Saphorin, in the even tide, with yards
a-cock-bill, and sails pendent in their picturesque drapery, contained a
party of gentle travellers who occupied the stern, and saw by the plumes
and robes that a female of condition was among them, he gave an order to
prepare the beacon-fire, and descended to the port, in order to be in
readiness to receive his friend. Here he found the bailiff, pacing the
public promenade, which is washed by the limpid water of the lake, with
the air of a man who had more on his mind than the daily cares of office.
Although the Baron de Blonay was a Vaudois, and looked upon all the
functionaries of his country's conquerors with a species of hereditary
dislike, he was by nature a man of mild and courteous qualities, and the
meeting was, as usual, friendly in the externals, and of seeming
cordiality. Great care was had by both to speak in the second person; on
the part of the Vaudois, that it might be seen he valued himself as, at
least, the equal of the representative of Berne, and, on that of the
bailiff, in order to show that his office made him as good as the head of
the oldest house in all that region.
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