“So kind that you would do one little thing for ‘Cherie’?” asked the lady, flashing a quick glance at her.
“Certainly, I would,” replied the girl unwarily.
“Then listen, petite, and you shall hear how you can do a great service for your uncle and me. Draw closer, my pet. None must hear what I would tell you.”
Jeanne came close to her side and waited to hear what her aunt had to say.
CHAPTER XIV
A VICTIM OF DECEIT
“I do not know,” began Madame in her soft voice, “whether I have told you that I have a brother. Have I?”
“No, Cherie.”
“I have, petite, in the Confederate Army. He is very dear to me. A few days ago I learned that he was wounded and ill. He is not far from the city, and he lies in a rude hospital tent without clothing or the necessary food and medicine. Is it not hard, little one, to think of being in the midst of plenty while my only brother is destitute?”
“Yes,” answered Jeanne with ready sympathy, “it is.”