Why should it be so? It
was difficult to find an answer.
The Baron fought in the thick of the battle. He visited the Chamber of
Deputies, was present at meetings, and everywhere he listened to
passionate diatribes against society. He read papers and magazines,
kept a keen eye on literature, studied the subject deeply. His wife
was threatened by the same fate which had overtaken the first one; to
be left behind! It was strange. She seemed unable to take in all the
details of his investigations, she disapproved of much of the new
doctrine, but she felt that he was right and fighting for a good
cause. He knew that he could always count on her never-flagging
sympathy; that he had a friend at home who would always stand by him.
Their common fate drove them into each other's arms like frightened
birds at the approach of a storm. All the womanliness in her,--however
little it may be appreciated now-a-days,--which is after all nothing
but a memory of the great mother, the force of nature which is woman's
endowment, was roused. It fell on the children like the warm glow of a
fire at eventide; it fell on the husband like a ray of sunshine; it
brought peace to the home. He often wondered how it was that he did
not miss his old comrade, with whom he was wont to discuss everything;
he discovered that his thoughts had gained force and vigour since he
stopped pouring them out as soon as he conceived them; it seemed to
him that he was profiting more by the silent approval, the kindly nod,
the unwavering sympathy.
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