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 j,.,.«. «"y. "f-f- 'p--^'* 
 
 THE 
 
 LIFE AND ADVENTURES 
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 
 
 by the author of 
 
 ' darnley," " richelieu," " henry masterton, 
 "mary of burgundy," &C. 
 
 ®5^o bid %\t\l ist, ist starker Sc1)attEn!" 
 
 ejoct? bon aSetUc!)mgen. 
 
 IN TWO VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 NEW-YORK: 
 
 PUBLISHED BY HARPER & BROTHERS, 
 
 NO. 82 CLIPF-STREET, 
 
 AND SOLD BY THE BOOKSELLERS GENERALLY THROUGHOUT THB 
 
 UNITED STATES. 
 
 1834.
 
 
 til 
 
 V. I 
 
 TO 
 
 HER IMPERIAL MAJESTY 
 
 ALEXANDRA FEODEROWNA, 
 
 EMPRESS OF ALL THE RUSSIAS. 
 
 Madam, 
 
 I SHOULD have confined myself to expressing, in 
 terms of unfeigned admiration and respect, my grati- 
 tude for the interest which your Imperial Majesty is 
 pleased to take in the literature of my country, and in 
 the efforts of so humble an individual as myself, had I 
 not felt that the work which you have permitted me to 
 inscribe to your name is in every way unworthy of 
 being presented to one alike illustrious by talents and 
 virtues, and by rank. 
 
 At the time that your Imperial Majesty's gracious 
 message was communicated to me, the following 
 pages were not only written, but in press ; and my 
 strong desire to obey your commands without any de- 
 lay induces me to dedicate this work to you, although 
 it is in some degree connected with a former produc- 
 tion, already, I beUeve, in your Majesty's possession. 
 
 Under other circumstances, I might have laboured, 
 though I certainly should have laboured in vaiuj to pro* 
 
 00949
 
 VI DEDICATION. 
 
 duce a work worthy of your acceptance ; but I must 
 then have delayed long what I was eager to perform 
 promptly ; and, most assuredly, nothing that I could 
 have written would have worthily testified the admira- 
 tion and pleasure with which I have marked, from afar, 
 the immense efforts of yourself and your Imperial con- 
 sort to encourage literature and science in your domin- 
 ions, and to improve the moral and social condition of 
 your subjects. 
 
 That those efforts may be crowned with the most 
 brilliant success, and repay you, to the last of your days, 
 with the noblest recompense that monarchs can re- 
 ceive, — the blessings of a happy and enlightened peo- 
 ple, — is the sincere prayer of 
 
 Your Imperial Majesty's 
 
 most humble 
 
 and most obedient Servant, 
 
 George Payne Rainsford James*
 
 THE 
 
 ADVENTURES 
 
 OF 
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 My father was a gentleman of small estate in Lin- 
 colnshire, whose family possessions, under a race of 
 generous ancestors, had dwindled from splendid lord- 
 ships to bare competence. His blood, which was de- 
 rived from as noble a source as that of any in the land, 
 had come down to him pure through a number of 
 knights and nobles, who, though they were little scru- 
 pulous as to the means of spending their riches, were 
 very careful not to augment them by cultivating any but 
 the somewhat barren field of war. He made a love- 
 match with a daughter of the second Lord Wilmerton ; 
 and, in order that his wife might not draw unpleasant 
 comparisons between the station of her husband and 
 that of her father, he frequented the court, and lived 
 beyond his means. He was already in difficulties when 
 I was born ; but, like a brave man, he resolved to meet 
 them boldly, and, after some solicitation, obtained a 
 small military appointment, which increased his revenue 
 without adding to his expenses. Loyalty with him was 
 a passion, which, like love in other men, prevented 
 him from seeing any faults in its object ; and, of course, 
 as the court well knew that no benefits could make him 
 more loyal than he already was, it showered its favours 
 upon persons whose afl"ection was to be gained, leaving 
 him to struggle on without further notice.
 
 8 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 My mother I hardly remember, though my memory 
 is very good ; but as her death took place before I was 
 three years of age, her cares of my infancy were never 
 extended even to my boyhood. 
 
 Left thus to conduct my education alone, my father, 
 I firmly believe, would have suffered nothing to remain 
 undone which could have contributed to render me a 
 learned man, had not the civil war broken out, and all the 
 royalists hastened to the support of the king. Among the 
 first of the volunteers who flocked to the royal standard, 
 when it was raised at Nottingham, was Captain Hall ; 
 and having been sent to Worcester with Prince Rupert, 
 he showed himself the foremost in those acts of daring 
 courage which turned the contest between Colonel 
 Sandys and the prince in favour of the Cavaliers. In 
 every skirmish and in every battle which took place 
 throughout the course of the great rebellion, my father 
 had his share. The natural desire of stimulus and ex- 
 citement, which was originally strong in his character, 
 grew gradually into a habit, and from a habit became a 
 passion. The tidings of an approaching conflict would, 
 at any time, have induced him to ride as far and fast as 
 other men would go for more pacific pastimes ; and the 
 commanders of the royal armies perceived a want in 
 their ranks when, on looking along the line, they could 
 not discover the face of Captain John Hall. 
 
 During the first year of the civil war I was left at 
 home, under the charge of my nurse, and of the events 
 of that period I, of course, remember but little. But 
 shortly after the taking of Birmingham by Prince Ru- 
 pert, a party of Gettes's brigade were quartered at our 
 house for three days, swept the whole estate of every 
 thing that it produced, carried oflT all that could tempt 
 their rapacity, and on their departure set fire to the 
 house, as that of a notorious malignant. 
 
 My father's home had by this time become the tented 
 field. Houseless and nearly penniless, the nurse carried 
 me away in search of my only surviving parent, whose 
 regiment was quartered at a few miles' distance ; and 
 being a woman who loved quiet, and hated to see houses 
 burned over her head, she resigned her charge of me as 
 Boon as she had conscientiously placed me in the hands 
 of my natural protector. But the addition of a child of 
 four years old to his camp equipage was not by any 
 means desirable in my father's eyes ; and for some time
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 9 
 
 he talked of placing me with a relation here, or a friend 
 there, where I might remain in security. Two or three 
 months, however, fled without this plan being executed. 
 We had often during that time to change our quarters ; 
 passed through more than one adventure ; were involved 
 in more than one severe struggle, and encountered as 
 many hardships as a longer campaign could have in- 
 flicted. My father found that I bore up stoutly against 
 them all, that I was not so great an encumbrance, in 
 moments of danger and haste, as he had expected ; and 
 that in those lapses of inaction which will break in upon 
 a soldier's life, I afforded him amusement and occupa- 
 tion of the tenderest and most engaging kind. Thus I 
 soon became necessary to his comfort and his happi- 
 ness ; and though he would often talk still of having 
 me placed in some situation where I could be properly 
 instructed in arts and sciences, and learned lore, it be- 
 came evident to every one who saw us together that he 
 would never part with me so long as he could keep me 
 with him. To make up for the want of other knowledge, 
 however, he himself began, from my very earliest years, 
 to teach me every thing that might render me successful 
 in that way of life which he himself had so ardently 
 embraced. My hands, almost in infancy, were accus- 
 tomed to the sword, the dag, and the petronel ; and I 
 remember, ere I was six years old, being permitted, as 
 a high favour, to apply the match to the touch-hole of a 
 culverin that commanded a road by which the Round- 
 heads were advancing. 
 
 Many, too, were the dangers through which I passed 
 in safety. Often in times of surprise and confusion 
 have I sat upon the peak of my father's saddle, while 
 he cut his way through the enemy ; and often have I 
 stood as a mere child amid the charging squadrons and 
 the bristling pikes of a general field of battle. Strife 
 and bloodshed became so familiar to my mind that I 
 could hardly conceive another state of things; and 
 when any occasional pause took place in the dreadful 
 struggle that then desolated our native land, I used to 
 wonder at the space of time such idleness was sufl'ered 
 to continue, and to long for the moment of activity and 
 exertion. It was with joy and satisfaction that my 
 father beheld this disposition in his son, and he strove 
 by every means in his power to promote its growth, and 
 to direct the eff'orts that it prompted. He taught me to 
 A3
 
 10 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 be quick and decisive, as well as bold and fearless : he 
 bade me always think, in the first place, what was best 
 to be done, and how it might best be executed ; and then 
 to perform what my reason had suggested without 
 either fear or hesitation. Always keeping his view 
 fixed upon the ultimate advantage of the cause he had 
 espoused, he zealously instructed me to remark and re- 
 member every part of the country through which we 
 passed in our wandering life, and the person of every- 
 one who was brought into temporary connexion with 
 us in the changing fortunes of those adventurous times. 
 
 Besides teaching me to ride and to shoot, and to per- 
 form all other military exercises, he did not fail to give 
 me what little education, of a milder kind, circumstances 
 permitted, during the short lapses of tranquillity which 
 occasionally intervened. He was himself, however, 
 obliged to be my preceptor; for he was not only pre- 
 vented from engaging any other person in that capacity, 
 by our continual changes from place to place, but he 
 was also rendered unable to do so by his pecuniary cir- 
 cumstances, which had by this time been reduced to the 
 lowest ebb. Our own property had been sequestrated : 
 the king had no money to bestow ; and although Cap- 
 tain Hall sometimes enjoyed a moment of temporary 
 prosperity, after squeezing some rich parliamentarian, 
 or capturing some inimical town, his whole property 
 more usually consisted in his horse, his sword, and his 
 son. I acquired, it is true, in a desultory manner, some 
 knowledge of history, geography, and arithmetic ; but 
 this, together with a smattering of Latin, and the capa- 
 bility of writing and reading, was all that I could boast 
 of by the time I was ten years old. 
 
 Our moments of quiet, indeed, were always of very 
 short duration; and, during all my early remembrances, 
 I scarcely can recollect having passed six weeks without 
 seeing blood flow in civil strife. 
 
 It must not be thought, however, that our state was 
 melancholy or painful. To those who thought as little 
 of human life as the persons did by whom I was gener- 
 ally surrounded, this kind of existence was gay and 
 happy enough. When they saw a comrade sent to his 
 long home, or a friend fall dead by their side, a minute's 
 mournmg, and a vow to revenge him, were all that the 
 sight excited; and many a cheerful bowl and gay jest 
 would circulate in the evening among the Cavaliers who
 
 JOHN MARS TON HALL. 11 
 
 had lost, in the morning, the dearest acquaintances and 
 oldest, companions. 
 
 Habit is a wonderful thing ; and it would be difficult 
 to make other people comprehend how little emotion 
 bloodshed or massacre produces in the minds of men 
 accustomed to be daily spectators of such scenes. It 
 is not at all surprising, then, that a boy — born, as it were, 
 and brought up in the midst of them — should feel their 
 awful nature less than others, and should enter with 
 more pleasure into the adventurous excitement which 
 they certainly afford. Such, at all events, was the case 
 with myself ; and although I have learned, from after- 
 events, to believe that my heart was neither naturally 
 hard nor cruel, yet it is scarcely possible to describe 
 the joy and enthusiasm I experienced on the approach 
 of strife or battle, the triumph that 1 felt at the over- 
 throw or death of any remarkable foe, or the careless 
 disregard with which I viewed the slaughter of my 
 countrymen, and the fall even of those I personally 
 knew. This military zeal was known and remarked by 
 all my father's comrades ; and the amusement and grati- 
 fication which they derived from my early passion for 
 that course of life to which they had given themselves 
 up at a more mature age, caused me to be a general 
 favourite with every old soldier in the ranks of the roy- 
 alists ; so that each one vied with the other in exciting 
 me more and more upon the very track which I was 
 already too eager to pursue. Among the Cavaliers I 
 was generally known by the name of " Little Ball-o.'- 
 Fire," and I soon learned to be proud of that appellation, 
 and vexed when I was addressed by any other. In 
 times of prosperity I was loaded with presents and 
 caresses ; and in moments of defeat and danger th«re 
 was still some one to think of and to protect Little Ball- 
 o'-Fire, the soldier's son. Nor were these good deeds 
 entirely without requital on my part ; for, shrewd, ac- 
 tive, and fearless, I was often enabled to assist the de- 
 feated or pursued Cavalier, to mislead the Parliament- 
 arian by false information, or to gain intelligence of the 
 enemy's movements, and to guide my friends either to 
 security or victory. 
 
 Among all the comrades and connexions of my father, 
 Goring, afterward Lord Norwich, was the foremost in 
 his affections ; and with him also I was an infinite favour- 
 ite, although there were several others to whom I was
 
 12 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 personally more attached. I remember, however, many 
 instances of great favour received from him ; and a& 
 difficulties multiplied round the royal cause, and as dan- 
 gers threatened more and more imminently the head of 
 our sovereign, it was to the exertions and friendship of 
 Lord Goring that we were, more than once, indebted 
 for our existence. With him we served in many a 
 campaign in Kent and Sussex ; with him have I aided 
 my father to empty many a flagon when the fight was 
 over ; and with him have we lain in concealment for 
 weeks together, when our paths were surrounded by 
 enemies against whom our force was too weak to 
 contend. 
 
 At length, when I was little more than ten years old, 
 and a momentary gleam of success brightened the cause 
 of the Cavaliers, my father and Lord Goring unfortu- 
 nately separated, and with a small but well-appointed 
 troop we hastened across the country with the intention 
 of joining the royal army, which was then marching 
 towards Cornwall. At Bolton-le-Moors, however, while 
 we were marching gayly along, without the slightest 
 idea that there was an enemy in our neighbourhood, we 
 were suddenly surprised by a party of the parliament- 
 arian forces ; and after a rapid but desperate struggle, 
 every man of my father's troop was put to death. He 
 himself fell among the last, brought from his horse to 
 the ground by a ball through the neck. I was at the 
 distance of about fifty yards from him, and hastened up 
 to give him aid ; but just as I was running forward, I 
 saw one of the pikemen stoop over him, and while my 
 father held up his hand, in the vain endeavour to ward 
 off the blow, the man drove his weapon through him^ 
 and pinned him to the ground. I had a large horse- 
 pistol in my hand, which was instantly directed to the 
 pikeman's head ; and, had I but had time to discharge 
 it, he would, most assuredly, have lain beside the gallant 
 officer he had just killed. But, at that moment, one of 
 his comrades struck me across the head with the staff 
 of his pike, crying, " So much for thee, young viper !" 
 and brought me, stunned and powerless, to the ground. 
 
 Fortunate it was for me that the blow, without being 
 sufficiently violent to bereave me of life, had been severe 
 enough to deprive me of all sense or motion, for I was 
 thus passed over as dead, and I found afterward that no 
 one had been taken to mercy by the victors. It was
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 1$ 
 
 evening when we began a fight, which, in duration, did 
 not last ten minutes ; but when I woke from the sort of 
 sleep into which I had fallen, I found the moon shining 
 bright upon the Moors, with my father and five-and- 
 twenty gallant soldiers lying dead around me. In truth, 
 this was the first everjt that ever made me think of 
 death, even for a moment, as of a thing to be feared, or 
 regard strife as the great destroyer of all dear affections 
 and kindred ties. The sight was horrible enough; to 
 see the bodies of such a number of brave and noble- 
 hearted men now cold, inanimate, and most of them 
 stripped of every thing valuable, lying dead in the pale 
 moonlight, with their faces bearing all the various ex- 
 pressions which the human countenance can assume 
 under different modes of violent death ; but it was the 
 sight of my father's corpse which brought it home to my 
 own heart. 
 
 When I had recovered my senses completely — which 
 was not for several minutes after consciousness began 
 to return — I crept onward to the spot where my father 
 had fallen, which was not above ten paces from that on 
 which I had been lying; and as I gazed on his still, 
 silent face, and thought of all the aff'ection towards my- 
 self which I had seen it bear so often, I could not help 
 feeUng that death is indeed a horrible thing. I looked 
 at it long, till the moon began to go down, and I knew 
 not well what to do. I had no means of burying the 
 body, and yet there was a feeling in my bosom, not to 
 be defined, which would not let me leave the corpse of 
 my father uninterred, for the ravens to make it their 
 prey, or the dogs to mangle it. 
 
 Near the spot, however, there was a little copse, 
 with some tall trees rising out of the brushwood ; and, 
 after many a painful thought, thither I retreated for 
 shelter. As I knew not who might visit the field from 
 the town, and as I had heard that the people of the 
 neighbourhood were rank Roundheads, I thought it best 
 to climb one of the oaks ; and there I watched till the 
 dawn of morning. Hardly was the sky gray with the 
 first light when I saw six or seven people coming over 
 the downs with spades and shovels, and I soon found 
 that their purpose was to bury the dead. By them that 
 office was performed decently enough on the spot 
 itself ; and in about three or four hours it was all over, 
 leaving no trace of the skirmish, but the turf beaten up
 
 14 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 by the horses' feet, and here and there died with gore, 
 and the long low mound of fresh earth which covered 
 the trench containing the dead bodies. I found, by the 
 conversation of the men employed, that this act of 
 charity had been performed by order of some persons 
 in the little town who had witnessed the affair ; and 
 who, partly moved by a sense of decency, and partly 
 with a view to salubrity, had caused the corpses to be 
 thus covered over with earth. 
 
 I was now, like many another, alone in all the earth ; 
 without friends, or home, or resource ; without money, 
 or protection, or expectation ; but perhaps I was better 
 fitted for such circumstances than any one who was 
 ever yet cast an orphan upon the world. I was accus- 
 tomed to rely upon myself alone ; to take every event 
 as 1 found it ; and I had been so long in the habit of 
 seeing the sunshine and the shade, the defeat and the 
 triumph, the disaster and the success, succeed each 
 other like April clouds and beams, that though my 
 heart was full of mourning for my father, yet I con- 
 fidently anticipated that the next cast of the die in for- 
 tune's hand would reverse my fate, and bring me back 
 to prosperity again. 
 
 I was mistaken, however. A long series of suffer- 
 ings ensued ; and they were sufferings of a nature that 
 I had never encountered before. I had often, indeed, 
 undergone privation, and known poverty. 1 had often 
 been more than one day without tasting food, and had 
 slept for many a night together on the bare ground ; 
 but all these inconveniences were part of the soldier's 
 fate, — matters which, however unpleasant at the time, 
 were laughed at and forgotten as soon as they were 
 over. Now, however, I had to endure poverty without 
 one alleviating circumstance, or one consoling re- 
 flection. 
 
 All that I had on earth, at the moment my father 
 was slain, consisted of two crown-pieces, which had 
 been given me by Lord Goring when we parted ; but 
 when I came to seek for them, after recovering my 
 senses, I found that they had not escaped the researches 
 of the plunderers who had stripped the dead around me. 
 My clothes, indeed, being probably of little value either 
 in point of size or quality, had been left me ; and these, 
 wi*h a pistol and a dagger, which 1 found upon tho 
 ground, constituted my whole property, when at length
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. If 
 
 1 left the earth that contained the body of my unfor- 
 tunate parent, and went forth again into the world. 
 
 It would be difficult to give any detailed account of 
 the hfe I now led. I wandered over almost every part 
 of England, seeking a precarious subsistence by every 
 means that my habits and education permitted. Often 
 I fell in with old comrades of my father ; and then I 
 was sure of protection and assistance as long as they 
 had the means of affording it. Often I joined myself 
 to a troop of Cavaliers, and for a few days lived the hfe 
 to which I had been accustomed in former years. But 
 the power of the Parliament was daily increasing, that 
 of the king daily going down ; and, one by one, every 
 force to which I joined myself was dispersed, and I was 
 again obliged to seek my way alone. I never, how- 
 ever, yielded for one moment to despair ; and at times, 
 — when I have shared in the stores provided by nature 
 for the birds in the air, when my sole food has been 
 haws and whortleberries, roots and acorns, — I have 
 hummed to myself 
 
 " There^s a better time coming !" 
 
 and gone on with a light heart to seek a richer meal for 
 the next day. 
 
 Although to plunder or to kill a Roundhead, in any 
 way that chance happened to present, was in my mind, 
 at that time, neither sin nor shame, yet I cannot remem- 
 ber ever having done what I should even now consider 
 an evil act on my own account. Nevertheless, I must 
 acknowledge, that when a wounded or a fugitive com- 
 panion wanted food or other necessaries, and could not 
 obtain them for himself, 1 have often ventured beyond 
 any code of moraUty that I know of, and have gone 
 down to spoil the Philistines with indescribable glee. 
 
 Well known to every leader in the royal cause, and 
 almost to every soldier, I was often employed as a guide, 
 and still more frequently as a messenger. In the latter 
 capacity, indeed, 1 was generally successful, even where 
 others would probably have failed ; and when Langdale 
 rose in Wales he intrusted his design to me, for the 
 purpose of having it clearly communicated to Musgrave 
 in the north, and to the Cavaliers in Kent. I received 
 no written document, indeed, although my youth and 
 my knowledge of the country enabled me, in general, to 
 pass unmolested: but Langdale knew that he could
 
 16 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 trust to my never-failing memory to repeat every word 
 as he had spoken it ; and was also aware that the other 
 royalists would trust to my report. 
 
 This commission I executed with ease and safety, as 
 far as my journey to the north went ; but in making my 
 way towards Kent, 1 encountered more difficulties and 
 some dangers. The small stock of money with which 
 I had been furnished failed me before the object was 
 accomplished ; and at Reading I was recognised by a 
 Puritan whom I had once, about six months before, 
 tripped up into a river, while I ran oif with a fat baked 
 pig, which he was carrying out of the town from the 
 baker's oven. Of the pig my share had been small, 
 having performed the feat in favour of three old com- 
 rades who were lying concealed in the neighbouring 
 fields, and were half-dying of hunger : but, in the present 
 case, the Roundhead made no nice distinctions ; and as 
 soon as he set eyes upon me, caught me by the throat, 
 conveyed me to the town-prison, notwithstanding my 
 most vigorous resistance, and left me in the hands of a 
 jailer, whose tokens of affection remained upon my 
 skin for several weeks afterward. Not at all admiring 
 my fare or treatment in the prison, and having also ac- 
 quired a strong distaste to remaining long in any one 
 place, the very first opportunity afforded by open doors 
 I made my escape, — not unpursued, it is true ; but that 
 mattered little : for at that time it was only necessary 
 to give me the free use of my limbs and a start of ten 
 paces, and the man would have been swift and strong 
 indeed that could have overtaken me. 
 
 Several other adventures also befell me : but at length 
 I made my way into Kent ; and here, to my unspeakable 
 joy, I found myself among a royalist population, and 
 saw in every part of the county preparations for a great 
 effort in favour of the king. I heard, in every quarter, 
 too, that Lord Goring was to take the command of the 
 forces ; and, sure of receiving protection and assistance, 
 I made my way forward to join him, with a feeling in 
 my heart that a change was about to come over my 
 fate. I was half-starved by this time, and was all in 
 rags ; but many a better Cavalier than myself was in 
 the same state, and I did not fear that my father's old 
 friend would deny me. 
 
 Before I could reach the army, however, the royalist 
 force had advanced towards London, and were again in
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 17 
 
 retreat ; and when I arrived in Maidstone, I found the 
 Cavaliers pouring in, and learned that the enemy were 
 following fast upon their steps. During the whole of 
 that evening I could not find Lord Goring (who, by-the- 
 way, had before this become Earl of Norwich), but I 
 met with many an old acquaintance among the officers, 
 and every kindness was shown to the son of Captain 
 Hall. As an attack was expected early the next morn- 
 ing, the troops were under arms before dawn ; and as 
 the earl was riding along the line, I ran up to the side 
 of his horse, and spoke to him. For a moment, in the 
 rags that now covered me, he did not recognise his 
 friend's child, and replied sharply, " Get along, boy ! get 
 along ! I cannot speak to thee now !" 
 
 It was the first rebuff I had ever received from a 
 Cavalier, and I thought that my heart would have 
 broken ; but I still clung to his stirrup, and said, " What, 
 my lord, have you forgotten little Ball-o'-Fire 1" At 
 that name he drew in his rein short, gazed upon my face 
 for a moment, and then stooping down over his saddle- 
 bow, he caught me in his arms, and lifted me quite up to 
 his bosom. " Forget thee ! no, my boy ! no !" he cried ; 
 " and now I have found thee again, thou shalt never 
 quit me, for thy good father's sake." 
 
 There was little time given for further conversation. 
 The enemy had been more on the alert than we ex- 
 pected, and were by this time rapidly advancing, and the 
 shot of their artillery began to tell upon our line. Every 
 one has heard of the gallant defence of Maidstone : but 
 it soon became clear that we could not maintain the 
 position in which we were first attacked; and Lord 
 Goring, who had laid out his plan the night before, or- 
 dered a slow and firm retreat to the ground he had fixed 
 upon, at the back of the town. Before he left the 
 green, however, he beckoned me up, and gave me a scrap 
 of paper, on which he had written something hastily. 
 " Get thee behind that house, Ball-o'-Fire," he said, 
 *' and wait there till you see a young gentleman come 
 up with a troop of Cavaliers. Ask if he be Colonel Mas- 
 terton : give him that paper, and then guide him down 
 by the back of the town to the hollow way, by which 
 the enemy must advance : take him to any point he can , 
 best cut his way through, and bring him to me, on the ' 
 edge of yon hill." 
 
 I did as I was bid ; and Lord Goring himself remained
 
 18 THE ADfENTURES OF 
 
 for about ten minutes longer with the Kentish horse, 
 keeping the green firmly against the enemy, while the 
 other regiments filed off, and took up their position on 
 the slope beyond. At length, he too retreated; and I 
 hid myself while the enemy passed over the same 
 ground. Scarcely was the green clear, when up at the 
 full gallop came a young gentleman, seemingly scarcely 
 twenty, with as gallant a regiment of horse as ever I 
 saw. He halted his men before " The Bush" alehouse, 
 and then rode on a few yards to see what was passing 
 in the hollow way and on the slope. 
 
 His countenance was a pleasant one, at least to me, 
 with a broad open brow, and quick fine eyes ; and 
 although I saw by the manner in which he looked at 
 some dead and wounded soldiers who were scattered 
 here and there, that he was not so habituated to scenes 
 of death and conflict as myself, yet I could not help 
 thinking that he must be the Colonel Masterton to whom 
 I was ordered to adaress myself. I watched him for a 
 minute, as his keen rapid glance ran over the confused 
 spectacle that was passing beyond the town ; and as I 
 saw him turn his horse, and ride back towards his men, 
 I ran up and spoke to him. At first he did not distinctly 
 hear what I said, but he bent down his head towards me 
 with a good-humoured smile, and I again repeated the 
 words, " Colonel Masterton." 
 
 " Well, my little man," he replied, with a look of sur- 
 prise, " what is if?" 
 
 I saw at once, from his tone and his look, that I was 
 right, and I gave him the billet from Lord Norwich. 
 He read it attentively ; and then asked, " Can you lead 
 me by some by-path to the left of the enemy's line ?" 
 I answered that I could ; and, without more ado, set off 
 before him, and conducted him by the back streets to a 
 point where a lime road led out into the country. 
 
 The moment that his eye gained a clear sight of the 
 enemy, I observed it mark every part of their position, 
 rest fixed on one particular spot for an instant longer 
 than anywhere else ; and I saw that God had made him 
 a soldier. His plan was evidently formed ; his orders 
 were short, clear, and accurate ; and, drawing out his 
 regiment from the town, he charged a large body of 
 cavalry, who, together with some pieces of artillery, lay 
 upon the extreme left of the enemy's line, and in a mcb' 
 ment drove them to the devil.
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 19 
 
 I ran on as hard as I could to see what was going for- 
 ward, and, just as I came up, I found the Roundhead 
 horse forced back into the lines of the pikemen ; and, 
 one of the first faces that 1 beheld, among the Parliamen- 
 tarian foot, was that of the man who had killed my father. 
 I never forget faces, and his I was not likely to forget. 
 The fellow was pike in hand, in front of the young Cava- 
 lier ; and I had just time to mark him so as not to be 
 mistaken, when Colonel Masterton's horse passed the 
 pike, and at one blow of the rider's sword the Roundhead 
 went down never to rise again. 
 
 The battle was like all other battles ; but by one 
 means or another 1 contrived to keep near Colonel Mas- 
 terton's regiment through the whole affair, till just when 
 they were in some difficulty I offered to guide them up 
 the lime road to Lord Goring, if one of the men would 
 take me behind him on his horse. The young gentle- 
 man seemed surprised to find me so near him ; and after 
 another charge upon a body of the London troopers, we 
 made our way forward, and reached the brow of the hill 
 where the commander-in-chief then stood. 
 
 The event of that day every one knows. The enemy 
 were repulsed at all points, but it could hardly be con- 
 sidered as a battle won, for we were ultimately obliged 
 to retreat. After a long, severe march we halted for 
 the night, and I remained quartered with Colonel Mas- 
 terton and his regiment, and was treated with the 
 greatest kindness both by officers and men. It was 
 soon found that the army, being chiefly composed of 
 raw and ill-disciplined troops, could not be held together ; 
 and the same night Colonel Masterton was ordered to 
 lead his regiment towards the right of the enemy's line 
 of advance, and, if possible, to effect a diversion, while 
 Lord Goring, with whatever veteran troops could be 
 collected, endeavoured to cross the country, and throw 
 himself into Colchester. After having attacked an out- 
 post against which he was particularly directed, the 
 young officer was ordered to disband a foot regiment 
 which was joined to his cavalry force; and then — 
 making the best of his way back to Devonshire, whence 
 he had come — to disperse his men, and keep quiet till 
 better times. As his family, from particular circum- 
 stances, although attached to the royal cause, had not 
 called upon themselves the indignation of the Parlia- 
 ment, in near so high a degree as it had been excited
 
 20 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 against Lord Goring, that nobleman, on giving me to 
 Colonel Masterton as a guide, made him promise that 
 he would always protect and never abandon me ; and 
 well did he keep his word. 
 
 CHAPTERS II. III. IV. V. VI.* 
 
 * # # « * 
 
 ***** 
 
 ■* The above chapters are omitted by the editor of this work, 
 inasmuch as every fact contained in them is to be found much 
 more fully detailed in the " Memoirs of Henry Masterton, Lord 
 Masterton ;" and it may be only necessary to add, for the infor- 
 mation of such persons as are unfortunate enough not to have 
 read that work, that Lord Masterton was accompanied through 
 all the adventures therein described by John Marston Hall, the 
 writer of the present book. Further, it may not be impertinent 
 to observe, that, as Lord Masterton himself states, the subject 
 of the present memoirs was of infinite service and assistance to 
 his noble friend in the difficulties and dangers which he had to 
 encounter ; and we have every reason to believe, that had it not 
 been for the promptitude and assistance of " Little Ball-o'-Fire," 
 as he is generally called in that work, the history of the noble 
 lord would not have been brought to so happy a conclusion. 
 In the chapters here omitted, the writer details all the scenes 
 that took place in England, and all those that followed in France, 
 up to the period when his Lord Masterton was happily wedded to 
 the Lady Emily Langleigh, and took up his abode with her father 
 at the beautiful little chateau of St. Maur. At that point we 
 shall again commence the adventures of John Marston Hall, as 
 written by himself, and proceed, even to their conclusion, with 
 no other alteration whatever than a slight modification of the 
 orthography, which does not particularly well suit the fashion of 
 the present day, and the occasional translation of various passages 
 originally written in the French tongue.
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 2t 
 
 CHAPTER Vn. 
 
 When all these affairs were settled, and my young 
 Lord Masterton and fair lady were looking as pleased as 
 heart could wish, going about with each other from 
 morning till night, and seeming perfectly contented in 
 every respect, the house began to grow tedious enough ; 
 for though, perhaps, in the wide range of human en- 
 joyments there is no greater pleasure than that of con- 
 tributing to render other people happy, there are few 
 things more tiresome than looking on after the work is 
 complete. I loved Lord Masterton, it is true, as sin- 
 cerely as it was possible : for dangers encountered with 
 him, and services both rendered to him and received 
 from him, had of course made him very dear to me. I 
 loved Lady Emily too, just enough less dearly than I 
 did my lord to make my affection distant and respectful ; 
 and they both loved me, very much, from the same mo- 
 tives that I loved them. Nevertheless, I acknowledge 
 again that the time hung very heavy upon my hands ; 
 and after the first week of the honeymoon, with all its 
 bustle and its gayety, was over, I began to long for some- 
 thing new, 
 
 I have no doubt that Lord Masterton, who was keen 
 enough in perceiving other people's feelings, had no 
 difficulty in understanding that the happiness of him- 
 self and his wife was too quiet and tranquil in its 
 nature to be very amusing to other people ; and knowing 
 perfectly that I was of a disposition to which activity, 
 either mental or corporeal, was absolutely necessary, 
 he took no small pains, as soon as he could think of 
 any thing besides his bride, to give me full occupation, 
 in supplying what he called the defects in my educa- 
 tion. I was taught French thoroughly, which, to say 
 truth, has been of great use to me ; but, at the same 
 time, I was filled with a great deal more Latin than I 
 ever knew what to do with ; and an attempt was made 
 to cram me with Greek, which I resisted with all the 
 repugnance of a child for an emetic. Still Lord Mas- 
 terton, thinking himself bound to act the part of an
 
 22 T«E ADVENTURES OF 
 
 elder brother to the orphan boy he had taken under his 
 protection, persevered in the attempt, and several other 
 branches of science were added to my daily routine of 
 instruction ; but I need hardly tell the reader that this 
 sort of occupation was the least palatable that it is pos- 
 sible to conceive in the estimation of a boy brought up 
 as I had been. 
 
 I believe, and, indeed, am sure, that my good young 
 lord saw how distasteful the whole was to me^ for I 
 have often remarked, when he casually entered my place 
 of study, that a slight smile would play upon his lip, as 
 he noticed any of the fretful and impatient movements 
 with which I accompanied my lessons. He persevered 
 for nearly nine months, however, thinking it absolutely 
 necessary, I imagine, both to give me such instructions, 
 and to tame, in some degree, my wild and restless spirit. 
 For my part, 1 was too grateful for all that he had done 
 for me, too sensible of the kindness of his motives, and 
 too well aware of the superiority of his mind, to com- 
 plain aloud of any thing that he might think beneficial 
 for me to do. Repine, I did, in secret, and that most 
 heartily ; but nevertheless, as I was quick and active in 
 mind as well as body, and applied myself diligently to 
 learn while 1 was about it, I probably gained more in 
 the same space of time than many other people would 
 have done. At length, one day, to my surprise, my 
 usual masters did not appear from Paris, and I received 
 directions from my lord to prepare to accompany him 
 on a long ride. 
 
 This was all very pleasant to me, especially as it 
 seemed to augur something new ; and no language that 
 ever yet 1 heard is adequate to describe the sort of 
 thirst for some novelty — some change in my situation — 
 which then consumed me. Gladly did I get myself 
 ready, gladly did I mount my horse ; and, riding forward 
 with Lord Masterton alone, while the grooms remained 
 at a good distance behind, I gave way to all the wild 
 gladness of my heart. 
 
 Lord Masterton suffered the first burst of joy to have 
 its full course, and smiled as he remarked it ; but in a 
 few minutes he assumed a more serious tone, saying, 
 " Come, come, little Ball-o'-Fire, let us ride on calmly, 
 and converse like rational people, for I have something 
 serious to say to you." 
 
 .In% moment 1 was all attention, and he proceeded :
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 23 
 
 " I was in hopes," he said, " to keep you with me yet 
 for several years — till such time, indeed, as young men 
 usually set forth in the world ; and even then only to 
 part with you in order to place you in some station 
 where you might win honour, and make your way to 
 fame. For such a purpose, however, it was necessary 
 that all those points which circumstances had caused 
 your father to neglect in your education should be sup- 
 plied here, and 1 consequently have endeavoured to ob- 
 tain for you every sort of instruction which this country 
 can afford." 
 
 " Indeed, my lord," I cried, as he paused for a mo- 
 ment, " 1 am not of tlie wood of which men make a 
 scholar, and I am afraid, if my getting on in the world 
 is ever to depend upon my learning, that I shall drop by 
 the wayside from pure weariness." 
 
 " I have come to the same conclusion too," he an- 
 swered, in a tone which expressed some degree of mor- 
 tification, but not a touch of anger, — " I have come to 
 the same conclusion too ; for you must not suppose 
 that I have been blind to your impatience. I hoped, 
 indeed, that it would wear away, though Lord Lang- 
 leigh assured me that it would not ; but now, having 
 given you the trial, having added something to your 
 stock of knowledge, and having found that your distaste 
 to study increases rather than diminishes, 1 have deter- 
 mined to abandon the attempt, and to let you follow out 
 that way of life for which nature seems to have formed 
 you, and in which fortune herself had placed you." 
 
 Never did such joyful words ring in my ears before ; 
 and had we not been on horseback 1 should have thrown 
 myself at his feet to pour forth the gratitude that swelled 
 in my heart. Words, however, were not wanting; and 
 although I never made use of more than served my pur- 
 pose, yet I contrived to make him understand how 
 very happy he had made me. 
 
 " Well, well," he replied, " all I can wish is to advance 
 your interests ; but you are of course aware, that such 
 a change of prospects imphes that you must leave me." 
 
 Although I had thought the matter over a thousand 
 times, and pictured to myself all I should like to do, yet 
 I had certainly never contemplated the necessity of 
 quitting a friend and protector that I loved, as a part 
 of the scheme ; and when he placed it thus plainly be- 
 fore me the tears rose in my eyes.
 
 24 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 " Such, nevertheless, must be the case," he continued j 
 *' for, of course, to pass your time in idleness here 
 would be as disagreeable to you as to pass it in dry 
 study." 
 
 *' But cannot you go to the wars," I cried, " and let 
 me go with you V Lord Masterton smiled. " 1 am 
 afraid," he rephed, " that I cannot mingle in the scenes 
 of civil strife that are going on here, solely to find occu- 
 pation for your active spirit. No, no, my good boy, 
 Lord Langleigh and myself agree in thinking, that 
 foreigners, casting themselves upon the protection and 
 hospitality of a nation like this, should take no part in 
 the factious intrigues that agitate the country ; and we 
 have determined to remain as quiet as possible till they 
 are all over, which we both hope and believe will be the 
 case ere many years be past ; for the most turbulent 
 cannot long remain blind to the dreadful evils which 
 such a state of distrust, uncertainty, and apprehension 
 inflicts upon every class in the community. But to re- 
 turn to our subject : it becomes us now to think how 
 we can place you to the best advantage. You are too 
 young, of course, to serve in any of the regiments at 
 present in activity, and if we place you as page to any 
 one else, it must solely be with a view to your military 
 promotion hereafter. A gentleman who was here the 
 other day, with our good friend Monsieur de Vitray, 
 was pleased with your history, and expressed a desire 
 for just such a boy as you, to bring up in his own steps, 
 which have ever been foremost in the field of battle." 
 
 " Who, who was that V I cried, eagerly. " I saw 
 them all. Was it the dark man with the heavy hanging 
 brow 1 I do not like him." 
 
 " No, no," he answered. " It was Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin, who sat at table on Lord Langleigh's left, with 
 dark hair, just mingled with gray, and a scar across his 
 forehead." 
 
 " I like him," I replied, " I like him !" and Lord Mas- 
 terton went on. — " Well," he said, " he luckily liked you 
 and your character ; and after a long consultation with 
 myself upon the subject, and the fullest consideration 
 of your interests and your happiness. Lord Langleigh 
 has now gone to speak with Monsieur de Villardin on 
 your account, and to see whether he is willing to receive 
 you in the capacity which we wish you to fill. Although 
 the usages of this country would render it in no degree
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 23 
 
 degrading for the son of the first nobleman in the land 
 to become the page of the Due de Villardin, yet we 
 wish you, as it were, in quitting me, to gain a step in 
 life. Lord Langleigh, therefore, will tell him, that if he 
 will receive you as superior to his common pages, and 
 promise to obtain for you a commission in the service 
 of the state when you reach the usual age, we are will- 
 ing to place you under his care. At the same time, to 
 enable you always to maintain the station which we 
 wish you to take, we have determined to grant you a 
 pension of a thousand crowns per annum, chargeable 
 upon a farm of Lord Langleigh's in Normandy. You 
 will thus be independent of any one, for the deed of 
 gift shall be drawn out, giving you that revenue irrevo- 
 cably." 
 
 The confused whirl of joyful ideas that took place in 
 my brain at these tidings would be difficult to express. 
 The idea of seeing the world, and mingling in scenes of 
 warlike activity once more, was all joy; and if there 
 had been any thing which could give me a moment's 
 uneasiness in the prospect of going forth again into 
 that world alone, it was the chance of being reduced to 
 the state of poverty and destitution which 1 had suffered 
 for one whole year. I do not mean to say that I did 
 fear it, for I was not of a character to fear any of earth's 
 evils, or even to take them into consideration in my 
 lookings forward towards the future ; but the memory 
 of some pains and some degradations which I had suf- 
 fered did certainly cross my mind for a single moment, 
 though without any power to affect my hopes or pur- 
 poses. By the liberality, however, of my kind pro- 
 tectors, all such apprehensions were entirely removed. 
 I had now always a resource, and that resource greater 
 in amount than the pecuniary means of many a noble- 
 man's son. Sorry I am to say, that for the time these 
 joyful feelings, and all the gay dreams to which they 
 gave rise, very nearly wiped away the grief 1 had felt 
 at the prospect of quitting Lord Masterton ; and although 
 I was deeply grateful, and expressed my gratitude for 
 the new proofs of his generous kindness which he had 
 just given me, I could not help, as we rode home, raving 
 upon all the bright anticipations which I entertained in 
 regard to the future. 
 
 He smiled at my delight ; and though perhaps another 
 man might have been offended at the little regret 1 ex- 
 
 Vol. L— B
 
 26 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 pressed at leaving him, he had himself known what the 
 spirit of adventure was too well not to make full allow- 
 ance for the passionate desire of novelty that 1 felt, and 
 for the restless love of change which habit had, in my 
 case, rendered second nature. 
 
 To hear the success of Lord Langleigh's mission was 
 now my thirst. But he did not return foi- several hours, 
 and I was obliged to bridle my impatience the best way 
 I could. When he did appear, however, his counte- 
 nance, which was a very expressive one, showed me at 
 once that he was well pleased with the event of his 
 errand. Nevertheless, he said nothing to me on the 
 subject ; and as Lord Masterton was out of the way, I 
 was still compelled to digest my curiosity till the next 
 morning. Before breakfast, however, 1 observed them 
 in close conference for some time ; and Lord Langleigh, 
 whose custom it was never to talk upon any subject of 
 importance sitting still, called me to him as he rose from 
 the breakfast-table, and in a walk through the park in- 
 formed me, with his usual prompt but somewhat spark- 
 ling manner, that the Due de Villardin had very willingly 
 agreed to all that he proposed. 
 
