XXX. FEARS, HOPES AND MYSTIFICATIONS OF M. DES GRAVES. . . . 336 XXXI. WAX FLOWERS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 348 XXXII. THE CUP BRIMS OVER. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363 XXXIII. AT THE FORD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371 XXXIV. SURGERY: THE PROBE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378 XXXV. OUT OF NIGHT INTO THE NIGHT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 384 XXXVI. SURGERY: THE KNIFE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 392 XXXVII. “CHILDE ROLAND TO THE DARK TOWER CAME”. . . . . . . . . 401 XXXVIII. THE SWORD IS DRAWN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407 XXXIX. THE FOUR ROADS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 417 XL. THE FIGHT AT THE BRIDGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 430 XLI. SURRENDER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 441 XLII. PEACE AT THE LAST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 447 XLIII. _ULTIMA FORSAN_ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 455 XLIV. THE SECOND CHRISTMAS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 463 XLV. THERMOPYLÆ. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 473 XLVI. WRECKAGE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 485 XLVII. HOW A VOW WAS KEPT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 496 XLVIII. MANY WAYS—AND ALL STEEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 505 XLIX. VIOLETS ONCE MORE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518 EPILOGUE. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 526 CHANTEMERLE PROLOGUE SAINT LUCIAN’S DAY “That day of days when hand-in-hand became Encircling arms, and with an effluent flame Of terrible surprise we knew Love’s lore.” —WILLIAM BELL SCOTT, _Parted Love_. It was a large room, a room in a palace grown to be a prison in all but name. A bright fire crackled on the hearth at one end, the firelight danced on the walls, the dusk drew on, and a girl looked out of the window at the whirling snowflakes. She stood in the embrasure of the window farthest from the door, leaning her head against the glass, and her pose suggested that she was in a daydream. On this January afternoon of 1792 the Tuileries seemed deserted. Outside, in the great empty garden, the trees stood up black and bare, for the snow was not settling on them. And though the girl’s eyes followed the snowflakes, her thoughts were probably much further away, for she did not hear the door open, nor turn until she was conscious of a footfall behind her.