Following the Phoenix

Meriol Trevor

"Jeanne!" called out Rafael in desperation. "Jeanne! Come back!"

She stopped dead and it was a moment before she turned roud. Then she just stood there, looking towards them, but the bonfire was behind them; the light shone on her face but theirs were in shadow.

Paul had expected Jeanne to be a pretty slender girl. But she was a tall strongly built woman, nearer thirty than twenty, with a face like an antique statue, square-browed, straight-lipped, with a definite chin. She stood poised, one hand holding her shawl together, gazing towards Rafael.

"It can't be you," she whispered at last.

Rafael pulled off his hat and moved towards her.

"It's me all right," he said.

"Rafael...but you were shot," she said. "Piero Biancardi said you were shot in Italy."

RAFAEL LE MARRE, introduced in the first of the Letzenstein Chronicles, collects—through unexpected circumstances—three companions whom he leads on an adventurous journey from Paris to the heart of Letzenstein. The Revolution of February, 1848, has erupted in Paris. Paul and Christie, both English, and Jeanne d'Estel of Valmay each have concerns of their own to pursue. But when the generous-hearted Rafael is arrested by political enemies, harrowing days follow. Important truths of character come to light, and Rafael's stature emerges: the "Phoenix" (which figures on the le Marre family crest) arises again from the ashes.

"Meriol Trevor's numerous books for children... [are] always pervaded by a gentle wisdom and a love of goodness in ordinary people."
—Stratford Caldecott, Director, Centre for Faith and Culture, Westminster College, Oxford