It was not until Sunday, the day after the massacre at Sainte-Roure, that the troops passed through Plassans again.

The prefect and the colonel, whom Monsieur Garconnet had invited to dinner, once more entered the town alone.

The soldiers went round the ramparts and encamped in the Faubourg, on the Nice road.

Night was falling; the sky, overcast since the morning, had a strange yellow tint, and illumined the town with a murky light, similar to the copper-coloured glimmer of stormy weather.

The reception of the troops by the inhabitants was timid; the bloodstained soldiers, who passed by weary and silent, in the yellow twilight, horrified the cleanly citizens promenading on the Cours.