To-day the party is reported as having been
surprised and massacred to a man--to-morrow there has been a great
fight, many killed, the result in doubt--next day the British are
defeated, and so on. The volatile spirit of the Creoles fairly
surpassed itself in ringing the changes on stirring rumors.
Alice scarcely left the house during the whole period of
excitement and suspense. Like a wounded bird, she withdrew herself
from the light and noisy chatter of her friends, seeking only
solitude and crepuscular nooks in which to suffer silently. Jean
brought her every picturesque bit of the ghastly gossip, thus
heaping coals on the fire of her torture. But she did not grow
pale and thin. Not a dimple fled from cheek or chin, not a ray of
saucy sweetness vanished from her eyes. Her riant health was
unalterable. Indeed, the only change in her was a sudden ripening
and mellowing of her beauty, by which its colors, its lines, its
subtle undercurrents of expression were spiritualized, as if by
some powerful clarifying process.
Tremendous is the effect of a soul surprised by passion and
brought hard up against an opposing force which dashes it back
upon itself with a flare and explosion of self-revealment. Nor
shall we ever be able to foretell just how small a circumstance,
just how slight an exigency, will suffice to bring on the great
change.
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