Part 6 (1/2)
She sighed a little. Did she want the child, she wondered. If Laurent could make a fortune here in this curious land where most of the population seemed barbarians.
She drew from a work-bag a purse she was knitting of silken thread, and worked as she watched the sleeping child. Once she rose, but the view from the window did not satisfy her, so she went out on the gallery. A French vessel was coming up into port, with its colors at half mast and its golden lilies shrouded with c.r.a.pe. Some important personage must be dead--was it the King?
She heard her husband's voice calling her and turned, took a few steps forward. ”Oh, what has happened?” she cried.
”The King! Our heroic Bearnese! For though we must always regret his change of religion, yet it was best for France and his rights. And a wretched miscreant stabbed him in his carriage, but he has paid the penalty. And the new King is but a child, so a woman will rule. There is no knowing what policies may be overturned.”
”Our brave King!” There were tears in her eyes.
”They are loading vessels to return. Ah, what a rich country, even if they cannot find the gold the Spaniards covet. Such an array of choice furs bewilders one, and to see them tossed about carelessly makes one almost scream with rage. Ah, my lady, you shall have in the winter what the Queen Mother would envy.”
”Then you mean to stay”--uncertainly.
”Yes, unless there should be great changes. I have not seen the Sieur since the news came. He was to go to Tadoussac the first of the week, and I had permission to go with him. One would think to-day that Quebec was one of the most flouris.h.i.+ng of towns, and it is hard to believe the contrary. But every soldier is on the watch. They trust no one. What have you been doing, _ma mie_?”
”Oh, I have something to show you. Come.”
She placed her finger to her lips in token of silence and led him back to the room she had left. The child was still sleep.
”What an angel,” he murmured. ”Is it--how did it come here? I thought you said the little girl was ill.”
”She was, and is. Doesn't she look like a marvellous statue? But no one seems to regard her beauty here.”
”She is too delicate.”
”But she was well and strong and daring, and could climb like a deer, M.
Destournier says. She will be well again with good care. I want to keep her.”
”She will be a good plaything for thee when I am away. Though this may change many plans. The Sieur is bent on discoveries, and now he has orders to print his book. The maps are wonderful. What a man! He should be a king in this new world. France does not understand the mighty empire he is founding for her.”
”Then you do not mind--if I keep the child? She has crept into the empty niche in my heart. I must have been directed by the saints when I felt the desire to go out. She would have died from exhaustion in the broiling sun.”
”Say the good Father, rather.”
”And yet we must adore the saints, the old patriarchs. Did not the disciples desire to build a memento to them?”
”They were not such men as have disgraced the holy calling by fire and sword and persecution. And if one can draw a free breath in this new land. The English with all their faults allow freedom in religion. It is these hated Jesuits. And I believe they are answerable for the murder of our heroic King.”
Wanamee summoned them to the midday repast. The plain walnut boards that formed the table had been polished until the beautiful grain and the many curvings were brought out like the shades of a painting. If the dishes were a motley array, a few pieces of silver and polished pewter with common earthenware and curious cups of carved wood as well as birch-bark platters, the viands were certainly appetizing.
”One will not starve in this new country,” he said.
”But it is the winter that tries one, M. Destournier says.”
”There must be plenty of game. And France sends many things. But a colony must have agricultural resources. And the Indian raids are so destructive. We need more soldiers.”
He was off again to plunge in the thick of business. It was supposed the fur company and the concessions ruled most of the bargain-making, but there were independent trappers who had not infrequently secured skins that were well-nigh priceless when they reached the hands of the Paris furrier. And toward night, when wine and whiskey had been pa.s.sed around rather freely, there were broils that led to more than one fatal ending.
Indian women thronged around as well, with curious handiwork made in their forest fastnesses.