The State will no doubt buy back Hauteville House, the house in Guernsey where Victor Hugo lived for fifteen years. Regarding this exile, it is interesting to recall an anecdote which, while it adds nothing to the poet's glory, has the merit of being quite delightful.

During the coup d'état, Victor Hugo and Schoelcher had fled Paris together. Shortly afterward in Brussels, Schoelcher, dining at Victor Hugo's, called out to him across the table:
"Ah! my dear fellow, you can boast of giving me a good fright the other day. I thought we were lost."
And, addressing the other guests:
"We were going to the Gare du Nord, in a Compagnie omnibus. An infantry regiment happened to pass by. That devil Schoelcher, forgetting all caution, poked his head through the door and shouted: "Down with Caesar!" I had the greatest difficulty in holding him back.

Two years later, Schoelcher was at Hugo's. Hugo said to him:
Do you remember, Schoelcher, the day we fled? How foolish it was of us to shout, as that regiment passed by, "Down with Caesar!"

Five years pass. Another visit to Hauteville House. At dinner, they talk about civic courage. "Oh! my friend," Hugo said to his old companion in exile, "do you remember the day we left Paris after the coup d'état, when we encountered that regiment on the march, and, seething with anger at the sight of those executioners of our freedoms, I could not help shouting, "Down with Caesar!" I can still see you beside me, grabbing me by the hem of my coat to make me sit back down in the carriage and begging me to be silent...

THE INDISCREET.

• Victor Schoelcher