‘It must not be that I am left behind,’ said Rénée, with a girl’s swift thought of self. ‘Thou art all I have, mother, and we must die together.’
The woman turned slowly from regarding the distance, and let her eyes rest upon the sweet sad face so near her own. ‘That is as the Master wills,’ she answered softly. ‘He loves thee better than I do.’
‘Yes,’ answered Rénée, a smile breaking over the sorrow of her mouth. ‘Yes, I know it now.’
It was true; in the thick darkness the Day-star had arisen for her, the faint and far-off glimmer of God’s great light of truth. Earthly trial and torture bites sharply, and such griefs as had beaten on Rénée Janavel and on her people may well demand human courage and break human hearts; but the truth was true for them, as it is true for all time, that God’s love is stronger than pain, that in the midst of sorrow His comfort can be sweet, and that even ‘men’s fierceness shall turn to His praise.’
They were far from the crest of the Giuliano Pass by this time, and they could hear no sign of pursuit. They turned aside to rest awhile on a grassy slope which broke the hill-side with its long terrace, a lovely stretch of sward, where flowers gleamed amongst the grass, and the bees were flying heavily above the patches of wild-thyme. The shadow of a birch-tree crossed it, making a trembling play of light and shade in the strong sunshine; and below this clear space of grass and flowers there came a tossed and tangled brake, full of creeping plants and broken stones, and tussocks of moss, and the stately spires of some alpine larkspur crowded thick with bloom.
Here they sat, silent for the most part, for their hearts were too full for much speech, but between them lay a sacred sympathy that scarcely needed words.
Madeleine’s yearning eyes were still seeking out familiar landmarks, her memory was busy with the past; but her fingers were closed tightly over her foster-child’s hand, and the sense of Rénée’s presence lay in the background of her thoughts as the blue sky lay behind those birchen boughs. And the girl’s head drooped and her eyes were downcast, but her soul was steady and stilled. God’s ways might be mysterious and His lessons hard, but the ways and the lessons were those of her Father, and she could trust His love.
Then, suddenly, over the peace and the stillness there fell a horror of alarm.
Down below them, coming by the poplar rows and the river-bank, were armed men. They could see the regular ranks, and catch the gleam of steel. Soldiers! And to these hunted women of the valleys that word meant terror and the danger of death.
Should they hide themselves amongst the stones and trees? Should they fly to the right or left?