“And who, pray Monsieur, may this rival be?”

“The young man who rescued your daughter—­Thomas Scott.”

“Mon Dieu, I hope that it is not as you say, for I do not want my daughter, much as I am indebted to this young man, to give to him her affection.  If he be, as you say, a spy of Government and an enemy of our people, a marriage with him would be out of the question.”

“Bon, bon!  Monsieur.”  And M. Riel, in the exuberance of his loyalty, having succeeded in the vital point, grasped the hand of Marie’s father and shook and wrung it several times.

“Now, Monsieur, we agree on the main point.  I shall name the other conditions upon which we may be friends.  I have sworn to overcome your daughter’s repugnance to me.  Will you assist me in the direction of accomplishing this object?”

“Oui, Monsieur, by every fair means.”

“C’est bien.  By every fair means.  Only fair means will I ask you to employ.  I shall now tell you what I desire you to do.  You must keep Mademoiselle under your strictest surveillance.  She must not see Monsieur Scott, or communicate with him.  When his name is introduced into conversation, you must show that the subject is displeasing to you.  You will be asked why it is so, and you shall answer that you have indisputable proof, and such proof you may take my word to be, that the young man is not in sympathy with the cause of the Metis, and that he is actually a secret and paid agent of the Canadian Government.  That your course may seem more reasonable, and appear to be the outcome of your own inclination, you will on such occasions be able to say that you are under obligation to him for his readiness and gallantry—­always use these words—­when your daughter was in the brimming river; but that your gratitude can be only a, memory, since he has leagued himself against a cause so near to the heart, and so supremely in the interest, of every man and woman and child in the colony of Red River.  You must at the very first convenient moment, and without letting Marie perceive that I have prompted you to this step, inform her that she must banish from her mind at once any tender fancies regarding the young man which she may possess.  Point out to her that in any case it would be unwise in her to cherish feelings which very evidently are not reciprocated.  Lastly, you will have to teach her cautiously, and without the semblance of coercion, but constantly, to think of me.  You must show her how great is the promise which lies before me; how I am the leader of the people and ruler-predestined of all the land.  Nor must you forget to show her that if I have seemed rude in her presence, and given way to anger or bitterness, it was because of my all-consuming love for her, and that henceforth the great aim of my life, through all the turbulent deeds that this tumultous time may have in store for me, shall be to win her approbation, to hear at the close of the din, and when achievement shall have crowned me master, a ‘Brava, Monsieur’ from her sweet lips.’