Thus they filled up the hours and prevented
the suspense which otherwise would have been acute, despite their
comfortable house.
She continually revealed herself to him now. The shell that encloses a
young French girl had been broken by the hammer of war and she had
stepped forth, a woman with a thinking and reasoning mind of uncommon
power. It seemed often to John that the soul of the great Lannes had
descended upon this slender maid who was of his own blood. Like many
another American, he had thought often of those marshals of Napoleon who
had risen from obscurity to such heights, and of them all, the
republican and steadfast Lannes had been his favorite. Her spirit was
the same. He found in it a like simplicity and courage. They seldom
talked of the war, but when they did she expressed unbounded faith in
the final triumph of her nation and of those allied with it.
"I have read what the world was saying of France," she said one day when
they stood together on the snowy slope. "We hear, we girls, although we
are mostly behind the walls. They have told us that we were declining as
a nation, and many of our own people believed it."
"The charge will never be made again against the French Republic," said
John. "The French, by their patience and courage in the face of
preliminary defeat and their dauntless resolution, have won the
admiration of all the world.
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