"I am not surprised at thy question, Herr Chatelain, for nothing comes
quicker to the minds of the honored and happy than the thought of
resenting an evil turn. It is not so with the despised. Revenge would be
an idle remedy for us. Would it raise us in men's esteem? should we forget
our own degraded condition? should we be a whit nearer respect after the
deed was done than we were before?"
"This may be true, but the angered do not reason. Thou art not suspected,
Marguerite, except as having heard the truth from thy husband since the
deed has been committed, but thine own discernment will show that naught
is more probable than that a hot contention about the past may have led
Balthazar, who is accustomed to see blood, into the commission of this
act?"
"Here is thy boasted justice! Thine own laws are brought in support of
thine own oppression. Didst thou know how much pains his father had in
teaching Balthazar to strike, how many long and anxious visits were paid
between his parent and mine in order to bring up the youth in the way of
his dreadful calling, thou wouldst not think him so apt! God unfitted him
for his office, as he has unfitted many of higher and different
pretensions for duties that have been cast upon them in virtue of their
birthrights.
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