"Listen, Jeanne," he said. "Pierre has sent me to you. He has told me everything--everything, my sweetheart. There is nothing to keep from me now. I know. I understand. And I love you--love you-- love you--my own sweet Jeanne!"
She trembled at his words. He felt her shuddering in his arms, and her eyes gazed at him wonderingly, filled with a strange and incredulous look, while her lips quivered and remained speechless. He drew her nearer, until his face was against her own, and the warmth of her lips, her eyes, and her hair entered into him, and near stifled his heart with joy.
"He has told me everything, my little Jeanne," he said again, in a whisper that rose just above the crackling of the pine. "Everything. He told me because he knew that I loved you, and because--"
The words choked