 " You are not to think," he added, " from his readiness 
 to take you, urchin," — the name by which he always 
 called me, — " that you are any great acquisition, after 
 all. Nevertheless, you are a good, quick-handed boy; 
 and if you go on as you have begun, you are in a fair 
 way to get yourself hanged, shot, or made a field-mar- 
 shal of. My son-in-law tells me, what indeed I very 
 well knew without his telling, that your heart is all on 
 fire for activity and new scenes. Now, with Monsieur 
 de Villardin, it is probable that you will have as much 
 as you could well desire ; for he is one of those men 
 who let no moment fly by them unmarked by some deed 
 or some event. He is in the midst of all the Parisian 
 factions, too ; and, if one-half of the rumours of the 
 day be true, they will soon bring down Spanish cunning 
 to aid French intrigue, and make a mess of it fit for 
 the palate of the devil himself. So now you will be in 
 your right element, urchin, and I will only give you one 
 piece of advice before you go. Never let your zeal for 
 any one's service make you act ill, even to his greatest 
 enemy." 
 
 I felt myself turn as red as fire, for, to say the truth, 
 the good old lord had touched upon a tender point ; and,
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 27 
 
 though I was young enough to think of such matters 
 lightly, yet, during the nint-; months which I had lately 
 passed in a much more contemplative manner than 
 pleased me, a suspicion would now and then come across 
 my mind, that one or two things in my past life might 
 as well have been left undone. Lord Langleigh observed 
 me colour, and adding, with a nod, " It is worth your 
 thinking of," he left me and returned to the house. I 
 did think of his advice long and eagerly ; and his words 
 sank down into my heart, producing therein the first of 
 many changes which 1 shall yet have to notice in my 
 principles and conduct, as, in passing through life, I every 
 now and then gained a lesson or an admonition, which 
 taught me my own weaknesses, or restrained my wild 
 passions. It was in vain, I soon felt, to look back and 
 regret the past ; but from that moment I formed my de- 
 termination for the future ; and tried never to forget, 
 that no cause could ever justify an evil action. 
 
 All after-arrangements were soon concluded. My 
 dress was already more splendid than was at all neces- 
 sary. My purse was well furnished by the liberality of 
 my kind benefactors ; and a pass having been procured 
 for me to enter Paris, I took leave of the family at St. 
 Maur three days after the conversation I have just de- 
 tailed, and was delivered over into the hands of Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin himself by the chief 6cuyer of Lord 
 Langleigh, who accompanied me into Paris. 
 
 My new lord received me very graciously, and prom- 
 ised me great things if I attached myself to him as zeal- 
 ously as 1 had done to Lord Masterton. His counte- 
 nance, I have already said, had pleased me from the first ; 
 and it certainly was one well calculated to command 
 both respect and regard. Nevertheless, as I came to 
 know him better, I remarked occasionally two expres- 
 sions which I had not at first observed, but which were 
 strongly indicative of his real character, or rather of 
 his faults. The first was a quick, sharp, inquiring, 
 perhaps fierce expression, when any thing whs said in 
 an under-tone by the persons around him. This, how- 
 ever, passed away in a minute ; but the second, which 
 consisted in a tremendous gathering together of the 
 brows when any one seriously off'ended him, would 
 last for some hours, and it was evidently with difficulty 
 that he could reassume his usual gay and cheerful 
 manner, through the whole of the rest of the day. 
 B2
 
 28 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 I had early learned to watch people's countenances 
 as the weather-glasses of their minds, and thence to 
 judge, not only of what was passing within at the 
 moment, but also of their habitual feelings and inherent 
 disposition. This had been taught me by my father, 
 who had established his criterions for judging by long 
 experience ; and I had not seen the fierce, sharp look, 
 and the deep, heavy scowl, upon the face of the duke 
 more than twice, when I established it in my own mind, 
 as a fact beyond doubt, that he was both suspicious and 
 revengeful. At the same time 1 discovered, by other 
 circumstances, that he was highly sensitive to ridicule ; 
 and that, knowing well to how many jests he would 
 expose himself if he suffered his irritable jealousy to 
 appear, he laboured strenuously to cover it by the same 
 light and witty manner of treating every thing which 
 in that day was universally affected by all Frenchmen. 
 In this he was not particularly successful ; for, though 
 his mind was quick and brilliant enough, his heart was 
 too full of deep and powerful feelings to harmonize 
 well with that playful badinage which alone affects the 
 surface. 
 
 So much for my new master; but there are other 
 members of his family which yet remain to be noticed. 
 The first of these, of course, is Madame la Duchesse, 
 to whom he led me immediately after I had been pre- 
 sented to himself, and introduced me as his new page, 
 of whom she had heard so much. She was a very 
 lovely woman, and at heart a most amiable one ; con- 
 siderably younger than her husband, perhaps about 
 four-and-twenty years of age ; and though, I believe, it 
 would be doing Diana herself no injustice to compare 
 her to Madame de Villardin in point of chastity, yet at 
 the time I was first presented to her, ere sorrow or 
 domestic discomfort had tamed the light heart and ban- 
 ished the vanities of youth, she had decidedly that love 
 of admiration which has often, in this world, done more 
 harm to a woman's character, than half-a-dozen faux 
 pas. It mattered not with whom she was in company 
 — rank, station, age made no difference — admired she 
 was determined to be by every one who came within 
 the sphere of her influence : a thousand little airs would 
 she assume to excite attention ; and bright and spark- 
 ling was the triumph which lighted up her eyes when 
 she had succeeded in captivating or attracting. In the
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 29 
 
 case of myself even, a boy of twelve years old, she 
 could not resist the desire of displaying the same graces 
 which she spread out before others ; and when her hus- 
 band brought me forward to her, the smile that played 
 around her lips, the flash that glistened from her fine 
 eyes, and the elegant attitude with which she held me 
 by the arm, and gazed for a moment in my face, were 
 all a little more than natural, and very, very different 
 from the calm, sweet manners of the beautiful Emily 
 Langleigh. 
 
 Besides herself, I found in the saloon where she was 
 sitting her only child, a fine lively girl of little more 
 than six years old, who afterward became my frequent 
 playfellow. 
 
 Having introduced me to his lady, and told her several 
 particulars of my history, adding no small commenda- 
 tions thereunto on my own behaviour, the duke sum- 
 moned his major-domo, to whose hands he consigned 
 me, bidding him make me familiar with the house, and 
 all that it contained. The old man, who had been in 
 the family of De Villardin from infancy, took me by the 
 hand kindly enough, and led me away to his own apart- 
 ment, which consisted of two small, neat chambers, on 
 the lower story, looking out into the court. Excellent 
 old Jerome Laborde, for such was the name of the 
 major-domo, took care, as we went along, to give me 
 many a consolatory assurance of my being well taken 
 care of, and rendered very happy, in the mansion of his 
 master, conceiving me to be one of those young and 
 inexperienced boys who are generally preferred to the 
 place of page in a nobleman's house at a tender age, and 
 who, commencing with timidity and innocence, gener- 
 ally end in impudence and intrigue. His compassion 
 was also moved towards me from the misfortune, as he 
 thought it, of my being an Englishman. But by this 
 time I had learned to speak French almost as fluently 
 as my native tongue ; and, before I had been half an 
 hour with the old major-domo, I had convinced him 
 thoroughly that I was a person to make myself very 
 much at home anywhere, and in any circumstances. 
 His ideas of a page, however, did not permit him to 
 imagine that, as I had not the bashful fears of the 
 earlier stages of pagehood, I could have any thing better 
 in my character than the pert sauciness of its latter 
 epoch ; and, having conceived this bad opinion of me,
 
 30 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 the good old man very soon civilly told me that he 
 would lead me to the pages' room, where I would find 
 three others, as gay and bold as myself. But before I 
 proceed to this new theatre on which my young abili- 
 ties were destined to display themselves, let me add 
 that, ere many days had passed, 1 found means to con- 
 vince worthy Jerome Laborde that the circumstances 
 of my former life had rendered me a very different crea- 
 ture from any he had yet met v/ith in all his long expe- 
 rience of pages. The injustice that he found he had 
 done me, added to the favourable impression he after- 
 ward received, gained me a place in his good-will, 
 which I did not lose till his death. 
 
 A scene, however, was yet to take place which was 
 to signalize my entrance into the house of Monsieur de 
 Villardin, and to place me, by my own exertions, in that 
 station in his family which Lord Langleigh had pre- 
 viously stipulated that I should enjoy. On entering the 
 pages' room, as it was called, I found, indeed, three boys 
 as gay and bold as myself, full of saucy conceit and pert 
 jocularity. They were all older than I was, and one 
 seemed little less than fifteen years of age. No sooner 
 was I left there by the major-domo than, oi" course, I 
 became the subject of their raillery, and for some time 
 submitted to afford them matter for amusement. Their 
 first employment was, naturally, the examination of my 
 dress, which I could see, by a frequent shrug of the 
 shoulders, and the words mauvais _i(out, did not particu- 
 larly please ihese }uven\\e petit-mailres. Going from that, 
 however, to other matters, they carried their jocularity 
 so far, that 1 soon found it would be necessary to exert 
 one or two of the qualities which I had acquired in a 
 harder school than any to which they had ever been 
 subjected, in order to put them in that place which I in- 
 tended them to occupy during the rest of my stay in the 
 family. I consequently took advantage of the first in- 
 solent word spoken by the eldest — who appeared to have 
 a right prescriptive to tyrannize — and, having drubbed 
 him more heartily than ever he was drubbed before, I pro- 
 ceeded to reduce the two others to a complete state of 
 discipline and subordination. 
 
 It may easily be supposed that all this was not ef- 
 fected w^ithout considerable noise ; for though we were 
 all small enough to have lain quiet in any house, my 
 three companions were very vociferous. Just as 1 waa
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 131 
 
 putting what may be called the finishing stroke to the 
 affair, by once more knocking down the eldest — who, 
 on finding that his two fellow-pages, notwithstanding 
 all they had suffered from him in former times, were 
 now willing to espouse his cause against the new-comer, 
 had roused himself again to the combat — I perceived 
 that the door of the apartment was ajar, and that the 
 face of Monsieur de Villardin (with two or three ecuyers 
 behind) was gazing in upon the conflict. This discovery, 
 however, did not prevent my giving full force to my 
 blow, and my antagonist measured his length upon 
 the floor at his master's feet. 
 
 " Very well struck for a roup d'essai,^^ cried the duke, 
 walking in ; " every fresh dog must of course fight his 
 way through the pack ; but novv, young gentlemen, as 
 your new comrade seems to have satisfied you pretty 
 well that his must be the first station among you by right 
 of superior strength and activity, 1 also tell you that it is 
 his by my will. Gaspard," he continued, turning to his 
 eldest page, " you are but a boy, and not fit to cope with 
 one who has slain men. So submit with a good grace, 
 and give him your hand." 
 
 The boy, who had by this time risen from the floor, 
 obeyed ; but as he did so, he eyed me from under his 
 bent brows with a look that was suflnicient warning that 
 I had gained an enemy. This was an acquisition not 
 particularly disagreeable to me ; for, to tell the truth, I 
 had at that time been so much more accustomed to deal 
 with enemies than friends, that I hardly felt in my ele- 
 ment without them ; and indeed, as 1 looked upon man's 
 natural position to be a state of warfare, I was always 
 prepared to bear my share in it with good-will. These 
 opinions, it is true, changed greatly afterward ; but hov/ 
 the alteration was brought about is to be found in the 
 history of my after-life. 
 
 The mortification of Gaspard de Belleville, which was 
 the name of my chief opponent, was rendered complete 
 by the duke selecting me as the companion of his ride 
 to the palais, where the parliament was then sitting. 
 But I must speak of the events which occurred to me in 
 Paris by themselves ; nor indeed should 1 have men- 
 tioned the childish squabble which took place between 
 me and the other* pages, had it not been necessary to 
 explain the origin of a good solid hatred which Gaspard 
 de Belleville conceived towards me, and which lasted.
 
 32 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 undiminished, through life, rendering his own days mis- 
 erable, and having quite sufficient effect upon my fate. to 
 show me that we should never make an enemy when 
 we can make a friend. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The city of Paris, and the country in general, were 
 then in a pitiable state, owing to every party in the land 
 combining in the strongest degree that it is possible to 
 imagine, the quahties of knave and fool. The parlia- 
 ment was playing the fool in Paris, and yet sacrificing 
 the country to the nicest calculations of its own in- 
 terest. The party of the Duke of Bouillon was playing 
 the fool, and letting slip every opportunity of effecting 
 its own objects, while it was calling a foreign power 
 into the heart of its native country to obtain them. The 
 people were playing the fool in suffering themselves to 
 be led by an ass, the Duke de Beaufort, and by a knave, 
 the Cardinal de Retz, while at the same time they took 
 care to enrich themselves by the plunder of the stores 
 and magazines ; and last, not least, the court was play- 
 ing the fool at St. Germain, treating weakly where it 
 might have acted vigorously, and yet cheating all the 
 other parties with the most consummate art. 
 
 The situation of France at the time I entered Paris 
 was, in a few words, as follows : — Louis XIV. was then 
 a mere boy, under the regency of his mother, who in 
 turn, was under the government of Cardinal Mazarin ; 
 and these three personages, together with the Prince 
 of Conde, and a large body of nobility, were then at 
 St. Germain-en-laye, shut out of the city of Paris, which 
 they were besieging without a sufficient body of troops 
 to take even one of the gates. The parliament which 
 had begun the war, and the people who had seconded it 
 remained in the capital, hating Mazarin, and laughing at 
 the court ; but heartily sick of a war which prevented the 
 butter and cream from the country reaching Paris in 
 safety; while a party of clever men and immense rogues, 
 consisting of a number of general officers, with the Dukes 
 of Bouillon, Elbeuf, Beaufort, the Prince de Conti, and
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 39 
 
 the Archbishop de Retz, laboured night and day to keep 
 both people and parliament in a state of agitation and 
 excitement, in order that each of these worthy and nota- 
 ble leaders might wring from the weakness of a regency 
 every sort of gift, honour, and emolument. For this 
 purpose, open war had been declared against the court, 
 while, as usual, the king's name was used, and the king's 
 standard displayed on both sides. All the people in the 
 realm seemed mad, and a strange spirit of contradicting 
 their own established characters appeared to have seized 
 upon every one. Acknowledged cowards led armies 
 and rushed into battle, the most faithful turned traitors, 
 the most honest became knaves, the firm were in a 
 continual state of vacillation, the wise showed them- 
 selves fools, and the brave ran away. However, as it 
 became evident to the Parisian generals that the parlia- 
 ment was inclined to separate from the people, and 
 make peace with the court for itself, before the con- 
 cessions were granted which they, the generals, de- 
 manded for themselves, they determined to do their 
 best, by means of the people within the city and of 
 armies without, to compel the parliament to be honest 
 to them and dishonest to the court. Negotiations were 
 immediately opened with the Spanish government of the 
 Low Countries, Spanish ambassadors were received in 
 Paris, the archduke began his march into France, 
 Turenne himself, with the common madness of the 
 day, raised the standard of rebellion against his king in 
 aid of his brother the Duke of Bouillon, and the Due de 
 Longueville promised to advance also with his forces 
 from Rouen to support the Parisians in their struggle. 
 
 Such was the situation of things externally when I 
 entered the capital, and became attached to one of the 
 party of general officers. At the same time, it is to be 
 remarked, that deputies from the parliament were 
 treating for peace at Ruel ; and, though the date of their 
 powers had expired, they were still continuing their 
 negotiations, A report even was current that they had 
 concluded a treaty with Mazarin ; and as I had passed 
 through the town on my way to the house of Monsieur 
 de Villardin, I had found the people collected in large 
 bodies, shouting, " Down with Mazarin ! down with the 
 parliament!" 
 
 By the time that we issued forth into the streets to 
 take our way to the building where the great judicial 
 B3
 
 34 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 body was assembled, the rumour had become still more^ 
 general, and the crowds, of course, were increased. 
 Nothing- was heard but cries and shouts, and what were 
 then called Mazarinade3. Poniards, muskets, pikes, 
 and swords were in all hands ; and so very indiscrimi- 
 nate was the use which the people seemed inclined to 
 make of their weapons, that it was only by constantly 
 joining in their shout of down with Mazarin that we 
 made our way through them with safety. The numbers 
 in the neighbourhood of the palais were still more im- 
 mense and vociferous ; and even the crowd of guards 
 who were keeping the court and the doors of the build- 
 ing seemed not a whit less infuriated than the people. 
 At the same time persons were seen continually coming 
 out from the parliament, and haranguing the multitude ; 
 and those also who went in seldom failed to treat them 
 to a taste of their eloquence ere they entered the gates. 
 The state of insanity to which all this oratory raised the 
 populace may easily be imagined ; and at one time I 
 heard a man exclaim from among the crowd, that they 
 should hang the deputies over the gates ; while one of 
 the town-guard added, that if Monsieur de Villardin, 
 who was just going in, would return and point out to 
 them who were really the Mazarins in the parliament 
 itself, they would drag them out, and poniard them in 
 the court. 
 
 Upon this, the duke, of course, favoured them with an 
 oration also, and a curious piece of composition it was; 
 consisting of a series of pleasantries upon the parlia- 
 ment, upon Mazarin, upon himself, upon the court, and 
 upon every thing, mingled with a few apophthegms upon 
 policy, religion, and morals, which all tended to capti- 
 vate the people, and make them think him wondrous 
 wise, without tending in the least to calm them, or re- 
 duce them to order and decency. Now Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin was not only a polished speaker, and, where his 
 own passions were not concerned, a close reasoner, but 
 he was also really a patriotic, generous, disinterested 
 man ; and the fact of his speaking for half an hour, as 
 he did on the present occasion, a tissue of high-sounding, 
 disjointed nonsense, which could only serve to inflame 
 still further the minds of a mad and excited populace, can 
 only be accounted for upon the grounds of the general 
 insanity which seemed at that time to have seized upon 
 all ranks and classes.
 
 JOHN MARSTOIN HALL. 35 
 
 This oration being finished, we entered the parliament- 
 house ; and, by the special favour of one of the door- 
 keepers, my new lord was permitted to take me with 
 him into the interior of the building-, perhaps anticipat- 
 ing one of those scenes in which the prompt hand and 
 ready perception, that had been my principal recom- 
 mendation in his eyes, might be serviceable to him in 
 more ways than one. We took our way by the great 
 staircase in the right wing, and soon found ourselves in 
 what is called the Salle des pas perdus, which was full 
 of people of all sorts and descriptions — guards, door- 
 keepers, and officers of the palais ; counsellors, states- 
 men, members of the different chambers, and the mixed 
 crowd of attendants belonging to all those who were 
 thronging to the parliament on the present momentous 
 occasion. Passing onward, through the small refresh- 
 ment-rooms, called Les Buveties, where no obstacle was 
 presented to my following my master, we were soon in 
 the midst of the hall in which the parliament were 
 assembled ; and such a scene of disgraceful confusion 
 has seldom perhaps been witnessed. Half-a-dozen 
 people were upon their feet haranguing at once ; and 
 several minutes elapsed before any thing could be heard 
 except a confused gabble of tongues, which might have 
 done honour to the top of the tower of Babei. 
 
 At length, the Duke d'Elbeuf, whom I had seen before, 
 and who seemed to have the longest breath, the loudest 
 voice, and the most determined pertinacity of the party, 
 obtained the ascendency ; and one by one sitting down, 
 he was left speaking alone. 
 
 '• Now, sir president," he continued, turning to a man 
 of dignified appearance, who, habited as a high law- 
 officer, occupied one of the principal places of the 
 assembly, — •' now, sir president, since I can make my- 
 self heard, I demand distinctly whether you or any of 
 your fellow-deputies have, at your conference with 
 Mazarin and the court, made any provision whatever 
 for the security and remuneration of the generals and 
 other officers who have sacrificed so much in the cause 
 of the parliament and the people." 
 
 " Before I reply to any particular questions," an- 
 swered the president, " I will, with the permission of 
 the parliament, read the proch-verbal of our proceedings 
 at the conference at Ruel. Then having seen what we 
 have really done, the chambers will be enabled to judge
 
 36 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 whether they can approve of the treaty of peace we 
 have concluded." 
 
 " You had no power, you had no power," shouted forty 
 or fifty voices at once, — " you had no power to conclude 
 any thnig ! Your authority expired four or five days 
 ago ! There is no peace ; we will have no peace .' 
 The deputies have gone beyond their powers; they have 
 abandoned disgracefully our generals and our friends !" 
 
 In vain the chief president attempted to read the paper 
 which he had in his hand. Every time he opened his 
 mouth his words were drowned in murmurs and re- 
 proaches ; and even when he abandoned the endeavour 
 and sat down, it was clear that the rest of the assembly 
 only waited for some new word to break forth again 
 into tumult and invective. All solemnity, all dignity 
 was laid aside : the turbulence had not even the inipres- 
 siveness derived from being terrible : it was simply 
 ridiculous ; and the only image presented to the mind 
 by the whole scene was a body of fishwomen scolding 
 in a market. 
 
 After the silence of perhaps a minute which ensued, a 
 little pale young man, who seemed to me slightly de- 
 formed, and who I afterward found was the Prince de 
 Conti, rose near the head of the hull, and said, in a mild 
 and sweet-toned voice, that he did wonder that the depu- 
 ties from the parliament had thought fit to conclude a 
 peace with the court, without consulting himself and the 
 generals of the army. Another person, who was after- 
 ward addressed as the Duke de Bouillon, with a broad, 
 unmeaning countenance, which, however, lighted up in 
 an extraordinary manner when he began to speak, fol- 
 lowed the Prince de Conti in addressing the parliament : 
 
 " Gentlemen," he said, " since you have thought fit 
 to conclude a peace with the court, and allowed the 
 Cardinal Mazarin, whose enmity I have so highly pro- 
 voked in your service, to remain prime minister, the 
 only favour and reward that I shall require of you is, 
 to obtain me a passport, as speedily as possible, to quit 
 the country with my family." 
 
 " We have not concluded a peace ; we disavow it. 
 The deputies had no power," cried a dozen voices at 
 once; and everybody again began speaking together,, 
 as if the sense of hearing had suddenly left the whole 
 assembly. One man, the Duke de Beaufort, who was 
 handsome enough, indeed, bui whose good looks were
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 37 
 
 principally composed of high health and stupidity, laid 
 his hand upon the hilt of his sword, and declared that 
 it should never draw blood for Mazarin. Another pro- 
 tested that the parliament had rendered itself for ever 
 unworthy of the confidence of the people ; and, what 
 between reproaches and tumult, more than an hour 
 passed without any thing being concluded. 
 
 In the midst of all this uproar, however, a piece of 
 buffoonery, performed by the well-known Bachaumont, 
 restored some sort of good-humour to the assembly; 
 for seizing a momentary pause, when every tongue, as 
 if by common consent, halted to take breath, he passed 
 behind the famous De Retz, then archbishop-coadjutor 
 of Paris, snatched forth a poniard, which he had espied 
 lying concealed in the bosom of that factious prelate, 
 and, holding it up to the eyes of the parliament, ex- 
 claimed, " Gentlemen, gentlemen, look at the breviary 
 of our archbishop !" 
 
 A roar of laughter succeeded, which left the whole 
 of that grave assembly so much out of countenance, that 
 it was some time before they could speak of any serious 
 business, much more return to the angry disputation in 
 which they had been interrupted. 
 
 Taking advantage of the change, one of the lawyers, 
 called the President de Coigneux, rose, and made the 
 most sensible proposition which had yet been heard ; 
 namely, that, as the deputies had acted without au- 
 thority, and as the responsibility of what they had done, 
 of course, rested upon themselves, they should be sent 
 back with the treaty they had framed, and, though per- 
 mitted to take it for the basis of a new one, should be 
 directed, in addition, to stipulate for immunity and re- 
 compense to the generals and nobles who had engaged 
 in the cause of the parliament. 
 
 He had not yet concluded his harangue, however, 
 when a tremendous noise in the court below, and even 
 in the hall without, together with lould shouts of " Down 
 with Mazarin! Down with the parliament ! Hang up 
 the deputies ! Long live the noble generals ! Let us 
 have a republic ! Set fire to the palais .'" and other 
 such sweet and delectable exhortations, roared by the 
 stentorian voices of the crowd, caused the orator to turn 
 very pale, and to sit down before he had finished his 
 oration. Another lawyer rose to second the proposal 
 of the first : but by this time the noise had become so
 
 38 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 tremendous that what he said could not be distinguished ; 
 and the moment afier the great door of the hall opened, 
 and one of the door-keepers entered, pale and trembling, 
 announcing, in a voice scarcely articulate with fear, that 
 the populace had forced their way into the Salle des pas 
 perdus, and demanded to speak with the Due de Beau- 
 fort. 
 
 That prince — who, with scarcely common sense to 
 carry him through the world, was the great popular 
 leader, both at that time and for many years afterward 
 — went out and tranquillized the people for a few min- 
 utes ; but scarcely had he again entered the hall when 
 the tumult recommenced, and it was found absolutely 
 necessary to break up the sitting. 
 
 Nevertheless, the chief president — although against 
 himself personally, as the principal member of the depu- 
 tation which had signed the peace, the anger of the multi- 
 tude was most fiercely excited — still maintained his place 
 with calm dignity ; and declared, without the slightest 
 shade of fear detracting from his perfect self-possession, 
 that a proposition being before the parliament, it could 
 not separate without coming to some decision on the 
 subject. The motion that the deputies should be sent 
 back was immediately put ; and was carried with some- 
 what timid rapidity. The next question was, how to 
 get the obnoxious deputies to their houses with their 
 lives, especially the chief president, who, notwith- 
 standing political differences, was admired and esteemed 
 by every nobler spirit present. 
 
 He had just taken the voices of the assembly, as 
 calmly as he would have done at any ordinary time, and 
 on any ordinary occasion ; and, for a moment after, 
 there followed a general pause, while the whole as- 
 sembly looked upon him with a feeling of interest and 
 apprehension that is difficult to describe. Even I, my- 
 self, who had never seen him before, and now, as I stood 
 behind, under one of the arches, only caught an occa- 
 sional view of him through the crowd, felt that I would 
 shed ray own blood to save him. Everybody present 
 was well aware that there existed a thousand chances 
 to one that he would be massacred the moment he 
 showed his face among the infuriated mob without ; 
 but he himself did not seem to feel that he was an object 
 of any particular attention, or to suppose that there was 
 any imminent danger, though he must have been inter-
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 3t 
 
 nally convinced that his life was not certain for a mo- 
 ment. Calmly risinj^, however, after he had declared 
 the vote of the chambers, and had pronounced the sitting 
 at an end, he prepared to leave the hall without any 
 apparent agitation. As he took the first step towards 
 the door, the Duke de Bouillon and several other offi- 
 cers, among whom my new lord was one, pressed about 
 him, and entreated him to pass round by the writing- 
 rooms at the back of the buildings, by which means he 
 would avoid encountering the people. 
 
 " Gentlemen," he replied, " the court of parliament 
 never conceals itself; and if I were certain of being 
 torn in pieces the moment I set my foot beyond this 
 hall, I would not commit such an act of cowardice as 
 to go out by any but the way to which I am accus- 
 tomed." 
 
 " At least," cried the archbishop, " do not attempt to 
 proceed till I have endeavoured to calm the people." 
 
 A bitter smile curled the lip of the president, who well 
 knew that prelate to be the instigator of half the sedi- 
 tion which took place in the city ; but he replied, with a 
 low bow, " Well, well, my very good lord, go and give 
 them the word, by all means ; " and, almost as soon as 
 De Retz had left him, he again began to move towards 
 the door. Several of the more popular among the offi- 
 cers surrounded him as he advanced, in order to protect 
 him ; and Monsieur de Villardin, placing himself on his 
 right hand, bade me go on immediately before, and do 
 what I thought best to assist in clearing the way. 
 
 " You seem to have great confidence in your page, 
 Monsieur le Due," said the president, in a calm easy 
 tone. 
 
 "You will see whether I have not cause, sir," replied 
 the duke ; " but let me beseech you not to utter one 
 word, either good or bad, till you are safe in your own 
 dwelling." 
 
 It is a certain fact, that to teach people that we ex- 
 pect great things from them is the best of all ways to 
 cause them to use great exertions ; and the words that 
 I overheard at once made me determine to leave no- 
 thing undone that could show my zeal or activity. The 
 rest of the popular nobles and lawyers now approached 
 to protect the other deputies, and thus we advanced 
 to the door. When we were close to it, the huisxier 
 threw it open, and a sight certainly somewhat appalling
 
 40 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 presented itself. The outer hall was filled to suffocation! 
 with a dense mass of ill-favoured vagabonds, who pre- 
 sented themselves, with fury in their eyes and weapons 
 in their hands, shouting all sorts of imprecations upon 
 the deputies, upon Mazarin, and upon the court. They 
 were led by a ruined advocate called Du Boisle, who 
 was almost as ragged as his followers, and equally well 
 furnished with arms. Indeed, the combination of swords, 
 guns, and daggers, with rags and tatters, had a very 
 strange effect to the eye when it first lighted upon the 
 multitude, which presented the aspect of a strong force 
 of armed beggars. 
 
 However, we moved on directly towards the opposite 
 door ; and as all looks were turned upon the parhament, 
 none upon me, I advanced, keeping a step before the 
 president, till I almost touched the front rank man, in 
 the centre of the crowd. He showed not the slightest 
 disposition to move out of the way ; and, although I kept 
 my hand upon my dagger, I thought it might be as well 
 to try mild means first ; therefore, setting my heel upon 
 his toes, I gave them a gentle squeeze, which made him 
 start back, roaring, upon those behind him. The tu- 
 mult was still so great, that the cry of pain he uttered 
 passed almost unnoticed, while his rush back made those 
 behind him retreat also, so that a passage was cleared 
 for us halfway through the hall. We lost no time in ta- 
 king advantage of this favourable circumstance ; but be- 
 fore we had proceeded far, Du Boisle threw himself in 
 the way of the president, and addressed him in lan- 
 guage which at once showed why his oratory was so 
 much more successful in a mob than in a court of jus- 
 tice. As his harangue was rather lengthy, and a crow.d, 
 like damp hay, always heats itself by standing close 
 packed together, I soon saw brandishing of weapons, 
 and caught a sight of two or three men mounting upon 
 the benches at the back, and calmly taking aim, with 
 their muskets, at various persons in our httle party. It 
 therefore seemed necessary to bring the advocate's ora- 
 tion to a conclusion ; and as he was so near the president 
 as sometimes to take him by the robe, I easily got in 
 behind him, and catching his coat, so as to throw him 
 over among the people, I tripped up his heels, in the 
 very fury of his declamation. My size, of course, greatly 
 contributed to my success, and also shielded me from 
 notice and retribution : and in the confusion which foU
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 41 
 
 lowed, the president and his companions pushed for- 
 ward, and descended the great staircase in safety. 
 
 The crowd without were not prepared for our issuing 
 forth without any notice from their friends within, and 
 thus we got a considerable start of them, which enabled 
 us to convey the president to his house unhurt. Our 
 movements, however, were soon perceived : the multi- 
 tude followed, shouting imprecations upon us : and as 
 we endeavoured to disperse, after having accomplished 
 our purpose, a thousand scenes of confusion and brutality 
 ensued. What became of the other nobles and coun- 
 cellors, I did not see. Monsieur de Villardin turned 
 again towards the palais to find his grooms and his 
 horses; but as he had made himself one of the most con- 
 spicuous in defending the president, he was surrounded 
 and attacked by a party of butchers, who threw him 
 down upon the pavement. I was three steps behind : 
 one of his assailants knelt over him with a poniard in 
 his hand, shouting, " Death to the Mazarin !" and as long 
 practice in cutting throats seemed to have rendered him 
 expert and quick, it is probable that ere I could have 
 come up to afford any assistance. Monsieur de Villardin 
 would have lost his life, on the very first day of my at- 
 tendance upon him. At that moment, however, a young 
 cavalier of not more than four or five-and-twenty years 
 of age, followed by two or three servants, dashed in 
 among the butchers, received in his own arm the blow 
 of the dagger which was intended for the duke's throat, 
 and cleared the space around him. 
 
 At the same time, though he was sharply wounded, 
 he exclaimed, with the utmost good-humour, " What ! 
 gentlemen, are you going to kill your friends ] This is 
 no Mazarin ! This is one of the generals. Do you not 
 remember Monsieur de Villardin 1" It is astonishing 
 how few words will convince a mob of any thing under 
 the sun. The butchers looked utterly confounded when 
 they heard that they had just been engaged in the lauda- 
 ble employment of assaulting one of the generals of 
 their own armies, though they were told so by a person 
 of whom they apparently knew as little. It was quite 
 sufficient for them that some one said so ; and a few 
 more words from the duke himself, who had by this 
 time regained his feet, finished the impression, and sent 
 them away to assault somebody else with as much 
 reason.
 
 42 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 As soon as we were left alone, the duke turned to his 
 deliverer, and expressed his gratitude for the service he 
 had received. " It would be a shame to me," he added, 
 after his first thanks had been poured forth, " if I were 
 to remain one moment longer ignorant of the name of 
 one to whom I am so deeply indebted." 
 
 " I can well believe that you have forgotten me," an- 
 swered the young gentleman, " for you have not seen 
 me for seven or eight years, which at my time of life 
 effects a great change ; but you cannot have forgotten 
 the name of Charles de Mesnil, your nearest neighbour, 
 I believe, in Brittany." 
 
 " Good Heavens, my dear count, is it possible 1" ex- 
 claimed Monsieur de Villardin ; " 1 had, indeed, forgotten 
 you ; but you were merely a boy when I last saw you. 
 You are changed indeed. 1 never thought to see you 
 such a height. You are taller by full two inches than 
 your father was. Gracious Heaven '. but you are bleed- 
 ing," he added, remarking the wound in his arm. 
 
 " Oh, it is a mere nothing," answered the other; "I 
 will seek some surgeon and have it dressed." 
 
 " Nowhere but in my house," replied Monsieur do 
 Villardin : " call up my horses. Are those yours stand- 
 ing yonder, counts 
 
 The reply was in the affirmative ; and the young cav- 
 alier added, that seeing Monsieur de Villardin coming 
 out of the palais, he had followed on foot to claim ac- 
 quaintance with him. 
 
 I was not long in finding the grooms ; and the two 
 gentlemen having mounted, we rode home, after hav- 
 ing spent a morning as full of bustle as ever I could 
 wish. 
 
 A surgeon was instantly sent for; and the young 
 cavalier's wound having been dressed, he was presented 
 by Monsieur de Villardin to his lady as the son of an old 
 friend and the saviour of his life. What passed further 
 I do not know ; but the day closed, and I felt myself 
 very well contented with my situation.
 
 JOHN HARSTON HALX. 43 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 After supping with the pages, whose meals were 
 taken in a sep«.rate chamber, I inquired of the old major- 
 domo, who 1 found was to be my oracle in the house, 
 whether the duke was likely to require my attendance 
 upon him during the course of the evening ; and, learn- 
 ing that I might absent myself in security, I told my old 
 adviser that 1 should go out into the streets of Paris, 
 and take a stroll through the city, which 1 had not seen 
 since I left it with Lord Masterton, many months before. 
 The good old man gave me a great many sage and pru- 
 dent cautions as to my behaviour; but, at the same 
 time, having a billet to send to his nephew, one Jacques 
 Marlot, a printer, who lived upon the Quay of the Gold- 
 smiths, he did not at all oppose my expedition, but, on 
 the contrary, requested me to deliver the note as I 
 went, 
 
 I willingly undertook the task, and sallied forth full 
 of glad thoughts, and well disposed to be pleased with 
 every thing that a great city could present. 
 
 To tell the truth, my freedom from the irksome re- 
 straint and wearisome application which my late studies 
 demanded, made me feel very much like a bird escaped 
 from its cage, and I walked along through the streets of 
 Paris far happier than if I had been lord of one half of 
 the universe. That capital, nevertheless, was not, per- 
 haps, one of the best schools in which a boy who, like 
 myself, had run on far beyond his years in the race of 
 life, could complete his education. Always the great 
 emporium of vice and debauchery, Paris, in its present 
 state, offers but a faint picture of its former self. The 
 license of every kind that then existed in the city, no 
 tongue can tell nor pen can describe. Every thing the 
 most sacred had become a jest. Every moral tie was 
 broken without shame or care ; and never did liberty 
 of speech and action arrive at the consummation of a 
 total demoralization of the whole people, more com- 
 pletely than it had done, by this time, in the French 
 capital. It luckily happened, however, that, though
 
 44 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 doubtless I might have found plenty to initiate me into 
 all sorts of mysteries which I had better not have 
 known, I was too young for the sort of instruction I 
 might otherwise have received, and my nature was too 
 quick and vehement to take pleasure in vice without 
 passion. 
 
 All that I found then to amuse me in the streets of 
 Paris was the gayety, the bustle, and the liveliness of 
 the people, the witty ribaldry of their songs and jests, 
 their easily excited merriment, and their extravagant 
 grimaces. All this certainly pleased and interested me; 
 and 1 met with many a sight to attract my attention 
 and arrest my steps as I walked on to the Quai des Or- 
 fevres. However, 1 at length arrived there ; and having 
 discovered the dwelling of Jacques Marlot, I went in 
 and delivered his uncle's note. 
 
 He was a little, gay, joyful-looking man, not in the 
 least resembling the worthy major-domo, but with a 
 face not unlike the busts of Socrates, if we can conceive 
 the countenance of the philosopher covered over with 
 a florid and somewhat wine-imbued skin, and lighted up 
 with tv^o sparkling small black eyes, full of unquench- 
 able fire and malice. 
 
 At the time that I entered he was busily engaged, 
 though in total solitude, in despatching the goodly form 
 of a fat roasted capon, which he took care to bathe in 
 repeated draughts from a tankard of warm wine that 
 stood in his chimney corner. He received me with the 
 sort of gay civility which his whole demeanour be- 
 spoke ; and opening his uncle's note, grinned merrily at 
 the contents ; observing that his relation warned him 
 to beware of printing any thing against the court, as 
 the parliament and the generals were all racing against 
 each other to see which should make peace fastest. 
 
 " Ma foi,'"' he added, " I will make my peace as they 
 have made theirs, with arms in my hand ;" and setting 
 me down a cup, he insisted upon my staying to drink 
 with him, which, after having once tasted his potations, 
 I felt very well inchned to do. It struck me, perhaps, 
 as a little extraordinary, that a poor printer, whose trade 
 was not at that time the most lucrative in Paris, should 
 be able to afford rich Burgundy, and to feed upon fat 
 capon ; but I soon found that, being of a very unscrupu- 
 lous nature. Master Jacques Marlot obtained large prices 
 for printing all those defamatory libels against Mazarin,
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 45 
 
 the queen, and the whole court, which then formed the 
 amusement and the reproach of the city. It was his 
 rule never to inquire who the authors were, provided 
 they paid him largely. The more unceremonious the 
 wit and biting the satire, the more it agreed with the 
 tastes of the printer himself; and many a noble, and, I 
 believe I miglit add, many a reverend pen, poured forth 
 its gall from under the mantle of Jacques Marlot. 
 
 My promptitude in catching his bon mots, my readiness 
 in replying to them, my English accent, and my insular 
 notions, as he called them, all seemed to please and to 
 amuse the printer much ; and after having, with a rueful 
 glance, divided the last drop in the flagon equally be- 
 tween himself and me, he invited me cordially to come 
 back and see him again in a few days at the same hour, 
 which 1 did not fail to do more than once ; and many a 
 merry laugh have we had together at the follies and "the 
 vices of persons of every rank, class, and condition in 
 the state. Indeed, there was such a strange mixture of 
 the cynic, the stoic, and the epicurean, in the whole life 
 and conduct of Jacques Marlot, that 1 could not help 
 looking upon him as a great philosopher. 
 
 Whether any one, who by chance may read these 
 pages, will coincide in my opinion, I cannot tell ; but 
 everyone shall have an opportunity of judging; for this 
 casual acquaintance, formed under such very common- 
 f)lace circumstances, went on into after years, and fol- 
 lowed me through many a strange scene to distant 
 parts of the land. Those scenes, however, will them- 
 selves require too long detail for me to pause upon our 
 less interesting interviews ; though the conversation of 
 Jacques Marlot would, at the time I speak of, have 
 formed no bad jest-book for the Fronde ; and on that 
 very night I heard more bon mots and anecdotes in 
 half an hour than had met my ear for many a day 
 before. 
 
 On my return home, I found a neat small room, not 
 far from the apartments of the good major-domo, pre- 
 pared as my lodging; and by the time I had half un- 
 dressed myself, in order to go to bed, I was surprised to 
 see the door open, and Monsieur de Villardin himself 
 enter the room. As his brow was somewhat grave and 
 stern, I imagined that he had come to chide me for my 
 absence during the evening ; and I instantly began to 
 feel a spirit of rebeUion at the very thought, partly en-
 
 4G TIIK ADVENTURES OF 
 
 gendered by my old habits of independence, partly by 
 the sense ol" having in a degree recovered it anew. To 
 my good young lord, whom I had lately left, 1 had been 
 bound by lies of affection and gratitude, which would 
 have made me do any thing to please bin), and wiiich 
 caused me to submit to his orders or to his rebuke with 
 patience and good-will. Such, however, was not the 
 case in regard to Monsieur de Viliardin, at least as yet ; 
 and I determined to show him that, though I was per- 
 fectly willing to give him every sort of attendance when 
 he required it, yet that I looked upon the rest of my time 
 as at my own disposal. I resolved to let him know also, 
 that, though the fortunes of my family had been for some 
 time at a low ebb, I had as gentle blood in my veins as 
 he had ; and, in short, 1 was prepared to be as saucy and 
 impertinent, I doubt not, as any wild, ungovernable, and 
 hot-headed boy could be, when, to my surprise, he be- 
 gan upon quite a different topic, without taking the 
 slightest notice of my late absence. 
 
 Setting down tlie taper that he carried, he threw him>- 
 self into a large chair that stood by the fire, and bidding 
 me put on my vest again, as he had a good deal to say 
 to me, he continued, " Well, my pnge, we have begun 
 together, this morning, as well as 1 could wish, and I 
 find that the character 1 have received with. you does 
 you no more than justice : and 1 doubt not that every 
 hour will increase my regard for you ; and I shall take 
 care that you have every opportunity of distinguishing 
 yourself that you could desire through life.'" 
 
 This discourse, so different from that I had expected, 
 was certainly very pleasing to me ; but at the same time 
 I had learned too much of the world not to understand 
 that it was a prelude to something else, which perhaps 
 might not be so gratifying ; and consequently, I an- 
 swered with the words which mean less than any others 
 in the world, " Your lordship is very good." 
 
 " Nevertheless," proceeded Monsieur de Viliardin, 
 " it is but right that we should clearly understand upon 
 what terms we are to go on together. Now," he con- 
 tinued, assuming a frank and easy air, — which when 
 you see men do you may be perfectly sure that they are 
 cheating themselves, and are trying to cheat ycu also, 
 — "now, I am not in the least a suspicious man; far 
 from it ; by nature I am quite the contrary ; neverthe- 
 less, I think it but right that every master of a large
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 47 
 
 household like this should be thoroughly acquainted 
 with all that takes place in his dwelling. Of course you 
 will have a great many opportunities of observing what 
 passes in my family, and I must require of you to be 
 frank and free with me on all such subjects." 
 
