“You dear child,” cried Madame embracing Jeanne rapturously. “You cannot imagine how desolate I have been at losing you. I was frantic when I learned you were left behind. We went back for you, but you had gone. Ma foi! You should have waited for our return.”
“Your story being so amiably verified,” said the provost beaming upon the girl, “I am happy to say there is no reason why you should not return to your relatives. I am charmed to have assisted in reuniting you to your honored family.”
“We will never forget it,” said the lady sweetly. “If we are ever so fortunate as to have the opportunity to repay the obligation, rest assured that we will gladly use it. My sweet child, is this your brother? The Orderly spoke of him as we came down.”
“Yes,” said Jeanne hesitatingly. She was not at all pleased at the turn affairs had taken, and did not relish the idea of being once more in the hands of Madame. “Yes, this is Dick, Uncle Ben. You know that he bears your name also: Richard Benjamin Vance.”
She drew near Dick as she spoke, standing between Madame and her brother, and addressing herself to her uncle only.
“Richard, I am glad to see you,” said Mr. Vance, seizing the boy’s hand and speaking so heartily that Dick was bewildered. “A prisoner, they tell me. Come! this won’t do. We must have you with us for Clarisse to take care of. She is a fine nurse!”
“I do not want to go,” said Dick weakly. The long wait was beginning to tell upon him. “After the way that my sister has been treated I prefer to trust to the mercy of my enemies than to receive any benefits from you.”
“My dear boy, has the little one been speaking of our differences? There were some, I believe. She is headstrong and self-willed, but what would you? I desire to admonish her for disobedience as a mother might, and she grieves me by thinking that I do not love her, but I adore her! You shall both come to us, and you shall see for yourself.”
“Yes,” said Mr. Vance after a low conversation with the provost. “I have arranged with the officer here that you shall come with us to be taken care of. When you are well, then you must return to him. Orderly, can you get some one to assist me in lifting my nephew to the carriage?”
So in spite of themselves the brother and sister were placed in charge of their uncle and his wife. The carriage bowled rapidly over the rough streets and at last stopped before a large residence on the summit of one of the hills.