M. de Gartlauben nodded his head with an air of profundity, and made answer: 

“What can you expect?  It is the fortune of war, the fortune of war.”

To Henriette, seated in her window seat, her ears ringing, and vague, sad images of every sort fleeting through her brain, the time seemed to pass with mortal slowness, while Delaherche asserted on his word of honor that Sedan could never have weathered the crisis produced by the exportation of all their specie had it not been for the wisdom of the local magnates in emitting an issue of paper money, a step that had saved the city from financial ruin.

“Captain, will you have just a drop of cognac more?” and he skipped to another topic.  “It was not France that started the war; it was the Emperor.  Ah, I was greatly deceived in the Emperor.  He need never expect to sit on the throne again; we would see the country dismembered first.  Look here! there was just one man in this country last July who saw things as they were, and that was M. Thiers; and his action at the present time in visiting the different capitals of Europe is most wise and patriotic.  He has the best wishes of every good citizen; may he be successful!”

He expressed the conclusion of his idea by a gesture, for he would have considered it improper to speak of his desire for peace before a Prussian, no matter how friendly he might be, although the desire burned fiercely in his bosom, as it did in that of every member of the old conservative bourgeoisie who had favored the plebiscite.  Their men and money were exhausted, it was time for them to throw up the sponge; and a deep-seated feeling of hatred toward Paris, for the obstinacy with which it held out, prevailed in all the provinces that were in possession of the enemy.  He concluded in a lower tone, his allusion being to Gambetta’s inflammatory proclamations: 

“No, no, we cannot give our suffrages to fools and madmen.  The course they advocate would end in general massacre.  I, for my part, am for M. Thiers, who would submit the questions at issue to the popular vote, and as for their Republic, great heavens! let them have it if they want it, while waiting for something better; it don’t trouble me in the slightest.”

Captain de Gartlauben continued to nod his head very politely with an approving air, murmuring: 

“To be sure, to be sure—­”

Henriette, whose feeling of distress had been increasing, could stand their talk no longer.  She could assign no definite reason for the sensation of inquietude that possessed her; it was only a longing to get away, and she rose and left the room quietly in quest of Gilberte, whose absence had been so long protracted.  On entering the bedroom, however, she was greatly surprised to find her friend stretched on the lounge, weeping bitterly and manifestly suffering from some extremely painful emotion.

“Why, what is the matter?  What has happened you?”