 I did not like the matter at all, for I understood very 
 well what he meant ; and I was sure that, although he 
 felt some ditRculty in explaining himself at first, he 
 would not be long before he found an opportunity of do- 
 ing so completely. However, I thought my usual 
 straightforward way was the best, and I answered, " I am 
 always frank and free, my lord. I say what I think to 
 everybody, and of everybody." 
 
 " So I have heard, so I have heard," said the duke ; 
 *' and I must desire that you do so, particularly towards 
 me, remembering that 1 look upon a person who would 
 see his master wronged as fully more culpable than the 
 person who wrongs him." 
 
 " My lord," I replied, seeing that we must come to the 
 point at last, " I certainly never will see you wronged 
 without endeavouring to right you ; and if I cannot do it 
 in my ov/n person, I shall hold myself bound to tell you, 
 in order that you may do it. 1 am sure your lordship 
 does not wish me to become a spy upon anybody, nor 
 would it have any effect if you did ; for I would not re- 
 main in the house of any one half an hour who was to 
 require such a thing of me." 
 
 It is wonderful how many things people will do, from 
 the very name of which they would shrink with shame 
 if put into plain terms ; and though I am perfectly con- 
 vinced that Monsieur de Villardin, — from some of those 
 yague and visionary doubts which haunt the minds of 
 suspicious men, the spectres of a diseased imagination, 
 would have liked me to watch all the events of any im- 
 portance that took place in his house, and make him a 
 full report thereof; yet he immediately testified great 
 disgust at the very name of a spy, and replied, " Far 
 from me be such a thought for a moment, as to propose 
 to you, young man, any thing mean or dishonourable. 
 I know you are of gentle blood, and have served well 
 in a noble cause ; and therefore, though I hold you 
 bound by your duty, as you are also by the promise you 
 have just made, to give me instant ^information if you 
 see any one attempt to wrong me in any way, yet, of
 
 48 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 course, 1 do not desire you to become a spy upon those 
 around you." 
 
 I saw evidently that he caught at the promise I had 
 made, and, to tell the truth, I was sorry that I had made 
 it. Not that I did not consider myself bound by the 
 station I held in his family to do exactly as I had said ; 
 but I was a little afraid that my s^ood lord might con- 
 strue my words rather more liberally than 1 had intended 
 them to be understood. As ihey were spoken, how- 
 ever, there was no help for it; and though I repeated 
 over again, — to make the engagement as clear and defi- 
 nite as possible, — that 1 would never see him wronged 
 without endeavouring to right him, or without giving 
 him an opportunity of doing so himself, still I was afraid 
 he might be inclined to exact, under that promise, more 
 than I should be inclined to concede. I found, indeed, 
 afterward, that he himself very well understood, that 
 there was another way of making it a point of honour 
 with me to do as he desired, which was by loading me 
 with benefits, and bestowing on me that confidence 
 which would have rendered it an act of the greatest in- 
 gratitude on my part to conceal from him any attempt 
 to injure him. 
 
 Satisfied with the promise I had made, and deter- 
 mined with regard to the course he would pursue to- 
 wards me, he dropped that part of the conversation 
 there ; but made me give him a long history of my 
 family and my adventures ; told me that he had been well 
 acquainted with Lord Wilmarton, my mother's father, 
 some fifteen years before ; and ended by giving me an 
 assurance, which he nobly accomplished, that hence- 
 forth he would treat me more as his son than as his 
 attendant. He then took up the light and quitted the 
 chamber, leaving me to meditate over the future, which, 
 notwithstanding the promises he had made, and which 
 I fully believed he v/ould keep, still presented some 
 clouds and shadows that I certainly could have wished 
 away. 
 
 After this conversation, I was almost continually with 
 Monsieur de Villardin, especially as, in all those exer- 
 cises in which noblemen of that day held themselves 
 bound to have their pages well instructed, I was already 
 as skilful as necessary, and, consequently, had scarcely 
 any other occupation than that of attending upon the 
 duke. In the pages' room, matters soon assumed the state
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 49 
 
 into which I could have wished them to fall. Master 
 Gaspard de Belleville, the eldest of my three compan- 
 ions, submitted to necessity with a somewhat bad grace ; 
 and the two younger, as soon as they had become recon- 
 ciled to me as their new comrade, and accustomed to 
 my manners and accent, sought shelter under my pro- 
 tection from the tyranny of their former despot. The 
 old major-domo ere long acquired a great affection for 
 me ; and as I was quite willing, from the novelty of the 
 thing, to be petted as much as any one pleased, he made 
 quite a favourite of me, providing me with all those 
 little comforts and luxuries which the chief domestic 
 of a great house has always at his disposal. 
 
 Monsieur de Villardin himself was, as Lord Langleigh 
 had said, a man who let no moment slip past him un- 
 marked by some event ; and, with a spirit of restless 
 activity, — not unlike what was my own at that time, — 
 he took part in every thing that was going on. By day 
 he was either busy in the intrigues of his faction, or in 
 the field with his troops ; and even at night he was 
 very often as busy in beating up the enemy's quarters, 
 or in stirring up the Parisians to some new absurdity. 
 In all his expeditions I formed one of his attendants : I 
 had constant employment, and both at home and abroad 
 was as happy as 1 could wish. 
 
 This state of things, however, could not, of course, 
 last for ever ; and had no other circumstance occurred 
 to interrupt its duration, the gradual recovery of Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin from the madness of the Fronde would 
 ultimately have put an end to it ; but an incident soon 
 happened, to which I shall now turn, and which eventu- 
 ally occasioned my departure from Paris rather faster 
 than I approved of. The first treaty of peace which 
 had been signed was indignantly rejected, as we have 
 seeurbythe parliament, the populace, and the gene- 
 rals : and the deputies were again sent back to treat at 
 Ruel. During their conferences, as an armistice had 
 been refused, Monsieur de Villardin and others took 
 care to amuse Mazarin by frequent excursions, which 
 sometimes were pushed to the gates of St. Germain. 
 Mazarin, always timid, made concessions in proportion 
 to his alarm ; but, at the same time, as he loved not 
 the sort of arms with which the Parisian generals fought 
 him, he took care to combat them with weapons pecu- 
 liarly his own. Three fresh armies, as I have said, 
 
 Vol 1.— C
 
 60 
 
 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 were directing their course towards Paris in support of 
 the parhament. In regard to the one promised from 
 Normandy, the cardinal tampered with the general, the 
 Duke de Longueville, and delayed its march. In regard 
 to the other, commanded by Turenne, knowing the chief 
 to be incorruptible, Mazarin corrupted the men. The 
 whole army was literally bought ; and when its general 
 was about to begin his advance upon the capital, he was 
 at once abandoned by his troops. The third, consisting 
 of Spaniards, the cardinal well knew would not march 
 without the others : and having thus placed himself on 
 more equal terms with the Parisian leaders, he took 
 advantage of the consternation which these events pro- 
 duced to press the treaty of peace, which was soon after 
 concluded and ratified by all parties, but the populace, 
 and one or two of the leaders who had too great a love 
 of faction, in the abstract, to yield to any measure cal- 
 culated to put it down. Thus, then, the war was 
 brought to an end ; but still so turbulent and disorgan- 
 ized was the state of Paris, that the court dared not set 
 foot within its walls ; and, while the people were com- 
 mitting every sort of excess, and the most scandalous 
 libels upon Mazarin and the royal family were every 
 day published, the parliament, in order to signalize their 
 zeal for their new allies, the court, proceeded against 
 the authors and printers with the most tyrannical 
 severity. 
 
 Of course my good friend Jacques Marlot could 
 not escape, and I one day found old Jerome Laborde, 
 the major-domo, in great affliction on account of his 
 nephew, who had been arrested that morning for the 
 publication of the famous attack upon the queen, called 
 " La Custode." It so happened that, by my master's 
 permission, I passed the two following days at St. 
 Maur, with Lord Masterton, who was kindness itself 
 towards me ; and on the third morning I was sent by 
 the duke, immediately after my return, to gain some in- 
 telligence in the Faubourg St. Germain. As I came 
 back, I saw an immense crowd advancing rapidly to- 
 wards the Place de Greve, and crying, " Honte ! honte ! 
 Aux Mazarins ! aux Mazarins !" Running my eye a 
 little forward, I soon perceived that the cause of the 
 tumult originated in the procession of the criminal lieu- 
 tenant and his archers towards the place of execution, 
 whither they were carrying some condemned criminal
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 51 
 
 to make his last public appearance in the most disagree- 
 able manner. As it was evident that the principal per- 
 sonage on the scene was in favour with the public, 
 I hastened forward to obtain a glance, when, to my 
 horror and astonishment, I beheld the jovial face of my 
 poor acquaintance, Jacques Marlot, still as jovial as 
 ever, notwithstanding his endeavours to assume a sober 
 and sedate demeanour under the very grave circum- 
 stances in which he was placed. 
 
 Every sort of mad enterprise was then as common as 
 a hedge sparrow, and some evil demon put it in my 
 head to rescue the unhappy printer from the hands of 
 Monsieur le Bouvreau. 
 
 Among the mob were a great number of printers' 
 devils, booksellers' boys, and other shopmen ; and speak- 
 ing a word or two to those who seemed the most zeal- 
 ous, our plan was quickly arranged, and spread like 
 wild- fire among the people. The crowd was every 
 minute increasing; their cries and execrations were 
 gaining new strength at each vociferation ; and I saw 
 Grani, the criminal lieutenant, turn his head more than 
 once to scan the aspect of the very unwelcome train 
 which now accompanied him. He soon, however, 
 reached the gibbet in the Place de Greve, and poor Mar- 
 lot turned, — with a face out of which even his rueful 
 situation could not banish entirely its habitual fun, — to 
 pronounce, as usual, his last oration : — " My friends, 
 my friends !" he cried, " take warning ! See what comes 
 of a Mazarinade !" 
 
 The name acted as a watchword, and the moment it 
 was pronounced, a well-directed volley of stones was 
 let fly at the criminal lieutenant and his archers, who 
 were not prepared for that sort of attack. One of the 
 men was knocked down ; the rest were thrown into con- 
 fusion ; and, taking advantage of the moment, we pushed 
 on and charged the panic-struck officers of justice.* 
 
 * The Cardinal de Retz mentions in his Memoirs, that two crimi- 
 nals were rescued, and seems to imply that they were saved from 
 the gallows together. Joly, whose work forms a running commen- 
 tary upon that of De Retz, shows that the cardinal spoke of 
 Jacques Marlot, the printer, as one of these culprits, and mentions 
 his crime, — though the punishment of death for writing, or rather 
 for printing a hbel, may seem a little severe. It must be ac- 
 knowledged, indeed, that " La Custode," a copy of which exists in 
 the British Museum, is a most dirty and scurrilous attack upon the 
 C2
 
 52 THE ADVENTURES CF 
 
 Some of the guards were felled to the earth ; some of 
 them fled as fast as their legs would carry them. The 
 criminal lieutenant was beaten severely, and glad to 
 escape with his life ; and Jacques Marlot was in an 
 instant set at liberty, amid the shouts and gratulations 
 of the populace. 
 
 Feeling that 1 had perhaps done a foolish thing, and 
 — from a knowledge of the delicate situation in which 
 the duke stood with the court — more apprehensive of 
 the consequences to him than to myself, I made as 
 much haste as I could to get away quietly, without 
 even staying to congratulate the printer on his deliver- 
 ance. As we had completely put the archers to flight, 
 and had quite satisfied them with their airing in the 
 Place de Greve for one day, no one opposed me on my 
 way home, and I found Monsieur de Villardin in the 
 hall, ready to go out on horseback, accompanied by the 
 page I have mentioned under the name of Gaspard de 
 Belleville. I had generally found it a good plan through- 
 out my httle life, whenever I had committed a fault 
 which I was conscious might aff'ect some other persons, 
 to make them acquainted with it immediately, that they 
 might be upon their guard against the consequences ; 
 and, following this rule, I at once went up to Monsieur 
 de Villardin, and informed him that I believed I had 
 done a very foolish thing. 
 
 " It is half repaired by acknowledging it so frankly," 
 replied the duke ; " but what is it, my boy, that we 
 may do the best to remedy it ]" 
 
 Without farther circumlocution I informed him of 
 the facts, which seemed to startle him a good deal. 
 
 " This is unpleasant indeed," he replied, " but in 
 truth, I cannot find in my heart to be angry with you ; 
 for I doubt not I should have done just the same : and 
 what the master would do, he cannot well blame in the 
 page. We will hope, however, that you have not been 
 recognised. Nevertheless," he added, in a low tone, 
 "have what clothes you may need packed up, and be 
 ready to set out at a minute's notice ; for in these times 
 no one can tell one moment what he may have to do the 
 next." 
 
 queen ; but still, the tyranny of the whole proceeding against this 
 unhappy man seemed to justify the hatred which the people con« 
 ceived, about this time, towards the great body of Parisian lawyers.
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. S3 
 
 1 followed my lord's orders to the letter ; and as soon 
 as he had gone out, cast every thing that I had that 
 was well worth carrying, into two large saddle-bags. 
 In this occupation I proceeded most zealously, not hav- 
 ing the slightest inclination to act as substitute for 
 Jacques Marlot in the elevated station which the crimi- 
 nal judge of the Tournelle court had destined him to 
 fill that very morning. The thoughts of such a con- 
 summation to my enterprises disgusted me considera- 
 bly, as, of all deaths mider the sun, I had the greatest 
 objection to that of hanging ; and the idea thereof occu- 
 pied me so completely, that it was not till 1 had finished 
 the preparation of my saddle-bags, that I bethought me 
 how much interested the old major-domo might feel in 
 the mutual adventures which his nephew and myself 
 had gone through that morning. As soon as the idea 
 crossed my mind, however, I took my way to the old 
 man's apartments ; and, as he had heard of his nephew's 
 condemnation, but not of his deliverance, I found him 
 in a state of great agitation and distress. 
 
 " Cheer up, cheer up, Monsieur Jerome Laborde," I 
 said, as soon as 1 had obtained admission ; " cheer up ; 
 things are not so bad as you suppose." 
 
 The old man shook his head, but I went on and told 
 him that I had heard from certain authority that his 
 nephew had been delivered by the hands of the people. 
 He was at first incredulous, and although I could have 
 given him stronger proof than mere hearsay, that what 
 I asserted was correct, I did not think it necessary or 
 right to make any one acquainted with the share I had 
 borne in the rescue, except my lord and master : I 
 added, however, so many assurances, that the old man 
 at length began to have some faith in my statement, 
 and went out himself to ascertain the facts. I did not 
 see him afterward till night ; but I was very well 
 assured that he must soon receive satisfactory confir- 
 mation of the good tidings which I had brought him.
 
 64 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Shortly after Monsieur de Villardin's return on the 
 day of which I have just been speaking, I received 
 notice that I should be required to accompany him in 
 the evening to a great supper at the house of the Duke 
 de Bouillon. As I was beginning, at that time, from one 
 circumstance or another, to imagine that I was in no 
 degree uglier than my fellow-mortals, to find out that 
 good looks were prized even in a page, and that a hand- 
 some person was not shown to less advantage by ap- 
 pearing in becoming apparel, I took care that the finest 
 of my wardrobe should be displayed on the present 
 occasion, where I was sure of seeing, and in some sort 
 mingling with, all that was bright, and noble, and beau- 
 tiful, in the French capital. 
 
 Although self-conceit has made many a man very 
 comfortable through life, I do believe that the pecuhar 
 modification of the same feeling which is generally 
 called vanity, seldom, if ever, produces any thing but 
 disappointment. We did not arrive at the Hotel de 
 Bouillon till more than one-half of the company had 
 assembled ; and, though the scene was certainly as 
 splendid as youth, beauty, wealth, gayety, good taste, 
 and grace could render it, my pleasure was of course 
 confined to seeing others, without attracting the slight- 
 est attention myself. Confounded with the other pages, 
 of whom there was an immense profusion, nobody, in ail 
 probability, ever saw me except worthy Monsieur de 
 Vitray, who recognised me instantly, and spoke a few 
 words to me as he passed. 
 
 As is usually the case, I believe, all the visiters who 
 appeared there came with their own thoughts and pur- 
 poses, and gave not one idea to anybody else, except as 
 they were connected with their designs and pleasures. 
 From the extraordinary twist, too, that every thing had 
 got in France, at that time, the general order of all 
 things seemed inverted. The bright, and the beautiful, 
 and the young of the other sex gave up the whole of
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 3^5 
 
 their conversation to politics and factious intrigue; 
 while cunning statesmen, deep lawyers, and reverend 
 divines, old warriors, and gray-headed politicians, uni- 
 versally devoted themselves to making love to every- 
 body they should not have made love to. 
 
 I came away, thinking a Parisian party very dull ; 
 and sitting in the portiere of the duke's coach, who car- 
 ried along with him one or two of his particular friends 
 in the body of the vehicle, I ruminated over my disap- 
 pointment ; too young, indeed, to investigate metaphys- 
 ically the sensations which I experienced, but quite old 
 enough to resolve that I would never again expect any 
 one to take notice of me, either for my fine clothes or 
 my good looks. 
 
 When we reached home, Monsieur de Villardin's 
 friends descended and went in with him to pay their 
 respects to the duchess, who, having been slightly indis- 
 posed, had remained at home. He, of course, accom- 
 panied them into the hall, but, as he passed me, he 
 paused a moment to say in an under voice, " Do not go 
 to bed." There was a good deal of anxiety in his eye, 
 and emphasis in his tone, which made me attach to his 
 words a greater degree of importance than they seemed 
 at first to bear. Nor was I wrong in my interpretation, 
 for in less than half an hour the old major-domo called 
 me out of the page's room, — in which I had been sitting 
 with Gaspardde Belleville, whose spirits I had remarked 
 to be extravagantly high, — and led me by the hand to 
 his own apartment. 
 
 When he had got me there, and shut the door, good 
 Jerome Laborde folded me in his arms, and the tears 
 actually rose in his eyes. " I have bad news for you, 
 my son," he said ; " and unfortunately it happens that 
 your kindness to my nephew is likely to prove your 
 ruin. My lord the duke has just been telling me that it 
 was you who saved my poor nephew, and that the crim- 
 inal heutenant and his myrmidons have found you out." 
 
 Of course the first announcement of such a fact was 
 not particularly agreeable to me ; but, as I came hastily 
 to reflect upon my fate, and to think that I should again 
 be obliged to scamper off, and do the best I could for 
 myself in the world, there seemed something so absurd 
 in the sort of perversity with which fate destined me to 
 be a wanderer, that I could not help laughing, notwith- 
 standing the difficulties of my situation.
 
 56 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 •' You laugh, my son," cried the old man, in great as- 
 tonishment ; " but I can tell you the business is a very 
 serious one, and that you might chance to be shut up for 
 life in the Bastille." 
 
 " If that is the case," replied I, " the matter is serious 
 indeed. 1 thought they would only have hanged me ; 
 and I have been so accustomed to risk hanging every 
 day of my life, that it was nothing new ; but, as to spend- 
 ing my whole existence in a prison, that is a very differ- 
 ent affair ; and therefore, good Monsieur Jerome, I shall 
 get out of the way directly, leaving you to make my 
 excuses to my lord for going without asking his per- 
 mission." 
 
 " You are too quick, my son, you are too quick," cried 
 the old man; " it was the duke himself wlio told me but 
 now to speak to you. Do not suppose that he intends 
 to leave you without protection. No, no, he is a kind- 
 hearted man, though quick and jealous in his disposition 
 from a boy ; and he bade me tell you that he would have 
 defended you to the last for the act you have committed, 
 even had it not been in favour of my nephew ; but that, 
 as it was so, he will defend you more eagerly still. He 
 thinks, however, that for your present safety, you had 
 better quit Paris as soon as possible ; and, as he intended 
 to send some one to his estates in Brittany to-morrow, 
 he will give you the commission, and order a groom to 
 accompany you and show you the road." 
 
 " I am quite ready," replied I ; " there is nothing to 
 be done but to saddle the horses.'" 
 
 " Never did I see so hasty a boy," cried the old man ; 
 " how will you get out of the gates, I should like to 
 know, when they are closed as firmly as locks and chains 
 can make them ?" 
 
 " I would get over the walls," replied I, smiling. 
 
 " And the horses V said the old man, with a smile : 
 " no, no, my son, you must follow the plans laid down 
 for you by my lord, who knows this country, at least, 
 better than you do. When you have every thing ready, 
 he says, go to bed, and sleep for two or three hours : 
 rise twenty minutes before the dawn, and you will find 
 horses, and the packet he intends you to take, all ready 
 prepared for you. By the time you get to the gates 
 they will be opened, and you will have nothing else to 
 do but to ride on as fast as possible, till you reach my 
 lord's castle of the Pre Vallee. Remain there quietly
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 67 
 
 till you hear from him, and, in a few weeks, he will have 
 negotiated your pardon with the court." 
 
 This plan was, of course, one that both suited my 
 wishes and provided for my safety better than any I 
 could have laid out for myself. It ofiered me the pros- 
 pect, too, of new scenes and adventures of a nature 
 somewhat less appalling than those which might lead 
 me into a dungeon for life ; and I consequently pro- 
 ceeded to put it in execution with every feeling of joy 
 and gratitude. Good Jerome Laborde undertook to 
 have me called at the appointed hour ; and, accustomed 
 from infancy to take repose at any scattered moments 
 that offered the possibility of doing so, I laid down, and 
 was soon asleep. 
 
 When I was called in the morning I found, much to 
 my surprise, that Monsieur de Villardin himself was up ; 
 and, as I afterward discovered, had risen at that early 
 hour solely on my account ; a mark of kindness and inter- 
 est that touched my heart the more, because it was totally 
 unexpected. After receiving from his own hands a 
 packet of letters for his different farmers and receivers 
 in Brittany, accompanied by the assurance that he would 
 leave no means untried to procure my pardon, I took 
 my leave, and, descending to the court-yard, found the 
 groom who was to accompany me, holding two strong 
 horses, on one of which already appeared the saddle- 
 bags containing my wealth and apparel. Old Jerome 
 Laborde was also there, ready to embrace me before I 
 took my departure ; and ere we set out, he did not for- 
 get to burden the groom with a hissac loaded with vari- 
 ous Parisian delicacies, to console me on my journey. 
 
 The duke had strictly enjoined me to avoid all towns 
 in the neighbourhood of Paris, and to make my first 
 day's ride the longest and the most rapid of the whole 
 expedition; and, consequently, when once we had 
 passed the gates, which we were permitted to do with- 
 out question, we set spurs to our beasts, and never 
 drew a rein for twenty miles. By this time, however, 
 I began to feel in security from the pursuit of any thing 
 but hunger, which was now pressing me hard, and, after 
 riding on a few miles farther, we saw a small open wood 
 in the neighbourhood of Epernon, into which we retired 
 for the purpose of lightening good Jerome Laborde's 
 bissac of some of its savoury contents. The groom, 
 who, like most of Monsieur de Villardin's domestics, 
 C3
 
 58 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 seemed to be a connoisseur in the good things of this 
 life, spread forth the viands on the table-cloth afforded 
 by the green grass at the bottom of a gentle slope in the 
 wood, with infinite taste ; and the fine pcLte of turkey 
 and truffles which formed the staple of the bissac, looked 
 none the worse for its crust having cracked in more than 
 one place under the jumbling of our ride, suffering the 
 topaz-like jelly to shine forth through the apertures. 
 
 Scarcely, however, had I time to help myself to a pon- 
 derous shce, and to add thereto a portion of wild-boar's 
 face, which exceeded any Hampshire chaw I ever tasted, 
 when I fancied that 1 heard a low groan quite near. The 
 sound made me start up and look around; but as I could 
 perceive nothing, as hunger was unruly, and as the 
 groom, who by this time was deep in the appropriate 
 worship of the pasty, declared he had heard nothing, I 
 sat down again, and in one attack very nearly demol- 
 ished the slice I had first assigned to myself. I then 
 added a draught of excellent Burgundy from a flask 
 which the bissac also afforded ; but I now certainly be- 
 gan to think that our regale had made the hamadryads 
 envious, for another distinct groan followed, evidently 
 proceeding from a large oak tree hard by, and the mo- 
 ment after the body of a man appeared, cautiously de- 
 scending from the higher boughs. As he swarmed down 
 the trunk, tightly embracing its rugged circumference 
 with his arms, which operation was rendered somewhat 
 difficult by a certain degree of obesity in his own per- 
 son, he every now and then turned his head partly over 
 his shoulder, as if to obtain a sight of the good things 
 before us, exclaiming, as he did so, " It is irresistible 1 
 — philosophy is in vain — T resign myself to my fate !" 
 
 The next minute his feet touched the ground, and 
 turning round with a sort of joyous pirouette, he gave 
 me a full view of my acquaintance, Jacques Marlot. 
 I confess that a suspicion of the identity of this genius 
 of the oak and the ci-devant printer had crossed my 
 mind, as he descended the tree, from various peculiar 
 points in his rotund conformation ; but it appeared that 
 on his part, although he had obtained a thorough percep- 
 tion of what we had been eating and drinking, his bird's- 
 eye view in the tree had not enabled him to see enough 
 of our faces to recognise my person, for his first excla- 
 mation was, as he turned around, " Gentlemen, J am an 
 hungered ; and if ye do not give me food, ye have com-
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 59 
 
 mitted a heinous sin in displaying that dehcious pdU be- 
 fore me. — Ye gods ! what do I see V he continued, as 
 his eye hghted full upon me : " My phoenix of pages — 
 my master Jean I'Anglais ! My deliverer from a more 
 elevated station than ever I coveted ! Let me embrace 
 thee in token of thanks for my abasement." 
 
 As the best welcome I could give the unfortunate 
 printer, 1 made him partake liberally of our fare, and 
 suffered him to cheer his heart with our flask, till half 
 his woes were forgotten. While he went on, which 
 was nearly till pasty disappeared and bottle sounded 
 empty, I told him that I was now suffering on his ac- 
 count, and explained to him my situation. •At first, his 
 whole soul being engrossed in one occupation, he 
 seemed to feel but little for my misadventures ; but as 
 soon as he had a moment's leisure, he looked shocked ; 
 and when he had finished, and could absolutely eat no 
 more, he expressed, gracefully enough, both his grati- 
 tude for my services, and his grief for the inconve- 
 niences to which they had exposed me. He then told 
 me that as soon as he was out of the hands of the arch- 
 ers the day before, he had taken leave of his friendly 
 mob of dehverers, and trusting to nothing but his own 
 legs, had made the best of his way out of Paris. 
 
 " As soon as 1 was fairly beyond the gates," he added, 
 " I set off running again, as hard as I could ; and when I 
 could run no more, I walked ; and when I could walk no 
 longer, I stood still, which was exactly on the spot 
 where I now am. I had nothing to eat ; and you there 
 behold my beverage," he continued, pointing to a small 
 stream that danced before us. " I christened it, how- 
 ever, vin blanc d'Epernon ; and though it was not quite 
 so good as the vin blanc d'Epernay, it quenched my 
 thirst ; and having dug up as many pignuts as I could 
 find, I mounted yonder oak with all the agility of a light 
 diet, and soothed myself to sleep by comparing mj^self 
 to Diogenes. How I should have passed over this day, 
 I do not know; for I dared not visit my house, which, 
 doubtless, was also pillaged long ago by the ministers 
 of justice ; and you may easily conceive that the archers 
 of the criminal lieutenant do not suffer those who are 
 placed under their protection to do so foolish a thing as 
 go to the gallows with money in their pockets. How- 
 ever, I never despair, doubting not now, as heretofore, 
 to make something out of whatever lot Dame Fortune
 
 60 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 chooses to throw. Nor has she ever been unfavourable 
 to those who trust to her bounty; for what can prove 
 her kindness more strongly than sending you here for 
 my relief and consolation ?" 
 
 I complimented Maitre Jacques upon his philosophy, 
 which was much of the same quality as my own, and 
 begged him to keep the wild boar's cheek, which had 
 suffered less in the encounter than the pasty, as another 
 token of fortune's favour. I found, however, that he 
 was very desirous of accompanying us on our journey, 
 and talked of my horse being strong enough to carry 
 two. The groom also seconded his proposal in a way 
 that 1 thought somewhat extraordinary: but, neverthe- 
 less, at the risk of appearing selfish, I put a decided 
 negative upon it, not so much upon my own account as 
 because I thought that it might place my lord in very 
 unpleasant circumstances, if the criminal who had just 
 been rescued from the gallows, and the page who had 
 helped to rescue him, were found riding to his estates 
 in Brittany, guided by one of his own grooms. 
 
 I represented, however, to Jacques Marlot, that in all 
 probability the officers of justice were after us both by 
 this time ; and that, although in some cases union was 
 security, in this instance our best hope of escape lay in 
 separating, especially as it was more than probable that 
 the knowledge of my being attached to Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin might make the archers follow upon the very road 
 I was pursuing. 
 
 This last argument was conclusive with the printer ; 
 and as, thanks to the bounty of Lord Masterton, I was 
 still furnished with more money than I knew how to 
 employ, I added thirty crowns to the breakfast I had 
 given my acquaintance, and left him to continue his 
 journey full of renewed hope and gratitude. 
 
 The groom who accompanied me seemed to take a 
 greater interest in Jacques Marlot than the length of 
 their intercourse warranted, and inquired very particu- 
 larly into the route he was likely to pursue ; but the 
 printer, according to the good English proverb, was too 
 old a bird to be taken by the chaff which my guide 
 spread before him ; and with a cunning smile evaded his 
 questions, whispering to me, as he embraced me at part- 
 ing, "Beware of your guide." 
 
 Early — too early had I learned to distrust my fellow- 
 creatures, a lesson which we have unfortunately too fre-
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 6^1 
 
 quent opportunities of repeating in our course through 
 the world ever to forget, when once the sweet confi- 
 dence of innocence and inexperience, like the bloom 
 upon ripe fruit, has been brushed away by the first touch 
 of the polluting world. 1 had seen fully enough, how- 
 ever, to doubt the faith of my present conductor, and I 
 resolved to watch him closely as we proceeded, not 
 well knowing what particular line his roguery might 
 take, but suspecting strongly that he was not the most 
 honest of servants, nor likely to prove the most infalli- 
 ble of guides. 
 
 It luckily so happened that the saddle-bags containing 
 my stores of all kinds were upon my own horse, and 
 therefore I possessed the power of directing all our 
 movements, as well as the right of doing so, which my 
 station and my lord's commands conferred. Nor was it 
 at all unpleasant, I confess, to reflect that, in the event 
 of any dispute arising between myself and my com- 
 panion, who had been directed in all respects to consider 
 himself as my servant, I had nothing to do but ride 
 away, and leave him to do the best for himself, — which 
 reflection was the more especially gratifying, as I be- 
 lieved he might obtain a considerable reward by betray- 
 ing me, and did not much doubt that he had some 
 thoughts of the kind in his own mind. 
 
 I showed him, at least, that expedition was part of 
 my plan ; for as soon as we were once more in our sad- 
 dles, I pushed forward with all speed, and accomplished 
 nearly forty miles more before night. A considerable 
 town lay at the distance of a few miles to our right, and 
 thither my guide strongly recommended me to proceed, 
 lauding to the skies the accommodation we should there 
 meet with ; but I took my own plan, and riding on till I 
 espied a neat cabaret in a village, halted there, prefer- 
 ring the risk of a bad supper to the risk of an unpleasant 
 lodging. 
 
 The next day we proceeded in the same manner, 
 though not at the same rate ; taking whatever refresh- 
 ment we needed at the smallest and most retired places 
 I could find ; and though the worthy groom more than 
 once attempted to prove restive, and to treat me as a 
 mere boy, he found that he had to do with one who had 
 managed shrewder men than himself. It soon became 
 apparent that, though our horses were strong and well 
 seasoned to hard work, it would take us rather more
 
 62 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 than four days to reach the place of our destination; 
 but for the kst hundred miles I found my companion 
 much more easily managed, yielding at once to my will 
 with the best grace in the world, which conduct pleased, 
 though it did not deceive me. 
 
 Sudden changes, without an apparent cause, always 
 afford very good reasons for suspicion ; and it was clear 
 enough that the alteration in the good groom's be- 
 haviour had not taken place from any increased rever- 
 ence for myself. 
 
 " Whatever it is he intends to do," I thought, as I re- 
 marked this change in his demeanour, " the fellow has 
 laid out his plan, and thinks it quite secure. He must 
 have fixed, too, upon some spot for executing it towards 
 the end of our journey, since he is so indifferent as to 
 the way we take here. I will watch him well, however, 
 at every mile." This resolution I kept to the letter, 
 never suffering him to be out of my sight for a minute ; 
 but nothing suspicious occurred till the close of our 
 fourth day's journey, when he declared, that since I was 
 so fond of hard riding, he thought we might get on to 
 Rennes that night. 
 
 I did not exactly know how far it was to Rennes, for 
 had I been aware that it was at the distance of twenty 
 miles, when our horses were already nearly knocked 
 up, I should have concluded that — calculating on my 
 distaste to any thing he proposed — he wanted me to stay 
 where we were, and therefore suggested that we should 
 proceed farther. I certainly fell into the trap; and 
 simply because he desired to go on, determined to halt 
 at the next village. 
 
 When we i^ached it, the first house I espied was a neat 
 cabaret, and drawing in my rein I sprang to the ground, 
 announcing my determination of sleeping there, A grin 
 of satisfaction on the groom's face was the first thing 
 that excited suspicion in my mind that I had overreached 
 myself; but the countenance of mine host, who now ap- 
 peared, confirmed my doubts; and as he spoke to the 
 servant as an old friend, I soon found that I had made a 
 terrible mistake. On inquiring the distance to Rennes, 
 too, and finding that our horses could by no means have 
 accomplished it, I saw that the attempt had been pro- 
 posed solely to make me do the contrary; and thence 
 deducing that, at this very spot, the consummation of 
 the groom's manosuvres was destined to take place, of
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 63 
 
 course I determined to be all eyes, ears, and under- 
 standing. 
 
 The landlord's daughter, a very pretty frank-faced 
 brunette of about twenty, attracted by my gay dress, 
 and feeling that kindness which all women experience 
 towards extreme youth, soon came up to me, and in a 
 very short time we were great friends ; but 1 could not 
 attend to half her civil offers of the various sorts of re- 
 freshment that the house afforded, on account of my 
 anxiety to keep watch over the groom. In this endeav- 
 our I was tolerably successful for some time, and I do 
 not think he obtained an opportunity of exchanging one 
 vi^ord with the landlord, till we had concluded our sup- 
 per, except, indeed, such as related to the general affairs 
 of Monsieur de Villardin, whose name was well-known 
 in that part of the country, and to the state of Paris. 
 All this time, however, 1 had another subject of anxiety 
 in my saddle-bags, which were left up stairs in the 
 chamber assigned to me ; and after 1 had sufficiently re- 
 freshed myself, I was tempted thither to see that all was 
 safe, thinking that I should be down again in time to 
 prevent much private conversation. 
 
 I was wrong; and on again entering the kitchen I 
 found the places of both the landlord and the groom va- 
 cant, while the host's mother sat by the fire dozing, 
 and the pretty brunette was spinning beside her with 
 great eagerness. 
 
 As soon as ever I appeared, the latter beckoned me 
 to her, and said, in a low voice, " You are betrayed, 
 mon pauvre gargon ; but if you would hear how, go out 
 at that back-door, run along at the top of the bank as 
 quietly as you can, and make the best use of your ears." 
 
 I instantly followed her advice, and opening the door 
 to which she pointed, soon found myself in the little 
 court of the auberge, which again opened into what 
 seemed the garden of a guingette, surrounded on three 
 sides by walls, and on the fourth, which lay to my right 
 hand, flanked by a high cliffy bank that sloped down to- 
 wards the door at which I stood. It was night, and the 
 moon had not yet risen, but there was still light enough 
 remaining to let me see or rather divine all this, and 
 running up the bank, and along the edge, with as noise- 
 less a foot as possible, I soon heard voices speaking in 
 the garden below me. I crept on as fast as I could, and 
 the next moment clearly distinguished the words mad©
 
 64 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 use of. The gn^ooni was acting the orator as I came up, 
 and proceeded as follows : — 
 
 " No, no, that won't do at all, Monsieur Parnac ; for 
 if he were to be taken in your house, under my guidance, 
 most likely my good lord would turn me to the door, if 
 he did not throw me out of the window, and would cer- 
 tainly ruin you here for your pains. You do not know 
 what a man he is — so sharp, if you give him the least 
 cause for suspicion ! I do believe he finds out when one 
 is going to do any little trick, even before one knows it 
 one's self. I remember his turning off his chief ecuyer 
 for merely whispering in the street with a maquignon, 
 who was bringing him a horse for sale. No, no, let it 
 be managed my way. Send off some one to-night, and 
 have the officers stationed about the watering-place, by 
 Meri, you know. Let them take me too, seemingly, 
 for being in his company; and so my lord's suspicions 
 will be set at rest, and I shall be carried back to Paris 
 too, where I shall get the reward." 
 
 " Ay, but, Maitre Pierre, are you quite sure of the re- 
 ward 1" demanded mine host. 
 
 " All I can tell thee, Parnac, is this," rephed the 
 groom. "I heard it offered by proclamation, as we 
 were riding home, the evening before I came away. A 
 thousand crowns were to be given to any one who would 
 deliver up the leader of those that had rescued the crimi- 
 nal, and two thousand crowns to those who would de- 
 liver up the criminal himself. I would have don& it my- 
 self, if I had known at the time that this boy was the 
 person; and I could have managed it easily as we came 
 through the city. But I never found it out, as I tell you, 
 till we met with this Jacques Marlot, and then I heard 
 them talk about it quite as if they were in security." 
 
 " Well, well, Pierre, I think thou wilt get thy thou- 
 sand crowns," answered the landlord, " and they know 
 how to do these things so secretly at the court, that 
 thou mayest get them and not lose thy master's service 
 either ; but tell me, what am I to getV 
 
 " Why, of course, I will pay thee for the man and 
 horse sent to the city," replied the groom. 
 
 "Ay, but that will not be quite enough," answered 
 mine host, " to pay me for risking your good lord's 
 custom and patronage. Something more ! something 
 more ! good Peter, or thou mayest ride to Rennes to- 
 night thyself."
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 65 
 
 " Well," answered Peter, " I will tell you what, Par- 
 nac ; the officers shall bring him on here, and while 
 we halt to refresh, you and I will have the picking of 
 those saddle-bags of his, in which there are a good thou- 
 sand crowns besides. If he finds them gone and com- 
 plains, it will pass for a piece of the archers' handiwork, 
 and no inquiry will be made." 
 
 " Ay, now thou speakest reason," answered his re- 
 spectable friend, " and I will send off directly. At the 
 half-way watering-place thou sayest; but at what hour'? 
 We must name some hour for the officers to be there." 
 
 " Say nine o' the clock," answered the groom ; " we 
 shall not be there till eleven ; but they must wait, you 
 know, they must wait." 
 
 " Well, it shall be done without delay," replied the 
 host ; " but now, hie you in, Pierre, for you say the boy 
 is as sharp as your master, and may suspect us. Yet 
 stay ; remember, if you fail me about the bags, I will do 
 for you with your lord. So keep faith." 
 
 The groom replied at some length, but as their farther 
 conversation seemed likely to refer alone to their pri- 
 vate affairs, I made the best of my way back to the 
 house, and ere either groom or landlord returned, had 
 gained sufficient information from my pretty brunette, 
 in regard to the roads, to serve my purpose for the next 
 day. I found that, at the distance of about four miles 
 from the village, the highway was intersected by an- 
 other, which led away in the very direction I wished to 
 take. It was neglected, however, and heavy, she said, 
 passing through some wide forest ground, which always 
 affords a bad foundation ; and since the new road had 
 been made, she added, few people ever travelled the old 
 one, except the couriers for St. Malo, who went that 
 way for the purpose of dropping packets, and sometimes 
 sums of money at various small towns through which it 
 alone passed. It used, she said, to have a bad reputa- 
 tion for robbers, and about three months before, one of 
 the royal messengers had been plundered, but since that 
 time she had heard of no farther outrage. 
 
 As she was speaking, the groom came in, and to break 
 off a conversation I did not want him to hear, I asked 
 him sharply where he had been so long. He replied 
 that he had been tending his horses ; and to put him 
 completely off his guard, I ordered them to be at the 
 door exactly at the hour on which 1 found he had already
 
 66 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 calculated. He promised to be punctual, and not doubt- 
 ing that he would be so, I soon after retired to bed. 
 Danger of any kind never made me sleep less soundly, 
 but I confess that, on this occasion, it was long before 
 I could close my eyes ; but it was self-reproach, not ap- 
 prehension, kept me awake. I had been twice betrayed 
 into an act of egregious folly during that one journey, 
 and I began to think I was losing the acuteness which 
 had been my most serviceable quality. I could have 
 pardoned myself, perhaps, for suffering the groom to 
 cheat me into staying where we then were ; but for 
 babbhng myself, or suffering Jacques Marlot to babble 
 in the hearing of a third person, I rated myself for a 
 good hour after I was in bed. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 I WAS up and watchful early the next morning ; for 
 although I had now obtained as much information in 
 regard to my worthy guide's purposes as was necessary 
 to enable me to shape my own plans thereby, I thought 
 it better to prevent him, as far as possible, from organ- 
 izing his scheme more completely with the landlord, and 
 providing against contingencies. By seeing a bespat- 
 tered horse standing in the yard, and the complacent 
 countenances both of the groom and the landlord, I di- 
 vined that their messenger had returned from Rennes, 
 or from whatever other town they had sent to in search 
 of officers to apprehend me, and that all their arrange- 
 ments had hitherto been successful. Trusting, however, 
 that they would find that such calculations, formed with- 
 out the consent of so principal a party as myself, would 
 be more difficult to execute than they anticipated, I took 
 my breakfast in great tranquillity, and as soon as the 
 horses were ready, paid my score and set out. 
 
 The groom was in great glee, which continued unin- 
 terrupted for four good miles of our morning's ride ; but 
 at length I began to see before us the division of the 
 roads, with the finger-post that directed weary travellers 
 towards their destination, and I now prepared myself for 
 the execution of my design. Not knowing whether I
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 67 
 
 might not have a severe struggle to effect it, I felt that 
 my pistols were free in the holsters, and as we came to 
 the carrefour, drew in my rein, and gazed up at the fin- 
 ger-post. There, written in large characters, certainly 
 appeared Rennes ! Paris ! pointing either way, to the 
 road towards which our horses' heads were turned, or to 
 that which we had just travelled. On the right-hand 
 board, however, was written St. Malo, and as the groom 
 was quietly riding on in the direction of Rennes, I 
 shouted, " Holla ! where are you going, good Peter ?" 
 
 He came back with a sweet complacent countenance, 
 and told me that he had been going on the road to Ren- 
 nes, which was the only one we could follow ; but I took 
 the liberty of differing with him in opinion, stating, that 
 I thought the road to St. Malo would do just as well. 
 He assured me that I was mistaken ; that it would lead 
 me at least ten miles to the right of the spot towards 
 which my steps ought to be directed ; that it was so bad 
 our horses could not travel it ; that it was infested by 
 robbers of the worst description ; and, in short, that 
 every sort of evil under the sun awaited the unfortunate 
 travellers who obstinately pursued that road. 
 
