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Unfortunately, however, he was himself sorely pressed, by several columns of the enemy, and was with difficulty holding his own. The great opportunity was therefore lost, never to return. The castle of Saumur was still in the hands of the Blues.
You shall find that I am a man; at any rate, you shall not again have to tell me that I am despicable," and he curled his upper lip, and showed his teeth in a very ferocious manner. "You shall never repeat that word in regard to Adolphe Denot. Should kind fortune favour my now dearest wish, you will soon hear that my bones are whitening under the walls of Saumur.
This success left it open to the Vendeans either to march against Leigonyer the remnant of whose army was in a state of insubordination at Doug, and could have offered no opposition, but must have retreated to Saumur or to clear the country south and west.
I will carry the cross before them from the porch of the little church which shall once more be my own, till I plant it on the citadel of Saumur beside the standard of the King." "Oh! if we had a few more Father Jeromes!" said Henri. "There might perhaps be more soldiers in La Vendee than at present; but perhaps also there would be fewer Christians," said the priest.
Many of the peasants had started from Saumur, before their party, and the whole road from that town through Dou and Vihiers to Durbelliere, was thronged with crowds of these successful warriors, returning to their families, anxious to tell to their wives and sweethearts the feats they had accomplished.
There is an order extant, from the Bishop of Auxerre, who died in 840, for some "carpets for his church." In 890 the monks of Saumur were manufacturing tapestries. Beautiful textiles had been used to ornament the Church of St. Denis as early as 630, but there is no proof that these were actually tapestries.
About four o'clock the army was on the move from Montreuil, and by eight they were again in front of the camp at Varin; the portion of the road which they had passed in such confusion the night but one before, and where they had left their cannon and their waggons, was now stripped of all signs of the encampment, which had been made there, nothing but the deep ruts, made by the cannon wheels, were to be seen; everything which they had brought with them, the trophies of all their victories, the white flags which the ladies of La Vende had worked for them; the provisions, the wine and meat, which the kindness of their landlords had sent with them, were all gone were in the hands of the republicans; these reflections served to rouse the anger of the peasants, and made them determined to get back what they had lost, though they pulled down the walls of Saumur with their nails.
Others replied that Monsieur and Madame des Grassins were nobles, and exceedingly rich; that Adolphe was a personable young fellow; and that unless the old man had a nephew of the pope at his beck and call, such a suitable alliance ought to satisfy a man who came from nothing, a man whom Saumur remembered with an adze in his hand, and who had, moreover, worn the bonnet rouge.
Well, as soon as he came in they all went to work talking, and settling how Fontenay was to be attacked, for though its a little place, and not walled and fortified like Saumur, we had a deal of trouble with it; but before a word was spoken, M. d'Elbee stood up and said, 'Brethren, said he, 'let us ask the assistance of our Saviour: so down they went on their knees, and he said an awful long prayer, for all the world like a priest.
"Come, my bald pates, come my knights of the ruddy scalp," said Jacques, standing at the corner of the bridge as they passed over, "away with you to the Convention; and if your friends like your appearance, send them to Saumur, and they shall be shaved close, and the barber shall ask for no fee; but remember, if you return again yourselves, your ears will be the next sacrifice you will be called on to make for your country."
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