"Bon-jour, Ma'm'selle Breton!" and he seized the unresponsive hand of the girl.
"I am glad to see you home safely, Jean." Something in the face and voice of the girl checked him.
"What is the matter, Julie?" he asked. "Père Henri; he is not ill?"
"No, Jean. Père Henri is well, but——"
"You do not seem glad to see me again, Julie!"
"I am glad. You know that——"
"Well," he flung out, hurt at the girl's constrained manner, "I'll go and see someone who will welcome Jean Marcel with no sober face——"
"Jean!" she said as he turned away.
"What is it, Ma'm'selle Breton?" and he smiled into her troubled eyes. "Fleur has missed me, I know. She will give Jean Marcel a true welcome home."
"Jean—she is not there—they stole her!"