 1 listened to the whole detail as calmly and attentively 
 as possible ; and then, much to his surprise, I informed 
 him that 1 loved robbers, delightedin bad roads, enjoyed a 
 roundabout more than a straightforward track, and was 
 contented to undergo all the evils that he threatened for 
 the sake of following the path to which 1 had a fancy. 
 As the matter had now become serious, and the success 
 or failure of his scheme depended upon the next ten 
 steps, the worthy groom took it up e?i cavalier, put on a 
 blustering aspect, stood up in the stirrups with the frown 
 of a Sylia, and told me that he would submit to such 
 whims no longer, but that go I must on the way which 
 he thought right. 
 
 In reply to this I reminded him of one or two things 
 which had occurred to me since 1 had become attached 
 to Monsieur De Villardin, and in which my opponents 
 had generally been worsted, when our contention came 
 to manual operations. I believe, indeed, that I had es- 
 tabhshed a very tolerable reputation for never suff'ering 
 any thing of the kind that I undertook to remain unfin- 
 ished or imperfect ; and, as I was both better armed and 
 mounted than himself, my companion was easily con^ 
 vinced that it would be wiser to abandon every thing
 
 68 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 like compulsory measures towards me. He declared, 
 however, that although he should certainly not attempt 
 to force nie to do what he thought right, he would take 
 very good care not to follow me on such a road as that 
 which I was determined to pursue. 
 
 Under some circumstances 1 might not have been very 
 profoundly grieved at the idea of losing his company ; for 
 in general I had fully sufficient reliance on myself to be 
 perfectly at my ease when 1 was quite alone. In the 
 present case, however, as I strongly suspected that his 
 design was not to deprive me of his society for long, but 
 rather to restore it, augmented by the company of the 
 officers from Rennes, I determined to entreat his stay 
 with me ; and, as the strongest inducement that I could 
 hold out to him, I took one of the pistols from my sad- 
 dle-bow, and levelling it at his head, with the distance 
 of about ten yards between us, I ordered him to turn his 
 horse up the St. Malo road without more ado, or I would 
 shoot him on the spot. Though I saw him turn very 
 pale at this intimation, he aff'ected to laugh, declaring 
 that I must be in jest ; and I thought I perceived that he 
 hesitated, whether to obey or to take his chance, and 
 set spurs to his horse. The clicking of the lock of the 
 pistol, judiciously timed, brought his doubts to a conclu- 
 sion, and gave the preponderance to obedience. He 
 said that he would obey, of course, if I positively di- 
 rected him, for that the duke had given him strict orders 
 to follow my commands implicitly. 
 
 " Extremely well you have obeyed !" cried I ; " but, 
 without farther words, turn your horse up the road, for 
 I am not to be trifled with any longer." 
 
 " Well, well," he replied, as he slowly drew his bridle 
 in the direction that I pointed out, " it was only for your 
 own good I spoke ; and if you will take a bad and dan- 
 gerous road, the consequence be upon your own head." 
 
 As I thought that there was no use in driving him to 
 desperation, I did not choose to let him know how inti- 
 mately acquainted I was with the good designs he en- 
 tertained in my favour ; but pausing, pistol in hand, till I 
 saw him fully launched upon the St. Malo road, I then 
 wheeled my horse and followed, determined to keep all 
 my discoveries to my own breast till such time as I could 
 confide them to Monsieur De Villardin. As soon as I 
 became sure that retreat was impossible, and that my 
 companion must go forward on the road which I pointed
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 69 
 
 out, I dropped my hostile attitude, replaced my pistol in 
 the holster, and, joining him again, endeavoured to enter 
 into conversation as if nothing had happened to disturb 
 our equanimity ; but, I believe, in this 1 expected more 
 from human nature than human nature could afford ; the 
 man was disappointed of a good thousand crowns, be- 
 sides what he had called the pickings of my saddle-bags; 
 and he likewise laboured under the mortification of hav- 
 ing been outwitted and bullied by a mere boy ; so that he 
 well might be, what he really was, savage and sullen for 
 many miles of the road. In addition to his other causes 
 of wrath, I soon perceived that he was not without some 
 apprehension that I had discovered his designs ; and I 
 doubted not, that if he could make himself perfectly sure 
 that such was the case, he would soon bring the matter 
 between us to a struggle for hfe. I was accustomed to 
 such things, however, and I did not make myself at all 
 uneasy on that account ; but keeping constantly on my 
 guard, — for there is never any telling what may happen 
 next in such affairs, — I rode on, taking care that an in- 
 terval of two or three yards should always exist between 
 his hand and my bridle-rein ; and where the road was 
 not sufficiently wide enough for that purpose, I made him 
 go on before, and followed a few steps behind. 
 
 That road, however, deserves a fuller description, for 
 it was as pleasant a road as ever 1 travelled in my life, 
 excepting a few spots, of each a mile or a mile and a 
 half in length, where a sandy soil rendered it heavy 
 and fatiguing. A little beyond the place where we first 
 entered upon it, a low stone wall marked the ancient 
 boundary of a forest. Even at that time, however, the 
 large trees had retreated more than a mile from the ex- 
 treme limit of the wood ; and the space that intervened 
 between the wall and the real forest, was covered entirely 
 with the sort of brushwood, or, as the French call it, 
 . taillis, which rises on the cutting down of larger timber. 
 This gave us a fair view of the kind of ground over 
 which the forest extended, which was of so broken and 
 irregular a nature, — full of pits, dells, banks, and ravines, 
 that it would have required infinite labour to render it 
 productive of aught but that which then covered it. 
 After the road began to wind in among the higher trees, 
 some of which appeared of great antiquity, we lost all 
 sight of the surrounding country, except where, every 
 now and then, the ground had been cleared by some
 
 70 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 accidental circumstance, or where the track that we 
 were pursuing ascended to some commanding height. 
 On these occasions, indeed, we sometimes obtained a 
 very splendid view beyond the forest, over tracts of rich 
 and cultivated land ; and, as I was beginning about that 
 time to find out that the face of nature was a very beau- 
 tiful thing, and to enjoy the aspect of a fine country with 
 a sort of romantic delight, I often paused to gaze for a 
 moment on any prospect that thus caught my eye. 
 While thus engaged, my companion rode on in sulky 
 silence ; but 1 never suft'ered him to go far without my 
 society, lest any of the roads which intersected the 
 forest, and which I could not of course be expected to 
 know, should afford him an opportunity of deviating 
 from the prescribed track before I thought fit to permit 
 him to do so. 
 
 1 had just made one of these pauses, and my com- 
 panion had just ridden on in the manner which I have 
 described, when, on looking after him to see how far 
 he had proceeded, I thought 1 perceived a brighter 
 gleam of sunshine than usually enlivened the gloom of 
 the wood, streaming across the road a little beyond the 
 point at which he had arrived. Suspecting that it might 
 be shining down a cross-road, I set spurs to my horse, 
 and was nearly up to him before he reached the little 
 brake. I had just time, however, to gain a more accu^ 
 rate knowledge of the spot, and to perceive that it was 
 a gap, but not a road, down which the light was stream- 
 ing, when there came a quick bright flash from the wood, 
 and, at the same moment, the groom fell headlong to 
 the ground, while his horse dashed on, masterless, along 
 the track before us, and my charger, after rearing 
 violently, rolled over, dying the sand with its blood. 
 
 These sort of surprises are generally followed by a 
 speedy explanation ; and the appearance of four stout, 
 well-dressed, good-looking gentlemen, with firelocks in 
 their hands, pistols in their girdles, and swords by their 
 sides, at once gave me a clear insight into the whole 
 affair. As my poor horse, panting in the agonies of 
 death, lay heavy upon my foot and ankle, which he had 
 crushed beneath him in his fall, I was in no condition to 
 offer any resistance, even had it been wise to do so 
 against such superior numbers. The groom, indeed, 
 was still less capable of opposing any measures that our 
 friends with the firelocks might judge expedient, as the
 
 John marston hall. 71 
 
 ball, which was probably intended for his horse, had de- 
 viated a little from its course and gone right through his 
 head. I lay quite still also, for in all the many conflicts 
 of one kind or another that I had witnessed, I had always 
 remarked, that men, in working themselves up to such 
 an action as that which our assailants had just com- 
 mitted, engender in their own bosoms a great deal more 
 fury than is at all necessary to the accomplishment of 
 their exact purpose. This superabundant energy breaks 
 upon the first object opposed to it ; but it soon evaporates, 
 and those who would stab you the moment after they 
 have fired the gun, or rushed to the charge, will be a 
 great deal humanized within five minutes after the strug- 
 gle is over. 
 
 The robbers rushed immediately upon the groom like 
 hungry wolves ; and turning him over, for he had faHen 
 upon his face, took a hurried glance at his countenance. 
 *' Diable," cried one of our assailants, as they did so, 
 " we have made a mistake, messieurs. This is not the 
 courier, after all. Peste ! you have killed him too, ser- 
 geant. Why the devil did you fire so high ]" 
 
 " You have done the same for the other, Hubert," re- 
 plied the one he addressed. 
 
 " I hope not," said the first ; " I had his horse fair 
 enough ; but let us see." 
 
 On the assurance of these charitable expressions, I 
 ventured a low groan, which, indeed, had long wanted 
 utterance ; for the pain I suffered by the horse lying on 
 my leg was most intense, especially as he more than 
 once made a dying effort to start up, and then fell back 
 again upon me. 
 
 " It is a boy," said the leader of the robbers, as they 
 came near. " Art thou dead or alive, mongarqon V 
 
 " Not quite dead," 1 replied, " but I cannot get up, for 
 the horse is upon my leg." 
 
 " Ah ! so I see, poor boy," said the other. " Help us 
 here, sergeant, and let us get him out." This was easily 
 accomplished ; and, finding that I could not stand with 
 very great ease to myself, I sat down on the bank, rubbing 
 my leg with both my hands, to recall it to some sensa- 
 tion, making up my mind, at the same time, to undergo 
 the interrogatory which I saw was preparing for me. 
 
 The leader of the robbers gazed upon me for a mo- 
 ment or two with a sort of cynical grin, and then, turn- 
 ing to his companions, he remarked, " He takes it coolly
 
 72 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 enough, in all conscience. Come, tell us who are you, 
 mon beau page ? and whither you were going V 
 
 " I am the page of Monsieur de Villardin," replied I, 
 " and was going to his castle of the Pres Vallee." 
 
 The captain struck the butt of his firelock against the 
 ground with a movement of impatient vexation. '- This 
 is unlucky enough," he said, " for I certainly did not 
 want to quarrel with Monsieur de Villardin, — especially 
 as I am such a near neighbour of his," he added, with a 
 smile ; " and pray who is that V he asked, the next mo- 
 ment, pointing to the body of the groom. 
 
 " That is one "of his grooms," replied I, " sent to guide 
 me on the way." 
 
 " Worse and worse," cried the captain ; " why the 
 devil, sergeant, did you fire so high ?" 
 
 " It is no great matter," answered I ; "he has only 
 shot a great rogue, who would have lived to be hanged, 
 and whom I had nearly shot myself on the high road not 
 an hour ago." 
 
 " Pardi, thou art a droll youth," rejoined the captain, 
 " and, if thy tongue do not belie thee, no true French- 
 man." 
 
 " No, but what is better," replied I, " a true English- 
 man." 
 
 " The better I deny," answered the captain ; " but I 
 blame not your bold love for your country. However, 
 I must see more of you, my gay lad, before I determine 
 on letting you go : so you will come along with me. 
 You, sergeant, bring those saddle-bags ; there may be 
 something worth having within ; and you, Fran9ois and 
 Martin, try if you cannot bury the man down in the 
 sand-pit yonder ; and heave over the horse, too, if you 
 can get it done ; but bring up the saddle and bridle, for 
 they are too good to be lost. Keep a good watch for 
 the courier the while. He may pass by yet, though it 
 is late. Now, come along, my man," he continued, 
 turning towards me again ; " what, cannot you walk ? 
 then, good faith, you must limp !" 
 
 Of course I did as I was directed, and, limping on as 
 well as I was able, followed my conductor through the 
 wood for nearly a mile ; at the end of which I found 
 myself in the deepest part of the forest, and by the side 
 of a rapid stream. A little farther up the river, I per- 
 ceived the ruins of an antique mill crowning a high bank, 
 with the remains of the wheel, long broken to pieces, now
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 73 
 
 serving alone to render the waterfall by which it was 
 formerly turned more picturesque to the eye. 
 
 Thither I was led by the robber, and on entering the 
 old building found that it was more dilapidated in ap- 
 pearance than in reality ; or, at least, that its present 
 tenants had contrived to render it very habitable. Three 
 or four more personages, of the same cast as those I 
 had already encountered, were found within the mill ; 
 but still it was apparent that the man who had conducted 
 me hitherto was captain of the gang, and he was imme- 
 diately assailed by a thousand questions concerning 
 some courier, for whom it was evident these gentlemen 
 had long been waiting. 
 
 My appearance in company with their leader, at first, 
 made them conclude that the encounter they had been 
 expecting had taken place ; but they were soon un- 
 deceived, and my unhappy saddle-bags being brought in 
 and laid down in the midst, I had the mortification of 
 seeing more than one rapacious hand thrust into their 
 bowels, while piece by piece all my wardrobe was drawn 
 forth, and at length my little store of golden crowns 
 appeared, causing a reflected sparkling to shine in the 
 robbers' eyes. 
 
 " A better day's work than I thought," cried Hubert, 
 their leader ; " now, young gentleman, we are men of 
 honour and humanity, and therefore we shall let you 
 keep your wardrobe — " 
 
 " Except that lace collar," cried one of his comrades, 
 " which I claim for myself." — " And that embroidered 
 band," said another, " for which I have a fancy." — " The 
 pouch for. me !" exclaimed a third ; and it certainly 
 seemed that my apparel, as well as my purse, was in a 
 fair way to change hands. The captain, however, in- 
 terfered to moderate the rapacity of his gang, and it 
 was at length determined that not only my dress, but 
 twenty crowns, which happened to be in my purse, 
 should be left me. My saddle, bridle, and horse equip- 
 ments, together with my silver-mounted pistols, became 
 the property of the captain ; and the only remaining 
 question between us was in regard to the packet oif 
 letters and orders with which Monsieur de Villardin had 
 charged me for his farmers and agents in Brittany. 
 These were wrapped up in a skin of leather to keep 
 them from injury ; but as soon as Master Hubert had 
 satisfied himself that nothing but written papers were 
 
 Vol I.— D
 
 74 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 to be found within, he returned the bundle to me, saying, 
 that he would not interfere with the discharge of my 
 duty. 
 
 I was in hopes that this was but a prelude to my being 
 set at liberty ; but the captain did not suffer me to re- 
 main long in suspense, informing me candidly enough 
 that I must stay with them a day or two ; for that they 
 had yet a coup-de-main to perform which they trusted 
 would enrich them sufficiently to render it both wise and 
 expedient to change their lodging. " As soon as that is 
 accomplished," he added, " we will despatch you upon 
 your journey, but in the mean time we do not choose to 
 trust to that quick tongue of yours." 
 
 As there was no help for it, I of course offered no re- 
 sistance, very well understanding that the coup-de-main 
 to which the captain alluded was the contemplated 
 attack upon the unfortunate courier from Paris to St. 
 Malo, whose appearance, I had heard at the last inn, was 
 daily expected. He did not show himself, however, so 
 soon as had been anticipated, and I remained several 
 days at the old mill, very well contented with the treat- 
 ment I received from my new companions, who cer- 
 tainly lived upon the fat of the land, and seemed not to 
 suffer any remembrance of the means by which it was 
 acquired, at all to trouble its digestion. 1 acknowledge, 
 too, that if I could have escaped the honour and reputa- 
 tion of the thing, I would very willingly have shared in 
 some of their adventures ; and I began to think that the 
 profession of a robber, if properly conducted, might 
 afford a very attractive sort of life. 
 
 Hubert, the captain of my new friends, was a man of 
 a very intelligent and inquiring mind ; and from the in- 
 formation I could give him in regard to the state of 
 affairs at Paris, took great pleasure in my conversation. 
 Nor did his questions alone refer to his own country, but 
 one night he so besieged me with inquiries concerning 
 England, its manners, customs, produce, trade, and situa- 
 tion, that 1 ended by asking him in return, if he 
 thought of taking a trip to exercise his abilities in that 
 country. 
 
 " Not, at least, in the manner which you suppose," 
 replied he ; and then, looking over his shoulder to see 
 that all his companions were absent, he added, " you do 
 not think, my boy, that my state of life has never been
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 75 
 
 different from that which you now witness, or that this 
 trade is to continue always." 
 
 " No," repUed I, quietly, " for it usually ends very 
 speedily— at the gallows." 
 
 " It will not end so with me," answered the captain, 
 somewhat fiercely ; but the next moment his face again 
 took on a smile, and he added, " this adventure, with what 
 we have amassed already, will make my fortune suffi* 
 cient to embark in a different speculation. The fellows 
 who are with me may carry on their old trade if they 
 like, but, for my part, I have had enough of it," 
 
 " I think you are very right," I replied ; " it is always 
 as well to leave off while the play is good." 
 
 " True," answered he ; " but 1 have one warning to 
 give you, my good youth. If, in the course of your life 
 hereafter, you should ever meet me in a different station 
 from that in which you now see me— such a thing may 
 happen, you know — and if ever you do, take good care 
 that your memory be not too retentive, for if, by either 
 word or look, you pretend to recognise me, I shall cer- 
 tainly remember my old profession likewise, and take 
 care to keep you silent by sending a ball through your 
 head." 
 
 Though he looked very fierce as he spoke, I only 
 laughed at his menace, asking him what benefit would 
 accrue to me by betraying him. 
 
 " I do not know— I do not know," he rephed, " but 
 you are warned; and so beware." 
 
 As we were engaged in such familiar conversation, I 
 would fain have asked him what sort of connexion could 
 exist between him and Monsieur de Villardin ; but, re- 
 flecting that he might think the question somewhat im- 
 pertinent, and thence argue no great discretion on my 
 part for the future, I thought it most prudent to be silent, 
 lest he should take means to put it out of my power 
 either to ask more questions at the time, or make any 
 observations at an after period. 
 
 Four days more passed without the appearance of the 
 courier ; and the robbers beginning to be apprehensive 
 of his having taken another road, sent out to obtain in- 
 telligence, as their stock of wine and provisions gave 
 signs of waxing low. Their messengers soon returned, 
 but what tidings they brought I know not. Most proba- 
 bly their report went to show that the courier had ar- 
 rived at the next town, and would be accompanied 
 D2
 
 76 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 throug-h the forest by an escort ; for almost immediately 
 after their return, the whole band, in all nine men, set 
 off, armed up to the teeth, taking care, in the first place, 
 to lock me into a room which had no chimney, and was 
 ventilated merely by a narrow window through which I 
 certainly could not thrust my head. 
 
 They were absent about an hour ; and as the wind set 
 from the side of the high road, in less than twenty min- 
 utes after their departure I heard two smart volleys of 
 musketry, followed by a few dropping shots. 
 
 I looked out eagerly as far as my confined casement 
 would allow me, and at length beheld Hubert with only 
 four of his companions on their legs, bearing along in 
 their arms a sixth person, who seemed to be very dan- 
 gerously wounded. He died, however, before he reached 
 the mill : and the others, laying him down on the grass, 
 came onward with a small leathern valise, which, by the 
 manner in which they carried it, I judged to be very 
 weighty. Their arrival was followed by long and eager 
 conversations, and a great deal of hurry and noise, but 
 to what all this bustle referred 1 do not know, as they 
 did not think fit to let me out of durance for nearly three 
 hours. During that time, 1 saw from the window nine 
 of the horses which they possessed brought out, of 
 which six were instantly saddled, and loaded with a por- 
 tion of their moveables. 
 
 As soon as this was complete, to my surprise I beheld 
 the captain come out, and, after shooting upon the spot 
 the three horses that remained unsaddled, mount, to- 
 gether with his four men, apparently in order to depart. 
 My first thought was that they were about to leave me 
 shut up where I was, and I looked round for the means 
 of forcing open the door when they were gone ; but the 
 moment after, as I turned towards the casement, in 
 order to observe their further proceedings, Hubert called 
 to me to draw back from the window ; and, as 1 obeyed, 
 he threw in, through the aperture, the key of the room 
 in which I was confined. As I stooped to pick it up, I 
 heard the sound of their horses' feet galloping away ; 
 and before I had opened the door, and arrived at the bank 
 of the stream, the last horseman of the five was out of 
 sight, though, with greater consideration than I had any 
 reason to expect, they had left a horse saddled at the 
 door for my use.
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 77 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 When my worthy acquaintance Hubert and his com- 
 panions had departed in the manner I have described in 
 the last chapter, I had time to look round me, and con- 
 sider both my own situation and theirs who had just 
 left me. 
 
 From every thing I had seen I could not doubt that 
 the encounter with the courier and his escort had taken 
 place, and that the robbers had proved successful. It 
 was evident, however, that the struggle had been severe ; 
 and from the slaughter of three of their horses, as well 
 as from their leaving a fourth for myself, I was led to 
 conclude that four of the gang had perished in the affray. 
 At all events, no doubt could exist as to their having left 
 their late dwelling for ever ; and I certainly was not a 
 little obliged to them for the care which they had taken 
 to provide me with the means of pursuing my journey. 
 
 Nevertheless, I judged that it might be expedient to 
 examine their habitation and its vicinity thoroughly be- 
 fore I quitted it ; and, on doing so, I found that in the 
 hurry of their departure they had left behind them my 
 own saddle and accoutrements, which I instantly placed 
 upon the horse instead of those with which they had 
 furnished him, not knowing how far the fact of sitting 
 in a thief's saddle might compromise me with those 
 who might chance to be in pursuit of the thief. Having 
 added my own peculiar saddle-bags to the load of my 
 charger, I took such a general survey of the ground and 
 the road which led to it as might be useful afterward, 
 and, bidding farewell to the old mill, made the best of 
 my way back to the high road. As I never forgot a 
 path that I had once travelled, I had no difficulty in re- 
 tracing my steps to the exact point at 0hich I had fallen 
 into the hands of the robbers, and gladly found myself 
 once more on the road towards St. Malo, free from any 
 apprehension of fresh interruption. 
 
 The affray, however, with the courier and his escoyt, 
 must have taken place farther up the road, for it could
 
 78 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 not have failed to leave bloody traces wherever it oc- 
 curred ; and I met with none such in my onward jour- 
 ney, which I now pursued in the same direction that I 
 had been following when I was interrupted. To tell the 
 truth, I was not at all sorry to have no direct knowledge 
 of the affair, for in these cases concealment is almost 
 as bad as the crime itself, and it must be remembered 
 that I was not in a situation to put my head willingly 
 into the jaws of justice, I was, therefore, well con- 
 tented that the robbery of the courier and the murder 
 of his escort had passed totally without my personal 
 cognizance, although I had no doubt whatever of the 
 facts. To put myself as far, too, from the scene as pos- 
 sible, I galloped on pretty quickly till I came to a carre- 
 four, where the road I was pursuing was crossed by that 
 from St. Aubin to Rennes. It was at the distance of 
 at least ten miles from the scene of my late adventures ; 
 and as I came up to it I perceived, seated on the little 
 mound of earth at the foot of the guide-post, a man in 
 the dress of a pedler, with his box of wares laid down 
 by his side. At first he was turned in such a manner as 
 to prevent me from seeing his face ; but the sound of 
 my horse's feet causing him to look round, he displayed 
 a countenance garnished with a long, black beard, an 
 ornament which at that time was beginning to fall into 
 great disrepute throughout all civilized Europe; — so 
 much so, indeed, that no such thing was to be seen in 
 all France, except perhaps on the faces of Jews and 
 Capuchins, and a few which had descended from the 
 reign of Henri Quatre, and were, I suppose, valued by 
 their owners on the score of their antiquity. 
 
 The one before me at present was voluminous and 
 massy ; but, nevertheless, it did not serve to conceal 
 from me the identity of the wearer with an acquaint- 
 ance whose face had boasted no such appendage a fort- 
 night before. I affected not to recognise him, however, 
 and, dismounting from my horse — which instantly be- 
 trayed its ancient habits by browsing the roadside — 1 sat 
 down on the same mound with the other traveller, and 
 began conversiil(|j with him as a peddling Jew. He 
 spoke learnedly and lamentably upon the evils and in- 
 conveniences of his own profession, and ended by mor- 
 alizing so sagely upon the necessity of bearing our own 
 portion of ills with constancy and calmness, that I could 
 not help exclaiming, " Ah I my dear philosopher, you
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 79 
 
 are now quite complete ; when I knew you on the Quai 
 des Orfevres, you wanted nothing of Socrates but the 
 beard." 
 
 Jacques Marlot shook his head. " Can your eyes see 
 through stone walls, little serpent," he cried ; " but re- 
 mark what your good crowns have done for me ; pro- 
 cured me this box of trumpery, and a beard that is worth 
 half the money." 
 
 " I am heartily glad to see you so well equipped," re- 
 plied I ; " although your imprudence, joined to my own, 
 had very nearly procured me a journey to the Bastile, 
 and has actually caused me to be stripped of a thousand 
 crowns." I then related to the ci-devant printer all that 
 had occurred to me since we last met, and 1 was glad 
 to find that he sincerely felt for all the inconveniences I 
 had suffered, and pressed me to take back again the sum 
 of five crowns, which was all that he had remaining of 
 the thirty I had given him. He declared at the same 
 time tiiat he himself could do very well without, for that 
 the contents of his box, assisted by a fluent tongue and 
 the gullibility of the peasantry, had proved quite suffi- 
 cient, since he began his new trade, to maintain him as 
 well as he could desire, though to say the truth his taste 
 for the good things of life was not the most moderate. 
 
 I refused to accept his off'er, of course, telling him 
 that money was quite unnecessary to me, as I counted 
 upon reaching the castle of Monsieur de Villardin in 
 less than an hour. 
 
 "You are quite mistaken, my son," he replied, 
 " whether you mean his castle of the Pres Vallee, or 
 that of Dumont : the first being at a distance of at least 
 twenty, and the latter nearly forty miles from the place 
 where we now stand." 
 
 This intelligence surprised me a good deal, as I found 
 that I had entirely miscalculated my situation, and had 
 mistaken my road. Jacques Marlot, however, who, as 
 well as his uncle, good Jerome Laborde, was a native 
 of the country, and acquainted with every rood of 
 ground round about, undertook to guide me on my way, 
 and, walking my horse by his side as he trudged on, we 
 arrived within a few miles of Rennes that night. The 
 next morning, after sleeping in one of the neighbouring 
 villages, we separated, he intending to proceed to St. 
 Malo, to carry on his traffic with any of the seamen 
 arriving from foreign ports, and I turning my steps ia
 
 80 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 the direction of the Pres Vallee, to which he pointed 
 out the road. 
 
 No farther accident or adventure occurred to delay 
 my arrival, and, about ten o'clock in the morning-, I 
 reached the place of my destination. Here I was re- 
 ceived with all due reverence by the domestics who 
 tenanted the house, and delivered all the letters which 
 I bore to the farmers and receivers of Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin. 
 
 Nothing could be more beautiful, though nothing 
 could be more solemn than the aspect of the castle, and 
 the scene that surrounded it. It was a fortified house, 
 of no great military strength, situated on a slight emi- 
 nence, rising above the vast rich meadows that stretch 
 for many miles along the borders of the Vilaine. These 
 meadows were broken — for I cannot call it separated — 
 by large belts of magnificent forest trees, which seemed 
 to owe their planting to the hand of nature rather than 
 to man, but which, nevertheless, had been so skilfully 
 thinned, that the boughs of one never interfered with 
 those of another ; and each grew in liberty, protecting, 
 as it were, under its branches, its own particular domain, 
 without infringing upon the bounds of its neighbour. 
 Each of these belts varied in shape and distribution ; 
 but each left from fifty to sixty acres of pasture ground 
 clear and open within its circuit, with the river generally 
 forming the boundary on one side, and the trees sweep- 
 ing round on every other, so that each meadow seemed 
 to be a spot of rich ground which had been cleared and 
 cultivated ages ago, in the midst of a vast forest, the 
 trees of which were still standing around. In fact, a 
 person placed in the centre of any of these open spaces 
 saw nothing but wood beyond the meadow that sur- 
 rounded him, till, walking on for a minute or two under 
 the shade of gigantic elms and oaks, he entered another 
 v/ide pasture field like that he had just left. 
 
 The effect of the whole would have been gloomy, had 
 it not been enlivened by the frequent turns of the river, 
 and the sight of cattle and sheep feeding in the various 
 savannas, under the charge of their several herds, who 
 most frequently were found cheering their occupation 
 with a song. There was something calm, and simple, and 
 patriarchal in the whole scene, which struck me greatly 
 as I passed through it ; and I could have fancied myself
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 81 
 
 removed by thousands of years and thousands of miles 
 from the countries and the times through which I had 
 lately been moving. 
 
 The castle itself, built of cold gray stone, and covered 
 in several parts with ivy, was in perfect harmony with 
 every thing around it ; and the good taste of Monsieur 
 de Villardin, who entered fully into the peculiar char- 
 acter of the scene, had left all the furniture and decora- 
 tions of the house — which were rich and good, though 
 in antique style and form — exactly as they had come 
 into his possession. 
 
 As I propose to write down in this book the changes 
 of my disposition and character as I advanced through 
 life, as well as the various turns of fortune that attended 
 me in my progress through the world, I must pause for 
 a moment to speak of that which was passing within 
 my own heart, while the events which I have described 
 were working out my general fate. 
 
 A new spirit was about this time beginning to spring 
 up in my bosom, and a taste for things that I never before 
 enjoyed was every day developing itself more and more. 
 Whether it was that Lord Masterton had first called my 
 attention to the beauties of nature, or whether it was that 
 before my acquaintance with him I never had time to 
 think of them, I cannot tell ; but certainly I began to 
 feel a delight in the aspect of such scenes as the Pr6s 
 Vallee, which formerly I had never experienced ; and 
 during the first two or three days I fancied that I could 
 remain there alone for ever. 
 
 I had not learned, it is true, to examine very closely 
 what I felt, but I remember at the time thinking it 
 strange, that whereas not two years before I could 
 have passed through the fairest scenes in nature with- 
 out giving them any particular attention, unless they 
 were lighted up by pike and gun, I now stopped to gaze, 
 without well knowing why, whenever any thing that 
 was fair or sweet met my eye. I might not, indeed, 
 look at Nature's face with the feelings of a painter or 
 of a poet; but I certainly did begin to experience great 
 pleasure in the contemplation of a beautiful prospect, 
 and would turn away when I had done so, pleased, but 
 thoughtful, — I might almost say, sad. 
 
 1 felt this more than I had ever felt it before in the 
 solitude of my new dwelling, and many an hour I passed 
 awav in various sylvan sports, which, while they gave 
 D3
 
 ■4- 
 
 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 me active employment, till led me into the fairest 
 scenes in the country round. 
 
 Nevertheless, I found myself bound in duty to Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin to make him acquainted with all the 
 incidents of my journey; and though at that time I 
 loved not sitting at a desk, even as long as was required 
 to write a short letter, yet, forcing myself to the task 
 with a great effort, I detailed every thing that occurred 
 to me, and despatched the epistle to St. Aubin, — for I 
 would not trust it at Rennes — to go by the next ordinary 
 courier to Paris. Nothing happened to disturb my tran- 
 quillity for the ten days that followed, and I remained 
 fishing in the streams, or shooting the wolves and the 
 boars with very little intermission. On one occasion, 
 indeed, having a letter to deliver from the duke to his 
 intendant at his other estate of Dumont, I rode over 
 thither, and found a very different scene from that 
 presented by the Pres Vallee — rocks and mountains, 
 and streams and waterfalls, with a modern house, 
 modern bridges, and modern furniture. In the mood 
 which then possessed me, however, the Pres Vallee 
 was more to my taste, and I returned to its calm shades 
 as soon as possible, leaving the letter to be delivered to 
 the intendant, who was absent at the time of my arrival. 
 
 At the end of ten days a courier reached the Pres 
 Vallee from Paris, bringing a large packet addressed to 
 myself, on opening which I found a short letter from Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin, directing me to wait for a fortnight 
 longer in Brittany for the purpose of bringing up the 
 rents of several of his farms, and referring to another 
 more voluminous paper contained in the same packet, 
 which, as I soon perceived, expressed the will and 
 pleasure of the king that no proceedings should take 
 place against John Marston Hall for the rescue of a 
 prisoner from the hands of the criminal lieutenant, and 
 authorized him to plead the royal grace and pardon in 
 all matters referring thereto. 
 
 This, as may well be supposed, afforded a great relief 
 to my mind, for it was by no means pleasant to go about 
 the world with the fear of the Bastile hanging about the 
 neck of one's imagination. Although I had now no 
 apprehensions from the pursuit of justice, I soon began 
 to feel the solitude of the Pres Vallee less delightful 
 than it had seemed at first ; and though, had there been 
 any one to share my sports, or to occupy my time, I
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 83 
 
 should still have enjoyed it much, yet the hours gradually 
 became somewhat tiresome, shut up in an old castle, 
 with nothing but solemn woods arounid one, and a 
 library of old books for my sole companions. I now, 
 however, found the Latin with which Lord Masterton 
 had furnished me turn to some account; and after 
 having read Ovid two or three times through, I dipped 
 into Lucan, and pored over several other books, in 
 order to while away the evenings. 
 
 At length, with infinite joy, I heard that the rents 
 were all paid into the hands of the intendant, with the 
 exception of a small sum, which was expected the next 
 day ; and I directed the courier, who had remained for 
 the purpose of returning with me to Paris, to prepare 
 for our journey on the third da}^ Scarcely had I given 
 the order, however, when a letter reached me, brought 
 by the king's ordinary to Rennes, It was in the hand- 
 writing of Monsieur de Villardin, and contained but a 
 few words, which were evidently written under feelings 
 of agitation or haste. In this billet, for letter I can 
 scarcely call it, he directed me to forbear my journey, 
 as he himself and his whole household would be at the 
 Pres Vallee in six days from the date of his letter ; and 
 he then went on to bid me communicate tliis fact to the 
 various domestics in the chateau, in order that it might 
 be prepared, as usual, for his reception. 
 
 This change of destination was not unpleasant to me, 
 for all I now wanted was society and occupation ; and, 
 prevented as I had been, by my youth and my English 
 birth, from entering into the debaucheries or factions of 
 Paris, its routine had become wearisome to me even 
 before I quitted it. All was now bustle in the chateau. 
 As the autumn was coming on, fires were lighted in 
 every apartment, and busy hands were engaged in re- 
 moving the dust which, during the last two years, had 
 accumulated in the untenanted rooms. My solitary 
 residence of a month in the midst of such scenes as 
 those around me had, I believe, done more to call forth 
 whatever portion of imagination entered into the com- 
 position of John Marston Hall, than all the events of 
 his former life. Lord Masterton, as I have before said, 
 had done a good deal, it is true ; but even when I quitted 
 him, my great thirst was for action, not for thought. 
 Now a new ingredient seemed mingling with my na- 
 ture : I began to view the things around me in a differ-
 
 84 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ent light ; and though 1 would fain have had some one 
 to converse with, yet I could dream even alone. Thus, 
 during the next two or three days, when the evening 
 had closed in, and I was left in the old library by myself, 
 after reading for an hour or two, 1 would rise, and, 
 without a candle, wander through all the dim vast halls 
 and gloomy chambers of the Pres Vallee, watching the 
 flickering light of the fires, kindled in each chamber to 
 scare away the damp, as the flame flashed faintly from 
 time to time upon the rich arras and dark hangings, and 
 dreaming all the time of heaven knows what compound 
 of scenes and adventures which those chambers might 
 have witnessed in times past. 
 
 My conduct in these respects, indeed, was somewhat 
 strangely misconstrued by an old female domestic who 
 always remained in the house ; but as the misconstruc- 
 tion was all to my advantage, I had no reason to com- 
 plain. By a little civility and kindness, I had established 
 with her the character of a complete phcenix of pages ; 
 and I afterward found that old Marguerite assured Ma- 
 dame de Villardin, on her arrival, that I had every night 
 made a complete tour of the chateau to see that the fires 
 were burning, and the rooms properly aired. At length, 
 after waiting two days in hourly expectation of the 
 coming of Monsieur de Villardin, an avant-courier 
 arrived, and in about two hours more the cavalcade ap- 
 peared in the avenue. In Paris, where one never saw 
 the whole household of the duke collected, one was not 
 aware of the numbers it contained ; but now, when two 
 carriages, each containing eight people, and drawn by 
 six horses, were followed up to the gates by twenty- four 
 horsemen, one began to have a much more respectful 
 idea of Monsieur de Villardin's establishment than one 
 had formerly entertained. The duke himself was on 
 horseback ; and springing to the ground the first, he gave 
 his hand to the duchess, who appeared to me pale and 
 languid. Both spoke kindly to me : but I could clearly 
 perceive that something was wrong in the domestic 
 comfort of the family ; and I soon found that the defects 
 of Monsieur de Villardin's temper and character had not 
 been greatly improved since I left Paris. Old Jerome 
 Laborde was my principal oracle in these matters, and 
 from him I learned, that for some weeks the duchess 
 had been very gay in the capital ; had been out continu- 
 ally, except when she received company at home, and
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 86 
 
 had been universally admired and praised. All this had 
 been less agreeable to Monsieur de Villardin than it 
 might have been to a man of a more happy disposition ; 
 and after becoming irritable and morose to a considera- 
 ble degree, he had suddenly announced his determination 
 of retiring to Brittany. 
 
 Madame de Villardin, unconscious of offence herself, 
 and, as most women do, mistaking her husband's char- 
 acter, endeavoured to argue him out of his resolution. 
 A discussion ensued, the particulars of which did not 
 transpire, even to the all-inquiring ears of soubrettes 
 and valets-de-chambre ; but the whole household per- 
 ceived that it must have been bitter and severe, for 
 when it was over, Madame de Villardin was found faint- 
 ing, and bathed in tears. The arrangements for depart- 
 ure "were hurried from that moment ; and before three 
 days were over, the whole party were on their way to 
 the Pres Vallee. 
 
 As the old man told me this story spontaneously, I 
 thought I might, at least, venture to ask whether he be- 
 lieved the duke to have any real cause for the jealousy 
 that he evidently felt. 
 
 " None on earth," replied the major-domo. " My lady 
 is gay and lively, and loves well enough to be admired : 
 but she loves my lord dearly, we are all convinced ; and 
 depend upon it, no woman ever went astray yet without 
 the servants finding it out." 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 For a time, the change produced on the domestic 
 affairs of Monsieur de Villardin, by his retirement from 
 Paris, was a great improvement. The duke seemed to 
 feel himself more at ease in the country than the de- 
 scription of good Jerome Laborde permitted me to 
 believe he had been in the town ; and Madame de Vil- 
 lardin, like a wise woman, making up her mind to what 
 she could not avoid, seemed determined to dedicate her- 
 self wholly to rural occupations, and to the wife's first 
 task of making his home comfortable and tranquil to 
 her husband. Matters thus soon assumed a new aspect.
 
 86 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 Monsieur de Villardin, who was naturally of a warm 
 and affectionate disposition, gave way fully to all the 
 better feelings of his heart ; and I have never seen a 
 more happy household than that which, for the month 
 that followed, was presented by the chateau of the Pres 
 Vallee, although Madame de Villardin herself had be- 
 come far more grave and matronly than she had ap- 
 peared in Paris. The duke, with the natural eagerness 
 and activity of his disposition, was, of course, obliged 
 to find himself constant employment ; but to a man so 
 fond of field sports as he was, the country around us 
 presented an unfailing source of amusement. Now it 
 was a fishing party ; now it was an expedition against 
 the stags, the boars, or the wolves ; now it was a walk 
 to bring home a chevreuil, which furnished us with the 
 day's entertainment ; and, on most of these occasions, I 
 was glad to find that Madame de Villardin, at her own 
 request, accompanied her husband. 
 
 For my part, the whole was joy and satisfaction to 
 me ; for it was evident that all those whose affections I 
 coveted were daily growing more fond of me : the duke 
 was never tired of praising my method of conducting 
 their sports ; Madame de Villardin seemed to take a de- 
 light in seeing me play with her little girl ; the servants, 
 who were sure to meet all good offices and no evil ones 
 from my hands, found a great difference between myself 
 and such pages as they were accustomed to encounter, 
 with whom the ordinary domestics of a house are gener- 
 ally in a state of open warfare. The two younger 
 pages themselves were my pets and my proteges ; and 
 the only one who hated me, with a tolerable degree of 
 malevolence, was my first enemy, Master Gaspard de 
 Belleville, whose fear was the only restraint upon his 
 animosity. Certain it is, that his dislike was not par- 
 ticularly diminished during our stay at the Pres Vallee. 
 The increasing regard and confidence of our mutual 
 lord towards myself, and the frequent rebukes and mor- 
 tifications that his awkwardness and inactivity in all our 
 field sports called upon him, as well as the total dis- 
 regard with which I treated him, all served to increase 
 and cultivate his original distaste towards me. It is 
 true, he never dared to show his hatred in such a manner 
 as to give me an excuse for resenting it ; but it peeped 
 out in a thousand little words and actions, among which, 
 one of the pettiest, but one which best showed his
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 87 
 
 feelings, was a habit which he had of never caUing me 
 by my name when speaking of me to others, but always 
 designating me I'Anglais, — ^I'Etranger, — the Englishman, 
 the Foreigner. For all this I was very easily consoled, 
 and indeed scarcely noticed it at all. Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin, however, himself took notice of the latter cir- 
 cumstance I have mentioned, and one day sharply re- 
 proved him for not speaking of me by my name. " Call 
 him, sir," he said, " by his proper appellation, — Monsieur 
 Hall ; and remember that he is better born, as well as 
 better educated, than yourself." 
 
 Of another, and far more serious trait of his ill will, 
 I received, about this time, proofs quite sufficient to 
 satisfy myself, though perhaps they were not quite 
 irrefragable. 
 
 Shortly after the arrival of the family at the Pres 
 Vallee, the duke took me out with him alone ; and caus- 
 ing me to walk by his side, made me give him a far 
 more full and detailed account of all my adventures on 
 the road than I had been able to do by letter. When I 
 had done, he asked me if I had been imprudent enough, 
 before quitting Paris, to acknowledge to any one but 
 myself the share I had had in the liberation of Jacques 
 Marlot. 
 
 " To no one, I assure you, my lord," I rephed ; " even 
 to his own uncle, Jerome Laborde, I never mentioned 
 the facts ; merely telling him — to quiet the old man's 
 mind — that I had heard his nephew had been liberated, 
 without adding one word which could induce him to 
 believe that I had any share in the transaction." 
 
