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There was -dress, and her kid shoes were all but ruined; still, she was laughing as Ragoczy helped her over the stile that connected his outer fields with those of his neighbor; her activity had excited her so that her cheeks were flushed and her eyes sparkled Her high-brimmed bonnet a la Hussar set off her face and the curls that clustered at the edge of this confection She gathered the frilled front of her walking-coathand "What a beautiful day! I thought ouldn&039;t get any spring again this year Last year was so dreadful, it was troubling to think what ht lie ahead Yet here it is, sunshine and warmth, and not quite the end of May"
"Two hard winters in a row have burdened everyone, from farmer to housewife It will be so the ioczy indicated the fallow field beyond where they stood "I hope Herr Kleinerhoff is able to bring in all his crops this year; I hope all the far do" The last year had been alustus Kleinerhoff, and this year pro and the poor display of developing fruit in the trees "He will have to plant soon, and trust that the autumn is not an early one"
"All men with fields ," said Hero "You must have some concerns yourself, Comte"
He shook his head, his dark eyes fixed on a distance only he could see "Not so many as those whose fields are their livelihoods I have shipping coh ti also suffers in hard years"
"You also have forcing houses-nine of thees and chard, at least"
"Reed by ice," said Ragoczy "They will need to be repaired shortly, or be useless this year"
"Climate dictates all," Hero said fatalistically "When ypt, he said that the people there suffered for the harshness of the climate: heat instead of cold, dry instead of wet I remember many flies, and, because ere the only Europeans in the town, my step-mother and I had to wear veils whenever ent about"
"It is the custooczy
"Yes; my father said so, as well I wish it had been otherwise" She glanced toward thearound them "There have been avalanches this year, more than in most years"
"There is a build-up of snow on the slopes; withthe fence, helping her to pick her way over the uneven ground
"No doubt you&039;re right," she said, concentrating on where she stepped
"If you would prefer to seek out the road?" Ragoczy offered
"No It is just as muddy as this field, if not more so" She smiled at him once more, but there was more sadness than merri of how many perils are around us, and all the tie becoration I know it is foolish, but anything can distressbranch on a tree I see danger in the field, and I see danger on the road" For more than a minute she neither moved nor spoke, but then she said, "If you had not taken me in, I have no notion ould have happened to oczy, resuress across the field
"His second ould not want h to provide for two households and his expeditions as well Men of his profession spend their money, such as it is, on their expeditions, not on their coe for irls&039; school At worst I would have had to become the nurse for soone; I know from my days with Ortrude that I lack the patience for such continual employment; the few months I cared for her were sufficient to show hed "And the Graf-well, he ht paymore than absolutely necessary to sustain me as little above poverty as his reputation could endure"
"All because your husband left no Will to provide for you," said Ragoczy
"He didn&039;t think he would die so young," she said, as she had said many times before "And neither did I"
"There is always a risk of dying" Ragoczy paused by a narrow rill running through the center of the field; the ah small, caused hi hilanced down at the sparking surface of the rill "I&039;ll lift you over," he offered
"Just letthe narrow bank of the rivulet to determine how slippery it was She laid her hand on the arm he held out to her and stepped across the water "There; you see?"
He crossed to her side of the little streaht"
"I think I see it," she said, trying to hold her skirts above the worst of thehand "It is tricky underfoot, I fear"
She made her way to the path and looked down at her shoes "Quite ruined," she said with a hint of a giggle "Doubtless round," said Ragoczy,his tone with hers
"So I will," she said, continuing down the road "At least the other fields are almost planted"
"This one will lie fallow another year, I oczy "The orchards are finally in full bloouers well"
"Herr Kleinerhoff has always taken pride in the fruit his orchards produce, or so his son told me last autuh her "Siegfried loves apples"
"I thought oczy with steady kindness
"Yes, but Siegfried is especially fond of them So was Fridhold"
He rested his hand on her shoulder for several seconds "YouI should stop," she said by way of apology "Missing hiood"
"Why do you say that? He was dear to you, he was the father of your children, you shared his life and his bed for nearly eight years, and he was not yet thirty when he died" Ragoczy turned her to face him "How can I fault you for your affection?"
"But you aren&039;t jealous, are you?" she asked tentatively as she resu the stone path
"Why should I be?" he countered "Your love for him does not diminish your affection for me"
"No," she conceded "At least, I don&039;t believe it does"
He regarded her thoughtfully a short while as they reached the gate leading to the road to the small Trappist monastery farther up the mountain "Every love is different, Hero," he said as he drew back the bar that held the gate closed "You may compare them all you try, yet no two loves are alike"
"This is soarded him curiously, her eyes fixed on hi since"
"You still miss Madelaine de Montalia; I know you do," she said, not quite accusing him
"Certainly; and many others, as well," he said in his unflustered way, aware that his attachment to Madelaine was unlike most of his connections to those hom the Blood Bond still pertained
"But not the way you miss her," Hero insisted
"No, not the way I miss her, nor anyone else Everyone I have known is unique in ular place in my memory" He had almost said my heart, but memories of Csimenae stopped the words before he spoke theet you, Hero" As she walked through, he closed the gate behind her "Those of my blood learn not to be distracted by one love fro as we do, any other understanding is folly"
She considered this, her face soine it was my beauty or my manner"
He took almost a minute to frame his answer "It was your honesty that led e from year to year, and what is handsome at one time is brutish at another; honesty is a constant, and rarer than pleasing faces" He touched her chin lightly, s briefly "You did not try to flatter rief You did not batten on e you to do so You have made your oay in difficult circumstances" He took a step away from her "Such force of character commands respect"
"And Madelaine de Montalia?" As soon as she said the naoczy took her chin in his hand and turned her face toward him "Madelaine knew , and had no fear of " He kissed the side of herto worry about on her account"
"I&039;m not worried," she said staunchly Then she sed hard "Not too oczy "Neither she nor I can provide what the other seeks"
"But I feel sohaunted"
"Haunted?" He paused "Not by Madelaine, surely?"
"By Madelaine, by Fridhold, even by h they are alive" She reached for her handkerchief, tucked into the breast-pocket of her walking-coat "I didn&039;t intend toComte, pardonher with other eently "By the loss of friends and relations, the fading of youth, the opportunities lost-all haunt us It is one of the prices of living"
"That ain her self-possession
Five hundred years before he ht have told her that in time she would understand, but he kne that such assertions , who felt the weight of tie; he took her iven hard choices, and you haveThat is a true accomplishment"
"I have flinched often," she said by way of confession
"And oczy