There was a flagrant token of the military force under which civil freedom was held in the very dress of the Emperor and his insignificant son: the first in the uniform of a General of Division; the second, forsooth, in that of a _sous-lieutenant_. The other liberal chiefs chimed in: "The army," said one, "was an absurd expense; it must be put down:" "The world was grown too civilised for war," said another: "The Empress was priest-ridden," said a third: "Churches might be tolerated; Voltaire built a church, but a church simply to the God of Nature, not of priestcraft,"--and so on. Isaura, whom any sneer at religion pained and revolted, here turned away from the orators to whom she bad before been listening with earnest attention, and her eyes fell on the countenance of De Mauleon, who was seated opposite. The countenance startled her, its expression was so angrily scornful; that expression, however, vanished at once as De Mauleon's eyes met her own, and drawing his chair near to her, he said, smiling: "Your look tells me that I almost frightened you by the ill-bred frankness with which my face must have betrayed my anger, at hearing such imbecile twaddle from men who aspire to govern our turbulent France. You remember that after Lisbon was destroyed by an earthquake a quack advertised 'pills against earthquakes.' These _messieurs_ are not so cunning as the quack; he did not name the ingredients of his pills." "But, M. de Mauleon," said Isaura, "if you, being opposed to the Empire, think so ill of the wisdom of those who would destroy it, are you prepared with remedies for earthquakes more efficacious than their pills?" "I reply as a famous English statesman, when in opposition, replied to a somewhat similar question,--'I don't prescribe till I'm called in.'" "To judge by the seven millions and a half whose votes were announced on Saturday, and by the enthusiasm with which the Emperor was greeted, there is too little fear of an earthquake for a good trade of the pills of these _messieurs_, or for fair play to the remedies you will not disclose till called in." "Ah, Mademoiselle! playful wit from lips not formed for politics makes me forget all about emperors and earthquakes. Pardon that commonplace compliment--remember I am a Frenchman, and cannot help being frivolous." "You rebuke my presumption too gently. True, I ought not to intrude political subjects on one like you--I understand so little about them-- but this is my excuse, I do so desire to know more." M. de Mauleon paused, and looked at her earnestly with a kindly, half compassionate look, wholly free from the impertinence of gallantry. "Young poetess," he said, softly, "you care for politics. Happy, indeed, is he--and whether he succeed or fail in his ambition abroad, proud should he be of an ambition crowned at home--he who has made you desire to know more of politics!"