There came a silence. Had they been with the sheep on the uplands Colin would have been thoroughly at ease. As it was there was something about the maiden's manner that disturbed his assurance. He had not been wont to feel so in her presence. "It's warm out here," he ventured presently. "Perchance you will find it cooler in the house," intimated the girl sweetly. "The family will be there," he objected, looking suggestively at a bench under an apple tree. The youths and the maidens of Domremy always sat together when the suitor was approved by the parents. Jeanne's cool, steadfast gaze disconcerted him. "Why, yes, Colin, they will be there. You will find them all, I think. Jean and Pierre are with mother. Did you wish to see them?" This roused Colin. "No; I don't wish to see them," he said angrily. "I wish to talk to you, Jeanne D'Arc." "I am listening, Colin." Jeanne quietly finished the hill which she was hoeing, then began on the next row, which was further removed from the youth, the tall heads of the artichokes nodding stiffly between them. "But I can't talk while you are hoeing," he exclaimed. "And your father told me that I might talk to you." Jeanne laid down the hoe, and confronted him. "Colin," she said gravely, "mother told me that you would come, and why; but it is of no use. There are other girls in the village who would gladly marry you. I am resolved not to wed." "I don't want any other girl for a wife but you, Jeanne. I have always liked you, and you know it. Besides, your father--" "You cannot wed a girl against her will, Colin, and I shall not marry you. I am talking plainly, so that you will understand, and not waste your time." "But you shall," muttered the boy wrathfully. "Your father tells me that you shall." Without a word Jeanne turned from him, and flitted swiftly into the church. It was her sanctuary, for Isabeau would not allow her devotions to be interrupted. Sulkily Colin re-entered the cottage. Urged on by the girl's parents, he was thereafter a frequent visitor, but his wooing did not speed. Somehow all his pretty speeches, all his self-assurance shriveled into nothingness when he was face to face with Jeanne. And serenely the maiden went her way, ignoring alike her father's mandates, and her mother's entreaties to marry the lad. So sped the days. CHAPTER XII A WORSTED SUITOR "_Whatsoever thing confronted her, whatsoever problem encountered her, whatsoever manners became her in novel situations, she understood in a moment. She solved the problem, she assumed the manners, she spoke and acted as the need of the moment required._" ANDREW LANG, "_The Maid of France._"