 " It is very extraordinary, indeed," said the duke, in 
 reply ; " but it is an undoubted fact, that between the 
 time of your aiding to rescue the prisoner and my visit 
 to the Hotel de Bouillon that night, the police had ob- 
 tained the most perfect account of your person, appear- 
 ance, dress, and situation. Can you remember," he 
 added, " whether there was any one present when you 
 related the circumstances to me V 
 
 " No one, my lord," I replied, " as you may remem- 
 ber, but Gaspard de Belleville." 
 
 Monsieur de Villardin shook his head. " Indeed !" he 
 said ; " indeed ! Yet I cannot believe the boy would 
 be either so base or so foolish as to betray such a con- 
 versation. However," he added, changing the subject 
 abruptly, "of course, as you have suffered robbery
 
 88 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 while engaged in my service, I shall not allow you to 
 lose by any thing of the kind. The sum which was 
 taken from you shall be repaid to you as soon as we 
 return home ; and, in the mean time, do not let any sus- 
 picion of Gaspard appear in your behaviour towards 
 him." 
 
 " There exists so very little communication between 
 us, my lord," I replied, " on any subject, that there is 
 no fear of my betraying any such feeling ; and certainly, 
 more than ever, I shall take care to conceal it, since you 
 desire me to do so." 
 
 The same evening, the duke gave me an order upon 
 his intendant for the full sum which I had lost ; and, 
 as a still greater proof of his regard, ordered an apart- 
 ment in the immediate vicinity of his own, consisting 
 of two very comfortable chambers, to be prepared for 
 my sole use. 
 
 This state of things had continued about a month, 
 when a rumour became prevalent in our little world that 
 the duchess was again pregnant ; and, about the same 
 time, after a deep and fearful fit of gloom, of which no 
 one understood the cause. Monsieur de Villardin shut 
 himself up almost entirely in his library and his bed- 
 chamber, and was hardly seen by anybody for several 
 days, Madame de Villardin, too, was observed several 
 times in tears, and every thing appeared once more to 
 be going wrong in the family. At the end of a few 
 days, however, a change was wrought in the duke him- 
 self, apparently by the exhortations of his confessor, 
 who was frequently with him for several hours at a 
 time. Of this excellent man I shall have occasion to 
 speak more hereafter ; and here it is only necessary to 
 say, that the influence he possessed over the mind of 
 Monsieur de Villardin was at all times extraordinary. 
 His usual residence was at Rennes, and consequently 
 he had not seen the duke for more than two years ; but 
 his authority did not seem to have been at ail shaken, 
 nor the bold tone of his reproof at all softened by ab- 
 sence ; for I remember once, on passing the library 
 door, which was ajar, having unwillingly overheard him 
 myself tax his penitent with absolute madness. How- 
 ever that might be, the duke very soon resumed his 
 usual habits ; and it appeared to me that he endeav- 
 oured, by increased kindness, to efface from the mind 
 of the duchess whatever effect any harshness he had
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 89 
 
 shown her might have produced. Most gladly did she 
 seem to catch at every renewed proof of his aifection; 
 and the happiness of the family was again apparently 
 restored for the time, when one morning, as^ -we were 
 about to set out to hunt in the neighbourhood, the 
 young Count de Mesnil, who had rescued the duke out 
 of the hands of the butchers in Paris, and who had since 
 been a frequent visiter at his house, rode up to the gates, 
 and was received with a joyous welcome by both the 
 duke and his lady. He, like Monsieur de Villardin, had 
 come into Brittany to spend some time on his estates ; 
 and as his dwelling was within seven miles of the Pres 
 Vallee, his visits soon became very nearly as frequent 
 as they had been in Paris. 
 
 At first the natural bent of Madame de Villardin's dis- 
 position led her into some of those little acts of gayety 
 and display from which a habitual love of admiration 
 rendered it almost impossible for her to refrain; but 
 very soon, and somewhat suddenly, her manner towards 
 the young count assumed an air of great coldness ; and 
 I easily divined the cause both of this change and of the 
 great affection which Monsieur de Mesnil appeared to 
 feel for the lord and family of the Pres Vallee. 
 
 Strange to say, Monsieur de Villardin, awake to the 
 slightest word in other instances, and suspicious where 
 there was no cause, was in the present case totally 
 Wind, long after Madame de Villardin herself had be- 
 come aware of the designs of their visiter. He had 
 known the Count de Mesnil as a mere boy, and he still 
 looked upon him as such. This might be one cause of 
 his blindness ; but, in truth, I beheve, there is also a 
 sort of fatality in such cases, or rather a madness, which, 
 to a suspicious mind, makes truth look like falsehood, 
 and falsehood appear to be truth. I felt very much for 
 Madame de Villardin, whose situation appeared to be 
 painful in the extreme ; and whose conduct towards the 
 Count de Mesnil, as far, at least, as I could see, was 
 now faultless ; but, of course, I dared not say a word 
 to open the eyes of my lord upon such a subject, with- 
 out having some decided fact to warrant my interfer- 
 ence. 
 
 In this state of affairs nearly two months more passed 
 over our heads, without any circumstance occurring to 
 change my own situation or that of the other parties ; 
 Monsieur de Villardin continuing extremely partial to
 
 99 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 the society of his young neighbour, and the duchess, on 
 the contrary, treating him with a degree of cold haugh- 
 tiness which approached towards rudeness. At length, 
 one morning, shortly after the Count de Mesnil, who 
 had been upon a visit at the Pres Vallee, had left the 
 house in order, as it seemed, to return home, Monsieur 
 de Villardin set out on horseback, intending to proceed 
 to Rennes, accompanied by myself, Gaspard de Belle- 
 ville, and one or two grooms. When we were about a 
 mile and a half from the chateau, however, he suddenly 
 remembered that a packet, referring to the business 
 which called him to the city, had been left on the table 
 of his library : and, as it was of some importance, he 
 directed me to ride back and bring it to him at Rennes. 
 I accordingly lost no time in returning to the Pres 
 Vallee ; but was somewhat surprised, when about half a 
 mile from the house, to remark a horse, which 1 very 
 well recognised as that of the Count de Mesnil, tied to 
 one of the old trees which I have before described. I 
 had taken a short cut across the meadows, which devia- 
 tion from the high road had led me through a part of the 
 grounds that, lying at a distance from any of the ordi- 
 nary paths, was generally very lonely : but, in truth, 
 when I beheld this sight, I wished that I had pursued 
 any other way; for I apprehended, and not without 
 cause, that I might soon be placed in one of the most 
 painful situations that it is possible to conceive. I had, 
 however, but one task to perform — to do the errand on 
 which I was sent ; but, in order to see as little as possible, 
 I rode to the back of the chateau, and, entering from the 
 offices, went up by one of the back staircases into the 
 library. That room, however, opened again into the 
 small saloon, and the door by which I entered fronted 
 the other, which was unclosed, and exactly opposite to 
 which, on the wall of the saloon, was hung a large Ve- 
 nitian mirror in a silver frame. The moment I entered 
 I heard voices, and my eye involuntarily rested on the 
 mirror, in which I beheld the reflection of two figures ; 
 that of the duchess, with her back to the glass, so that I 
 could not see the expression of her countenance, and 
 that of Monsieur de Mesnil, kneeling at her feet and 
 holding her hand with some degree of force in his own, 
 while he pressed his lips upon it. 
 
 Although, as 1 have said, I could not see the face of 
 the duchess, her words, and the tone in which they
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 91 
 
 were pronounced, were quite sufficient to show me that 
 she was repelling indignantly the grossest insult that 
 woman can receive from man. 
 
 " If you do not instantly quit me, sir," she exclaimed, 
 in a load and vehement voice, " I will call those who 
 can and will protect me against your daring insolence. 
 Rise, sir, rise : I do not know which is the most to be 
 despised, your affectation of love for a woman you in- 
 sult, or your hypocrisy in pretending friendship for the 
 man you endeavour to wrong." 
 
 The count was not without all those ordinary argu- 
 ments on the subject by which men furnish women, who 
 are already inclined to degrade themselves, with ex- 
 cuses for so doing. I did not allow him time, however, 
 to make much use of his oratory ; but, by oversetting 
 one of the tables in the library, gave him intimation 
 that some one was near. Immediate and not very dig- 
 nified flight was his resource, and taking his way through 
 another door, he left the duchess without any great 
 ceremony in bidding her adieu. As I saw her approach- 
 ing the library, I also made my escape by the back 
 staircase as rapidly as if I had been upon some furtive 
 expedition. The truth is, that my mind, for the first 
 time in my life, I beheve, was not made up how to act ; 
 and I did not wish to encounter Madame de Villardin 
 until 1 had formed my determination. 1 had also obtained 
 the packet for which 1 was sent, so that I had no cause 
 to stay longer ; and, mounting again in the back-court, I 
 rode forward towards Rennes. 
 
 Although I knew that Monsieur de Villardin waited 
 for the papers, my pace was slow, I confess ; for I was 
 embarrassed with meditations, which were not easily 
 brought to an end. Had I been sure that the duchess 
 would tell her own story to her husband, I might have 
 held my peace, and suffered the matter to take its course ; 
 but I clearly saw that the causeless jealousy of Monsieur 
 de Villardin himself had so greatly alarmed his wife, that 
 it was very doubtful whether she would open his eyes 
 to the perfidy of his friend, not knowing what strange 
 and violent effect the communication might produce. 
 At the same time I remembered the promise I had 
 made, never to see him wronged without making him 
 aware of the fact ; but though this promise was decided, 
 yet I felt afraid to perform it, and was long in consider- 
 ing how I might do so in such a manner as to fulfil my
 
 02 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 duty, and yet to guard against the slightest suspicion 
 falling upon his innocent wife. It may be thought, in- 
 deed, that for this purpose, 1 had nothing to do but to 
 tell all that I had seen, precisely as I had seen it ; but 
 Monsieur de Villardin was not famous for hearing any 
 one to an end, and I therefore knew that the effect of the 
 first part of my tale would, probably, be to prevent his 
 attending to one word of its conclusion. Eventually, 
 however, I both made up my mind to tell him what I had 
 witnessed, and fixed upon the means of making him hear 
 me out ; and as soon as this was settled, I put my horse 
 into a gallop, and never stopped till I was in Rennes. 
 
 The business which had taken him to the provincial 
 capital detained him for several hours, but was ultimately 
 settled to his satisfaction, and he returned homeward 
 in a happier mood than any I had lately witnessed. He 
 was more calm and placid than he had been for months, 
 and met his wife with that confiding and aff"ectionate air, 
 which I hoped might induce her to open her whole 
 heart to her husband at once. Had she done so, what 
 misery she would have saved him ! but she was too 
 much afraid of him to act in the only manner that could 
 have rebuked suspicion for ever. As I was almost con- 
 stantly, on some excuse or another, in the saloon or 
 library, I had sufiicient opportunity of watching my 
 lord's countenance, and I scanned it eagerly during the 
 evening to see whether the tale had been told. He 
 was so cheerful and so gay, that his face, like a summer 
 sky^ would, in a moment, have betrayed the slightest 
 cloud that came over him ; but the day closed without 
 any appearing, and it was clear that the duchess, most 
 weakly, had determined to conceal the insult off'ered to 
 her by the Count de Mesnil from her husband. 
 
 The task then lay with me ; and when Madame de 
 Villardin had retired for the night, I entreated the duke 
 to grant me a few minutes' audience. He first heard 
 my request with a smile, and asked whether to-morrow 
 would not do as well ; but the next moment his demon 
 woke suddenly up, a cloud came over his brow, and I 
 could see that suspicion and distrust were once more 
 alive. Starting up, he took one of the tapers, and 
 beckoning me into the library, which was more retired 
 and secure than the saloon, he shut the door, and cast- 
 ing himself into an arm-chair, exclaimed, almost fiercely, 
 ^* Now, boy ! now ! What is it you have to say ?"
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 93 
 
 I saw that he was dreadfully agitated, even by his 
 own imaginations, for as yet I had not said one word to 
 cause the slightest emotion : but still, as I have said, 
 he was moved in an extraordinary degree ; and I knew, 
 that unless I took the means on which I had before re- 
 solved to gain an uninterrupted hearing, my story would 
 be cut short in the midst. Advancing, therefore, as near 
 as I well could, I knelt down before him, and said, " My 
 lord, I have something to tell you ; but you are so quick, 
 that I am afraid of your not hearing it all. If you will 
 give me your word of honour that you will hear every 
 word I have to say without interrupting nie, 1 will go 
 on ; but if you will not, I will hold my tongue, and, on 
 my life, nothing shall ever make me open my lips." 
 
 He repaid me with a fierce glance for the conditions 
 that I made ; but, as he knew that 1 was one to keep 
 my word, he promised most solemnly to hear me to an 
 end. 
 
 " Well, then, my lord," I said, " I shall only farther 
 claim, that as you give credit to one part of my story, 
 so you shall give credit to the other ; for every word 
 that I am about to speak is equally true." 
 
 I then proceeded to recount all that I had seen in the 
 morning after he had sent me back for the papers ; and 
 never did I see a more terrific struggle take place in a 
 human being than that which agitated him during the 
 recital. When I first spoke of Monsieur de MesniFs 
 horse tied to the tree, he nearly broke forth ; and 
 when I came to relate the scene that first met my eye 
 in the library, he started up from off" his chair with every 
 muscle of his face working under excessive emotion. 
 He remembered his promise, however ; and sitting down 
 again, covered his eyes with his hand while I proceeded : 
 but as I concluded with the words which his wife had 
 uttered, he caught me by the arm, and gazed eagerly in 
 my face, exclaiming, — " Ha ! did she say that T" 
 
 " On my honour ! On my soul she did," I replied, 
 " as I hope in heaven !" 
 
 " Boy, you have saved me !" he exclaimed, sinking 
 back in the chair ; and, to my astonishment, I saw a 
 tear rise up in his eye and roll over his cheek. He 
 brushed it hastily away, and then laying his hand kindly 
 upon my shoulder, said, " John Marston, you have done 
 your duty well and nobly, and by taking the means you 
 have to make me hear you out, you have conferred an
 
 94 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 obligation on your lord that must never be forgotten. 
 To a boy of your age I cannot speak as I might to others 
 of the vice and evil that reign among our highest dames 
 in Paris ; but let it suffice, that a woman who so de- 
 grades herself becomes, to my mind, a thing of loathing 
 and abhorrence ; and if you can conceive what it is to 
 love with the deepest intensity, you may understand 
 what it would be to behold the beloved object suddenly 
 change from the dearest jewel of your heart to the 
 foulest object that earth can present to your eyes. It 
 is worse, a thousand times, than to see the blighting 
 change from life to death. But you have saved me ; 
 for the very suspicion of such a thing would be mad- 
 ness. But you have saved me ; and, after that noble 
 speech, I shall never henceforth entertain a doubt or a 
 fear." 
 
 How deeply, how sadly he deceived himself, may 
 easily be divined ; for where was there yet a suspicious 
 man that ever laid aside his suspicions 1 
 
 " As to the Count de Mesnil," he added, his lip curling 
 both with scorn and anger, " I look upon him but as a 
 worm : he is one of the many who think it honourable, 
 and gay, and brilliant to act, as she justly said, the hypo- 
 crite and the villain ; and is contemptible. Neverthe- 
 less, he must not go unpunished, and must be cared for. 
 On his account I will speak with you to-morrow ; but 
 in the mean time repeat once more what your lady 
 replied." 
 
 I did as he bade me, and he marked every syllable 
 attentively. 
 
 " You vary not a word," he said ; " and I well know 
 that your honour and your memory never fail. You 
 have saved me from torments not to be told, and perhaps 
 from deeds that might have brought greater torments 
 still ; you have acted wisely and nobly, and henceforth 
 I treat you as my son. Now, leave me, my good boy, 
 and to-morrow by six of the clock be here in the library, 
 when we will speak of what further steps are to be 
 taken of the affair." 
 
 I left him without reply, and went to bed, satisfied 
 with my own conduct, and gratified by the result. The 
 next morning I was in the library as the clock struck 
 the hour that he had named ; but Monsieur de Villardin 
 was down before me, and had probably been so some 
 time, as there were several sheets of parchment before
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 95 
 
 him, and he had just concluded the writing of a paper 
 of some length as I entered. He looked up with a smile 
 when he perceived me, and said, " General St. Maur, or, 
 as I believe I ought to call him, Lord Langleigh, informed 
 me that he and Lord Masterton had, in recompense for 
 the services you had rendered them, assigned you a suf- 
 ficient revenue from one of their farms to maintain you 
 at ease in the station which you are destined to fill. 
 Pray how much did they thus grant you ?" 
 
 " A thousand crowns per annum, my lord," replied I, 
 " and, indeed, in your house I do not know what to do 
 with it." 
 
 " Oh, time will teach you plenty of uses for it," an- 
 swered the duke ; " and for the service you have ren- 
 dered me, I am about to add nearly double what you 
 already possess. There is a small farm, which I bought 
 lately, near my estates at Dumont, which produces 
 about eighteen hundred crowns ; and besides the farm- 
 house, there is upon it the dwelling of the former pro- 
 prietor, whose family is now extinct. It is called Ju- 
 vigny. I give it to you for ever, holding only the right 
 of guardianship over you and it, till you are of age by 
 law to use it yourself. There are the papers, together 
 with my directions to a notary in regard to the cession. 
 Bid a groom take them to Rennes, and bring back the 
 deed drawn up this evening, when I will sign it." 
 
 Warmly, most warmly did I express my gratitude, 
 fancying myself now richer than princes ; for the sum 
 of three thousand crowns per annum went far beyond 
 any dreams which I yet had of expense. Monsieur de 
 Villardin smiled at the enthusiasm with which I poured 
 forth the thanks, and at the ideas I seemed to entertain 
 of the boundlessness of my wealth. 
 
 " Well, well," he said, " you will learn to appreciate 
 it more justly in time. Go, now, and give the groom the 
 papers, with particular orders to bring back the deed 
 to-night, for no one can tell what to-morrow may bring 
 forth. Return to me as soon as you have given him 
 your directions." 
 
 I immediately obeyed, and choosing one of the grooms, 
 who was my more especial favourite in the family, I 
 gave him the papers, with injunctions to use all speed 
 and diligence. I then returned to the library, and found 
 that the duke had just concluded a billet, on which he 
 wrote the address of the Count de Mesnil, and after
 
 96 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 drawing a small cord of floss silk across the folds, he 
 sealed the ligature at both ends, and put the note into 
 my hands : — " You will take that," he said, with a calm 
 smile, " to our good friend the Count de Mesnil ; but do 
 not go till after breakfast, nor let it seem, by your 
 manner, that there is any thing extraordinary in your 
 mission ; for, to my taste, things of this kind had better 
 always be conducted as quietly as possible. Deliver it 
 into the count's own hand, when you have reached his 
 dwelling, and bring me back his reply." 
 
 Of course I very well understood that I was charged 
 with one of those cartels of mortal defiance which were 
 then so common in every country of Europe. The 
 matter certainly was nothing new to me, for many a 
 very trifling dispute had I seen brought to the arbitre- 
 ment of the sword when I followed the camp of the 
 cavaliers ; but it did seem strange to me that the duke 
 so far departed from the general customs of the day as 
 to send his defiance by a page, instead of some man equal 
 in rank and station to the person for whom it was in- 
 tended. I found afterward, however, that his irritable 
 fear of ridicule, which was the next prominent charac- 
 teristic of his mind to its susceptibility of the slightest 
 suspicion, was the cause of any thing that appeared 
 irregular in his method of proceeding. However that 
 might be, of course I did not object to the task, though 
 it seemed to me doubtful how Monsieur de Mesnil would 
 receive such a cartel from a page, and what might be 
 his treatment of the bearer. Personal risk seldom en- 
 tered into my calculation in these matters, and I ordered 
 my horse to be ready after breakfast, and a groom to be 
 prepared to accompany me, as gayly as if 1 had been 
 going upon an errand of pleasure. Before setting out, 
 however, I had an opportunity of seeing the behaviour 
 of the duke towards his wife, and it, I confess, was the 
 first thing that gave me any pain in the business. It 
 was so gentle, so aff'ectionate, so diff'erent from what it 
 had been on former occasions, that, as the thought 
 flashed across my mind, that the first day of such ten- 
 derness might be the last of his life, I would have given 
 more than all 1 had in the world to prevent the proposed 
 encounter from taking place. To do so was, of course, 
 impossible ; and accordingly, after breakfast I mounted 
 niy horse, and rode away for Mesnil Moray, the dwell- 
 ing of Monsieur de Villardin's adversary.
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 97 
 
 Though I was a little gloomy when I set out, old habits 
 soon got the better of new feelings, and I readily brought 
 myself to look upon the affair altogether as one of those 
 matters which every man must undertake, at least, a 
 hundred times in the course of his life. " Monsieur de 
 Villardin," I thought, " will fight fifty more, I hope, be- 
 fore he has done with the sword ;" and with this con- 
 solatory reflection I cantered on as fast as I could. 
 Somewhat less than an hour brought me to the gates of 
 the chateau ; and, on demanding to see Monsieur de 
 Mesnil, I was instantly admitted to his presence. I 
 thought he turned rather pale when he saw me, but it 
 might be merely imaginary ; and certainly, throughout 
 the whole, he behaved like a man of honour and courage^ 
 He took the billet, and, cutting the silk, read it atten- 
 tively, with a slight frown knitting his brows. He then 
 asked me, in a calm tone, " Do you know the contents 
 of this note, young man ?" 
 
 The question puzzled me a little ; for, though I strongly 
 suspected the general nature of what the billet contained, 
 yet I knew none of the particulars, and could not even 
 be sure of that which I imagined. 1 answered, there- 
 fore, that " I did not :" and the count rejoined, throwing 
 the note into the fire, *' Well, then, as Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin has been kind enough to send me an unceremo- 
 nious request, I will send him an unceremonious reply. 
 Tell him I will accept his invitation, with all its particu- 
 lars, and that I am his very obedient servant. You may 
 add, I would have written, but that I have a great deal 
 to do between this and night," 
 
 Charged with this ambiguous message, I returned to 
 the Pres Vallee, and found Monsieur de Villardin playing 
 with his little girl, while Madame de Villardin was in her 
 own chamber, preparing to go out with him for a walk. 
 
 " Have you brought any note ?" he asked me immedi- 
 ately, taking advantage of his wife's absence, to inquire 
 the result of my embassy in private. I replied, that I 
 had only received a verbal answer : upon which he 
 formed a pretext to send away the little girl, and made 
 me give him a detailed account of all that had occurred. 
 
 " Well, well," he said, as 1 concluded, '* it is all well. 
 Be prepared to go out with me at six o'clock to night, 
 and get a spade and pick-axe privately from the gar- 
 den." 
 
 I did not well know what to anticipate from these di- 
 
 Vol. I.— E
 
 98 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 rections, for it was then in the early part of spring, and 
 at six o'clock, the evening was too far advanced to afford 
 any thing like sufficient light for a fair single combat. 
 Nevertheless,! had, of course, nothing to do but to obey; 
 and, slipping out about half past five, I got the tools from 
 the garden ; and after placing them in a spot where they 
 were not likely to be observed, I returned to the library, 
 where I was very soon joined by Monsieur de Villardin. 
 His hat and cloak were already there, and I was just 
 aiding him to put them on, when the groom, who had 
 been despatched to Rennes, returned with a notary and 
 the papers prepared for signature. By the calm way 
 with which Monsieur de Villardin took this interruption, 
 called for lights, heard the papers read, and went through 
 all the necessary formalities for investing me with the 
 property which he had bestowed upon me, I easily di- 
 vined that he had no fixed appointment for that hour, 
 and began to suspect the real object of his expedition. 
 When all was concluded, and the notary sent back under 
 a safe escort, he bade me follow him. We thus issued 
 forth in the dusk ; and, having furnished ourselves with 
 the spade and pick-axe, proceeded a short distance on 
 the road towards Rennes. 
 
 " Now, my young friend," he said, at length, " I must 
 trust to your guidance. I have heard that you never 
 forget spot, person, or thing that you once have seen. 
 Do you think you can now lead me to the tree under 
 which Monsieur de Mesnil's horse was tied when you 
 passed yesterday morning 1" 
 
 " I think I can," 1 replied, " and, certainly, if not to 
 the precise tree, I can lead you to the next one to it ; for 
 there were but two or three together, and I know the 
 clump well." 
 
 When we reached the neighbourhood of the spot, the 
 various objects around at once recalled to my remem- 
 brance which was the tree I sought ; and, having ap- 
 proached it, Monsieur de Villardin measured out a space 
 of ground beneath its branches about six feet by three, 
 and, causing me to remove the turf in one piece, we 
 both set vigorously to work, and, with pick-axe and 
 spade, soon hollowed out a sufficient trench to contain 
 the body of a man. " If 1 fall," he said, when we had 
 concluded our work, " let it be remembered that 1 wish 
 this to be my grave. If I survive, I will direct you what 
 to do."
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 90 
 
 Before leaving the spot, he caused me to carry about 
 U dozen shovelfuls of the earth away, and cast them into 
 the river, which flowed at the distance of three or four 
 hundred yards. We then placed the tools in the grave^ 
 and returned to the chateau, Monsieur de Villardin di- 
 recting me previously to be up by five the next morn- 
 ing, to saddle his horse with my own hands, and, leaving 
 it prepared in the stable, to go on to the spot where we 
 had been working, and wait there for his coming. 
 
 The coldness with which he set about all his proceed- 
 ings, and my knowledge of his skill as a swordsman, 
 made me feel very confident that the issue of the com- 
 bat would be in his favour, although his adversary was 
 his junior by near twenty years. I had seen so much 
 of such affairs, too, that I could generally form a very 
 good guess in regard to the result ; and, from all 1 had 
 observed of Monsieur de Villardin's conduct during the 
 day, I went to bed with very little fear for his safety the 
 next morning. I was up at the time prescribed, saddled 
 the horse as well as I could in utter darkness, and then 
 walked away to the tree, which I reached just as the first 
 faint gray of the morning began to mingle with the 
 blackness of night. 
 
 When I had waited there about a quarter of an hour, I 
 heard the sound of a horse's feet, and, a moment after, 
 perceived Monsieur de Villardin, who sprang to the 
 ground, and, giving me his rein to hold, only remarked 
 that it was darker than he had expected ; although, by 
 this time, the dawn had made considerable progress. In 
 about five minutes after, which he spent in selecting a 
 piece of firm dry turf unencumbered by trees, and fitted, 
 as far as possible, for the sort of morning's amusement 
 in which he was going to exercise himself, the sound of 
 another horse's feet was heard, and we were soon joined 
 by the Count de Mesnil. He was quite alone ; and. dis- 
 mounting at a little distance, he bowed coldly to Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin, saying, "As you requested, sir, I have 
 come alone. You, I see, have brought your page." 
 
 " I did so, sir," replied the duke, " in the first place, 
 that he might hold our horses ; in the next, that he might 
 aid the survivor in filling up yon trench ;" and he pointed 
 to the grave. " He is a boy of honour and of birth," he 
 added, " and you may trust him fully ; but, if you desire 
 it, I will order him to withdraw," 
 
 •" Not on my account," replied Monsiepr de Mesnil ; 
 E2
 
 100 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 " I am just as well pleased that he should be present ; 
 though, I must say, that I think the Duke de Villardin 
 might have found some fitter person than a page to carry 
 his cartel to the Count de Mesnil." 
 
 " I have chosen the method of proceeding I have fol- 
 lowed, Monsieur de Mesnil, not only because I think 
 these things between brave men had better always be 
 done as quietly as possible, but also because I judged it 
 unnecessary that many witnesses should hear me tell 
 you, as I now do, that I look upon you as a villain, a hy- 
 pocrite, and a traitor, devoid of every good feeling but 
 the brute quality of courage !" 
 
 "Enough, enough, sir," cried the Count de Mesnil: 
 " the fewer of such words as well as the fewer witnesses 
 the better. Where do you take your ground V 
 
 He then gave me his horse's rein, and Monsieur de 
 Villardin led him to the spot which he had chosen, made 
 him examine it accurately, to see that there was no in- 
 equality or artifice, and then, drawing his sword, caused 
 his adversary to measure it with the blade of his own, 
 which proved to be nearly an inch longer. On perceiv- 
 ing this difference, the count declared that he was 
 perfectly willing to wait, if Monsieur de Villardin thought 
 fit to send to the castle for a more equal weapon ; but 
 the duke replied, that he was quite contented with the 
 sword that he had ; and, throwing away his cloak, hat, 
 and coat, took his ground, and put himself in a posture 
 of defence. 
 
 The Count de Mesnil prepared for the combat more 
 slowly. He certainly evinced no fear ; but there were 
 two or three slight traits that I remarked in his conduct, 
 which induced me to believe that, either from the con- 
 sciousness of having wronged his friend, or from feeling 
 himself inferior in skill and dexterity, he advanced not 
 to the encounter with the same confidence as that which 
 appeared in the whole demeanour of Monsieur de Villar- 
 din. When the duke had first referred to the grave 
 which we had dug the night before, and pointed it out 
 with his hand, the eye of the young count strained 
 eagerly upon it for a moment, and it was evident that the 
 anticipations the sight naturally called up were felt bit- 
 terly. He was pale, too, and though he spoke firmly 
 and calmly, I perceived that there was a diflEiculty in un- 
 fastening his cloak, and all the other little preparations, 
 which spoke a mind intensely occupied with other
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 101 
 
 thoughts. I observed, also, and it seemed somewhat 
 strange, that he in no degree referred to the cause of his 
 present hostile opposition to a man who had been so 
 lately his friend ; and indeed it seemed that the few 
 short lines which Monsieur de Villardin had written had 
 been quite sufficient to explain all, and to make him feel 
 that amity was changed for ever into unquenchable hate 
 between them. 
 
 At length all w^as prepared, and the swords of the 
 two combatants crossed. After a few parades on 
 either part, which served no purpose but to let each 
 know the skill and peculiar mode of fencing of his ad- 
 versary, the assault assumed a more serious character ; 
 but still it appeared that both wished to maintain the 
 defensive, and I plainly saw that, more than once, the 
 duke could have wounded or disarmed his opponent, had 
 he thought fit. In a short time, however, the Count de 
 Mesnil, who was of a hasty and passionate disposition, and 
 not so old a soldier as Monsieur de Villardin, became 
 heated in the encounter, and pressed his antagonist hard, 
 still keeping a wary hand and eye, but evidently becom- 
 ing more and more vehement at each pass. At length, in 
 a furious lunge, by not keeping his right foot perfectly 
 straight, and probably more accustomed to the salle 
 d'armes than the greensward, he slipped, and came upon 
 his knee, perfectly at the mercy of his adversary ; but 
 Monsieur de Villardin, to my surprise, dropped the point 
 of his sword, bidding him rise. 
 
 " I do not take advantage of an accident, sir," he said. 
 The count rose, with downcast eyes and a burning cheek, 
 and replied, after a moment's pause, " 1 cannot, of course, 
 after this act of generosity, think — " 
 
 " If, sir," said Monsieur de Villardin, cutting him 
 short, " you are contented to go forth into the world 
 again as one who bears the name of villain, and hypo- 
 crite, and scoundrel — and, I shall then add, coward — 
 mount your horse and begone : — if not, resume your 
 place." 
 
 The count's eye flashed, and the combat was instantly 
 renewed, but this time with a different result. At the 
 end of four or five passes, with a movement so rapid 
 that I could scarcely see how it was effected, though it 
 may be believed I was an eager spectator, Monsieur de 
 Villardin parried a lunge of his adversary in such a 
 manner as to leave the whole of the count's person
 
 102 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 open. He then lunged in return, and the next moment 
 the Count de Mesnil was lying prostrate on the turf. 
 At a sign from the duke, I threw the bridles of the horses 
 over a low bough, and ran up to the spot. The fallen 
 man by that time had raised himself upon one arm, and 
 with the other hand seemed grasping at the blades of 
 grass ; but he spoke not, and his head drooping forward, 
 concealed his countenance. " Shall I bring water ?" 1 
 said ; but, ere time was given for an answer, the strength 
 which had enabled him to raise himself so far passed 
 away, and with a single groan he fell back upon the 
 ground and expired. 
 
 We stood and gazed upon his still, pale countenance 
 for several minutes ; but it was very evident, from the 
 first look, that his career was at end ; and, after a pause, 
 the duke bent over him and opened his vest. Scarcely 
 a drop of blood had flowed from the wound which caused 
 his death, although, from the direction it had taken, it 
 seemed to me that it must have pierced his heart. 
 
 " It is over !" said Monsieur de Villardin, — '* it is over ! 
 yet, put your hand upon his heart, my boy : see if it 
 beats." 
 
 As I opened his shirt to do so, there dropped out a 
 locket, which was suspended from his neck by a blue 
 riband, and which contained a single lock of dark hair. 
 As soon as he saw it the duke caught it up, and un- 
 fastening the riband, gazed upon the hair for a moment 
 or two with an eager look. It was certainly the colour, 
 to a very shade, of that of Madame de Villardin ; and I 
 instantly saw that the demon had taken possession of 
 her husband once more. After gazing at the locket for 
 several minutes, he put it by, and then asked me, sternly, 
 if the man were dead. 
 
 I replied that he certainly was, as far as I could dis- 
 cover. " Then now to our next task," said the duke : 
 " bring me yon mantle and coat." 
 
 I immediately obeyed, and bringing forward the 
 clothes of the unhappy count, I aided in wrapping the 
 body therein ; and then, taking the feet, while the duke 
 raised the head, we bore the corpse to the grave that 
 we had dug, and laid it there, without prayer or bene- 
 diction. We next placed the hat and sword of the de- 
 ceased in the earth along with him ; and then, as fast 
 as possible, filled up the pit with mould. Notwith- 
 standing the (Quantity of earth I had removed the nigh;!l
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 103 
 
 before, there was still more than enough to fill up the 
 grave to the level of the other ground, and I had four or 
 five shovelfuls more to carry down and cast into the river. 
 When that was done, however, and the last spadeful had 
 been disposed of, we laid the turf down again over the 
 spot ; and so carefully had it been removed, that, though 
 the ground was a little raised, it required some ex- 
 amination to discover where the aperture had been 
 made. 
 
 " A few showers of rain," said the duke, as he gazed 
 upon the grave, " will remove every trace." 
 
 I replied nothing, but I thought that the rain of many 
 years would never remove the traces of that morning's 
 work from his heart or from my memory. In regard to 
 the ground, however, I entertained no apprehension of 
 its ever being discovered. The young count himself, 
 in tying his horse to that tree when he came on his fur- 
 tive and evil visit to the dwelling of his friend, had of 
 course selected one of the most retired spots that he 
 could find ; and it was only the accidental circumstance 
 of my cutting across from the particular point of the 
 high road where I had left Monsieur de Villardin on the 
 way to Rennes, that had caused me to discover the 
 charger in that situation. In that spot, too, the turf 
 was short, and the grass any thing but luxuriant ; so that 
 the shepherds were not likely to lead their flocks thither, 
 at least, till the year was more advanced, by which 
 time all traces of the grave would be effaced. The only 
 thing now to dispose of was the horse ; and after ex- 
 amining the ground carefully, in order to ascertain that 
 nothing of any kind had been dropped or forgotten, the 
 duke directed me to lead the animal some distance in 
 the way to the count's own dwelling, and then turn him 
 loose. 
 
 I did as he bade me, leaving Monsieur de Villardin to 
 return to the castle alone ; and taking the horse by the 
 bridle, 1 brought it to the vicinity of the road which led 
 to Mesnil Moray, at a spot about half a mile from the 
 bridge which crosses the Vilaine. There I gave it the 
 rein ; and though it had followed as quietly as possible 
 lip to that moment, no sooner did it find itself free, than 
 it darted away as if it had suddenly become mad. It 
 sprang at once over a fence, and crossed the high road, 
 taking the direction of its lord's dwelling, without any 
 r£gard to path. I climbed up a neighbouring bank to
 
 104 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 watch its course for an instant ; and, to my surprise, saw 
 it plunge into the river, and after sinking down from the 
 force with which it darted in, rise up again, swim the 
 stream, spring up the bank, and gallop away across the 
 fields. 
 
 There was something awful in the sight ; and I could 
 not help thinking, as the noble horse bounded away, 
 that there was a living witness of the bloody scene in 
 which 1 had just taken part, that, could he find voice, 
 would soon call the friends of his fallen lord to avenge 
 his death. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Whatever the duke himself might feel, I returned 
 home gloomy from my share in the affair. I sincerely 
 believed, indeed, that I had done nothing but my duty 
 in informing him of the injury that the Count de Mesnil 
 had striven to do him, and of the insult that had been 
 offered to his wife. He, on his part, too, I firmly 
 believe, imagined that he had done nothing but that 
 which he was bound to do as a soldier and a man of 
 honour ; but still there was something in the whole 
 affair — the solitary encounter — the grave prepared — the 
 burial in unhallowed ground, which added to the event 
 all those dark and awful associations that deprived us 
 of the power of classing it with those common encoun- 
 ters, with which he and I were both too familiar to 
 remember them with any great pain when they were 
 over. 
 
 A little less than an hour had been consumed in the 
 whole affair, at least on the part of the duke, for I had 
 been absent for a much longer space of time in leading 
 away the horse of the deceased cavalier. However, 
 as our household was not the most matutinal in the 
 world, few of the servants were up, even when I re- 
 turned ; and I doubt not that no one in the whole family 
 but myself had the slightest suspicion that the duke had 
 for a moment quitted his own dwelling. Thinking it 
 right to make a report of what I had done after I had 
 left him, I now went at once to the library, where I
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 105 
 
 found him, in his robe de chambre, seated at a table, on 
 which neither books or papers were opened before him, 
 but there lay the fatal locket which he had t^,ken from the 
 person of the Count de Mesnil, and his eyes were fixed 
 steadfastly upon the lock of dark hair that it contained. 
 He instantly took it up when I entered, and of course I 
 ventured to make no observation, though I saw from 
 his haggard look and frowning brow that he was once 
 more adding the torments of suspicion to the pangs 
 which the fatal business of that morning had left behind. 
 He listened attentively to all I had to say, and though 
 he gave a slight shudder when I mentioned the wild way 
 in which the horse had dashed off towards Mesnil 
 Moray, he made no farther comment, but waved me to 
 leave him, saying he would speak with me more another 
 time. 
 
 No injunction to secrecy had been laid upon me, but 
 the duke seemed to consider it perfectly unnecessary to 
 enjoin me not to reveal the transactions of which I had 
 been a witness, and in some of which I had borne a part. 
 As may be well conceived, I never dreamed of such a 
 thing as babbling, and ihe matter lay buried as deep and 
 as securely in my heart as it did in his own. Nobody 
 noticed that I had been out earlier than usual, and con- 
 sequently I was subjected to no questions ; and the 
 only single observation referring to the business which 
 I ever heard m the family, was when the head groom 
 asked the duke's permission to take his favourite horse 
 to the farrier at Rennes, arguing that the animal was ill, 
 from having found him that morning as heated as if he 
 had come from a gallop. 
 
 The household of the Pres Vallee were, indeed, 
 among the last to hear the rumours and inquiries which 
 soon began to spread concerning the Count de Mesnil. 
 That some accident had happened to him became evi- 
 dent to his servants and retainers within a short time 
 after his death had taken place ; for although no one had 
 remarked, with any particular attention, the fact of his 
 having gone out at such an early hour unaccompanied, 
 supposing him to be engaged in some love intrigue 
 which did not court witnesses, yet when, in about two 
 hours after, his horse, masterless and foaming, darted 
 into the court-yard of the castle, it could no longer be 
 doubted that the adventure of the morning had termi- 
 nated ill for the count. On examining the trappings 
 E3
 
 106 THE ADVENTURES OP 
 
 and accoutrements of the horse, it was discovered thsC 
 not only the girths, but the saddle itself was drenched 
 with water, and of course conjecture was led upon a 
 new and a false train concerning- the event that had oc- 
 curred. Some, indeed, contended that the count had 
 been killed by robbers or assassins ; but the greater part 
 of his followers believed that, in attempting to swim the 
 river, he had been washed out of the saddle and drowned. 
 Information, however, was sent immediately to Rennes ; 
 all his relations had notice of what had taken place, and 
 an immediate search and investigation were instituted 
 to discover his body, and to ascertain the circumstances 
 of his fate. A new light, however, was thrown upon the 
 business when the papers of the unfortunate young no- 
 bleman were opened by the proper person. It was then 
 found, by two documents which he had written on the 
 night previous to the morning of his death, that he had 
 anticipated such an event, and had made every disposi- 
 tion of his property accordingly. He referred not, how- 
 ever, in the shghtest degree to the sort of danger which 
 he apprehended ; the cartel of Monsieur de Villardin, 
 which had probably been couched in terms of bitter 
 reproach, had been destroyed likewise ; and, conse- 
 quently, imagination had as wide a range as ever. 
 Still some declared that he had purposely drowned 
 himself, and certainly the state in which his horse had 
 returned justified the searches which were made for his 
 body in the river ; but others more wildly contended — 
 as he had taken a road which might, perhaps, have led 
 him to the forest — that he had been murdered by the 
 robbers who had so lately attacked and slain one of the 
 royal couriers, with the three soldiers by whom he had 
 been attended. New perquisitions were made in the 
 forest. The whole country round about was searched 
 without effect. Rumours, astonishment, exaggeration, 
 and a thousand falsehoods and absurdities filled up the 
 next six weeks, and then the whole gradually faded 
 away, till the nine days' wonder was at an end, and the 
 death of the young Count de Mesnil became a story to 
 frighten children. 
 
 During the six weeks, however, that the fruitless in- 
 vestigations continued, gloom and darkness reigned 
 over our dwelling. Deep and painful were evidently 
 the feelings of the Duke de Villardin in regard to this 
 event > and a thousand times, I am sure, did he regret
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL, 107 
 
 that he had not pursued the usual mode of arranging such 
 encounters, which would, at least, have spared him 
 every accessory circumstance that now tormented him 
 from day to day. As a friend to the dead nobleman, 
 he was frequently consulted upon his affairs, and even 
 in regard to the search for his body ; and all thought that 
 they were speaking upon a subject which must interest 
 him, when they detailed to his ears any of the numerous 
 absurdities that were current in the country concerning 
 the death of the count. All this was very terrible ; but, 
 besides all this, there were feelings in the heart of Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin which aggravated the regrets con- 
 sequent upon the deed which he had committed. He 
 had known the young Count de Mesnil as a boy. He 
 had known and loved his parents. He had seen him 
 grow up their hope and joy. He had himself anticipated 
 great things from his early promise, and yet his had 
 been the hand thus early to lay him low in a bloody and 
 an unknown grave. 
 
 Though sometimes he spoke to me upon the subject 
 when we were perfectly alone, it was more from vari- 
 ous little points in his conduct than from his own words 
 that I discovered these feelings. So far from ever 
 going near the spot where the death of the Count de 
 Mesnil had taken place, he never, when he could avoid 
 it, rode even in that direction, as if the very wind which 
 blew from the grave wafted fresh reproaches to his heart. 
 Even in riding to Rennes, the road to M^hich city passed 
 within half a mile of the spot, if he could possibly devise 
 any excuse for so doing, he would take the most cir- 
 cuitous path to avoid even coming in its neighbourhood. 
 
