, and a wide barge was waiting, manned by six negro oarsmen.They lifted me into its stern under the awning, the barge was cast off, the oars dipped, and we were gliding silently past the line of keel boats on the swift current of the Mississippi.
The spars of the shipping were inky black, and the setting sun had struck a red band across the waters.For a while the three of us sat gazing at the green shore, each wrapped in his own reflections,--Philippe de St.Gre thinking, perchance, of the wayward son he had lost; Nick of the woman who awaited him; and I of one whom fate had set beyond me.It was Monsieur de St.Gre who broke the silence at last.
``You feel no ill effects from your moving, David?''
he asked, with an anxious glance at me.
``None, sir,'' I said.
``The country air will do you good,'' he said kindly.
``And Madame la Vicomtesse will put him on a diet,''
added Nick, rousing himself.
``Helene will take care of him,'' answered Monsieur de St.Gre.
He fell to musing again.``Madame la Vicomtesse has seen more in seven years than most of us see in a lifetime,''
he said.``She has beheld the glory of France, and the dishonor and pollution of her country.Had the old order lasted her salon would have been famous, and she would have been a power in politics.''
``I have thought that the Vicomtesse must have had a queer marriage,'' Nick remarked.
Monsieur de St.Gre smiled.
``Such marriages were the rule amongst our nobility,''
he said.``It was arranged while Helene was still in the convent, though it was not celebrated until three years after she had been in the world.There was a romantic affair, I believe, with a young gentleman of the English embassy, though I do not know the details.He is said to be the only man she ever cared for.He was a younger son of an impoverished earl.''
I started, remembering what the Vicomtesse had said.
But Monsieur de St.Gre did not appear to see my perturbation.
