“Of course this is all in the future,” her father went on, “for your school days are not over and it will take a long time to get the business running again, but it must be you who shall decide whether Victor stay or go, and the decision must be guided not by any interest for me, but entirely by what your own heart says. If you decide against him, Victor will return to _Coin-du-Pres_ to carry out the plans which seem best there.” Lucie looked across her father at Victor, who was leaning forward watching her with all his heart in his eyes. “You mean--?” “That I shall do what seems to be the desire of my family, should this project fail. I am not a farmer, but I shall try to become one. I am not in love with Annette, nor she with me, but--” Lucie sprang to her feet and ran to him, holding out both hands. “Oh, Victor,” she cried, “please don’t go back to _Coin-du-Pres_. If you marry Annette I shall be perfectly miserable.” She ran back to her mother to hide her burning face. “I don’t want the American knight to ride out of the new year. It is Victor, Victor I want,” she whispered. “I have known that for a long time,” her mother whispered back, half laughing. Victor came over, found one of Lucie’s hands and kissed it softly, then he rose to face Captain Du Bois. “God bless you, my son,” said Lucie’s father. “_Vive la France!_” So Odette was right again, and if ever a year, begun evilly, went out happily so did 1918 that night. What the new year might bring who could tell, but that it promised hope, happiness and peace was not to be questioned. TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES: Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. Obvious typographical errors have been corrected. Inconsistencies in hyphenation have been standardized. Archaic or variant spelling has been retained.