He knew how the whole of her life was now bound up with the
fortunes of her son, and he longed to send Faith with the bad news, as
he had sent her with the good before; but he feared that it might seem
unkind. So he went himself, with the hope of putting the best complexion
upon it, yet fully expecting sad distress, and perhaps a burst of
weeping. But the lady received his tidings in a manner that surprised
him. At first she indulged in a tear or two, but they only introduced a
smile.
"In some ways it is a sad thing," she said, "and will be a terrible blow
to him, just when he was rising so fast in the service. But we must not
rebel more than we can help, against the will of the Lord, Sir Charles."
"How philosophical, and how commonplace!" thought the Admiral; but he
only bowed, and paid her some compliment upon her common-sense.
"Perhaps you scarcely understand my views, and perhaps I am wrong in
having them," Lady Scudamore continued, quietly. "My son's advancement
is very dear to me, and this will of course retard it. But I care most
of all for his life, and now that will be safe for a long while. They
never kill their prisoners, do they?"
"No, ma'am, no. They behave very well to them; better, I'm afraid, than
we do to ours. They treat them quite as guests, when they fall into good
hands. Though Napoleon himself is not too mild in that way."
"My son has fallen into very good hands, as you yourself assure me--that
Captain Desportes, a gallant officer and kind gentleman, as I know from
your daughter's description.
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