The duchess stared at Gretchen for a few seconds. There was no haughtiness in that expression, simply – What? When Gretchen finally realized, she was as stunned as she had ever been in her life. Not even the friendly (no – comradely) way in which the duchess took her arm and began leading her toward another building was as over-powering as that first moment of shock. To her grave, Gretchen would carry the memory. Those royal – imperial – hazel eyes. The eyes of an elderly and powerful woman, shining bright with health and self-confidence, and now, full of recognition. Friendliness also, yes, and kindness. But Gretchen had occasionally – not often – encountered a certain Christian charity, even among the powerful. And so? Peasants, too, could be kindly toward their livestock. Never recognition. Never once. For the first time in her life, one of the world’s mighty had gazed upon Gretchen Richter, and seen nothing but another human being.