Pagina 415 di 896

"I tell thee," said madame, extending her right hand, for

emphasis, "that although it is a long time on the road, it is on

the road and coming. I tell thee it never retreats, and never

stops. I tell thee it is always advancing. Look around and

consider the lives of all the world that we know, consider the

faces of all the world that we know, consider the rage and

discontent to which the Jacquerie addresses itself with more and

more of certainty every hour. Can such things last? Bah! I mock

you."

"My brave wife," returned Defarge, standing before her with his

head a little bent, and his hands clasped at his back, like a

docile and attentive pupil before his catechist, "I do not

question all this. But it has lasted a long time, and it is

possible--you know well, my wife, it is possible--that it may not

come, during our lives."

"Eh well! How then?" demanded madame, tying another knot, as if

there were another enemy strangled.