"I have come to tell you that you must give up this dream," she said slowly.

"It can come to nothing but ill; and in the mishap you may be hurt past repair." "I shall never give up--this dream," he said, surprised, but firm, almost dominant.
"Think of these poor folk who surround you, who follow you.

Would you see harm come to them ?" "As soldiers, they will fight for a cause." "What is--the cause ?" she asked meaningly.
"France," was the quiet reply; and there was a strong ring in the tone.
"Not so--you, monsieur!" "You called me 'sire' once," he said tentatively.
"I called my maid a fool yesterday, under some fleeting influence; one has moods," she answered.
"If you would call me puppet to-morrow, we might strike a balance and find--what should we find ?" "An adventurer, I fear," she remarked.
He was not taken aback.

"An adventurer truly," he said.

"It is a far travel to France, and there is much to overcome!" She could scarcely reconcile this acute, self-contained man with the enthusiast and comedian she had seen in the Cure's garden.
"Monsieur Valmond," she said, "I neither suspect nor accuse; I only feel.