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There was no waiting till father and mother could choose where to meet their children. The lads followed the messenger into the salon, crowded as it was with strangers. L'Ouverture's voice was the first heard, after the sudden hush. "Now, Heaven bless Bonaparte for this!" he cried, "and make him a happy father!" "Hear him, O God! and bless Bonaparte!" sobbed Margot.
Remember, my brothers have been invited to his table." "There are blacks in Paris, who look on," replied Moyse, drily. "And are there not whites too, from this island, who watch every movement?" "Yes: and those whites are in the private closet, at the very ear of Bonaparte, whispering to him of L'Ouverture's ambition; while your brothers penetrate no further than the saloon."
Amidst these triumphs, Juste was almost satisfied not to be at the Plateau. Perhaps the heaviest heart among all that household, scarcely excepting Genifrede's, was Madame L'Ouverture's; and yet her chief companionship, strangely enough, was with the one who carried the lightest Euphrosyne.
It frightened him to think how soon the cellar might be emptied, if they went on at this rate. Old Dessalines was glad he had come to Pongaudin to-day. He had not only seen L'Ouverture, but had heard from L'Ouverture's own lips that General Dessalines' cellars should never be quite empty while there was wine at Pongaudin.
Voices of lamentation and of passion were heard in the corridor, which quickened L'Ouverture's movements more than threats or insults could have done. He left the library, and found the ladies of the household in the corridor Margot weeping and trembling, and Genifrede addressing Monsieur Coasson in a tone of high anger. "You here!
She was glad that the agent was engaged in a deep discussion with his employer when the carriage came round; so that she was able to make one more short circuit in the twilight while they were settling their point. The gentlemen were talking over the two late proclamations L'Ouverture's and Hedouville's.
Toussaint's family were alarmed at finding his steps tracked, and his repose watched. They heard incessantly of his path being crossed in his rides; and they knew that many of the trifling messages which were brought, at all hours of the day and night, to be delivered into L'Ouverture's own ear, were mere devices to learn whether he was at home.
That one was to L'Ouverture's aide, Fontaine, at Cap Francais. It contained the following: "It is said that General Leclerc is in a bad state of health at Tortuga. Of this you will inform me. If you see the Captain-General, be sure to tell him that the cultivators are no longer disposed to obey me, for the planters wish to set them to work at Hericourt; which they certainly ought not to do.
When all goes well, as all has done, under L'Ouverture's rule, with only a few occasional troubles fewer and slighter than might have been expected during such a change in society as we have witnessed when all goes well, Madame Oge feels that her sons are forgotten; and, as my daughter Benoite says, she mourns them alone in the shades of her coffee-groves.
"Oh, ay! That is your policy, is it?" "That is L'Ouverture's policy. Tell it everywhere. He is the best friend of the blacks who best makes it known." The explanation passed from mouth to mouth; and the new proclamation, signed by Toussaint and Hedouville, from hand to hand.
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