 Nevertheless, whenever he spoke to me on the sub- 
 ject, he justified all that he had done, and declared, that 
 were it to do over again, he would act exactly, in the 
 same manner. I saw, too, that unhappily there was 
 another feeling in his bosom, which, while it rendered 
 him more miserable than it is possible to describe, con- 
 firmed him in this impression — I mean the suspicions 
 which had been freshly excited in regard to his wife, 
 which, as the effect produced upon his mind by my report 
 of her conversation with Monsieur de Mesnil died away, 
 seemed to become stronger and stronger every hour. 
 It was long, indeed, before he again spoke to me oa 
 the subject ; but twice I saw him with the locket in his 
 hand, and at other times his eye would rest on the dark
 
 108 THE ADVENTURES OP 
 
 tresses of Madame de Villardin, while I could see plainly 
 that he was torturing his own heart by comparing them 
 in shade and colour with the ringlet which that locket 
 contained. A doubt also more dreadful still, seemed 
 to have taken possession of his mind ; at least I argued 
 so from the following circumstance. 
 
 From the various painful feelings connected with the 
 Pres Vallee, he had determined to change his residence 
 for a time to the chateau of Dumont ; and he told me 
 that he should despatch me thither before the rest of 
 the family. The day previous to my departure he sent 
 for me to speak wath him in the saloon, in regard to 
 various matters which were to be done before his ar- 
 rival at Dumont. The duchess and his little girl were 
 both present ; and, after he had concluded his direc- 
 tions, Madame de Villardin told me that if I would 
 wait a few minutes she would bring me a billet for her 
 old nurse, who inhabited the castle to which I was 
 going. I was standing near a window behind the duke, 
 and when his wife rose, and proceeded towards her 
 own room to write the note she had promised, — dis- 
 playing, as she did so, that alteration in her figure 
 which denoted her situation, — I saw the eye of her hus- 
 band fix upon her with an intensity that seemed scarcely 
 sane. Happily she did not perceive it, but walked 
 slowly out of the room ; and, as soon as she was gone, 
 Monsieur de Villardin, who seemed to have forgotten that 
 there was any one else present, caught his little girl in 
 his arms, and kissed her repeatedly, murmuring, — 
 " Thou at least art mine own." 
 
 He started when he remembered that I was there, 
 and a quick flush came over his cheek ; but the expres- 
 sion of deep grief which, I feel sure, must have been 
 upon my countenance, appeared instantly to calm him, 
 and, laying his hand affectionately upon my shoulder, 
 he said, — " Thou art a good youth. When thou hast 
 got this note, go into the park and wait me there ; I 
 wish to speak with thee for some time." 
 
 As there is never any telling to what acts of madness 
 or weakness, folly or meanness, a suspicious nature will 
 not reduce a man, I was almost afraid that Monsieur de 
 Villardin was desirous of examining the contents of his 
 ■wife's note ; and I felt not a httle uneasy under the ap- 
 prehension of his proposing to me to give it up to him. 
 But in this I did him injustice ; and when, after receiving
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 109 
 
 the billet, I had gone out into the park, and he had 
 joined me, he at once turned the conversation to mat- 
 ters entirely in the past. " From every thing," he said, 
 " that I have seen and heard, I am inclined, my boy, to 
 put the fullest faith in all you say ; and of this fact you 
 cannot doubt, since upon your word alone I have risked 
 my own life and taken that of another. There are, 
 nevertheless, some circumstances of an extraordinary 
 nature, which make me desirous that you should repeat, 
 once more, the conversation which you overheard be- 
 tween Madame de Villardin and the unhappy young man 
 who lies out yonder ;" and he pointed with his hand 
 in the direction of the spot where the Count de Mesnil 
 was buried. " Tell me, then, exactly the whole truth," 
 he added, " and fear not that any thing you may say will 
 agitate or affect me." 
 
 I willingly obeyed, for I well knew that impressions 
 of good being never so lasting as impressions of evil, 
 require reiteration ; and, without varying a word, as far 
 as my memory would serve me, I recapitulated exactly 
 all that had passed between the duchess and the Count 
 de Mesnil, adding, at the same time, that the tone of 
 scorn and contempt in which she spoke to him was 
 more forcible than even her words. 
 
 " In riding past the house that day," demanded the 
 duke, " which side did you take V 
 
 " The opposite side to the small saloon, my lord," I 
 replied, very well understanding to what his question 
 tended ; " and as I came over the turf, and from among 
 the trees, — which, if you remember the way I took, 
 you will see I must have done, — it is perfectly impossible 
 that any one in that side of the house could either have 
 heard or have observed my return." 
 
 "But, could they not hear you enter the library?" 
 demanded the duke. 
 
 "Impossible, my lord," I answered, "for the first 
 door was open, and the second, as you know, makes no 
 noise ; besides, I saw the whole immediately, and 
 Madame la Duchesse was speaking before 1 entered. 
 It was only the end of what she said that I heard." 
 
 Monsieur de Villardin made no reply for some time, 
 but pondered deeply over my words, gnawing his lip, 
 and knitting his brow. At length he spoke, but it 
 seemed more to himself than to me that he addressed 
 his words. " And yet, that he should possess a lock
 
 110 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 of her hair !" he said : " it is impossible ! — there must 
 be some deceit." 
 
 " Oh, my lord, it is not her hair," I cried ; " depend 
 upon it, there is some mistake." 
 
 " False boy!" he cried, turning angrily upon me, "it 
 is her hair ! There is no mistake ! Have I not proved 
 it by every test 1 Either you have been deceived or 
 are deceiving. But, no ! you are deceived, I believe. 
 Leave me — leave me, sir !" 
 
 It may easily be conceived that I obeyed willingly, for 
 there is but little use in reasoning with a madman, and 
 such I looked upon Monsieur de Villardin to be, in the 
 matter of jealousy at least. Returning to the castle, I 
 occupied myself as usual ; but the duke did not come 
 back for several hours, wandering about, as had been 
 his custom lately, busied with solitary reveries which 
 but served to foster the gloom and anxiety to which he 
 was a prey. 
 
 The next morning, as I was to set out for Dumont 
 before the breakfast hour of the household, I descended 
 about eight o'clock to the apartments of good old Jerome 
 Laborde, whose affection for me had not decreased since 
 I had rendered so many services to his nephew. I cal- 
 culated, therefore, on finding a substantial meal pre- 
 pared for me in his room ; nor was I mistaken, for there 
 it stood upon the table, consisting of every thing quali- 
 fied to fortify the eager and craving stomach of youth 
 against the effects of a long journey. 
 
 " Thank you, thank you, good Jerome," I cried, at the 
 sight ; " thank you both for my breakfast, and for rising 
 betimes in the morning to give it me, as I know you 
 love not to be the first in the house to see the sun." 
 
 " Alack ! young gentleman," he answered, with a 
 mournful shake of the head, *' although I have been up 
 an hour, yet I am not by several the first that saw the 
 sun this morning. My lord has been up since six. So 
 has Gaspard de Belleville, and closeted with his master 
 for an hour. So too has been that pert slut Suzette, 
 my mistress's maid, and she too has been called to the 
 conference. I fear all this bodes our poor lady no good, 
 though God knows what my lord can find to be jealous 
 of here, where she sees not a living soul but himself." 
 
 This intelligence did not serve as a very pleasant 
 accompaniment to my breakfast. I saw at once how 
 affairs were going, and easily divined that my lord,
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALt. Ill 
 
 finding me so little disposed to pamper the jealousy, 
 which, though it tore his very heart, was still his fa- 
 vourite passion, was inclined to take Gaspard into his 
 confidence, very sure of finding all sort of comphance 
 on his part. To him I had been, as it were, a blunt 
 razor in the hands of a man who wished to cut his own 
 throat ; but Gaspard de Belleville was very well inclined, 
 I believed, to prove the instrument of the wrong which 
 his lord inflicted upon himself. From this new arrange- 
 ment there was of course much to fear, as far as my 
 personal favour with the duke went ; but, even under 
 that mortification, it was no small consolation to me to 
 think that Gaspard could do little to injure the poor 
 duchess. However malevolent might be his natural dis- 
 position, as far as I knew, he had seen nothing which he 
 could distort to evil purposes, and I also believed him 
 to be too stupid to frame a story for himself, or to invent 
 circumstances with such a regard to probability as would 
 deceive even Monsieur de Villardin's willing credulity. 
 What might proceed from the agency of the maid, Su- 
 zette, I could not tell. She was herself a bold, in- 
 triguing, saucy woman ; suspected strongly by every 
 one of not being quite a Diana ; but I believed that she 
 really was attached to her mistress, and trusted to that 
 attachment to vindicate the duchess from all suspicion. 
 
 My fears, therefore, if I can call them fears, were 
 chiefly confined to myself; and, although I may safely 
 say — now that it is all past and over — that interested 
 feelings had nothing to do with my apprehensions, yet 
 it was most painful to me to think I might be supplanted 
 in the aff'ection and confidence of a nobleman, for whom, 
 with all his faults and his weakness, 1 entertained a 
 sincere aff'ection. 
 
 " Well, Jerome," I said, after a moment's thought, 
 " you are an old and faithful follower of Monsieur de 
 Villardin. You see, as we all see, how miserable he is 
 making himself about empty fancies and phantoms in 
 the air. Depend upon it, Gaspard is not likely to do him 
 any good in these respects. Now it is your duty, 
 surely, to strain every eff"ort to counteract any evil that 
 may be done." 
 
 " But how can 1 1 — how can I, my dear young gentle- 
 man 1" cried the old man : " I dare not speak to my lord 
 on such subjects, unless he speaks to me." 
 
 *' A few words well applied often do a great deal,"
 
 112 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 replied I. " If the duke hears his lady cried up by all 
 his oldest and best servants and friends as what she 
 really is — all that is good and virtuous — he will soon 
 learn to think so too ; and you may find many an oppor- 
 tunity of saying such words as, ' so good a lady as mad- 
 ame,' — ' so virtuous a lady as the duchess.' " 
 
 "Well, well; I will try, Seigneur Jean," replied the 
 old man ; " and depend upon one thing, — no one shall 
 injure your interests with my lord while old Jerome 
 Laborde is in the house. No, no ; I will take care of 
 them." 
 
 " Oh, I know I leave them in good hands," I replied, 
 and ere we could say more, the groom appeared to tell 
 me that the horses were waiting. After receiving an 
 affectionate embrace from the good old major-domo, I 
 ran down into the court, and sprang upon my horse, 
 without any farther leave-taking, as 1 was not supposed 
 to know that Monsieur de Villardin had yet risen. 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Although I loved Monsieur de Villardin sincerely, 
 and left my interest in his heart in a very precarious 
 state, yet I acknowledge that I was delighted to ride 
 away from the Pres Vallee, Ever since the death of 
 Monsieur de Mesnil, a gloom had fallen over the place, 
 of which I could not divest it for a moment. These 
 sensations would probably have worn away in a few 
 days, although 1 began to think more seriously about 
 human life than I formerly did, had not Monsieur de 
 Villardin seemed to feel so deeply upon the subject him- 
 self. His regret and melancholy were a constant ex- 
 citement to my own ; and though, of course, the feel- 
 ings that I experienced were far less poignant than his, 
 and no other internal torment was added to the awful 
 memories which oppressed me ; yet the cloud that over- 
 cast his days shadowed mine also ; and the sight of all 
 the little traits which revealed how painfully he remem- 
 bered the death of the count, constantly recalled to my 
 mind the share that I also had taken therein. 
 
 Besides this, my mind was fretted and annoyed at be-
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 113 
 
 holding continually the anxieties, suspicions, and cares, 
 to which Monsieur de Villardin made himself a prey ; 
 the destruction of an amiable woman's happiness, and 
 the misery of a man I loved. I have said fretted and 
 annoyed, because latterly a degree of impatience, which 
 sometimes almost mastered my respect, had mingled 
 with the grief that the sight of such a state of things 
 had first occasioned in my bosom. From all these 
 causes, my feelings, instead of being painful, were joy- 
 ful in a high degree, on quitting the scenes which, a 
 few months before, had appeared to me so beautiful and 
 peaceful that I had fancied 1 could dwell in them for ever ; 
 and each mile as I rode on seemed to take more and 
 more of the load from off my heart. 
 
 It was the morning of a bright and beautiful day in 
 spring; and as I suppose that there are few people who 
 do not feel themselves happier when the aspect of the 
 world is cheerful around them, the pleasure I experi- 
 enced in getting away from scenes of discomfort and 
 pain was augmented by the warm sunshine and the clear 
 sky. The thirst of novelty, too, still fresh upon me, 
 made me feel dehghted with the journey ; and the hope 
 that this change in our dwelling would ultimately lead 
 to a change in the general chain of events, had no small 
 share in the joy with which I set out. The truth was, 
 that though I had certainly met with a sufficient stock 
 of adventures since I had lived with Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin to occupy my time abundantly, yet they had not 
 been (if I except those which occurred during the first 
 few weeks) of a kind that at all suited my disposition. 
 Enterprise of almost any sort I liked and enjoyed ; but 
 the excitement which I had lately felt was of a gloomy 
 and sombre character, which saddened without satisfy- 
 ing, — oppressed, but did not please me. Now, however, 
 I anticipated other scenes and other pleasures ; and 
 though in truth I had not the slightest reason to suppose 
 that any alteration would really take place, yet fancy 
 can always supply abundance of materials for the archi- 
 tecture of hope ; and as I journeyed on, I gave imagina- 
 tion full scope to work her will, in building up gay edi- 
 fices in the distant prospect. 
 
 Nothing occurred to amuse or interest me in the 
 course of my journey except the simple change of sce- 
 nery ; but as the country through which we passed was 
 very beautiful, and the season one which shows off the
 
 114 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 loveliness of nature to the greatest advantage, what 
 between fair objects flitting before my eyes as I rode 
 along, and gay dreams rising up in my own bosom, the 
 road did not seem long, nor the time tedious. It was 
 night when we reached the Chateau of Dumont ; and as 
 the gossip of the one chateau had been, of course, regu- 
 larly transmitted to the other, by the servants and mes- 
 sengers that were continually passing to and fro between 
 them, I found that the two or three domestics by whom 
 the house was at this time tenanted were prepared to 
 receive me with every sort of deference and respect, 
 having heard that I was an especial favourite with their 
 lord, and that he had declared he regarded me as his 
 own son. 
 
 The next morning, at breakfast, I was visited by the 
 intendant, and delivered to him the letters with which I 
 was charged, and which he proceeded to read in my 
 presence. After asking me some explanations in regard 
 to the duke's will, on two or three points which did not 
 appear very clear to him, he added, " Here is one letter, 
 monsieur, referring to yourself alone, and, as I suppose 
 you are well acquainted with the contents, I have only 
 to say, that I shall be very happy to accompany you im- 
 mediately." 
 
 I assured him, in reply, that I was perfectly ignorant 
 of his meaning, as 1 had not been before aware that his 
 lord had written any thing concerning me at all. 
 
 " The duke orders me here," said the intendant, in 
 reply, laying before me the letter he had just opened, 
 " to put you in possession of the lands and houses of 
 Juvigny, which, he says, he ceded to you by a deed of 
 gift, about two months ago. If, therefore, you are in- 
 clined to take possession this morning, I shall have much 
 pleasure in walking down with you, and formally making 
 over to you the lands, as well as pointing out the bound- 
 aries of the farm and the dependances thereunto 
 attached." 
 
 It is not to be supposed that so young and new a pro- 
 prietor as myself would be very unwilling to see and 
 take possession of the first property he ever had in his 
 life ; and thanking the intendant, whom I began to look 
 upon as a very civil person indeed, I willingly agreed to 
 accompany him to my territory of Juvigny. As the 
 place itself and the road that conducted thither are 
 memorable in my little history, on many accounts, I
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 115 
 
 must be permitted to describe that morning's walk, step 
 by step, as we proceeded. 
 
 We set out, then, about half-past nine, and took our 
 way across a broad terrace, which extended in front of 
 the chateau, and which, at either extremity, sloped away 
 into a fine road, broad enough for either horses or car- 
 riages, in front, however, it was supported by a per- 
 pendicular stone facing of about six feet high, at the 
 bottom of which lay an extensive flower-garden, reached 
 by a wide flight of ten steps ; and beyond the garden, 
 again, extended a fine park, laid out in walks and alleys, 
 containing about three square miles of ground, on either 
 side of a deep and rapid river, which, passing between 
 high banks, took its way through the midst of the estate 
 towards the sea, at which it arrived without mingling 
 its waters with any other stream. Across this river 
 the various paths, with which the park was intersected, 
 were carried over a number of bridges, built in very 
 good taste, some of stone and some of wood, as the 
 character of the scene immediately around seemed to 
 require. Over one of these, which consisted of a light 
 wooden arch, the intendant and myself took our way, 
 after having passed through the flower-garden and a 
 considerable part of the park. This direction, I found, 
 was followed in order to cut across a bend in the river ; 
 for, after issuing forth through a postern door into the 
 country beyond the park, we again crossed the stream 
 by another bridge, and proceeded along its course, pur- 
 suing a path which wound in and out through a scene 
 of mingled rock and wood as wild and varied as ever I 
 beheld. 
 
 As we proceeded along this road, which we followed 
 for about half a mile, the intendant informed me that 
 the little farm of which I was now the master had 
 been bought by Monsieur de Villardin on the death of 
 the last proprietor, lest it should at any time fall into 
 the hands of people who might render its proximity to 
 his park an annoyance to him. We soon after reached 
 our boundary, and, having called at the Metairie, where 
 I was formally introduced to the farmer and put in pos- 
 session of my new property, we went round the limits, 
 which were much more extensive than I had expected, 
 and returned by the dwelHng-house of the old lords of 
 Juvigny, which consisted of a small feudal tower, with 
 modern oflices on the same scale, perched upon a high
 
 116 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 bank overhanging the water, and commanding a beautiful 
 prospect down the valley through which the river wan- 
 dered. 
 
 While the intendant was busy opening the door, 
 which, from having had entirely its own way for several 
 years, seemed very unwilling to give admission to a 
 new lord, I asked the good farmer, who had followed us 
 on our round, what was the extensive gray building 
 which I observed about a quarter of a mile farther 
 down on the other bank of the stream. He replied, in 
 a patois which I could scarcely make out, that it was a 
 convent of Ursuline nuns, to whom a great part of 
 the ground on the opposite side of the river belonged. 
 
 I answered, that I was glad to hear that I was to have 
 such good neighbours ; and following the intendant, who 
 had by this time opened the door, 1 was inducted into 
 my house, which afforded a much greater promise of 
 warmth and comfort in the inside, than had been given 
 by its external appearance. 
 
 The worthy intendant showed me over every part of 
 it ; and when he had done, he added, " You have now seen 
 the whole of the estate, sir, which being — as I under- 
 stand the duke — conferred upon you in full, gives you 
 every seigneural privilege, comprising droits de moulin, 
 et de colombier, d'eau, et de four." 
 
 As I turned away quite satisfied with all these fine 
 rights, of mill and dove-cot, water and oven, I observed 
 a slight smile pass between the intendant and the farmer ; 
 and as I did not affect to observe it, the honest country- 
 man explained it by a question which he asked my com- 
 panion in one of those horse whispers which may be 
 heard distinctly at a mile. 
 
 " Is he a boy really," asked the farmer, grinning, "or 
 a little man T" The intendant made no reply, but en- 
 joined silence by holding up one of his fingers ; and, 
 walking gravely after me, showed me the same defer- 
 ential aspect which he had formerly put on, and at which 
 I could plainly see he had been laughing in his sleeve. 
 I was nettled a good deal, I confess ; for though I did 
 not, in truth, feel myself at all what the world calls a 
 boy, I had not the slightest wish to assume any station 
 but that which was my due. At the same time, I am 
 well aware, and was so even at the time, that the habit 
 of mingling with mankind, and the fact of having passed 
 all my early years in gathering knowledge of the world
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 117 
 
 instead of poring over grammars and dictionaries, had 
 given a sort of decision and promptitude to my manners, 
 which, coupled with my juvenile appearance, might well 
 win for me the character of a conceited little fellow from 
 those who saw no farther. However, as I have said, I 
 was nettled at finding that the respect with which 
 the intendant had been treating me, and which was 
 rather suspicious from its profoundness, was nothing 
 but mockery ; and had any occasion for venting my irri* 
 tation occurred at the time, I might have done so with 
 a vehemence which most probably would have amused 
 him and rendered myself ridiculous. A little reflection, 
 as we walked on, took the anger, and consequently the 
 absurdity, out of my feelings ; and, remembering that it 
 was very likely that the worthy intendant might attempt 
 to treat me as a conceited boy in money matters also, I 
 resolved to show him that I was fully aware of my own 
 situation. 
 
 " Of course, Monsieur I'lntendant," said I, as we 
 again entered the park, " you will continue to receive 
 the rents of the farm, and pay them into the hands of 
 Monsieur de Villardin ; for though he has been kind 
 enough to bestow it upon me, I am well aware that my 
 youth and inexperience of such matters utterly incapa- 
 citate me to manage it myself. 1 know, too, that, as a 
 foreigner, I cannot exercise any of the rights you men- 
 tioned just now, without higher permission, which, how- 
 ever, the duke has already promised to solicit for me ; 
 and, doubtless, it will be granted long before I am quali- 
 fied by age to make use of it." 
 
 The intendant opened his eyes half an inch wider at 
 a discourse which, I am sure, he did not expect ; and, 
 as I thought over the business, I proceeded : — " One 
 thing, however, 1 will ask you on my own account ; 
 which is, to seek me out a good tenant for the house, 
 and the field in which it stands ; as the one is overgrown 
 with weeds, and the other is very likely to get out of 
 repair. But, at the same time, it is absolutely necessary 
 that the tenant should be one who is agreeable to Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin. If you can find such a person as I 
 describe, who willbe attentive to and careful of the place 
 in which he dwells, the advantage of having the house 
 kept from dilapidation will, of course, induce you to let 
 him have the dwelling for a certain time without rent, 
 and the land at the lowest value of the ground."
 
 118 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 Whether the intendant did or did not conceive a better 
 opinion of me from this discourse, I can hardly tell ; for 
 he was one of those men, so often met with, who, with 
 an air of profound respect, have at the same time a slight 
 smile hanging ever about the corners of their mouths, 
 which casts a sneering expression over their whole 
 countenance. I gave myself very little farther care upon 
 the subject, indeed ; for though the people on whom 
 nature or habit has inflicted such a look are always 
 hated — because, without having a pretext for resenting 
 it, we perceive that they are insulting us in their own 
 hearts — yet he was always civil, and never afforded me 
 the shghtest pretence for anger, either by his demeanour 
 or his actions. It was therefore, of course, my wisest 
 policy to think as little as possible of what I could not 
 remedy. 
 
 At the end of a week. Monsieur de Villardin and the 
 whole household made their appearance ; and the bustle 
 of taking possession of their new abode concealed for 
 the first day any changes that had occurred. When all 
 the arrangements were over, however, I began to see a 
 marked and unpleasant difference. Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin was something more than grave and gloomy ; he 
 was abstracted, and at times fierce ; and it was evident 
 that the internal irritation of his feelings made him per- 
 ceive subject of offence in things the most simple and 
 harmless. 
 
 To me, he was certainly as kind as he could be ; but still 
 there was a difference there also. He often spoke to 
 me gently, even affectionately, of my circumstances and 
 my future prospects ; treated me in most respects as 
 his son; made me dine with himself and Madame de Vil- 
 lardin ; but he never referred to the events which had 
 taken place at the Pres Vallee. I saw, too, that, on the 
 excuse of not looking upon me any longer in the light 
 of a page, but rather as one of his own family, the famil- 
 iar intercourse which I had held with him was in a 
 great degree denied to myself and permitted to another ; 
 and that Gaspard de Belleville was closeted with him 
 for hours every day. Of course, this did not please me ; 
 for although I trusted to my own conduct to maintain the 
 good opinion of the duke, yet, with the common weak- 
 ness of human nature, I did not like that his confidence 
 should be given to another, though it had often been 
 painful to myself. I knew very well that my behaviour,
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 119 
 
 though it might not have gratified his jealousy by admit- 
 ting suspicions I believed to be false, would command 
 his esteeem more than that of Gaspard, who, probably, 
 was more complacent — but who is there so strong and 
 philosophic in heart, as to value esteem more than affec- 
 tion 1 I saw clearly, and I saw it with regret, that Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin's love was likely to be given to him 
 who pampered the weakness under which he laboured, 
 rather than to him who tried to clear away suspicions, 
 which, however detrimental to himself, were too firmly 
 rooted to be eradicated without pain. 
 
 As some compensation, however, I found that my 
 place in the regard of the duchess was becoming higher 
 each day : and as Monsieur de Villardin, on his arrival 
 at Dumont, had desired me to attend upon her in her 
 walks and drives, not as a page, but as her companion, 
 — I was but fourteen, be it remembered, — and as her 
 guard in case of danger, I had continually the means 
 of cultivating her good opinion. Her spirits by this 
 time were so depressed, that all the gay levity of man- 
 ner which I had formerly remarked, was gone ; and 
 grave, sad, and thoughtful, she took her daily walk 
 through the park, accompanied by myself and her little 
 girl ; sometimes endeavouring to amuse herself by talk- 
 ing to me of England, and of the scenes that I had gone 
 through — sometimes moved to a smile at my boyish 
 pranks with the beautiful child that ran on beside us — 
 but still relapsing into melancholy the moment that the 
 evanescent light was gone. Never by any chance did she 
 refer to her husband's behaviour towards her ; though 
 once, when she seemed more than usually depressed, 
 her words and her manner made me think she was going 
 to do so. 
 
 " You have greatly won Monsieur de Villardin's con- 
 fidence and esteem," she said, after some previous con- 
 versation during one of our walks ; " and I very well 
 perceive that hereafter that esteem will be much in- 
 creased. Now, Monsieur Hall," she proceeded, speak- 
 ing with a considerable degree of emotion, " I have a 
 favour to ask you, and a promise to exact from you. 
 Of course, no woman in my situation can count upon 
 life for more than three or four months, with any degree 
 of confidence. Should I die, then, in the course of the 
 event which is to befall me, — which I think more than 
 probable, — as you will grow up to manhood with my
 
 120 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 children, and possess their father's confidence, will you 
 promise me to be to them as a brother, to defend them 
 with your whole heart and strength, by hand and voice, 
 against any one that would wrong them ; and never to 
 forget to uphold their cause whenever you hear them 
 assailed 1 Will you promise me this, upon your word 
 of honour, as a loyal Englishman and the son of a good 
 soldier?" 
 
 " That I will, madam, and that I do," replied I : " even 
 had you not asked it, I would have done so. But I now 
 bind myself by every thing I hold dear, in case — among 
 the many changes of the world, which have laid my 
 own hearth desolate, and given my father's house to 
 strangers — they should ever require such weak aid as 
 mine, I will give it to them with my whole heart and 
 soul, and show as much zeal in their cause as if I were 
 their brother," 
 
 I purposely made my promise as strong in point of 
 language as I could devise, because I clearly saw, by 
 the agitation of the duchess while she spoke, that her 
 husband's late conduct towards herself had excited in 
 her bosom many a fearful apprehension in regard to the 
 fate of her children. Hope, I have heard, will catch at 
 straws ; and certainly — though in the wide range of 
 probability it was possible I might ultimately be able to 
 render the services she required — there appeared but 
 little likelihood of my assistance being of much avail : 
 yet nevertheless my zealous promise seemed to reheve 
 her mind greatly ; and, as I made it, I saw the tears, 
 which had been crowding to the gates of her eyes while 
 she herself had spoken, now burst forth and roll over 
 her cheeks. 
 
 " Thank you, thank you !" she replied : " I know that 
 your promise will not be forgotten, and therefore I shall 
 never mention the subject to you again, but rely in all 
 confidence upon your word :" and so saying, she led the 
 way back towards the chateau.
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 121 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 A FORTNIGHT, or rather more, passed away in this 
 unpleasant state ; and I found that time, which recon- 
 ciles one to most things, had not that effect at all in 
 making me endure patiently the transfer of the duke's 
 confidence to Gaspard de Belleville. Had he been, 
 indeed, a person who deserved that confidence, or who 
 would not abuse it, although my vanity might have been 
 as much pained, my reason would not have supported 
 me in murmuring, nor would my affection for my lord 
 himself have given additional pain to my personal mor- 
 tification. As it was, however, I felt convinced, from 
 what I knew of that youth's disposition, that he would 
 not only do nothing to cure Monsieur de Villardin of 
 his morbid suspicions, but that, both for the sake of 
 maintaining his place in his master's favour, and of an- 
 noying me, he would do all that he could to foster any 
 feelings which he might find out that I had opposed. 
 When these thoughts came across my mind — not being 
 of the most patient temper in the world, nor particu- 
 larly scrupulous as to the means of gratifying it — I 
 more than once thought of throwing my adversary over 
 the bridge into the river ; and as I had never yet done 
 any thing of the kind in my own private cause, though 
 I had committed many a doubtful act in the cause of 
 others, I endeavoured to reason myself into believing 
 that such a proceeding was absolutely necessary to the 
 peace of Monsieur and Madame de Villardin. This 
 passed through my thoughts more than once, I acknow- 
 ledge ; and I imagined — if done fairly in single combat, 
 strength against strength, without any surprise or feint 
 on my part, and with full warning received by him — that 
 the act I contemplated would be fully as justifiable as 
 any duel that ever was fought. He, indeed, had the 
 advantage of age, being certainly two years older than 
 myself; though now, having grown considerably in the 
 air of Brittany, I was as tall as he Was, and nearly as 
 muscular. 
 
 What all this would have ended in, Heaven only 
 
 Vol. I.— F
 
 122 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 knows ; and I am almost afraid to calculate now what 
 would have been the probable result ; but two circum- 
 stances took place soon after my conversation with the 
 duchess, which I have detailed in the end of the last 
 chapter, which put an end to all further thoughts upon 
 the subject. The first was the arrival of a personage, 
 who, on many points, changed all my ideas and opinions, 
 gave me a new view of my duties, and both enlarged 
 and purified my mind. The second was an accident 
 which suddenly gave me a higher place than ever in the 
 affection of Monsieur de Villardin, and established a 
 link of connexion between his heart and mine that 
 neither years nor circumstances could ever break. 
 
 Let me speak of the events which followed, however, 
 in the order in which they occurred. — Of old Jerome 
 Laborde I had seen a good deal since his arrival from 
 the Pres Vallee ; and, although he could give me no 
 information as to the result of the conferences held 
 between Monsieur de Villardin, his page, and the sou- 
 brette, he did not fail to point out that the change which 
 had taken place was an evil one, and that all happiness 
 was banished from our dwelling. The only thing, he 
 said, which would ever restore it, would be the coming 
 of good Pere Ferdinand, his lord's confessor, who had 
 more influence over his mind than any one, and who 
 had promised to come over and stay at Dumont for 
 some time. I had caught a passing sight of the con- 
 fessor more than once at the Pres Vallee ; and both 
 from something prepossessing in his demeanour, and 
 from the effect which his exhortations had produced 
 upon Monsieur de Villardin on a former occasion, I 
 argued in the same manner as good Jerome Laborde in 
 regard to his next visit. 
 
 Various circumstances detained him, it appears, at 
 Rennes, for several days after this conversation ; and 
 the next time 1 saw the good major-domo was one day 
 when, on suddenly entering the saloon, I found him 
 speaking with the duke, and, as it appeared to me, in an 
 attitude of entreaty. I was about to draw back ; but 
 Monsieur de Villardin beckoned me forward, saying, 
 " Come in. Seigneur Jean,''' — the name by which he 
 usually called me when in his milder mood, — " come in ! 
 Here is Jerome pleading to me in a matter which con- 
 cerns you in a twofold degree. It seems that you have 
 told the intendant to seek you tenants for your house at
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 123 
 
 Juvigny, generously promising to let them rest rent free 
 if they will keep the house in repair. Now, I find that 
 Jerome has a nephew who is newly married, and who 
 wants a dwelling, and he applies to me for my consent 
 to his occupying this tenement of yours. Are you will- 
 ing, Seigneur Jean ?" 
 
 " Most wiUing, my lord," I replied, glad to give the 
 old man any testimony of my regard : " I am sure 
 Jerome would not recommend any one who would not 
 do full justice to all intrusted to him." 
 
 " By my faith ! I am not so sure," answered the duke. 
 " You know more of this youth than T do ; for it seems 
 you saved him once from the gallows — a piece of 
 business not very much to the credit of either. Besides, 
 I may be accused, Jerome, of harbouring convicted 
 felons." 
 
 " But, ray lord, I can assure you," answered the old 
 man, " he has obtained grace and pardon of the king, 
 only coupled with the condition that he never sets foot 
 in Paris again, nor ever attempts to exercise the busi- 
 ness of a printer." 
 
 As may well be conceived, I was not a little surprised 
 to find that my first tenant was likely to be poor Jacques 
 Marlot ; still more to hear that Jacques had taken unto 
 his bosom a wife ; and most of all, to find that a libel, 
 which attacked the person and reputation of the queen 
 regent herself, had been pardoned upon any considera- 
 tion whatever. However, I, of course, joined my voice 
 to that of good old Jerome Laborde, who, to tell the 
 truth, promised and vowed a great deal more on the part 
 of his nephew, than I at all imagined his nephew would 
 justify, assuring the duke that all his follies were com- 
 pletely at an end, and that henceforth he himself would 
 answer for Jacques Hving a sober, tranquil, and peaceful 
 life. Industrious and clever he always had been, he 
 continued ; and as the good ladies of St. Ursula, the old 
 man said, were going to give him the management of 
 their little farms, just opposite to Juvigny, the house 
 would come quite apropos. Although with some diffi- 
 culty, the duke yielded to our solicitations, but solely on 
 condition that Jacques produced to the eyes of the in- 
 tendant the act of grace by which he was relieved from 
 all danger of the royal indignation. Jerome willingly 
 accepted of the terms : and I withdrew with him, in 
 order to hear more of my worthy philosopher's fate, and 
 F2
 
 124 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 the adventures which had brought about such a consum- 
 mation as matrimony and the cultivation of the earth. 
 
 The major-domo, however, could tell me but little 
 more than I had already heard. He had received, he 
 said, a letter from his nephew that morning, dated from 
 St. Aubin, entreating him to make the request he had just 
 done to the duke, and giving him satisfactory assurances 
 that his pardon was really granted. How it had been 
 obtained, Jerome added, remained to be explained to 
 himself as well as to me ; but respecting the farm of the 
 Ursulines, and Jacques Marlot's knowledge of my plans 
 in regard to Juvigny, an easy explanation was afforded, 
 by the fact of his having just married a niece of our in- 
 tendant's ; — " a little against the intendant's stomach, I 
 believe," said the major-domo ; " but it was an old love 
 affair, it seems, before Jacques went from Rennes — 
 where he was in good business enough — to Paris, where 
 he got bad business enough. But I have promised to 
 open my own little store in his favour ; so that that af- 
 fair is all set right with Monsieur I'lntendant." 
 
 I now found that Jacques, with his wife and other 
 moveables, was to take possession of his new dwelling, 
 if his uncle obtained it for him, in a few days ; and as I 
 could afford to bridle my curiosity for the intervening 
 time, I left the good major-domo, and proceeded on my 
 other affairs. These were of no great importance, and 
 suffered little from being disturbed ; but as the old man's 
 own occupations were very numerous, and generally me- 
 thodically arranged for all the hours of the day, I was 
 somewhat surprised to see him enter my chamber 
 towards nightfall, and seat himself as if prepared for no 
 brief conversation. 
 
 After again thanking me for the fresh kindness I had 
 shown his nephew, he said, " But it was not on that 
 subject I came to speak with you just now. You must 
 know that Pere Ferdinand arrived about an hour ago, 
 and is even now in conversation with my lord. You 
 will see him at supper ; and doubtless my lord will in- 
 troduce you to him, and will tell him all you have done. 
 But I took the liberty, my son, of telling him all before, 
 and also of letting him know how much you were at- 
 tached to my lord, and how eager you were to promote 
 the peace and happiness of all the family. Nay, more, 
 — and 1 hope, and am sure, that you vill not think I went 
 too far — 1 promised him that you should meet him this
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 125 
 
 evening, after supper, in my apartment, and make his 
 acquaintance more completely." 
 
 " Oh ! I will willingly meet him," replied 1 ; " though 
 I suppose we shall have plenty of opportunities of 
 making acquaintance during his stay in the chateau, 
 without any appearance of secrecy." 
 
 " It need be no secret, my son," answered the major- 
 domo ; " and in regard to your making acquaintance 
 with him afterward, that would depend entirely upon 
 circumstances ; for he does not seem at all assured of 
 staying even over to-morrow, till the conversation he 
 is now holding with the duke is at an end. I merely 
 wish you to see him, because 1 think, that, using both 
 your efforts, you may do away much that is amiss in 
 the house, and also because I am sure you will love and 
 esteem him ; for there never was a better man." 
 
 As old Jerome had anticipated, on entering the salle 
 a manger, at the hour of supper, 1 found the duke stand- 
 ing with the confessor, to whom he instantly introduced 
 me, saying, " Father Ferdinand, this is the young Eng- 
 lishman I mentioned, whom 1 look upon — if not as my 
 own son, since such a feeling is, perhaps, impossible — 
 at least as the son of a dear brother, and treat accord- 
 ingly." 
 
 The confessor took my hand, and looked at me with 
 a smile full of benignity, saying, " We must be friends, 
 my son ; I hear a high character of you from all 
 quarters." 
 
 I expressed, as well as I could, my willingness to 
 meet his kindness ; and as the duchess was not well 
 enough to appear that evening, we sat down to supper 
 alone. I remarked that Monsieur de Villardin was 
 more calm, though not less grave than he had seemed 
 of late ; but it was the person and demeanour of the 
 priest that principally engaged my attention. 
 
 He was a man considerably past the prime of life ; 
 and though his frame was neither bent nor broken by 
 the weight of years, yet his age was to be traced in his 
 thin white hair, and in many a long deep furrow on his 
 brow and cheek. His eye, however, was bright and 
 clear ; and his teeth of as white an ivory as ever ap- 
 peared between the lips of youthful beauty. He was 
 thin and pale, but his complexion was clear, and proba- 
 bly had never been red ; and his form which was tall, 
 was also upright and graceful, and in no degree stiff.
 
 126 THE ADTENTURES OF 
 
 His robes, too, sat well upon him ; which is always a 
 sign of a lofty education or of a fine mind ; for no one 
 can feel himself perfectly at his ease, in all his move- 
 ments, without possessing the one, or having received 
 the other. With Monsieur de Villardin the confessor 
 spoke as equal to equal ; and though, from his demean- 
 our, I might, perhaps,, as a first impression, have in- 
 ferred that he was one of those priests who so fre- 
 quently govern, with absolute sway, the little kingdom 
 of a private family, yet he was evidently not one of those 
 who would truckle to the prejudices, or give indulgence 
 to the errors of any one in whose dwelling he was es- 
 tablished. There was in his whole conversation a tone 
 of bold independence, mingling with the tenderness of 
 his manner, which took away from it the slightest ap- 
 pearance of subserviency, and made me feel that, in 
 giving him the title of father, one only addressed him 
 by a name which he believed himself to deserve. 
 
 After supper I again retired, and, as I had promised, 
 took my way to the apartments of the good major-domo, 
 where the priest soon after made his appearance, and 
 spoke with me for some time, kindly and frankly, upon 
 a variety of indifferent subjects. He was evidently de- 
 lighted to hear that my mother had been a Catholic, and 
 that I had been originally brought up in that faith ; but 
 he pressed the subject no further upon me, and I saw 
 that he skilfully avoided saying one word that might 
 make me suspicious of any design on his part, either to 
 force himself into my own confidence, or to wring from 
 me the secrets of others. Gradually, however, he 
 brought the conversation round to the subject of Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin, and spoke with deep, and, certainly, 
 sincere regret, of the state to which the duke appeared 
 to have brought himself. He asked me no questions, 
 however ; but on my expressing equal pain at the fact, 
 he only replied, by exhorting me to strive, by every 
 means in my power, to remove the poison from my 
 friend's mind. I willingly promised to continue all my 
 efforts, and our conference thus ended. 
 
 After what I have just said, it may seem extraordinary 
 that my first impression of Father Ferdinand was not 
 favourable. On retiring to my own chamber, I sat 
 down to meditate over the character of the confessor, 
 and, as usual, formed my judgment very rapidly. I was 
 wrong, however — entirely wrong ; for as yet I had only
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 127 
 
 allowed myself to remark the worst — I may say, the 
 sole bad trait in Father Ferdinand's nature. On it, 
 with the keenness which had been taught me from my 
 youth, 1 pounced like a tiger, and resolved to be as wary 
 as possible to guard myself against its effects. This 
 evil spot, which I short-sightedly conceived to over- 
 spread the whole surface of his heart, though, indeed, it 
 was but a small blemish therein, was a slight touch of 
 that subtlety for which our priests are rather famous : 
 but I must pause for a moment, to define exactly its real 
 limits, lest those who may read this writing fall into a 
 like error with myself. 
 
 It was certainly a part of Father Ferdinand's doctrine, 
 that, in churchmen, the end justified the means, pro- 
 vided that the means were not absolutely immoral. 
 Thus things that, under any other circumstances, he 
 himself would have considered meannesses, lost that 
 character in his eyes when they were employed to efi'ect 
 some good purpose ; and art, duplicity, and cunning, 
 used either in extracting the truth from others, or in 
 guiding them, even against their will, upon the path he 
 thought it right for them to follow, seemed to him not 
 only admissible, but praiseworthy, in a priest. He 
 stopped there, however, saying that no clergyman had 
 a right to go farther ; and that if, upon the pretence of 
 guiding others, he did one act that was really sinful, the 
 sin rested on himself, aggravated rather than palliated 
 by the motive, masmuch as it was insulting God to 
 suppose that he could be served by sin. 
 
 On these principles he made the character of all those 
 with whom he was brought in contact his most minute 
 study ; employed every method of obtaining information 
 concerning them, even to questioning their servants and 
 their friends ; and, having done so, proceeded, step by 
 step, to establish his own influence over their minds, 
 which it was only owing to the goodness of his own 
 heart, and the natural rectitude of his judgment, that he 
 employed to their advantage and their peace. At first, 
 however, he proceeded cautiously ; suffered the traits 
 of their hearts to develop themselves before his eyes ; 
 shocked none of their prejudices ; rudely assailed none 
 of their opinions till such time as he found himself se- 
 cure of his power over their minds ; but then, certainly, 
 with an eloquence which I have never heard excelled, 
 and a fervour rarely equalled, he would combat their
 
 128 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 errors, oppose their vices ; and, once having begun the 
 strife, would throw himself before their passions, in full 
 career, and show them that they trampled on every 
 thing sacred, if they pursued their onward course. 
 
 The consciousness of this ultimate purpose, too, gave 
 a dignity even to acts that I cannot but imagine to be 
 reprehensible ; and even, in the endeavour itself to elicit 
 from dependants the secrets and character of their lord, 
 — an occupation which surely is mean, if there be any 
 thing mean on earth, — there was an air of authority in 
 his whole bearing, which made it seem more as if he 
 were examining witnesses with the power and right of 
 a judge, than inquiring into the private history of others 
 for objects of his own. 
 
