"And for love, you would doom all Gambrevault!"
"Ah!" he cried, "I am wounded, and you would wound me the more."
She gave a whimper of pain, ran to him, and crept into his arms. As her sobs shook her, he bent many times and kissed her hair.
"Weep not for me," he said; "even when the end comes no harm can touch you. I cannot parley with these wolves; there are women and children under my roof; should I open my gates to a savage mob?"
"This is your doom," she said to him.
"I take it, child, from heaven."
She wept no more, for a richer heroism took fire within her heart. She knelt to the man while he held her face betwixt his hands, bent over her, and kissed her forehead.
"Courage, courage, what is death!"
"My God, to lose you."
"There, am I not flesh and blood? God knows, I would rather have death than give you to these vultures."