De Montigni could not, of course, see what was passing in her mind; but still there was a look of affection in her eyes which was not to be mistaken, which told him that she was thinking of him, and that she did not regret what she suffered on his account; and, bending down his head, he spoke those words of tenderness and love which well repaid her for her endurance and her sacrifices. Shortly after the litter was brought forward, with four stout men to bear it. It was apparently a rude and hastily contrived machine, in which some wounded man had been brought from the siege of Dreux, with a little sort of tilt over it to shelter him from the wet; but the lower part, or couch, was thickly covered with dry hay, over which the old officer cast his cloak; and De Montigni, placing Rose in it, thanked their new friend warmly for his assistance; and, walking by the lady's side, issued forth from the village of St. André, and was soon once more wandering on in the darkness of the night. The lights were speedily left behind, the glare of the watch-fires faded, or were hidden one after the other by the windings of the road; nothing but a faint reddish streak in the sky showed the position of the village and the camp. The busy sounds of the army too died away into an indistinct hum, like that of a swarm of bees, and then was lost to the ear altogether; while the voice of the swollen Eure, murmuring as it rushed along, was the only noise that broke upon the ear of night. The way grew narrower and narrower as they went along, so that it was sometimes with difficulty that De Montigni kept by the litter. But yet he would not leave the side of Rose d'Albret, cheering her from time to time by words of affection and of hope, till at length he saw the glistening of the water before him, as they descended the steep hill, on the table land of which, the fields of Dreuy and Ivry are situated; and in a moment after, a single light, apparently streaming from the window of some house, showed him that they were approaching a human habitation. "That is Mainville, Sir," said one of the bearers. "Ah, you are well off! for there are comfortable quarters there by the side of the ford: but the King would suffer none of our people to lodge more than a quarter of a league from the field, for fear the enemy should get possession of his ground early in the morning. You late comers sometimes get the best accommodation." "Is the enemy so near, then?" asked De Montigni. "Near!" cried the man, "why, we were two hours in presence this afternoon; and everyone thought they would have begun the battle; but none were engaged but the light horse, who had a short fight for the bottom of the valley." De Montigni mused for the rest of the way; for he loved not to be so near a field of battle without taking part in it; and yet he had no arms but the sword he wore, nor horses in a fit state to bear him through a long day's fight.