Thus accoutred he continued to retreat, never doubting of his personal
escape but full of other misgivings. The early buoyancy of his belief
in the future was destroyed. If the road of glory led through such
unforeseen passages--he asked himself, for he was reflective, whether
the guide was altogether trustworthy. And a patriotic sadness not
unmingled with some personal concern, altogether unlike the unreasoning
indignation against men and things nursed by Colonel Feraud, oppressed
the equable spirits of Colonel D'Hubert. Recruiting his strength in a
little German town for three weeks, he was surprised to discover within
himself a love of repose. His returning vigour was strangely pacific in
its aspirations. He meditated silently upon that bizarre change of
mood. No doubt many of his brother officers of field rank had the same
personal experience. But these were not the times to talk of it. In one
of his letters home Colonel D'Hubert wrote: "All your plans, my dear
Leonie, of marrying me to the charming girl you have discovered in your
neighbourhood, seem farther off than ever. Peace is not yet. Europe
wants another lesson. It will be a hard task for us, but it will be done
well, because the emperor is invincible."
Thus wrote Colonel D'Hubert from Pomerania to his married sister Leonie,
settled in the south of France. And so far the sentiments expressed
would not have been disowned by Colonel Feraud who wrote no letters to
anybody; whose father had been in life an illiterate blacksmith; who had
no sister or brother, and whom no one desired ardently to pair off for a
life of peace with a charming young girl.
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