Mrs. Grant and Madame Jule Read Online Free PDF

in the drawing room with tea and apple dumplings.
    “How long do you expect to remain, Lieutenant Grant?” Julia asked as she served him.
    “I’m going to try to stay a week,” he replied, accepting the cup and plate. “Thank you.”
    “You’ve said the very words sister dreamed you would,” Emma exclaimed.
    The lieutenant’s eyebrows rose as he swallowed a bite of apple dumpling. He turned to Julia, who felt herself shrinking with embarrassment. “Have you been dreaming of me, Miss Dent?”
    For a fleeting moment, Julia considered the many ways she could later make her little sister regret her impulsive words. “Only the once,” Julia said instead, not entirely honestly, and she described her dream. “And here you are, in civilian clothes, at noon on a Monday.”
    “And here you must stay,” added Emma, with an inquiring glance to Mamma, “for a week, just as Julia dreamed.”
    “I see that I must. I couldn’t bear to spoil any dream of Miss Dent’s,” said Lieutenant Grant seriously, but his eyes shone with merriment as they met Julia’s.
    To her delight, Lieutenant Grant’s commanding officer extended his furlough, giving them ten glorious days before he would be obliged to join his comrades in Louisiana. They spent the time enjoying long rides, leisurely walks, and almost endless conversation.
    One day, the Dent family was to attend a wedding, and so Julia’s parents invited the lieutenant to accompany them. “I’m a bridesmaid, so I need to arrive early,” Julia told him as they walked their horses after an exhilarating ride. “John will drive me out there in the morning.”
    “And the rest of the family?”
    “They’ll lumber along in the old coach afterward, and you shall accompany them on horseback.”
    “Your brother John admires my horse,” Lieutenant Grant mused. “Maybe he’d consider trading places with me.”
    Delighted, Julia urged him to inquire, and John readily agreed, glad for the chance to try the lieutenant’s horse. The following day, shortly after breakfast, Julia and Lieutenant Grant set out in the buggy for the neighboring farm, feeling clever and pleased with themselves for stealing some time alone.
    The day was warm and bright and the sun shone splendidly, a happy omen for a wedding day. They rode cheerfully along until they reached an old bridge spanning a deep ravine, a familiar, easy crossing that had been utterly transformed by the recent heavy rains. The gentle, burbling creek had swollen until it reached the bridge, and it flowed through the gulch in a torrent of white water and rushing sound.
    Lieutenant Grant slowed the horse as they approached.
    “I’ve never seen the water so high here,” said Julia, anxious. “Is this how it was when you forded downstream?”
    “It might’ve been about this deep,” he replied, studying the road ahead. “But there was no bridge.”
    Julia tore her gaze away from the rushing stream. “Then why on earth did you try to cross? You could have drowned.”
    “I have a peculiar superstition,” he admitted. “When I start to go somewhere, or to do anything, I don’t turn back or stop until the thing intended is accomplished. Besides, you were on the other side.”
    Julia felt her cheeks grow warm. “Don’t think to flatter me by risking your life on my account. If you get yourself killed, you’ll only upset me.”
    He smiled. “I’ll keep that in mind.” His expression grew sober again and he nodded to the bridge. “What do you think?”
    “I think it looks too dangerous to cross. Don’t you?”
    “The bridge looks sturdy enough, and the horse is calm.”
    Julia managed a shaky laugh. “Calmer than I am, certainly. I’d rather go back than take any risk.”
    “And miss the wedding? You love parties and dancing, and doesn’t the bride need your help?”
    “She’ll have many other friends there eager to wait upon her, I’m sure.” Nervousness made her words come in a quick torrent. “Do you really