Thereupon they touched my glass, in order, each with a prettily turned wish for my good fortunes, and I tasted the sweet wine of Frontignan in return to the toast they drank together. No wishes could have been more welcome, and the little friendly ceremony meant much to me; indeed my heart was very full when M. de Montcalm bent over and kissed my hand as he helped me into the shallop and we pulled off into the dusk. Did I need anything further to set my uneasy mind at rest, I found it in the quiet words of Lucy when I told her of the outcome of my visit. "Oh, my dear mistress," she exclaimed, in a voice full of feeling, "He hath made our path straight to our feet!" CHAPTER XVI AT BEAULIEU Gabriel altered his course with the satisfaction of a man confirmed in his superior judgment. "'II y a remede a tout, fors a la mort,' madame, and this has come at the last hour," he cried, in great satisfaction. "I suppose le pere Jean would say you were going to Louisbourg all the time, only it would look to an ordinary sinner like a precious long way round," and he chuckled at his jest as he bustled about, filling every one with somewhat of his brimming content. Favoured by the tide and a strong wind, we made a good run during the night, and when we awoke we were again coasting along the peaceful reaches of the South Shore with its frequent settlements and clearings--a pleasant change after the wilderness of the North. Early in the afternoon, Gabriel pointed to a long point stretching out into the river. "That is the Beacon Point of Beaulieu, madame. A beacon is piled there, ready for firing, winter and summer. The entrance to the river is just on this side, and on the other is the great bay where the porpoise fishery takes place. The manor cannot be seen from the river; it is safe and snug from the storms, a little inland." Before long we entered the mouth of the little river, to the right of which stretched a broad expanse of tidal meadow, dotted with small platforms, each supporting its load of coarse salt hay, safe above the reach of the highest tides; to the left was the dense pine wood covering the Beacon Point. Fields and woods wore the sombre colours, the browns and purples of autumn, though here and there a sturdy maple still hung out its banner of yellow or red, lighting up the dark greens of the unchanging pines. As we advanced, the windings of the river disclosed stretches of bare meadow and empty fields, for the harvest had long been gathered. The whole was set in a background of low, purple hills. But soon we caught a new interest, as a windmill, and then a long wooden house, having a high-pitched roof, broken by a row of pointed dormer-windows, with a detached tower at each end, came into view.