Warner said nothing. There were many contingencies overlooked by this determined lady--circumstances which might mean ruin to the house--if, for instance, a retreating army chose to defend the Chateau. But he remained silent, not caring to trouble her with the possibilities of eventualities.
"I had rather you stayed, if you don't mind, Jim," she said, sewing away serenely.
"Certainly."
The steady thud of the cannonade had now assumed a more substantial rumbling sound.
Now and then separate shocks were audible, as though great pieces, occasionally, were discharged singly, dominating the duller monotone of lesser caliber.
He kept his eyes pretty constantly on the horizon line of smoke, evidently expectant of some new development, now and then fancying that it had become visible, as the calm sky became suffused with the delicate pastel hues of early evening, and the first bat zigzagged among the potted orange trees on the terrace.
And presently, in the early dusk, it became visible--first merely as a dull tint reddening the distant smoke, then as a faint, ruddy line of light, shifting, twinkling, sinking, flaring palely, then more redly as the summer dusk deepened and possessed the silent world around them.
From northwest to southeast ran the flicker of the guns, with now and then a wider flare and a deeper accent dominating the measured monotone.
Five fires were burning, also: two from hamlets or nearer groups of buildings belonging to some big farm; the other three conflagrations were farther distant, and much greater, as though three considerable villages and their environs were in flames.
Philippa and Peggy came to the long, open windows from moment to moment, standing there, cue in hand, to look out at the reddening sky.
It was still not too dusky to see fairly well, and the lamps had not yet been lighted in the house, excepting the luster over the billiard table, when a footman appeared on the terrace, dignified, correct, unruffled:
"The driveway and circle, Madame la Comtesse, are full of cavalry. Their officers are dismounting; the troopers have gone into our stables and garage."
The Countess rose quietly, and Warner stood up in silence.
"What cavalry is it?"
"Ours, Madame. They have taken out the three automobiles and all the horses."
"Thank you." And, to Warner: "Would you mind coming with me, Jim?"
They entered the billiard room and traversed the house to the southern terrace.
Drive and circle were swarming with the pale blue dolmans of hussars moving in and out of the fan-shaped glare of electric torches, some mounted, their lances held perpendicularly in the stirrup boots, others afoot, leading up horses from the Chateau stables, pushing the three automobiles along the garage drive, dragging vehicles of every description by hand--hay wagons, farm wagons, long unused and old-fashioned family carriages with the De Moidrey crest on their panels.
Several officers in turquoise and silver, standing on the terrace, surveyed the proceedings below, one of them turning the brilliant light of his breast torch upon one spot after another and scarcely raising his voice as he directed operations.
There was very little noise, no confusion; everybody seemed to know what was to be done.
As the Countess de Moidrey and Warner came out upon the terrace, the officers heard them, turned, saluted, and one of them, a slim, handsome youth most beautifully molded into his uniform, came forward, crimson cap in hand, bowing with a grace indescribable.
"Madame de Moidrey," he said, "we very deeply regret the military necessity which temporarily deprives you of your cars and horses, but the Government requires us to ask them of you and to offer you a receipt----"
"The Government is welcome, Monsieur," she said earnestly. "If the Government will accept what I have to offer as a gift, it will honor me sufficiently without offering any receipt or promise of indemnification."
"Countess," said the youthful soldier, bowing, "it is the answer any soldier of France might expect from one who bears the name of De Moidrey. Nevertheless, Madame, I am required to leave in your possession a receipt for what you so graciously permit me to requisition.... Permit me, Madame----" He drew from his dispatch pouch the papers, already filled in, signed and stamped, and presented them with a bow.
And, smilingly, Madame de Moidrey tore them across, again and again, and dropped the fragments upon the terrace.
"Monsieur," she said, "may I not offer you the hospitality of the house--some little refreshment for you and for your men?"
"Madame, we are overwhelmed, but our orders permit us no time."
Warner said quietly:
"If you could spare a moment, Captain, there is something I should like you to see from the north terrace." And to the Countess: "May I take him? I think he ought to see what we have seen."
Madame de Moidrey said:
"By all means, Jim."
And the two young men went swiftly through the house and out on the north terrace.
"Ha!" exclaimed the officer, as the rumble of the cannonade struck his ears, and he looked out on the dark circle of the horizon, all sparkling and lighted up with the ruddy flicker and flare of the guns.
"A raid?" asked Warner quietly.
"I don't know. Villages are afire yonder. Have you seen anything that might be of importance to us, Monsieur?"
"Two aeroplanes. The Ausone fort fired at them with sky-guns. They went east."
"Biplanes?"
"Monoplanes, I think. I am not sure."
"Square-tipped ailerons? Could you see?"
"They were shaped exactly like kestrels."
"Ah! Taubes! Many thanks, Monsieur." He stared out across the darkness. "Yes, it's warming up out there. Well, sir, I must go. And thank you again for your kindness----" He fumbled in his dolman, produced his cardcase. "May I be permitted to present my cards to Madame de Moidrey? Thank you--if you would be so amiable----"
They retraced their steps through the house, encountering Peggy Brooks in the hallway, who received a most ceremonious bow from the youthful hussar, and who acknowledged it with an enchanting inclination of her pretty head.
Within a few feet of the front terrace, the young officer suddenly halted.
"Monsieur," he said, very red, "it would seem, perhaps, more courteous for me to leave my cards for all the ladies of the household. Would it not--under such unusual and unfortunate circumstances as those of this evening?"
Warner looked at him gravely; he was very young, very ceremonious, very much flushed. Was it possible that Peggy Brooks had bowled over this young gentleman with her first smile?
"I think," said Warner, very seriously, "that it might be considered obligatory for an officer who takes away all the horses and motor cars to leave his card for every lady in the family. There are," he added, "three."
Afterward, when the officer had taken his leave, and his escort of hussars had trotted away with the horses, wagons, and automobiles, Warner, much amused, related to the Countess the incident of the cards; and he distributed them at dinner, reading the name engraved on his own with some curiosity.
"Well, Peggy," he said, "you did murderous work with your smile this evening."
She answered calmly:
"I hope so. He was exceedingly nice looking."
"Le Vicomte d'Aures," nodded Warner, "Captain of Cavalry! Very polite, that youngster; very prolific of visiting cards. You should have seen him blush, Peggy."
"I did. I repeat that he is a nice boy, and I hope he comes back and steals something else."
Philippa laughed; the Countess smiled indulgently upon her younger sister, and gave the signal to rise.
"The family comes from the West, I think," she remarked to Warner, as she took his arm. "Goodness, Jim, what a nuisance!--Not a horse in the stable, not a car to move about in. It looks to me as though we were marooned here.... But I am very happy to think that I could do even a little for our Government. I wish I could do more."
"You may have plenty of chances, Ethra," he said.
They walked through to the north terrace and stood for a while watching the conflagrations on the horizon.
The vast, slightly curved line of flickering points of fire no longer twinkled and played through the darkness, and the muttering of the cannonade had ceased. Only the three incendiary foci reddened the sky, their illuminated vapors billowing up and spreading away for leagues to the eastward.
There was a mist this night, delicately veiling the tops of the forest trees, and the perfume of lilies from the gardens saturated the night air.
Usually, when foggy conditions prevailed over the valley of the Recollette, the lights of Ausone were visible as a pinkish tinge in the sky. But this night no such tint was apparent; no signal lamps sparkled from the fort, not a light glimmered in the vast black void beyond, where miles and miles of darkness stretched away unlighted even by the wastes of star-set firmament above.
Ethra de Moidrey shrugged her pretty shoulders and turned back toward the billiard room, whither Peggy Brooks had already repaired for practice.