“I am all the more sorry, then, that you will have to leave it soon.”
“What! Leave! Uncle, I do not understand you.”
“Yes, child. The tumult of war approaches nearer and nearer.”
“What of that? Is not the castle safe? Let the Englishmen come. We will send those long-nosed gentlemen home again. Yes, ‘we,’ I say, for you know I am a Chafleur.”
“I have the highest respect for your courage, my little Amazon, but the English will not be greatly scared by it. No, child, I must find a safer place for you.”
“And my aunts?”
“Oh, that is a different matter. My wife and sister must submit to the inevitable.”
“And I can also.”
“No, child. Your father sacredly intrusted you to me. I should not be keeping my word if I exposed you to the dangers of war.”
“But I say again, uncle, and you have said yourself, that the castle is safe enough.”