Explore "The Amethyst Ring" by Anatole France on Textopian. Read with annotations and highlights.
On a wet evening in May, the Brécé ladies were sitting together in the big drawing-room, knitting woollen bodices for the poor children of the village. Old Madame de Courtrai was standing with her back to the fire, holding up her skirts and warming her legs. The Duke, General Cartier de Chalmot, and M. Lerond were chatting, prior to a game of whist. The Duke opened the previous day's paper that was lying upon the table.
"Hostilities between the Americans and the Spanish have not yet started in earnest," he said. "What do you anticipate will be the outcome of it all, General? I should be very glad to have the opinion of so eminent a military authority as yourself."