 It is with regret that I have stated this blemish in a 
 man I esteem and love, though no one will see these 
 lines till both our eyes are closed, and his virtues will 
 live remembered long after we both are dust. He him- 
 self, however, saw it not as a blemish ; and were he now 
 to behold the lines in which I have endeavoured to por- 
 tray it in its true features, he would, very probably, say, 
 that 1 had softened down one of the best traits in his 
 character to suit my own prejudices ; for he himself has 
 always contended, that the noblest victory he ever ac- 
 quired over human weakness, was that in which he con- 
 quered his natural repugnance to employ means which 
 tne world condemns and scorns, for the sake of effecting 
 the best of purposes. 
 
 In all other respects, my memory can rest upon every 
 part of our acquaintance with pleasure ; and look into it 
 as narrowly as I will, I find qualities in his character 
 which I can admire and respect. In point of physical 
 gifts, nature had originally been very bountiful to him 
 indeed, and he had cultivated what she gave with ex- 
 traordinary care. A fine ear for music, and a rich, 
 melodious voice, gave full effect to a copiousness of 
 words, and a happy selection of epithets, that could only 
 be gained by long study; and clearness of thought — 
 which is probably a natural faculty — was thus rendered 
 doubly efficacious by immense power of expression. 
 
 But I must not dwell too long in description, which 
 seldom does justice to its object. The next morning, 
 in strolling through the park, — a custom which my habits 
 of early rising enabled me to indulge before the rest of 
 the family were up,— I was joined by the confessor, or.
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 129 
 
 as he was generally called, the directeur ; and although, 
 as I have said, I had already formed an erroneous 
 opinion of his character, which led me to believe that 
 any conversation between us was to be a game of chess, 
 where it would behoove me to be wary of all my moves ; 
 yet there was something so bland and pleasing in his 
 very salutation, that I walked on with him, not ill- 
 pleased with his company, 
 
 " I am glad to see you are an early riser, my son," he 
 said, after wishing me good-morning. " It is a practice 
 which leads to many worldly advantages ; and, where 
 the mind is well disposed, may be turned to better pur- 
 poses. There is a freshness, and a sublimity, and a 
 calm monitory voice in the early morning, which in- 
 spires purity of feeling, counsels good purposes for the 
 ensuing day, and lifts the heart to adoration of the 
 Being who made all the bright world that is wakening 
 around us." 
 
 Whether he did it with that purpose or not I cannot 
 tell, but certainly he could not have chosen a better 
 method of breaking down all the barriers between us, 
 which my examination of his character on the preced- 
 ing night had raised up, than by thus showing me that 
 there were finer thoughts and feelings in his heart than 
 those which I had as yet discovered. After a few more 
 words, however, in the same strain, he again brought the 
 conversation to Monsieur de Villardin; and he now spoke 
 of him in terms of tenderness and pity which he hadre- 
 strained on the preceding night, while in the presence 
 of the old domestic. Nor was it alone his sorrows he 
 appeared to commiserate ; he seemed to pity him more 
 for his errors than even for his griefs. He spoke of 
 him as of a being who, with noble powers and a gene- 
 rous heart, had, by a few weaknesses and faults, created 
 for himself lasting misery below, and endangered his 
 happiness for the long hereafter. There was something 
 so eloquent, I may say so sublime, in the pouring forth 
 of his lamentation over one who was evidently his friend 
 as well as his penitent, that I was struck and affected ; 
 while all my prepossessions, I felt, were rapidly giving 
 way to a truer estimate of my companion's character. 
 
 Seeing that I listened eagerly, and mistaking the cause 
 
 of the surprise which was visible upon my countenance, 
 
 he added, " You wonder to find me addressing you thus 
 
 upon the subject of the duke ; but you must remember 
 
 F3
 
 190 THE ADVENTURES OP 
 
 that I am his confessor, and know exactly how much 
 you know of his affairs, what share you have had 
 therein, and how you have borne yourself under diffi- 
 cult circumstances." 
 
 I replied not ; for I began again to be upon my guard, 
 fancying that all this might be but a prelude to ques- 
 tions which I might not think fit to answer. By my 
 silence and the casting down of my eyes, he seemed 
 at once to enter into my thoughts : — " Be not afraid, my 
 son," he said, laying his hand upon my shoulder, with 
 a smile ; " I seek no information that you can give me. 
 Indeed, what need I, knowing much more than you can 
 know. Suffice it, that what I have heard of your con- 
 duct, — making allowance for faults of education and 
 habit, — leads me to give you my esteem : and I trust 
 that, even yet, with your good aid, I may be able to 
 eradicate from the bosom of my noble friend the root 
 of bitterness that poisons all the current of his days : 
 and although a shadow from the past is, I am afraid, 
 cast over his future for ever, yet we must try to soften 
 it by the light of hope, which springs from repentance." 
 
 I doubted not that the priest alluded to the death of 
 the Count de Mesnil ; but it was neither my business to 
 take it for granted that Monsieur de Villardin had con- 
 fided that secret to him, nor did I see that the strong 
 terms he used were very applicable to that event ; for I 
 could not get my mind to comprehend that the fact of 
 killing an adversary in fair fight, though it might be a 
 "matter of personal regret, was at all a subject for re- 
 ligious repentance. I replied, therefore, generally, that, 
 of course, he was the best judge of what his penitent 
 had to atone for ; but that, for my part, as both duty and 
 affection prompted me, I was willing to strain every 
 nerve to relieve the mind of Monsieur de Villardin, and 
 to restore him to a happier state of feeling. 
 
 " 1 doubt you not, my son," replied he, seeing that 
 there was still some holding back in my conversation 
 with him, " I doubt you not, and trust that the time will 
 soon come when you will not doubt me. In the mean- 
 while, to speak of another part of our subject, good old 
 Laborde tells me that the page, Gaspard de Belleville, 
 seems lately to have taken your place in the duke's 
 confidence. Your place in his esteem and affection he 
 has not taken, as I positively know ; and I would fain 
 be sure of the fact that Jerome Laborde tells me before
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 131 
 
 I speak with Monsieur de Villardin about it. Have you 
 yourself remarked any difference V 
 
 " So much so," I replied, " that many a painful feeling 
 have I experienced on the subject. Indeed, I attribute 
 the great increase of that evil which we all deplore to 
 the fact of Monsieur de Villardin's now confiding en- 
 tirely in persons who are likely to foster all his sus- 
 picions, and strengthen every wild idea that jealousy 
 may suggest." 
 
 " And do you think that this Gaspard de Belleville is 
 a person to do so V demanded the priest. 
 
 " Beyond all doubt," I answered. " So sure am I, and 
 so sure have I been, that such is the case, that, only 
 yesterday, I contemplated bringing him to the middle 
 of that bridge and throwing him over into the river, 
 after giving him fair warning of my intention." 
 
 " My son !" exclaimed the confessor, recoiling with a 
 look of involuntary horror ; but the moment after he 
 recovered himself, cast his eyes down upon the ground, 
 and muttered a short prayer. 
 
 " Of course," I added, seeing the surprise painted on 
 his countenance, " I did not propose to do so without 
 giving him every fair equality. You did not suppose, I 
 trust, father, that I would take him by surprise V 
 
 " God forbid, my son, that you should do such an act 
 at all !" rephed the confessor : " the time will come 
 when you will think better." 
 
 He said nothing more upon that subject, however, 
 governing his own feelings with wonderful control ; but, 
 from that day forward, I seldom failed to meet with 
 Father Ferdinand in some part of my morning's walk ; 
 and I saw that the words I had spoken with regard to 
 Gaspard de Belleville had never been forgotten. Gently 
 and cautiously, but firmly and perseveringly, he applied 
 himself to change opinions and prejudices which my 
 early habits had rendered almost a part of my na- 
 ture. At first he would take an opportunity of descant- 
 ing generally upon the value of human life, as the most 
 precious gift of God ; and, at various times, he put it in 
 a thousand different points of view ; each tending to 
 show that it was an inestimable gift, which no creature 
 had a right to take from another, except in those cases 
 which God himself had pointed out. Now he repre- 
 sented it as the space allotted to a sinner for repent- 
 ance ; now as the means of conferring benefits on .
 
 132 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 Others, — rearing and supporting a family, — and doing" 
 the will of the Almighty, Now he showed it as the 
 crowning and especial gift of God — a thing alike be- 
 yond man's comprehension and his efforts, which he 
 could, indeed, take away, but which he could never 
 restore. Now he would display the horrors that would 
 oppress that man, who, on a supposed injury, had taken 
 the life of another, if ever he were tp discover that his 
 passion or his judgment had deceived him, and that no 
 injury had really been done, or that it had been attrib- 
 uted to an innocent person. Now he would carry his 
 view beyond this world, and represent the agony 
 that the murderer's soul must suffer, when, in addition 
 to the weight of the crime itself, he felt loaded with all 
 the unrepented sins which his hand had prevented his 
 victim from atoning upon earth. Then, again, he would 
 return and awaken every human sympathy ; display the 
 sweet ties broken, the dear hopes destroyed, the noble 
 careers cut short by such deeds : he would represent 
 loves and affections that we know not of, bright but 
 secret aspirations, joys and good deeds concealed from 
 every eye, ended for ever, as the punishment of some 
 triflmg fault or idle folly ; and, in the end, when he 
 found that all my prejudices were shaken, he addressed 
 himself direct to my own heart with such powerful 
 and eloquent exhortation, that thenceforth I mingled 
 with the world with very different feelings in regard to 
 the relationship between man and man. 
 
 CHAPTER XVri. 
 
 In speaking of Father Ferdinand, I have compressed 
 into one view the effect which was produced upon mjj" 
 mind by many long interviews with him. These took 
 place, as 1 have said, almost every morning ; but in the 
 meanwhile several events occurred to which I must 
 now turn. A slight variation in our dull and somewhat 
 painful course of life was afforded, about this time, both 
 to good Jerome Laborde and myself, by the coming of 
 Jacques Marlot and his bride to my house at Juvigny, 
 and by the preparations which preceded his arrival. In
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 133 
 
 these preparations, indeed, I did not share ; but almost 
 every day I perceived that good Jerome continued to 
 absent himself from his duties at the chateau for a suffi- 
 cient space of time to run down, through the park, to 
 Juvigny ; and many a time did I meet him with gleesome 
 satisfaction depicted on his countenance, returning from 
 his expedition to his nephew's new dwelling. 
 
 As soon as I had learned that my friend Socrates had 
 brought home his Xantippe, and was fairly in possession 
 of his new abode, I asked the duke permission to absent 
 myself for an hour or two, and sallied forth to make him 
 a visit of congratulation. I found him gazing forth from 
 his door, with pleasure and content, at the prospect 
 around him, having the farm which he was to cultivate 
 for the good Ursulines just on the opposite side of the 
 river, the convent itself within a quarter of a mile ; and a 
 little stone bridge, at half that distance, to render it 
 easily accessible. 
 
 Madame la mariee was within, aided by a bustling big- 
 nosed Bretonne servante, arranging the household gods ; 
 and Jacques Marlot himself had thus an opportunity, 
 without any sacrifice of dignity in the eyes of his bride, 
 to pour forth his joy and gratitude to John Marston 
 Hall. 
 
 As he somewhat belaboured me with thanks for all 
 sort of kindnesses, past, present, and to come, I cut him 
 as short as I could, by demanding impatiently to see the 
 bride. 
 
 " Ha ! ha ! my young lord and master," he exclaimed, 
 " do not excite my jealousy within the first fortnight of 
 my marriage ; for I have but lately found out that you 
 are an old friend and high favourite of my dear better 
 half." 
 
 These tidings surprised me more, perhaps, than they 
 might have done at a later period of my life ; for at that 
 time the extent of my female acquaintance was very 
 limited, and perhaps the most decided fragment of my 
 boyhood that then remained to me was a lingering dislike 
 to the generality of female society, and a very juvenile 
 contempt for women in general. 
 
 "Indeed !" exclaimed I, in reply to Jacques Marlot's 
 information, " indeed ! you make me but the more curi- 
 ous. Let me offer my adorations with all speed to the 
 first of your household divinities." 
 
 " Well, well ; enter, enter, by all means," he cried :
 
 134 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ♦* I am not made of jealous stuff, thank God ; and, as our 
 love has already lasted five long years, 1 trust it will not 
 break short at matrimony." 
 
 I was now conducted in form into the house ; and on 
 the first floor we found the bride and her coadjutrix, 
 when my surprise was still more excited, by beholding 
 in Madame Marlot the pretty brunette whom I had seen 
 at the inn near St. Aubin, on my first arrival in Brittany, 
 and who had warned me of what was passing between 
 her father and the groom who then accompanied me. 
 After the first salutation, I returned her my thanks in 
 set form, although I had nearly lost my life in conse- 
 quence of her information ; and I then inquired after her 
 worthy and respectable father as tenderly as my con- 
 science would permit me to do. 
 
 In reply, she informed me that her parent had most 
 unjustly been suspected of having given information to 
 the same band of robbers who had plundered me, that 
 the courier for St. Malo was about to pass within their 
 hospitable neighbourhood on a certain day and hour, 
 and that, in consequence, he had been arrested and 
 thrown into prison, where, within one fortnight, he 
 died, just as the authorities were about to liberate him, 
 having become convinced of his innocence, and judging 
 that a fortnight's imprisonment was a sufficient punish- 
 ment for being suspected. The prisoner having thus 
 liberated himself, his daughter was left, according to her 
 own account, sole heiress of her father's wealth, which 
 proved a burden less weighty than she had anticipated. 
 She also found so many persons in this generous world 
 willing to relieve her of it, that she saw very clearly it 
 would soon be no burden at all ; and therefore she set 
 herself to consider what she might best do under such 
 circumstances, when suddenly her ancient lover, Jacques 
 Marlot, appeared one night at the inn, and presented her 
 with an expedient that she did not fail to adopt. 
 
 In reply to this communication, I paid her my compli- 
 ments upon her wisdom ; and, as I found that the kind- 
 hearted brunette and her bridegroom were both bent 
 upon my staying to partake of their first dinner in their 
 new dwelling, I yielded to my fate, and found that nei- 
 ther Jacques Marlot's taste for friandise, nor the skill 
 which madame had acquired in the kitchen of an inn, 
 had abandoned them. During our meal, my philosopher 
 gave me a sketch of his wandering life in the guise of a
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 135 
 
 pedler ; and then related the means he had employed to 
 obtain his pardon, which were ingenious enough. It 
 appears that in France the presence of the king is always 
 mercy, and that if he but set eyes upon a condemned 
 criminal his punishment is remitted. Well knowing this 
 fact, and trusting to his disguise, .Tacques Marlot made 
 his way towards Paris, and having heard that the king 
 and court were about to make their public entrance into 
 the capital on a certain day, he prepared to take advan- 
 tage thereof to obtain his pardon. This plan succeeded 
 to his wish. Bribing some of the guards at the palace 
 with a considerable portion of what he had gained in 
 his petty traffic, he placed himself in a spot where the 
 royal party were sure to pass, in descending from their 
 carriages ; and, as the young king and the queen came 
 on together, he struggled forward to cast himself at their 
 feet. One of the ushers, indeed, opposed his progress, 
 and knocked the poor printer down to make him clear 
 the way; but this only brought him literally to the king's 
 knees ; and the young monarch's first impulse was to 
 stoop in order to raise him, reproving, at the same time, 
 the usher for his violence. 
 
 Jacques Marlot rose no farther than his knees, how- 
 ever, and in that position besought pardon for his of- 
 fences. It being now ascertained who the intruder 
 really was, the guards were ordered by Mazarin to take 
 him into custody ; and poor Marlot was removed, trem- 
 bling, as he acknowledged, for the consequences of his 
 bold attempt. The rule, however, was suffered to pre- 
 vail even in his case, although the queen and the cardi- 
 nal were both exasperated in a high degree against the 
 unfortunate printer. After remaining in one of the 
 rooms of the palace for more than an hour, his pardon 
 was brought him, but coupled with the condition that 
 he should quit Paris immediately, never to return, and 
 should never more exercise the trade of printing in any 
 part of France. " And thus, my dear benefactor," he 
 added, " I turned my steps hither, determined to become 
 a new Cincinnatus, and, abandoning the government of 
 Roman capitals, to dwell upon my farm and put my hand 
 to the plough." 
 
 In such conversation we passed an hour or two very 
 cheerfully ; at the end of which time I took my leave, 
 and left the pair to conclude their evening alone. It 
 was now about two o'clock, on a fine April day ; and
 
 136 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 walking slowly along, I meditated over all the strange 
 turns of that strange and unaccountable thing, fate, 
 which, principally by the means of a complete stranger, 
 had conducted the ci-devant printer in less than a year 
 from the foot of the gallows to a peaceful retirement in 
 a beautiful country. 
 
 On entering the park, I took the shady walk by the 
 bank of the stream, both because the warmth of the 
 day made a shelter from the sun not unpleasant, though 
 the year was yet so young, and because I always had an 
 indescribable pleasure in sauntering by a running water, 
 and gazing upon the current gushing brightly by me. 
 The banks here were irregular, sometimes high and 
 overhanging, sometimes sloping softly down, and dip- 
 ping their turf into the stream ; and as I often paused 
 to gaze, and ponder, and revolve a number of sweet sun- 
 shiny dreams that were now very common to my mind, 
 I was at least twice the length of time in the walk that 
 I needed to be. 
 
 Luckily did it happen that I was so. When I had got 
 about half-way to the chateau, I perceived that there 
 were others in the walk besides myself; and straining 
 my eyes a little, I saw that it was Madame de Villardin, 
 with a servant a step behind her, and her little girl run- 
 ning on before. The duchess approached but slowly, 
 with her fine eyes, as usual now, bent pensively upon 
 the ground, and her hands, which were very beautiful, 
 clasped together, and resting on her waist. The little 
 girl, full of the joy and vivid life of youth, ran backward 
 and forward before her mother, now gathering a flower, 
 now peeping over at the stream, and receiving, from 
 time to time, a grave caution from the soubrette, who 
 walked behind, against approaching too near the water. 
 As soon as she saw me, however, the little Laura had a 
 new object of attention, and running along the walk like 
 light, she came towards her play-fellow. The impulse, 
 however, was soon over ; and ere she had half reached 
 me, she slackened her pace on hearing the voices of her 
 father and the confessor in one of the other paths hard 
 by, and was turning gayly to seek them, when an early 
 butterfly started up from the bosom of a flower and 
 caught her notice. The painted insect fluttered on be- 
 fore her with that sort of faint impotent flight which 
 leads so many a child to follow on for miles, still hoping 
 to catch it at every step. Eagerly she pursued, with
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 237 
 
 her whole young soul beaming out of her beautiful 
 eyes. For some way the butterfly flew on down the 
 alley, and Laura de Villardin was close upon it ; when, 
 rising a little in the air, it turned its course towards the 
 opposite bank of the river. With a bound forward, Ma- 
 demoiselle de Villardin strove to catch it ere it escaped 
 for ever, slipped her foot on the bank, and plunged over 
 at once into the stream. 
 
 It is impossible to describe the three or four long 
 thrilling shrieks that burst from the lips of Madame de 
 Villardin as her child disappeared. For one instant they 
 overpowered me ; but the next I darted forward to the 
 bank. Luckily the stream was flowing towards me, 
 and, though deep and rapid, was smooth enough. I 
 cannot remember the time when I could not swim, and 
 the only difliculty was to discover the object of our 
 search. The first plunge over had made her sink, and 
 nothing aopeared as my eye ran along the river, but the 
 flat glistening surface of the stream. 
 
 An instant after, however, the little girl rose again, 
 and, with a faint cry, held out her arms at the distance 
 of about twenty yards from me. I plunged in, with 
 two or three strokes brought myself to the spot, and, 
 finding that she had sunk again, dived down where I 
 caught the gleaming of her clothes ; and throwing my 
 left arm round her, shot up to the surface, holding her 
 head above my own. By the convulsive grasp with 
 which she seized my neck and hair, I found that she 
 was still living; and the joy which that conviction gave 
 me was indescribable, when, on rising above the water, 
 I saw the scene that the bank presented. Madame de 
 Villardin on her knees, with her hands clasped, and 
 eyes straining upon the spot where I had disappeared, 
 was the first object that met my view ; but a little 
 nearer stood the duke, called to the spot by the shrieks 
 of his wife ; while, with the phrensy of agony in his 
 whole aspect, he was evidently only restrained from 
 plunging over also by the firm grasp which the priest 
 had laid upon his arm. Behind him appeared the form 
 of Father Ferdinand, raising up his left hand with im- 
 pressive energy ; and I could not but tliink he was pre- 
 dicting I would save the child. The whole scene was 
 made up by a number of servants running down towards 
 the spot, together with the woody irregular banks, the 
 bright green shades of the young leaves which clothed
 
 138 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 some of the trees, and the calm, bright sunshine, 
 streaming cheerfully over all, as if there were no such 
 things as danger, and terror, and care, and distress, in 
 all the many scenes he looks upon. 
 
 A shout of joy, that made the banks echo again, burst 
 from the spectators, when we rose above the surface 
 of the stream ; especially when, by the ease with which 
 my old habits of swimming enabled me to bear my little 
 charge, they saw that she was placed beyond farther 
 risk ; and when a motion of her hand towards her father 
 evinced that she was uninjured from that which had 
 already occurred. All crowded round the spot to which 
 1 directed my course ; and Monsieur de Villardin, stoop- 
 ing down as I approached, caught his child in his arms, 
 and pressed her again and again to his heart. For 
 some time Madame de Villardin wept in silence, holding 
 one little hand of her rescued child, and kissing her fair 
 cheek as she lay sobbing and agitated in her father's 
 bosom. The priest looked on for a moment or two 
 without speaking ; but then calhng to their remembrance 
 him to whom their thanks were first due, he offered a 
 short prayer of praise and gratitude in their name to 
 the Almighty Giver of all good. 
 
 When this was concluded, Madame de Villardin be- 
 sought her husband to give their little Laura into the 
 hands of one of the servants, with orders to carry her 
 to the chateau, lest, from the dripping state of her 
 clothes, she might encounter a danger different from 
 that which she had just escaped. Her father, however, 
 would not part with her ; but, so far following the sug- 
 gestion, he himself carried her home, hurrying forward 
 as fast as possible, while Madame de Villardin, with the 
 rest, followed more slowly, her situation preventing her 
 from accompanying her husband so rapidly. Her feel- 
 ings were too intense for speech, and she proceeded in 
 perfect silence ; while the priest, who followed by my 
 side, questioned me concerning all the circumstances 
 which had attended the accident. 
 
 W^hen we arrived at the castle, we were met by Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin himself, leading his daughter by the 
 hand, now clad in drier garments, and smiling as gayly 
 as if nothing had happened. Such moments soften and 
 expand the heart; and the duke's first act was one 
 which inspired bright but delusive hopes of better days 
 in the bosom of more than one person present. Ho
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL: }.^9 
 
 held his daughter up in his arms to embrace her mother, 
 and then taking the duchess's hand, he pressed a kiss 
 upon her cheek. 
 
 Without pretending to any fine feehngs, I may truly 
 say, that I felt as glad as if some great benefit had fallen 
 upon myself. His next act, however, was one which 
 gave me gratification more entirely personal. The 
 little Laura, having embraced her mother, turned to me, 
 and, as I bent over her to ask her how she was, she 
 sprang into my arms and kissed my cheeks repeatedly, 
 with all the warmth and sincerity of childish gratitude. 
 Monsieur de Villardin smiled kindly upon us both ; and 
 the duchess, who was again drowned in tears of joy, 
 held out to me her hand, which I raised respectfully to 
 my lips. We all now entered the chateau, and, although 
 I was not very apt to fear wet clothes, I made the state 
 of my dress an excuse for retiring to my chamber, feel- 
 ing that the duke and duchess would be better left alone 
 together with their child under the circumstances in 
 which they were then placed. A couple of hours 
 elapsed before I again saw any of the family ; but, at 
 the end of that time, one of the lackeys entered my 
 room, and informed me that Monsieur de Villardin de- 
 sired to speak with me. I instantly followed, not 
 doubting, certainly, that his intention was to thank me 
 for the assistance I had rendered to his child ; but not 
 expecting, by any means, the deep and enthusiastic 
 pouring forth of gratitude with which he now over- 
 whelmed me. 
 
 He knew not, he said, how he could express his feel- 
 ings towards me. If he had before looked upon me as a 
 member of his own family, in what light could he now 
 look upon me, when I had saved his child, the idol of 
 his heart, from the death which so imminently threat- 
 ened her 1 In conclusion, he again asked what he could 
 do to testify his affection for me, and to express his 
 thanks ; and bade me point out myself any way which 
 would prove most gratifying to myself, and he would 
 instantly pursue it, did it involve the sacrifice of half his 
 fortune. 
 
 " My lord," I replied, " I hope for nothing, I wish no- 
 thing, 1 will accept of nothing for doing an act which is 
 far more than repaid by seeing the happiness whieh it has 
 given to yourself and your most excellent lady. Or, if 
 I must ask a boon, it shall be alone, that you will.
 
 140 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 through life, give me the same place in your regard and 
 affection that you do now, and let me share your love 
 and confidence as long as we both live." 
 
 " That boon," replied the duke, " was granted before 
 you sought it. For never, of course, can I behold you in 
 any other light than as the dearest and best beloved of 
 my friends — nay more, as a benefactor, though the 
 benefits conferred are of a kind that 1 can never repay. 
 You must think, therefore, of some other request ; or, if 
 you think of none now, let it stand over to the future, 
 and 1 promise, whatever boon you then ask me, to grant 
 you upon my honour." 
 
 " I do not think I shall have cause, my lord," I replied, 
 " to call upon you to fulfil your word, but as there is 
 nothing that I either want or wish for at present, I can 
 certainly ask nothing now." 
 
 " Well, then," he added, " let it remain for the future ; 
 but one thing I must myself do immediately, which I 
 have heretofore forgotten; as I told you before, it will 
 require a royal ordinance to put you, as a foreigner, in 
 full and entire possession of your farm of Juvigny ; and 
 as I stand not over well with the court, I was almost 
 afraid that such a favour might be refused me, if I 
 applied without some special reason which I could 
 assign for making over the property to you. I now 
 can assign the noblest and the most valid of reasons, and 
 I will at once write to the Prince de Conde, one of my 
 best friends, entreating him to make immediate applica- 
 tion to the court for such letters-patent as may enable 
 you hereafter and for ever to obtain and hold lands and 
 lordships in France, as if you were a native subject 
 of the realm." 
 
 I thanked him sincerely for all his kindness, and the 
 letter to the Prince de Conde was immediately written 
 and despatched by a special messenger, who, before 
 three weeks were over, brought me back letters of natural- 
 ization in all due form, and entitling me, John Marston 
 Hall, Sieur de Juvi^ny^ — a name which afterward I 
 occasionally adopted when circumstances required. 
 
 If, in the household of Monsieur de Villardin, there had 
 beenbefore any thing wanting to my being considered and 
 treated as one of his own family, such was no longer 
 the case. Every day something new was done to con- 
 tribute to my comfort and happiness. My time was left 
 perfectly at my own disposal. A servant was selected
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 141 
 
 peculiarly to attend upon me. A suite of handsome 
 apartments were assigned me in one of the wings of the 
 chateau. Two beautiful horses were presented to me 
 for my own use ; and no young cavalier of the first 
 quality could have been better equipped in every respect 
 than I now found myself. That which gratified me the 
 most of all, however, was to find that Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin now selected me continually for his companion ; 
 and, though but little conversation of a very private 
 nature took place between us, yet 1 felt that, as far as 
 his confidence went, Gaspard de Belleville was beneath 
 my feet for ever. 
 
 From Father Ferdinand, too, I received a mark of 
 affection and kindness, which, as I had now learned to 
 appreciate his character properly, gratified me much. 
 The apartments assigned me consisted of an ante- 
 chamber, a little saloon, a bed-room, and a dressing-room ; 
 and I was surprised, on returning one morning, to see 
 the carpenters, who were always more or less employed 
 about the house, engaged in putting up a neat bookcase 
 in my ante-room. This was followed by the arrival of 
 two large packets of books from Rennes ; and 1 soon 
 after found the good priest busily employed in placing 
 them in order. When the task was concluded, he begged 
 me to accept them for his sake, and added, " I have 
 had them placed here for you, because there are many 
 leisure moments in every man's life which he is glad to 
 employ in reading, if a book be at hand, when, probably, 
 he would not take the trouble of going down to seek one 
 out in a large library like that below." 
 
 When I came to examine the store that the good 
 father had provided for my mind, I was both pleased 
 and amused with his selection ; and, indeed, it off"ered 
 not a bad type of his own mind. The books were in 
 general of any thing but a heavy or very serious cast, 
 though among them were to be found a number of vol- 
 umes, in the pages of which a man disposed to seek for 
 sound and wholesome ideas was sure to find them on 
 every branch of morals or ethics. The generality, 
 however, consisted of the best and purest poets in the 
 language ; of historians a considerable number ; of ro- 
 mance writers a very few ; but all were chosen evidently 
 with a view to induce a habit of reading, and to lead the 
 mind on to knowledge and virtue by the pleasant path 
 of entertainment.
 
 l'*^ THE ADVENTURES Of 
 
 The effect was such as the good priest could have 
 wished and desired : as I was not naturally obstinate or 
 perverse, the knowledge of his design led me rather to 
 endeavour to accomplish than to defeat it. Although 
 my taste for reading was certainly never so great as it 
 might have been, yet the half-hour that I snatched twice 
 or thrice in the course of each day to peruse some of 
 the volumes with which he had supplied me, carried me 
 through a great number of the classical authors both in 
 French and Latin, and gave me a taste for many things 
 which I had before but little appreciated. 
 
 Owing both to new pursuits and feelings, my time did 
 not now hang heavy on my hands ; but it must be re- 
 marked, also, that a renewed gleam of sunshine had 
 fallen upon our dwelling, which made every thing seem 
 cheerful around. The burst of kindly emotions and 
 tender feeling, to which Monsieur de Villardin had given 
 way, had proved more permanent than might have been 
 expected. For several days before, the confessor had 
 been labouring to free his mind from its delusions ; and 
 although he had clung to his suspicions with all the 
 tenacity of a jealous disposition, yet the calm, steadfast 
 reasoning of the priest had. it appears — together with 
 my former representations— produced a great effect ; 
 and it wanted but some little circumstance to wake the 
 dormant affections of his heart, when the accident that 
 befellhis child occurred. The consequence at the time 
 I have already noticed ; and for several weeks the same 
 mood continued. Every thing assumed a new aspect, 
 and to me, especially, the whole scene was full of en- 
 joyment. 
 
 Although the season was no longer one in which we 
 could urge the chase, as we had formerly done at the 
 Pres Vallee, yet fishing and falconry, which was still a 
 favourite sport in that part of Brittany, afforded us con- 
 stant amusement ; and, as I have said, I was ever by the 
 side of Monsieur de Villardin, often his only follower, 
 and always his most cherished companion. The only 
 one in the house whom this change seemed really to 
 oppress was my old enemy Gaspard de Belleville ; and 
 never did 1 set out with the duke on any expedition of 
 pleasure, but I caught a sight of his brow lowering 
 upon us, evidently full of gloomy disappointment at 
 the new hold I had obtained of his master's affections. 
 That he would struggle to regain them himself and en-
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 143 
 
 deavour to deprive me of the confidence and regard 
 which he coveted, I did not at all doubt ; but, as I feared 
 nothing for myself, and trusted that his power of in- 
 juring Madame de Villardin, at least in regard to the 
 Count de Mesnil, was at an end, his hatred and 
 malevolence were more a matter of mockery to me than 
 any thing else. It is difficult, however, to know when 
 the fangs of a snake are drawn completely : and I had 
 yet to learn what a base and malicious heart can accom- 
 plish, when it scruples at no means to serve its own 
 sordid and ungenerous purpose. I thought it quite 
 sufficient that I did not affect to triumph over him who 
 was evidently my enemy, and that without insulting him 
 by any thing like protection or condescension, I treated 
 him with civihty. 1 have sometimes, indeed, been sorry 
 since that I did not pursue a different course, and, even 
 by irritating him still more against myself, who could 
 always defend myself, give a different direction to efforts 
 which, without serving his own purpose, were but too 
 fatal to the peace of others. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 The calm continued for nearly a month ; and though 
 an occasional fit of gloom would fall upon Monsieur de 
 Villardin, it disappeared on every occasion ere it had 
 lasted many hours. So much, indeed, did the harmony 
 of the family now seem restored, that Father Ferdinand, 
 although he had agreed to fix his residence permanently 
 in the house of his friend, took advantage of the tran- 
 quiUity which he had so greatly tended to re-establish, 
 in order to visit Rennes, and arrange his affairs in that 
 city before he finally settled at Dumont. 
 
 The situation of Madame de Villardin, and her appear- 
 ance, became every day more interesting ; and although 
 I could at times see a shade come over the countenance 
 of her husband while, as he gazed upon her, some un- 
 worthy suspicion crossed his mind, yet, in general, he 
 seemed to regard her with that increased tenderness 
 and interest which every man must, or ought to feel 
 towards a being he loves under such circumstances.
 
 144 THE ADVENTURES OP 
 
 The medical attendants of the duchess had strongly en« 
 joined her to take as much exercise on foot as possible ; 
 and, followed by a servant carrying a small garden-seat, 
 she continued her walks through the park, resting when- 
 ever she found herself tired, and proceeding again when 
 she felt able. In many of these walks the duke himself 
 accompanied her, and still more frequently joined her 
 at one of her halting-places. All this bespoke renewed 
 affection and confidence ; and I too certainly hoped and 
 beheved that the demon which had caused so much un- 
 happiness in our household was quelled for ever. Such 
 was the state of affairs when one day, by the duke's 
 desire, I set out to visit Avranches and St. Malo, the 
 latter of which places I had a strong desire to see. My 
 little tour lasted four days ; but nothing of any interest 
 occurred in its course, except an accidental interview 
 which I had at St. Malo with an acquaintance I cer- 
 tainly did not expect to see so soon again and in such a 
 place. After having visited the port and perambn.lated 
 such of the fortifications as I was permitted to see, I 
 retired to the house of one of those aubergistes, whose 
 hospitable dwellings are ever ready to receive the money 
 of successful captains jusi returned from the sea; and 
 there sitting down in the general receptacle of guests, 
 I ordered my dinner, which was set before me by the 
 servants with all the promptitude of men accustomed to 
 deal with a hungry and impatient race. 
 
 Scarcely had I begun to eat when a gayly dressed 
 personage entered, and, placing himself nearly opposite 
 to me, ordered his dinner also, in a tone of authority 
 which was answered with due respect by the gargon, 
 with " Yes, captain — not a moment, captain — directly, 
 captain," This new guest v/as a strong, square-built 
 man, with a face that any one would have unscrupu- 
 lously pronounced a frank, open countenance ; but, as 
 soon as my eyes rested upon it, — although his whole 
 garb and appearance were perfectly naval, — yet I 
 thought that 1 had seen him fiUing the office of captain 
 in the land service rather than the marine. He caught 
 me gazing at him, and, as he did so, a slight frown 
 curled his brow ; but, as I did not usually respect frowns 
 particularly, I only smiled in return, and proceeded 
 tranquilly to the discussion of my dinner. Before I had 
 proceeded far, however, my acquaintance seemed to 
 have made up his mind as to his conduct ; and, taking
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 145 
 
 a moment when the room was full of different persons, 
 he exclaimed, after fixing his eyes upon me for a mo- 
 ment, " I think, monsieur, I have had the honour of 
 meeting you before." 
 
 " I think so also," I replied, making an inclination of 
 the head : " your face is familiar to me, though I really 
 cannot tell where I have seen it." 
 
 " The same is my case," replied he, " in regard to 
 you ; but, at all events, you see that I have abandoned 
 the profession of arms, which I followed till within the 
 last six months, and have becomeanhumble captain of a 
 merchant vessel trading to the colonies." 
 
 "I admire the versatility of your talents," said T, 
 assuming the same tone, though doubting greatly the 
 truth of the tale he told me : '• you must have acquired a 
 knowledge of naval matters quickly ; for now I remem- 
 ber, you were, when last I saw you, a very distinguished, 
 active, and expeditious officer in the service to which 
 you were then attached." 
 
 " Oh, monsieur, you are too flattering," he replied, 
 "and, in regard to my versatility, too, do me more 
 honour than I deserve ; for, to tell the truth, I was origi- 
 nally brought up in the navy. You doubt me," he added, 
 in a lower tone, " and perhaps doubt the whole story, 
 but it is true nevertheless. I have, indeed," he con- 
 tinued aloud, " condescended to go into the merchant 
 service, but it is only on condition that my ship be armed, 
 and one of the finest on the v/ater. I should be proud 
 to show her to you, sir. We sail at high water, which 
 will be in an hour ; and if you will come with me to the 
 port, you shall see us get under way." 
 
 I very well comprehended that it might not be quite 
 agreeable to Captain Hubert, with whom I had made a 
 somewhat interesting acquaintance in a certain forest 
 near Rennes, to leave a person who knew his former 
 pursuits so well as I did, to walk unwatched through 
 the town of St. Malo, at least till such time as he him- 
 self had fairly sailed ; the merchant service, it appeared, 
 being his real occupation at the present moment. To 
 put his mind at ease, therefore, as it certainly never 
 entered into my head to betray him, I agreed to walk 
 with him to the port : and, after he had concluded his 
 dinner, which was interrupted by the applications of 
 half a dozen clerks and twice the number of seamen, all 
 
 Vol. L— G
 
 146 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 proving that his tale was true, we turned our steps 
 towards the spot where his vessel was lying. 
 
 Near the door of the auberge I saw the servant who 
 had accompanied me thither, and whom I had left to 
 take care of himself. I now, however, made him a sign 
 to follow, and we thus proceeded to the port, which was 
 crowded with people of all kinds, all busy on their own 
 peculiar affairs, and seeming to think that there was no- 
 body else m the world but themselves. Here the worthy 
 captain pointed out to me his vessel, which, indeed, was 
 of a goodly size, and, apparently, well armed ; and it 
 being now time that he should embark, he gave me a 
 friendly invitation to go with him and take a hasty view 
 of the interior. This honour, however, 1 decUned ; and, 
 playfully catching me by the cpUar, he declared I should 
 go, pushing me at the same time towards his boat with 
 an air of jest, but at the same with sufficient force to 
 hurry me on a step or two, before I was aware. The 
 spectators laughed at the good-humoured captain's badi- 
 nage ; but I, who had seen more of his jests than pleased 
 me, laid my hand upon my dagger, and beckoned the 
 groom towards me, saying, at the same time, " Let go my 
 collar, my good sir, while the matter is a joke ! You 
 know I am hasty." 
 
 " Oh, if you take it in that light," replied the other, 
 seeing the groom running up, " you are, of course, free 
 to do as you like. But, remember !" he added, in a low, 
 deep voice. " Remember !" 
 
 " Pshaw !" I replied, in the same tone, " do not be 
 afraid; I will not betray you." 
 
 " I trust you," he said : " I trust you," and, springing 
 into his boat, he was instantly rowed off to the ship, 
 leaving me to congratulate myself on having escaped a 
 trip to the colonies, where most likely I should have 
 been treated more as the merchandise than the mer- 
 chant.* 
 
 Amused with my adventure, I returned to my au- 
 berge, where I asked one or two questions concerning 
 the worthy gentleman from whom I had just parted, and 
 found, by the replies, that, since our former rencounter 
 
 * In explanation of this expression of the worthy autobiographer, 
 it may be necessary to remind the reader that numbers of persons 
 were, about that time, kidnapped and sold as slaves in the various 
 American colonies.
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 147 
 
 in tlie forest, he had already made one successful trip 
 across the Atlantic, and had given every sort of satis- 
 faction to the owners of his vessel. " All is well that 
 ends well," I thought ; but, however, it was no business 
 of mine to interfere with a man's return to an honest 
 profession, and therefore, of course, I held my peace 
 concerning one, at least, of his previous occupations. 
 
 The next morning, at an early hour, 1 set off on my 
 return to Dumont, pleased with my whole expedition, 
 and trusting foolishly to find every thing in the same 
 state of tranquillity which had reigned there when I 
 left it. As I rode on, and entered the park by the gates 
 near Juvigny, all appeared sunshine and brightness, and 
 there was an aspect of calm serenity about the whole 
 place which rendered it almost impossible to conceive 
 that it was the abode of any thing but happiness. About 
 half-way up the avenue I perceived Monsieur de Villar- 
 din approaching towards me, with his arms crossed on 
 his breast, and a sort of staggering, uncertain step, which 
 seemed to me extraordinary. I immediately dismounted, 
 and giving the horse to the groom, advanced on foot to 
 meet the duke," who evidently saw me, but, suddenly 
 turning away, he took a path into one of the side alleys ; 
 and seeing that he wished to be alone, I remounted my 
 horse and rode on to the chateau. The first person I 
 saw in the house was Gaspard de Belleville, who passed 
 me in the vestibule, with a sort of grin upon his coun- 
 tenance, which made me fear that matters were not go- 
 ing so well as I could wish ; for I had remarked that 
 his smiles were not, in general, the precursors of any 
 thing very pleasant to myself. 
 
 The feeling, indeed, that some disagreeable event had 
 occurred, was vague ; but I had always found it the best 
 plan to make instant inquiries into the situation of af- 
 fairs around me, as soon as ever I had the slightest sus- 
 picion tbat any thing had gone amiss. Without even 
 proceeding to my own apartments, therefore, I directed 
 my steps at once to the room of my domestic oracle, 
 the major-domo, and entered unannounced. The old 
 man was busy with papers and accounts ; but the mo- 
 ment he saw me he threw them down upon the table, 
 and Ufting up his hands with an air of affliction, he ex- 
 claimed, " It has all gone wrong again, sir ; it has all 
 gone wrong." 
 
 " Why, what in heaven's name is the matter now, Je- 
 G2
 
 148 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 rome ?" I demanded. " When I left you, all bade faiif 
 to continue tranquil and at peace." 
 
 " Ay ! but there is some demon of mischief at work 
 in the house," replied the old man, " whose machina- 
 tions we don't understand. My lord is a thousand times 
 worse than ever. Indeed, he hardly appears to me to be 
 sane." 
 
 This news, as it may well be supposed, grieved me 
 deeply ; but, of course, my first thought was to discover 
 the origin of the change that had taken place, in order, 
 if possible, to counteract any evil that might have been 
 produced either by accident or by design. " Tell me, 
 good Jerome," I said, as the old man was going on with 
 desultory lamentations and vague facts, " tell me ex- 
 actly what has occurred since 1 went away, step by 
 step, as nearly as you can remember it." 
 
