"I don't know. Perhaps it was the contrast of our peaceful journey to
what is going on twelve or fifteen miles away."
"It is beautiful here!" she said.
Truly it was. The road, smooth and white, ran along the slopes of hills,
crested with open forest, yet fresh and green. Below them were fields of
chequered brown and green. Four or five clear brooks flowed down the
slopes, and the sheen of a little river showed in the distance. Three
small villages were in sight, and, clean white smoke rising from their
chimneys, blended harmoniously into the blue of the skies. It reminded
John of pictures by the great French landscape painters. It was all so
beautiful and peaceful, nor was the impression marred by the distant
mutter of the guns which he had forgotten again.
Julie and Suzanne, her menacing shadow, dismounted from the wagon
presently and walked with John and Picard. Lieutenant Legare was stirred
enough from his customary phlegm to offer some gallant words, but war,
the great leveler, had not quite leveled all barriers, so far as he was
concerned, and, after her polite reply, he returned to his martial
duties. John had become the friend of the Lannes family through his
association with Philip in dangerous service, and his position was
recognized.
The road ascended and the forest became deeper. No houses were now in
sight. As the morning advanced it had grown warmer under a brilliant
sun, but it was pleasant here in the shade.
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