At that moment a woman's cry was heard, and Françoise appeared on the scene. She came hurrying up apparently to prevent the duel, and hearing the shots, she was shrieking all the more despairingly, feeling certain that she had arrived too late. It is only in fiction and plays that the heroine can calculate her time with such nicety that she appears on the ground at the psychological moment and glides in front of a pistol to receive the shot which was intended for the man she loves.
Nevertheless, when Mlle. de la Boulays had made sure that the body which lay on the grass was the Count's, and that d'Haumont was uninjured, she in no way regretted her late arrival. She flung herself into Didier's arms.
"It is the judgment of God!"
These words coming from the beloved lips made an immense impression on d'Haumont, and affected him to a greater degree than the duel itself.
"The judgment of God!" It was true that God had been on his side in the battle, so that he had miraculously escaped the Count's unerring pistol, while the Count was struck down by a bullet which had no chance of hitting him!
It was fated, therefore, that he should live. It was fated that he should love. It was shown that he had sufficiently suffered; made sufficient atonement. God, by removing that man from his path, had thrown that splendid girl into his arms, and she alone uttered the only words that were able to decide his destiny.
The judgment of God!
It was an inspiring thought and overwhelmed him with an exultation which may easily be imagined; while Françoise's tears of joy, the clasp of her arms, the wonderful elation which seized him as he felt that he was on the threshold of a new life, illumined by love, took him out of himself—and he listened but absent-mindedly to the remarks of the seconds who were telling him that Count de Gorbio was not dead, but that he was not very far from it.
They raised their hats, and he returned the salute without quite knowing what he was about. And he allowed himself to be dragged away by Françoise.
Some weeks later she led him to the altar. The marriage made a great stir. It was one of the smartest among the war-weddings. As the wedding party emerged into the church square, bathed in the warm light, it was as though the sun of victory had risen that morning expressly to shine on Captain d'Haumont and his radiant bride.