The manner as well as the spirit of the young crusader was
upon him.
He knelt before her and taking one of her gloved hands in his kissed it.
"Yes, dearest Julie," he said, "by some singular fortune or chance, or
rather, I should call it, the will of God, I was chosen to bring you
here, and I glory because I have fulfilled the trust."
[Illustration: "'You! You! Is it really you?' she cried"]
Suzanne, tall and dark, stood looking down at them. Her grim features
which relaxed so rarely relaxed now and her eyes were soft. The young
stranger from beyond the seas had proved after all that he was a man
among men, and no Frenchwoman could resist a romance so strong and true
in the face of all that war could do.
John felt Julie's hand trembling in his, but she did not draw it away.
Her lashes were lowered a little now, but her gaze still rested upon
him, soft yet confident and powerful. He had believed in her courage. He
had believed that she would suffer no shock when she should see that he
was the strange man who had been at the wheel, and his confidence was
justified.
"And it was you who brought us up the mountain?" she said.
"The Prince of Auersperg himself chose me because I was a stranger and
he did not wish anyone else in the castle to know where you were sent."
He released her hand and rose.
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