"Do not speak of it," he said with a groan.

"No, I will not speak of it, but there is one more thing of which I must
speak. Strangely enough, only this morning my mother was talking of you;
she said that you are English, and that soon or late blood will call to
blood and you will leave us. She said that your nest is not here, but
there, far away across the sea, among those English; that you are a
swallow that has been fledged with sparrows, and that one day you will
find the wings of a swallow. What put it in her mind to speak thus, I do
not know, but I do know, Ralph, that her words filled me with fear, and
now I understand why I was so much afraid."

He laughed aloud very scornfully. "Then, Suzanne," he said, "you may
banish your fears, for this I swear to you, before the Almighty, that
whoever may be my true kin, were a kingdom to be offered to me among
them, unless you could share it, it would be refused. This I swear
before the Almighty, and may He reject me if I forget the oath."

"You are very young to make such promises, Ralph," she answered
doubtfully, "nor do I hold them binding on you. At nineteen, so I am
told, a lad will swear anything to the girl who takes his fancy."

"I am young in years, Suzanne, but I grew old while I was yet a child,
for sorrow aged me. You have heard my oath; let it be put to the test,
and you shall learn whether or no I speak the truth. Do I look like one
who does not know his mind?"

She glanced up at the steady, grey eyes and the stern, set mouth and
answered, "Ralph, you look like one who knows his mind, and I believe
you. Pray God I may not be deceived, for though we are but lad and girl,
if it prove so I tell you that I shall live my life out with a broken
heart."

"Do not fear, Suzanne. And now I have heard what you had to say, and I
claim your promise. If it be your will I will kiss you, Suzanne, but not
in farewell."

"Nay," she answered, "kiss me rather in greeting of the full and
beautiful life that stretches before our feet. Whether the path be short
or long, it will be good for us and ever better, but, Ralph, I think
that the end will be best of all."

So he took her in his arms, and they kissed each other upon the lips,
and, as they told me afterwards, in that embrace they found some joy.
Why should they not indeed, for if anywhere upon the earth, if it be
given and received in youth before the heart has been seared and tainted
with bitterness and disillusion,