“Franz—dear Fräulein—where is he?” she faltered. She drew Lucy near the fire and made her sit down on a stool by the hearth. Mechanically she curtseyed to Michelle, pulled another stool forward, then stood eagerly awaiting Lucy’s reply, the old apron twisted between her restless hands.
Lucy cast about for an answer, the two little boys crowding against her, looking up into her face as though in search of some cheerfulness after the gloom of the cottage. Michelle had drawn Adelheid to her and was braiding the child’s tangled hair and warming her in the blaze of the pine logs.
“Franz is in Coblenz, Trudchen,” Lucy said slowly. “He will have to stay a prisoner for a while. But they will let him come back to you. And we’ll help you. The children shan’t want for anything.”
“Then they know all, Fräulein? It was your brother found it out! Oh, believe me, I did all a woman could to keep Franz from taking this cottage and consenting to guard its wicked secret! I don’t understand it all, for Franz would never explain, but I know that, while the war lasted, Herr von Eckhardt threatened Franz with death if he did not remain here——”
“Was he here all during the war?” asked Lucy.
“Oh, no, Fräulein. But last summer, when we Germans saw the war was lost, Herr von Eckhardt sent Franz from the army to keep guard over this place. And with the armistice he promised comfort and riches for us all if Franz was faithful. I always hated him! But Franz would not listen——”
Trudchen buried her face in her hands and wept. Adelheid sprang from Michelle and ran to her. Watching the child cling in silent misery to her mother’s skirts, Lucy repeated unhesitatingly:
“Don’t worry, Trudchen. We are going to help you.”
And such was her confidence that a ray of hope lighted the German woman’s anxious face. “If you would, kind Fräulein—we have nothing——” she stammered.
But once in the clearing again, on the way home, Michelle, practical in all her kindness, exclaimed dubiously, “How could you promise help so easily, Lucy? Money is what she needs, and can we give it to her? Once I could have done so, but now, Maman and I are almost as poor as she.”