Yet"-- the old man smiled, as though at some distant and pleasing prospect "the cause is a great one; it is great.

Ah, madame, dear madame"-- he got to his feet and stepped into the middle of the floor--"he has the true Napoleonic spirit.

He loves it all.

At the very first, it seemed as if he were going to be a little ridiculous; now it is as if there was but one thing for him--love of France and loyalty to the cause.

Ah, think of the glories of the Empire! of France as the light of Europe, of Napoleon making her rich and proud and dominant! And think of her now, sinking into the wallow of bourgeois vulgarity! If--if, as His Excellency said, the light were to come from here, even from this far corner of the world, from this old France, to be the torch of freedom once again--from our little parish here!" His face was glowing, his thin hands made a quick gesture of charmed anticipation.
Madame Chalice looked at him in a sort of wonder and delight.