“Oui, Madame,” Red replied in the same tongue, and glad to speak it. [I]“I am from Lorraine, just a little south of Nancy.” She smiled sadly in remembrance. “My family worked the vineyards for M. Douson.” Red then pulled a bottle and several pewter mugs from under the cloth covering her basket. “Would you care for some? It is only cider, but glass does not travel well and anything else ruins the taste of wine.”[/I]

She then pulled out some more bread and cheese as well as several apples. She set them out indicating to the party at large to partake, before returning her full attention to Rose.
[I] “I hope you will think more kindly on Mmes Snow and Ellie. Truly I can not begin to know what it must be like for one from your position to be placed in such circumstances, but I do know that I would be dead without them. They have given their lives to the service of the world. I can only pray that I will do so well.”[/I]