In the morning he saw two figures approaching from the tower; one was
the same servant he had seen before, but the other!--his heart throbbed
and leaped, his brain reeled, his eyes gazed hungrily; he could not be,
he was not, mistaken!--the second figure was the heroine of his dreams!
She walked silently. Jean saw that memory had not played him false: her
beauty, her grace, were no freak of his imagination; would the holy
father now say that she was a devil, while thus she moved in her
loveliness, a woman to be loved and worshipped!--a very woman, too! not
above the cares of life! Seating herself by the spring she despatched
her companion on an errand to supply domestic wants, promising to await
her return.
Jean's principal characteristic was rapid resolution: he reasoned that a
small alarm might make the girl fly; that his chance of retaining her
was an overpowering shock. He stepped boldly out and stood before her.
The maiden sprang quickly to her feet; there was no terror in her face;
she was of true blood; if she was afraid she did not show it; it was
clear she recognized the apparition, but intense surprise, overpowering
other emotions, kept her dumb.
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