46 THE STORY OF PAULINE.

Under the iron but wise grasp of
Napoleon the people learned to respect
themselves, and it was too late for the
Bourbons to attempt again to reign as
_ despotic sovereigns over a nation of serfs.

When Louis the Eighteenth was suc-
ceeded by the weak and obstinate Charles
the Tenth, the struggle between arbitrary
and real power soon came to a close.

Two years after my story begins,
Pauline and Marie were seated one
sultry July evening under the shade of
some chestnut trees.

“Miss Pauline,” said Marie, “does the
marquis ever speak to you of the things
that are coming, as my father does?”

“What things? I do not know what
you mean,” said Pauline.

“ My father says,” replied Marie, “that
another revolution is at hand, and that,
soon our poor little home will be a safer
place for you than this great castle.”