"And here you have the daughter of the Emperor of the Franks; seated inside of a peat hut and shelling chestnuts like any woodchopper and slave's daughter." "Vortigern," answered Thetralde, returning the look of her companion with a radiant face, "never was the daughter of the Emperor of the Franks more happy than at this moment." "And I, Thetralde, I swear to you that since the day I left my mother, my sister and Brittany, I have never been more pleased than to-day, than now, near you." "And if to-morrow should resemble to-day? and if it should be thus for a long time, a very long time--wouldst thou always be pleased?" "And you, Thetralde?" "Say 'thou' to me. We address one another with 'thou' in Germany. Say to me: 'And thou, Thetralde?'" "But the respect--" "I say 'thou' to you, and do not respect you the less for it," rejoined the maid laughing. "Say to me: 'And thou, Thetralde?'" "And thou, Thetralde?" "So thou wishest to know whether I would be happy at the thought of all our days resembling this one, and our living together?" "Yes, my charming Princess!" The young maid remained pensive, holding in her delicate fingers a half opened chestnut husk. Presently she raised her head and broke the silence with the question: "Vortigern, is it far from here to thy country?" "It took us more than a month to come here from Brittany." "Vortigern, what a beautiful journey that would make!" "What sayest thou?" Thetralde made a charming gesture commanding silence: "Hast thou any money about thee?" And proceeding to detach from her belt a little embroidered purse, she emptied its contents into her lap. There were several heavy pieces of gold and a large number of smaller pieces of silver and copper. Two of the latter, one of silver and one of copper, and both of about the size of a denier, were pierced and tied together by a thread of gold. "This is all my treasure," the girl observed. "Why are these two pieces tied together?" inquired Vortigern, with a look of curiosity. "Oh, these two must never be spent. We must preserve them carefully. One of them, the copper one, was struck the year of my birth; the other, the silver one, was struck this year, when I shall be fifteen. Fabius, my father's astronomer, has engraved upon these pieces certain magical signs corresponding to planets of happy influence. The Bishop of Aix-la-Chapelle blessed them. They are a talisman." "If it were not that they are a talisman, Thetralde, I would have requested these two little pieces from thee as a souvenir of this day." "To what purpose wouldst thou keep a souvenir of this day rather than of the next days to follow? Dost thou not desire that all should resemble one another? If thou desirest these two little pieces, here, take them; I give them to thee. A talisman is a useful thing on a journey. Place them in the pocket of thy jacket."