John stood in the shadow, and the young Frenchman took a step forward to see better. Then he too uttered an exclamation of gladness.
"It's Monsieur Jean the Scott, my comrade of the great battles in the air!" he said. "It was my hope rather than my expectation to find you here."
He grasped the extended hand and shook it with great warmth. Then John introduced him to his friends. Lannes and Carstairs surveyed each other a moment.
"Frenchman and Englishman have been on the same battle fields for a thousand years," said Carstairs.
"Usually the only ones there, and fighting each other," said Lannes.
"Whichever side won, the victory was never easy."
"You are a brave people. We French are the best witnesses of it."
"We are always slow to start. We are usually the last to reach the battle field."
"Also, usually the last to leave it."
"It seems fitting to me that the enemies of a thousand years should have exhausted all their enmity and should now be united against a common foe."