 " Why, my son," he replied, " I have very little to 
 tell, except what I have before said, that my lord seems 
 nearly insane. However, let me see ! The only thing 
 that occurred worth noticing the day after you went 
 away was, that in returning from Juvigny, where I had 
 been visiting my nephew, late in the evening, I found 
 Master Gaspard and Madame Suzette, my lady's maid, 
 in one of the alleys of the park a great deal more inti- 
 mate than I liked. I had seen something of the same 
 kind before at the Pres Vallee ; and then, though I did 
 not choose to show myself in the matter, I took good 
 care that my lady should know what was going on ; and 
 I know that she scolded Suzette severely, and threat- 
 ened to discharge her if she behaved so hghtly. How- 
 ever, there they were again, walking along together, 
 certainly more like two lovers than a page of good 
 birth and a lady's tiring-woman ought to be. Coming 
 upon them suddenly, I passed by without their well see- 
 ing who I was ; but I heard him say to her, speakmg 
 of some one else, ' Oh ! he would take fire at it in a 
 minute ; any thing of that kind would do very well.' 
 This time I thought it mybounden duty to tell my lady 
 myself what I had seen, and she was very angry indeed. 
 The morning after that, as I was just going up the great 
 staircase, I heard a terrible noise in my mistress's dress- 
 ing-room, and the next moment my master passed me 
 like a madman ; while I saw Lise, the other maid, run- 
 ning out of my mistress's room as if for help. The mo- 
 ment she set eyes upon me, she called me to come
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 149 
 
 up and help her ; and I found my mistress lying upon 
 the floor of her dressing-room, as if she were dead ; 
 while beside her there was a large roll of bright blue 
 riband, which seemed to have fallen out of her hand. 
 While we were lifting her up to put her on the couch, 
 my lord rushed in again, and giving a glance at her as 
 if she had been a viper, snatched up the riband, and left 
 us to bring her to herself as we best could. She did not 
 recover for some time ; and I thought it but right to 
 call the doctor, who kept her to her bed all that day. In 
 the meanwhile I asked Lise to explain the cause of all 
 this discomfort ; and she told me that she knew but 
 little, not having heard all that passed between my lady 
 and my lord. When first she went into her mistress's 
 dressing-room, she said, she found Suzette persuading 
 her mistress to have her white mantle trimmed with 
 that blue riband : and though her mistress said it would 
 look ugly, still she held it in her hand. In a minute or 
 two afterward Suzette went away, and the duchess 
 asked Lise whether she thought the riband would look 
 well on the mantle. Just while they were speaking, in 
 came my lord, and Lise went on into the bed-room be- 
 yond ; but in a moment after she heard a word or two 
 about the riband, and my lord gave my lady some hard 
 names which she would not repeat. Hearing some one 
 fall, she ran in, she said, to see, and found the duchess 
 as 1 have told you she was when I came there. Ever 
 since that time my lord has been like one distracted ; 
 and though he saw his wife yesterday, he spoke not a 
 word to her, but all the time he was in the room he con- 
 tinued playing with the curls of mademoiselle's hair, 
 and thinking of something else." 
 
 Although I saw more deeply into the mystery than 
 good old Jerome Laborde, and felt afraid, indeed, that 
 he himself might unintentionally have contributed to 
 bring about the change that we both deplored, yet there 
 were many points of the whole business still dark and 
 obscure even to myself. That the discovery of a 
 riband in the hands of his wife, of the same colour, and 
 probably the same shade, as that which suspended the 
 locket to the neck of the unfortunate Count de Mesnil, 
 had revived in the mind of Monsieur de Villardin, with 
 more tremendous force than ever, those suspicions which 
 the exhortations of Father Ferdinand and my own direct 
 testimony to the duchess's conduct had crushed with
 
 150 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 difficulty, I did not in the least doubt. Nor had I more 
 hesitation in concluding that Gaspard's hatred of myself, 
 and desire to supplant me in the confidence of Monsieur 
 de Villardin, together with the off'ence which the 
 duchess's rebuke in regard to the page had given 
 Suzette, were sufficient motives for the lovers, or para- 
 mours, or whatever they might be, to combine in foster- 
 ing the suspicions of Monsieur de Villardin against his 
 wafe, and thus revenging themselves upon her while 
 they rendered themselves agreeable to him. But how 
 they came by the knowledge necessary to make such 
 schemes effectual was, I confess, a wonder to me. 
 Could Monsieur de Villardin, I asked myself, could he 
 have been weak enough to confide in Gaspard de Belle- 
 ville the secret of his encounter with the Count de 
 Mesnil, and the discovery of the locket audits contents? 
 or could either Gaspard or Suzette have watched our 
 proceedings on that occasion, or have overheard any 
 of the conversations relating to it, which had taken 
 place between myself and the duke ] The first suppo- 
 sition! rejected at once, for it was impossible to believe 
 that Monsieur de Villardin would trust to the ear of one 
 whom he himself suspected of having betrayed his confi- 
 dence in former instances, a secret which, from the 
 concealment and privacy that had attended the duel, 
 might, in all probability, involve his own life. Neither 
 could I, in calling to mind with the most scrupulous 
 accuracy every circumstance relating to the transac- 
 tion, believe that we had either been watched, or that 
 any of our words had been overheard. The spot where 
 the duel had taken place was so remote and private, 
 every thing in the house had been so much in its usual 
 train when we returned, that, certainly, no one could have 
 followed us from the chateau to the place of combat ; 
 and any conversations that had taken place upon the 
 subject afterward had always been carried on in low 
 tones, and in places where it was almost impossible that 
 they could be overheard. 
 
 All this perplexed me greatly ; and although good 
 Jerome Laborde pressed eagerly for my opinion, I could 
 neither give him insight into the past nor advice con- 
 cerning the future. All that I could suggest was, that 
 with the very first opportunity, he should send off notice 
 of what had occurred to Father Ferdinand, who might 
 boldly originate the subject in conversation with th*j
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 151 
 
 duke, without waiting till he was addressed upon it. 
 This, of course, neither Jerome nor I dared attempt ; 
 though we naturally determined to do our best, should 
 the occasion of serving the unhappy duchess present 
 itself. 
 
 The means of sending off speedily to Father Ferdi- 
 nand Avere, luckily, found without difficulty; for, though 
 we could not risk despatching a servant to him from the 
 chateau, yet Jerome saw that another messenger might 
 be procured by the intervention of Jacques Marlot. 
 
 Under these circumstances, I determined to write to 
 the priest myself ; and, having done so, I committed the 
 letter to the hands of the good major-domo, who under- 
 took that it should go, at the latest, the next morning. 
 All this occupied some time, and it was now growing late ; 
 but yet the duke had not returned. Another hour elapsed ; 
 supper-time arrived ; and, although one of the most 
 regular men in his habits that I ever saw, still Monsieur 
 de Villardin did not appear. The whole household 
 became alarmed; and Madame de Villardin herself, 
 whom some one foolishly informed of the facts, gave 
 herself completely up to terror ; and, weeping bitterly, 
 came down to the hall in order to send out people to 
 seek for her husband. At that moment, however, Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin's step was heard in the vestibule ; and 
 immediately afterward he entered the hall. 
 
 He took but little notice of his wife, merely asking, 
 '^' Why are you weeping, madam "?" and after her reply, 
 that she was apprehensive for his safety, he cast down 
 his eyes and stood musing, in the middle of the hall, for 
 two or three minutes, which seemed perfect ages to 
 those who were the spectators of so painful a scene. 
 Then starting suddenly, he looked round ^rowninglyupon 
 myself and several of the servants who were gazing 
 upon him in surprise and sorrow, and sat down to table 
 unwashed and in his dusty dress. 
 
 He seemed, however, by this time, to have recovered 
 some kind of command over his demeanour, and ap- 
 peared eager to prevent the servants, whose astonish- 
 ment he saw that he had excited, from remarking that 
 there was any thing in his behaviour different from his 
 ordinary habits. He spoke to Madame de Villardin 
 frequently during supper, to which she sat down with 
 him, using, as he addressed her, all those forms of cold 
 courtesy and politeness which none knew better how
 
 152 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 to employ than himself. To me, also, he spoke once 
 or twice concerning my late expedition ; and evidently 
 strove, with a desperate effort, to appear attentive to 
 my replies. It was in vain, however, that he did so ; 
 for he continually relapsed into deep thought, every 
 two or three minutes rousing himself violently from his 
 reveries, and then falling back again, whether he w^ould 
 or not, into a state of dreary abstraction. 
 
 The next morning a new change seemed to have 
 taken place in his mood, for he came down perfectly 
 himself, collected, and firm. He was quick and stern, 
 it is true, but that was a frame of mind in which we 
 had all often remarked him, and thought there was now, 
 perhaps, something more approaching towards fierce- 
 ness in his manner than we had ever beheld ; yet this 
 demeanour was so much better than the state of the 
 preceding evening, that it appeared a relief. 
 
 Several times during the course of the morning I 
 hoped that he was going to speak to me on the subject 
 of his new suspicions, for more than once he looked earn- 
 estly, I may call it wildly, in my face : and once, when he 
 had done so during a longer space than ever, he suddenly 
 broke off, and turned away, muttering, " No, no ! myself 
 alone !" 
 
 I eagerly watched his conduct to Madame de Vil- 
 lardin during dinner, and saw that it was certainly very 
 different from that of the night before — keen and rapid, 
 but no longer harsh and abstracted. Yet though the 
 duchess herself seemed delighted with the change, and 
 did all she could to soften him still farther, there ap- 
 peared to me something not natural in his manner, 
 which alarmed me ; and I determined to walk down to 
 Juvigny,in order to make vsure that the letter had been 
 despatched to Father Ferdinand, for whose coming I 
 prayed more fervently than I had ever before done for 
 the presence of any other man in my life. The reply 
 was satisfactory — a messenger having been sent off to 
 Rennes at an early hour ; and I felt certain, though it 
 might be late the next day before the confessor could 
 arrive, that he would not suffer two suns to rise ere he 
 was in the chateau. 
 
 So far relieved was the mind of Madame de Villardin 
 by the alteration in her husband's conduct, which she 
 apparently trusted would now return to its ordinary 
 course, that she began to resume her usual habits ; and,
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 153 
 
 accompanied by her little girl, took her stated walk in 
 the cool of the evening ; for it was now the month of 
 May, and as warm as June. The duke was shut up in 
 his library all day, and, I supposed, alone ; but in descend- 
 ing the back staircase, — which, leading from my apart- 
 ments in the wing, passed one of the library doors, and 
 thence to the court behind the chateau, — I encountered 
 Suzette, the duchess's woman, coming out from a 
 conference with Monsieur de Villardin ; and I felt sure, 
 from that moment, that no internal change of feeling 
 had taken place in his bosom, though he might assume, 
 by a great effort, a different demeanour to those around 
 him. To the hour of supper he was this night exact ; 
 and though his conversation was evidently forced, 
 and, perhaps, a little rambling, yet it was fluent and 
 courteous. 
 
 After supper, I, as usual, retired to my own apart- 
 ments, and, full of painful thoughts, turned to the win- 
 dow, and gazed out upon the park as it lay before me, 
 sleeping in the calm moonlight. I had not been there 
 a moment, when a figure appeared upon the terrace, 
 which I instantly recognised as that of Monsieur de 
 Villardin. With a quick and irregular pace he de- 
 scended the flight of steps that led into the garden, 
 crossed it towards the park, and in a minute after was 
 lost to my view in one of the dark alleys. Never did I 
 feel so tempted to play the spy ; but, though I was con- 
 scious that the motive was not an evil one, yet my 
 mind revolted from the thought, and, casting off my 
 clothes, I went to bed. 
 
 The next morning and day passed much in the same 
 manner ; but, about half an hour before dusk, while 
 Madame de Villardin was preparing for her evening 
 walk, the duke himself set out on foot before her, 
 saying to his wife, as he left the saloon, in which I 
 happened to be at the time, " As you are not going to 
 take Laura with you to-night, if you come down the 
 walk by the water-side, I will meet you. Our young 
 friend here will accompany you!" 
 
 Madame de Villardin's joy at these words almost 
 overflowed at her eyes; and, though she had never 
 said she was not about to take her little girl with her, as 
 the duke implied, yet she determined to follow his 
 words exactly, and, leaving mademoiselle to play in the 
 flower-garden, under the superintendence of Suzette, 
 G3
 
 154 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 she set out about ten minutes after her husband, acconv 
 panied by myself alone. She walked but slowly, and 
 rested about half-way down the walk ; but although the 
 sun was below the horizon, and the light was growing 
 faint, yet the air was so warm and the sky so clear, one 
 could have walked on for hours with far more pleasure 
 than in the full glare of day. 
 
 Ere we had again proceeded a dozen yards, we saw 
 Monsieur de Villardin come into the alley as if from the 
 bank of the river ; and, offering his arm to his wife, he 
 took the garden-seat which 1 was carrying, and walked 
 on down the alley in silence. A minute or two after, 
 however, as we approached one of the little wooden 
 bridges, he paused, and asked Madame de Villardin 
 whether she was able to walk on a little farther on the 
 other side of the river. " I have just now seen a 
 wounded chevreuil," he said, " and wish to put it out of 
 its agony ;" and then turning to me, he bade me run 
 back to the house, and bring his carbine, which I should 
 find charged in his dressing-room. 
 
 His voice faltered, I observed, as he spoke, and the 
 moment he had done, he turned towards the little 
 bridge which might lie at about fifty or sixty yards from 
 the spot where we stood. A feeling of awe and agita- 
 tion came over me not to be described, for I had a sort 
 of instant conviction that all was not right ; and, though 
 I took a few steps towards the chateau, I paused again 
 almost immediately, not knowing how to act or what 
 to do. Never in my existence did I feel such a painful 
 state of uncertainty ; and, gazing after Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin and his fair wife, as they advanced slowly towards 
 the bridge, my mind in a moment ran over a thousand 
 vague apprehensions, probable and improbable, which 
 only left the conviction that something fearful was 
 about to occur, though of what nature I could not divine. 
 
 " His carbine !" I thought, " long before I can get 
 back, it will be too dark for him to shoot any thing 
 thirty yards from him !" and I resolved to follow, and, 
 pretending I had forgotten what he had said, to ask 
 where the weapon was to be found. When I turned, 
 — though, as I have said, it was quite dusk, — I could 
 see the figures of Monsieur and Madame de Villardin ap- 
 proaching the river; and, walking fast to come up with 
 them, I was within twenty yards of the bridge when 
 they began to cross it. Scarcely, however, had they
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 155 
 
 t£^en two steps upon the wood-work when I heard a 
 crash, a scream, a plunge, and both figures at once dis- 
 appeared. 
 
 I darted forward to the spot where the bridge had 
 stood, but nothing now remained of it but some broken 
 fragments attached to the piles, which, driven into 
 the high bank, had served as the foundation. The 
 growing obscurity of the twilight, the trees that over- 
 hung the banks, the height of the banks themselves, 
 which at that spot rose full twenty feet above the 
 stream, the rushing and rippling of the current, which, 
 there, considerably confined by its bed, hurried on to- 
 wards a sharp turn which it took about fifty yards 
 below, — all served to prevent me seeing distinctly 
 what were the objects on the surface of the water. 
 Fragments of the bridge there certainly were ; but I 
 saw neither Madame de Villardin nor her husband, 
 though the whirhng of a part of the wood- work in one 
 of the eddies of the river made me for a moment think 
 I beheld the struggles of a living creature. I paused 
 but for a single instant to calculate what were best to 
 do ; and then, seeing that there was nothing else to be 
 done, I leaped from the high bank at once into the 
 stream, and as soon as I rose after the first plunge, I 
 struck rapidly down the current, in order, by exceeding 
 its own speed, to come up with whatever objects it was 
 carrying down. Almost at the turn of the river, where 
 the water in circling round the point drifted strongly 
 against the bank, which was here again less steep, at 
 least on one side, I saw, among some broken pieces 
 of wood, a larger object, impeded in its course down 
 the stream by some projecting stones and roots of 
 trees, and the next moment I grasped the arm of Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin. He seemed perfectly insensible ; 
 but, springing to the shore, I dragged him up the bank, 
 and laid him upon the turf. Still he made no move- 
 ment ; but, as I confess, that from various feelings 
 which I need not explain, I felt more interested in the 
 fate of Madame de Villardin than even in his own, I left 
 him at once, and, again plunging into the stream, I 
 swam rapidly round the little peninsula I have men- 
 tioned. 
 
 The river here was more open, and whatever light 
 was in the sky was reflected clearly upon its bosom ; 
 but, by this time, all the fragments of the bridge had
 
 156 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 drifted out of sight, and, in vain lifting my head as high 
 as I could, I attempted to discover any object floating 
 upon the water. Still darting on as fast as my utmost 
 efforts could impel me along the current, I endeavoured 
 to regain the time lost in drawing Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin on shore ; and, after a moment, a faint and very 
 distant cry for help caught my ear and encouraged me 
 to strike on. The cry, however, was never repeated ; 
 and after swimming till I was perfectly exhausted, I was 
 obliged to abandon the attempt in despair, and landed 
 about a mile below the dwelling of good Jacques Mar- 
 lot. Thither I directed my steps as fast as possible ; 
 and, finding the door locked, 1 knocked for several mo- 
 ments so violently as to bring him himself, with a face 
 of terror, to the gateway. Telling him what had oc- 
 curred, I besought him to rouse all the servants of the 
 farm and the cotters in the neighbourhood, and, dividing 
 into two parties, one on either bank, to search the 
 whole course of the stream with torches and lanterns. 
 
 In the meanwhile I hurried back, and calling the 
 woodcutter at the nearest gate of the park, made him 
 hasten on with me to the spot where 1 had left Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin, answering as well as I could the 
 eager questions which he put to me, as we went, con- 
 cerning the events which had occurred. 
 
 We found the duke exactly where I had left him ; but, 
 though he had not moved in the slightest degree, it was 
 evident that he was still alive, for he was breathing loud 
 and hard, like a person in a deep sleep. Taking him up 
 in our arms, we carried him as quickly as we could to the 
 chateau, when we were instantly surrounded by the 
 whole household ; and by the lights which were now 
 brought, we perceived that a severe blow on the head 
 was more probably the cause of his insensibility than 
 the short time he had remained in the water. 
 
 Leaving him in the hands of the physician, who, for 
 the last month, had inhabited the chateau, attending 
 upon Madame de Villardin, I set out, with the greater 
 part of the household, all furnished with torches ; and, 
 for three hours, continued our search for the body of 
 the unhappy lady, from the spot where the bridge had 
 broken to a village nearly six miles farther down the 
 stream. Our search, however, was in vain; and all 
 feeling that a good mistress, a kind friend, and a gentle 
 lady, was lost to us for ever, we returned sad and sor- 
 rowful to the chateau.
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 157 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 The sound of our steps crossing the terrace was heard 
 within the chateau as we returned from our ineffectual 
 search; and, on entering the vestibule, the first object 
 on which my eye fell was the form of Father Ferdi- 
 nand, advancing to meet me. The natural clear brown 
 of his complexion had now given way to a deadly pale- 
 ness ; and I saw by the haggard anxiety of the noble 
 old man's eye, the tremulous eagerness of his lip, and 
 the agitation that pervaded his whole frame, how deep 
 and heartfelt was the interest which he took in the fate 
 of those to whom he was attached. 
 
 " Have you found her V he cried ; " have you found 
 her r' 
 
 A mournful silence was the only reply ; and the priest, 
 clasping his hand over his eyes, remained for a moment, 
 or two apparently in prayer. When the hand was with- 
 drawn, however, it was clear that tears had mingled 
 with his orisons ; and, turning away from the gaze of 
 the domestics, he took me by the hand and led me 
 towards the library. There, closing the door, he cast, 
 himself into a seat, and gave way to a burst of feeling 
 which certainly did not lower him in my estimation. 
 
 " This is, indeed, terrible," he said, when he had 
 somewhat recovered himself. " This is, indeed, most 
 terrible ; and even I, who am too well accustomed to 
 witness scenes of death, and crime, and sorrow, am 
 overpowered by this." 
 
 " Is Monsieur de Villardin dead, thenV I exclaimed, 
 misunderstanding him. " Is he dead V 
 
 " No, no," replied the priest, " he is still alive, and 
 likely to live ; but, 1 fear me," he added, " is likely to 
 live only to wretchedness and remorse. Tell me ! tell 
 me, my son, how did all this happen 1 for it seems you 
 were the only one present at the time this fatal catas- 
 trophe occurred." 
 
 To answer his question was more difficult than it 
 would seem at first sight ; for it required no small care 
 to avoid mingling the dark suspicions that were in my
 
 158 THE ADVENTURES OP 
 
 own mind with the facts that I myself had seen, espe- 
 cially as I perceived that the priest himself entertained 
 many doubts of the event which had occurred having 
 been purely accidental. All that he could positively 
 know, indeed, must have been obtained from such infor- 
 mation as the physicians and the domestics had gleaned 
 from the broken account I had given on first returning 
 to the chateau, but it was evident to me that his own 
 knowledge of foregone facts had led his mind to dark 
 suspicions, for which he now sought, in his conversation 
 with me, either confirmation or disproof. I replied, 
 however, as cautiously as I could, telling him the simple 
 facts as they had happened, but abstaining scrupulously 
 from all remarks. My manner, beyond doubt, was em- 
 barrassed, for I would fain have spoken freely with the 
 priest, and fully believed, even at the time, that I might 
 do so without danger ; but I imagined that I had no right 
 to give utterance to the slightest unascertained particu- 
 lar, and therefore evinced a backwardness to explain 
 more than was absolutely necessary, which he instantly 
 remarked. 
 
 " Are you deceiving me, my son V he asked, gravely. 
 
 " No, indeed, father," I answered, " I am telhng you 
 the simple truth ; but for reasons of my own you must 
 let me do so without comment, and draw your own de- 
 ductions from what you yourself know." 
 
 " Well, then," he said, after musing a moment, " you 
 say that you were turning back to ask him where his 
 carbine was placed when you saw the accident that 
 occurred. Tell me now, my son, did your never-failing 
 memory and attention abandon you in the present in- 
 stance ; or had you forgotten, in reality, where he 
 had told you that the weapon was to be found ?" 
 
 " I had not forgotten," I replied, " and only turned 
 back with that excuse, because I did not wish to leave 
 him just at that moment." 
 
 " Then you must have apprehended something," said 
 the priest ; " tell me what it was, and why you did so. 
 You may do so safely, my son ; for I pledge my word 
 that your reply never passes my lips." 
 
 Thus pressed home, I replied, " Certainly I did appre- 
 hend something, good father; but my apprehensions 
 were quite vague and unformed, pointing to no particu- 
 lar object, and having no very definite cause." 
 
 " Then why did you entertain fears at all," demanded
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 159 
 
 Father Ferdinand, " if you had seen nothing to excite 
 them r' 
 
 " I had seen much to excite fears of every kind," I 
 answered ; " the whole demeanour of Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin, his altered habits, his look, the fierceness of his 
 manner, the wildness of his eye, all made me fear that 
 he was hardly sane, and that surely was excuse suffi- 
 cient for general apprehensions." 
 
 " It was," said the priest, " it was ; and your conduct 
 was so just and proper in writing to me at first, that I 
 will not believe you conceal any thing from me now." 
 
 " Father Ferdinand, I will tell you the truth," I re- 
 joined, as he was about to proceed ;. " I conceal from 
 you no fact of any kind ; but I do retain in my own 
 bosom all those deductions which I have made from the 
 same events that I have detailed to you." 
 
 " It matters httle," he said, " it matters little ! The 
 truth of all I shall soon know from this unhappy man, if 
 ever he recover the use of his reason, and in the mean 
 time I will draw my own conclusions." 
 
 " Has he been roused from the stupor into which he 
 had fallen V I asked. 
 
 "Completely," answered the confessor, "but he is 
 now in a state of raving delirium, which is still more 
 fearful. Of course, however, you are at liberty to go 
 and see him ; and I do not know that it will not be better 
 for you and me, and old Jerome Laborde, with whom all 
 secrets are safe, to take upon ourselves the entire tend- 
 ance of the duke during his illness, than to suffer others, 
 on whose discretion we cannot rely, to wait upon him. 
 Men in delirium often say fearful things, which, whether 
 true or false — whether the breakings-forth of long-sup- 
 pressed remorse, or the mere dreamings of a disordered 
 imagination, — make deep impression on the hearers, and 
 are often transmitted to others with all the evidence of 
 truth. We had better, perhaps, watch him alone. Do 
 you understand V 
 
 " Perfectly," I replied, " and will be guided in all 
 things by your counsel, father. Would that you had 
 eome before to direct us." 
 
 "Would I had! would I had!" rephed the- priest,, 
 sadly. " But it was impossible. I set out from Rennes 
 as soon as I received your letter, and travelled even 
 with far more haste than beseemed my age and m;^ 
 profession."
 
 160 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 We now repaired to the chamber of Monsieur de Vil^ 
 lardin, and made arrangements with the physician — in 
 whom the confessor appeared to place full confidence — 
 for carrying into execution what had been already pro- 
 posed. It was at once determined that we should each 
 watch six hours at a time by the couch of the sick man, 
 whose ravings were certainly of a nature to be kept 
 secret as far as possible. Now he would call upon the 
 Count de Mesnil, — now use harsh and cruel words, as 
 if towards his wife, — now speak of a cunningly devised 
 scheme to end it all at once, — now talk of a bloody 
 grave beneath the oak ; and, in short, he would let drop 
 a thousand wild and whirUng words, which, with all 
 their incoherence, might very well have led to the dis- 
 covery of much that he would willingly have concealed, 
 and to the suspicion of other acts, of which, perhaps, 
 he was innocent, though he never gave his mind time to 
 remain long enough upon the fearful facts that busied it, 
 to pour forth any thing like a coherent tale in regard to 
 either of them. 
 
 As the physician had now done his part, and as I bore 
 on my face sufficient traces of fatigue and anxiety, the 
 confessor took upon himself the first six hours' watch, 
 saying, that while he sat up he would write to the uncle 
 of Madame de Villardin, whose domains were situated 
 in the Orleanois. 
 
 I certainly do not remember to have been ever more 
 fatigued, and wiUingly took advantage of the good 
 priest's proposal. As I retired with the medical man, 
 however, I asked him eagerly what was the state in 
 which he had found the duke when we brought him 
 home ; and, in reply, he explained to me that though his 
 scull was not fractured, yet a severe concussion of the 
 brain had taken place, from his head having struck, in 
 the fall, either some projecting rock, or some piece of 
 the broken bridge. From the ravings which had since 
 come on, he feared, he said, that there was a tendency 
 to inflammation ; and on my pressing to know what 
 would be the result, he shook his head doubtingly, say- 
 ing, that the result was in the hands of God alone ; he 
 himself could not venture to give an opinion on the 
 subject. 
 
 I did not sleep more than four or five hours, and, on 
 rising, proceeded towards the apartments of Monsieur 
 de Villardin, in order to take my place by his bedside^
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL, 161 
 
 I found old Jerome Laborde already there, however; 
 who, having been made aware of the arrangements of 
 the preceding night, had come about half an hour before 
 to relieve the priest. By this time the duke had fallen 
 into a quiet sleep, from which I augured well ; and leav- 
 ing the old major-domo to hold out his watch, I de- 
 scended to the saloon, feeling most oppressively that 
 deep and shadowy gloom which always seems to fall 
 over a house where such a sudden and fatal event has 
 taken place as that which distinguished the foregoing 
 evening. The low voice in which every one spoke 
 when they met, the stealthy pace with which every one 
 moved about the mansion, the stillness which pervaded 
 the whole place, expressed the sense of awe that was 
 felt by every bosom, and had something awful in itself. 
 
 All this struck me much as I descended the stairs ; 
 but, on entering the saloon, there was something more 
 painful still to be encountered. The little Laura de Vil- 
 lardin was playing near one of the windows with some 
 trinkets of her mother's, but, the moment I entered, 
 she ran up to me with open arms, and holding up her 
 fair face towards me, exclaimed, " Oh ! tell me — tell 
 me, where is mamma 1 Suzette says she is dead, and I 
 shall never see her again. What does dead mean? 
 Where is she gone to V 
 
 It was impossible to hear such questions calmly ; and, 
 for the first time since my father's death, I wept like a 
 child. Suzette herself now entered the saloon, and, 
 for a moment, her eyes and mine met. Whether what 
 I felt towards her was very visibly expressed in my 
 glance or not, I cannot tell, but she turned extremely 
 red, and casting down her eyes, caught the little girl 
 by the arm and drew her rudely out of th.e room. In 
 truth, I was not sorry to be spared more questions ; 
 and, taking my hat, I walked forth into the park. 
 
 The morning was as warm and bright as that of the 
 preceding day ; and a feeling of painful curiosity im- 
 pelled me directly towards the spot where the accident 
 had occurred on the night before. I followed the exact 
 path which I had pursued with Madame de Villardin, and 
 as I turned from the lateral alley where we had met the 
 duke, into the short path which led to the broken bridge, 
 I suddenly saw the form of Father Ferdinand standing* 
 at the very point to which I was directing my steps. 
 He turned round as I approached, and, without any ap«^
 
 162 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 parent surprise, beckoned me towards him. I walked 
 on at once ; and, for two or three minutes after I had 
 come up, we stood gazing together in silence upon all 
 that remained of the wooden arch which had there 
 spanned across the river, and which I myself had passed 
 over on horseback not five days before. Very little of 
 it was now to be seen, for full twelve feet of the centre 
 had fallen into the river and had been carried away ; but 
 enough still remained attached to the piles at the sides 
 to show, in some degree, the manner of the accident, 
 though not the cause. The nails which had fixed the 
 cross supports to the rafters had either given way, or 
 had been drawn out ; and the two main beams which 
 upheld the whole, having been deprived of every thing 
 that strengthened them, had broken at the side nearest 
 the chateau, and, dragged down by their own weight 
 from the piles on the other bank of the river, had fallen 
 with the rest of the wood-work into the current, and 
 been carried away. 
 
 A part, however, of one of them remained, as I have 
 said, attached to the side where we stood ; and after 
 contemplating the whole for some time in silence, the 
 priest laid his hand upon my arm, as he saw my eyes 
 fixed upon the broken beams, and he asked, in a tone 
 half stern, half sorrowful, " Do you remark nothing 
 there, my son ?" 
 
 I stooped down and looked more closely, but still 
 kept silence ; and he added, " Then I will ask you, in 
 plainer terms, do you not perceive the marks of a saw V 
 
 " I am afraid I do," replied I, rising up. 
 
 " It is enough," he said ; and with his foot pushed 
 the fragments of the beams over into the water, which 
 was easily accomplished, as all that held them had 
 already been nearly wrenched out by the breaking down 
 of the rest of the bridge. Father Ferdinand and my- 
 self gazed at each other for several moments with sad 
 and bitter hearts, and then, feeling that nothing more 
 need be said between us, we each turned on our way 
 without another word. Father Ferdinand took the 
 path back to the chateau, but I walked on towards Ju- 
 vigny, in the sad hope of hearing from good Jacques 
 Marlot that the body of Madame de Villardin had been 
 found. On my arrival, however, I learned that Madame 
 Marlot herself, who, it seems, was in a delicate situ- 
 ation, had been so agitated and alarmed by all the dis-
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 163 
 
 turbance and anxiety of the preceding night, as to be 
 obliged to keep her bed that morning ; and the large- 
 nosed Bretonne servante, who gave me these tidings, 
 added, that her master was gone over to the gate of the 
 convent, and that I should certainly meet him there if I 
 walked that way. 
 
 I did as she suggested, and met Jacques Marlot re- 
 turning from the convent ; but he informed me that no 
 trace had been discovered of the body of Madame de 
 Villardin : and, as his wife was ill, I turned back towards 
 the chateau. As I passed by the bridge again, 1 found 
 Gaspard de Belleville, and one or two of the servants, 
 examining the spot where the fatal event had occurred ; 
 and it was not difficult forme to perceive that the whole 
 household looked upon the page and myself as irrecon- 
 cilable enemies, by the manner in which the servants 
 drew away from his side when I approached. As I had 
 most scrupulously avoided mentioning even his name 
 to any one when not absolutely called upon to do so, it 
 must have been from Gaspard himself that the domestics 
 had learned that any degree of enmity existed between 
 us. At all events, their having discovered the fact was 
 by no means to his advantage ; for as my good-will 
 was of more value in the family than his, from the cir- 
 cumstances in which I stood with regard to the duke, 
 my favour was of course more courted, — and it often 
 happened that it was courted at his expense. 
 
 As I wished to be asked no questions upon the subject, 
 I passed on, without noticing any one, and after an hour 
 or two spent in the melancholy rooms of the chateau, I 
 went to take the place of good Jerome Laborde. 
 While I watched by Monsieur de Villardin he woke from 
 the sleep into which he had fallen ; but so far from my 
 anticipations of amendment being realized, he appeared 
 infinitely more delirious than ever. His words, how- 
 ever, were now so incoherent and wild, that the most 
 suspicious ear could have drawn no meaning from them ; 
 and thus luckily they continued through the rest of his 
 illness. ■ For nearly a fortnight he remained in the same 
 condition, but at the end of that period a material 
 change for the better began to manifest itself, and the 
 ravings to which he had been subject ceased entirely ; 
 though, by this time, he was reduced to a state of infant 
 weakness. 
 
 Innumerable visiters had presented themselves at the
 
 164 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 chateau, as the tidings spread through the country- 
 and all who could hope to obtain any thing by his death 
 were most assiduous and tender in their inquiries. 
 Shortly before he recovered his reason, also, the Count 
 de Loris, the uncle of his late wife, warned of Madame 
 de Villardin's death by a letter from Father Ferdinand, 
 with whom he was well acquainted, appeared at the 
 chateau, and took up his abode there for the time ; but 
 as he had never heard of any dissensions between his 
 niece and her husband, and care was taken not to make 
 him aware of the painful state in which they had lived 
 for the last five or six months, the good old count ex- 
 pressed, and, I believe, felt as much anxiety in regard to 
 Monsieur de Villardin as if he had been his own son. 
 His manners were simple and kind to all around him, 
 and when informed by Father Ferdinand of the share I 
 had borne in several of the late events, he embraced me 
 tenderly, and, after thanking me repeatedly, made me 
 relate every particular in regard to the accident which 
 had befallen his unhappy niece. The warm tears 
 coursed each other down his cheeks as I proceeded, and 
 when I had ended, he said, " If ever I can serve you, 
 young gentleman, let me know. I am a man of few 
 words, but 1 mean what I say." 
 
 I gave him full credit for doing so, and I only did him 
 justice. After the delirium had left Monsieur de Villar- 
 din, his health continued to improve every hour ; but 
 still it was the most painful convalescence that ever I 
 beheld. He scarcely spoke a word to any one, and his 
 eyes roamed round those that surrounded his bed with 
 a searching and anxious glance, that was terrible to 
 those who understood the feelings in which it arose. 
 When he began to speak again, it was but one word at 
 a time, and even then he confined himself to the name 
 of any object that he wanted at the moment. 
 
 As soon as the physician judged it prudent. Monsieur 
 de Loris was brought into his bed-chamber, and took 
 his hand aff"ectionately : but the duke turned his head 
 away, and pressed his eyes upon the pillows, as if to 
 avoid the sight and all its concomitant ideas. The 
 good old count went on to comfort him in a kindly tone, 
 but not knowing the truth, he followed the most painful 
 track he could pursue, and by addressing a -man who 
 had destroyed his own happiness as he would have done 
 one who suffered alone under the bereaving hand of
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 165 
 
 fate, he poured gall and wormwood into all the conso- 
 lations he oflfered. 
 
 The shock, however, though terrible, was not with- 
 out a good effect, for it seemed to rouse the unhappy- 
 duke from the dull despair that overwhelmed him, and, 
 at all events, it broke the first dreadful feelings of re- 
 turning to scenes which had each its own peculiar asso- 
 ciations of agony to pour forth upon him. 
 
 Still, the day that he first came forth from his own 
 chamber was full of misery. The sun was shining 
 through all the windows, checkering the staircases and 
 saloons with gay and gladsome light. Under the direc- 
 tions of Father Ferdinand, every thing had been re- 
 moved which had peculiarly belonged to the duchess, 
 and alterations had been made, in various ways, to break 
 in every direction the chain of associations which we 
 knew could alone prove painful. Monsieur de Villar- 
 din's eye, however, still wandered wildly over every ob- 
 ject around, and I do not know that it was not really 
 more distressing to him to miss all the objects he ex- 
 pected to see, than it would have been to find them in 
 their accustomed places. 
 
 I heard him mutter to himself, " They are all gone ! 
 they are all gone !" and sinking into the fauteuil in 
 which he had been accustomed to sit when in the saloon, 
 he covered his eyes with his hands, and remained mu- 
 sing for several minutes. At that moment the door of 
 the room was gently opened, and Mademoiselle de Vil- 
 lardin, warned and persuaded by every means in our 
 power to be careful of what she said and did, was led 
 in by Monsieur de Loris. The duke heard the door open, 
 and withdrawing his hand from his eyes, saw his child 
 for the first time since the death of her mother. He 
 had scarcely been able to reach the saloon with the as- 
 sistance of two people, but when his eyes fell upon his 
 daughter, he started up without aid, sprang forward, and 
 catching her to his heart, burst into a passionate fit of 
 tears. 
 
 Father Ferdinand and myself supported him to a seat, 
 but still he held his little girl in his arms, and weeping 
 bitterly, every now and then drew back her head from 
 his bosom to gaze upon her face, which that day bore 
 — or seamed to me to bear — a more striking likeness to 
 her mother than ever I had before remarked. She on 
 her part was silent, but wept too, mingling the tears
 
 166 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 with which she bedewed her father's bosom with kisses 
 pressed upon his cheek. The physician would fain have 
 put an end to such a scene, but when he proposed to 
 remove the young lady, the duke turned round, saying 
 mildly, but firmly, " She must remain! It does me 
 good !" 
 
 I believe most sincerely that it did, and certainly from 
 that moment his health improved much more rapidly 
 than it had previously done. Each day he regained 
 strength, and gradually,by walking out upon the terrace, 
 and driving forth in a carriage, he acquired sufficient 
 vigour to mount his horse, and thenceforward might be 
 considered well, at least in boay. 
 
 It was necessary, indeed, that he should recover 
 strength, for there were still many painful things to do 
 which could not be much longer postponed. M. de Loris 
 had now been nearly a month at the chateau, and was of 
 course anxious to return to his own dwelling ; yet, as 
 his niece had brought to Monsieur de Villardin, at her 
 marriage, an estate called Virmont, in the Orleanois, 
 which had been settled upon her with all the peculiar 
 forms and agreements that enter into a French marriage 
 contract, it became necessary to make some arrange- 
 ments in regard to this property, which of course re* 
 verted entirely to her daughter. M. de Loris felt that 
 to speak long upon such a subject would be inflicting 
 much pain upon both the duke and himself, and therefore 
 he had procrastinated for some days, when suddenly, 
 one morning, as we were driving out in the neighbour- 
 hood, Monsieur de Villardin, who had been agitated by 
 the same feelings, began the conversation himself, and 
 concluded it in fewer words than it otherwise would 
 have required. 
 
 " Monsieur de Loris," he said, with a degree of calm- 
 ness which showed how he had tutored his mind to the 
 point, " Ihave long thought of speaking to you in regard 
 to Virmont. Although, of course, 1 am my beloved 
 child's only guardian and protector, yet, under present 
 circumstances, I do not choose to hold the property 
 which is now hers any longer, even as her guardian. 
 It is contiguous to your own land, and I have therefore 
 to request that you would kindly take charge of it, man- 
 age the rents, invest them to the best advantage, and 
 make the whole over to Laura when she marries or be- 
 comes of age."
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. J 67 
 
 The count made some opposition, although he ac- 
 knowledged that the confidence of the duke was highly 
 grateful and flattering to him. 
 
 Monsieur de Villardin sighed deeply, but replied, 
 " You must, my dear count, allow me to have my will in 
 this respect. Accept the trust, I beseech you ; and as 
 we may all feel very sure that my remaining years will 
 be few, I have named you in some papers that 1 drew up 
 yesterday for a still more important charge, which I 
 must entreat you to undertake. It is that of one of the 
 guardians to my child when I am dead." 
 
 The reply v/as such as might be expected, but the 
 conversation ended in Monsieur de Loris accepting both 
 the offices which Monsieur de Villardin put upon him. 
 A few days after the necessary papers were brought, 
 drawn up in legal form, and having been read in silence 
 by both parties, were duly signed. The next morning 
 the Count de Loris left us, pouring upon Monsieur de 
 Villardin expressions of affection and esteem, every one 
 of which went home to his heart like a dagger. The 
 duke seemed relieved when he was gone ; but there 
 seemed still another painful task to be performed ; at 
 least I judged so from the anxious expression of his 
 eyes, as he sometimes turned them upon the face of the 
 confessor. 
 
 At length, one morning, after walking for half an hour 
 upon the terrace, he turned to Father Ferdinand, who, at 
 the moment, was coming forth into the garden to take 
 his customary stroll with me, and said, " Now, good 
 father, I am ready, if you can do me the favour." 
 
 " It is one that must never be refused, my son," re- 
 plied the priest ; " I follow you :" and they turned to- 
 wards the chateau. Both had become somewhat paler 
 as they spoke ; and in about two hours afterward I was 
 joined by the priest, with a countenance on which strong 
 and terrible emotions had left traces which could not be 
 mistaken. He tried to appear calm, indeed, and suc- 
 ceeded in a certain degree, by speaking for some time of 
 indifferent things. At length, when he had obtained 
 command of himself, he said, " In the letter which you 
 wrote to me when I was at Rennes, and which brought 
 me so suddenly back to the chateau, you said, my son, 
 that you really doubted the sanity of Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin, from the extraordinary change that had come over 
 him. Now tell me truly, I beseech you, was that an
 
 168 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 expression hazarded without attaching to it its full 
 meaning ; or was it your real conviction at the time that 
 the mind of your friend was unhealthily affected? It is 
 of much consequence that I should know." 
 
 " I will tell you, my good father, most sincerely," I 
 replied, seeing that the feehngs of the confessor were in 
 truth most deeply interested ; " indeed 1 will give you 
 an answer that will show you I speak without reserve. 
 Did I not believe, then, that during the four or five days 
 preceding the dreadful accident which lately happened, 
 the mind of Monsieur de Villardin was decidedly de- 
 ranged, I would not stay in his house another hour." 
 
 " It is enough, my son, it is enough," replied the priest. 
 " So thinks the physician, — and so he thinks himself," 
 added the confessor, in a lower tone ; giving what he 
 said more the appearance of a reflection addressed to 
 himself than to me. " And yet," he continued, " his 
 mind must have been dreadfully worked upon by others : 
 at least it would seem so from all that I can hear in the 
 house." 
 
 " The more reason, father," I replied, " for supposing 
 that their irritating suggestions had affected his brain. 
 People seldom go mad without some cause, unless they 
 are very madly disposed indeed." 
 
 The priest mused ; and, after along pause, he replied, 
 " Well, well, let us always lean to the side of charity. 
 We are all too fallible to judge rigidly." 
 
 I saw that the fear of approaching, even in the slight- 
 est degree, the facts which had been confided to him 
 under the seal of confession, prevented Father Ferdinand 
 from speaking with me more candidly upon a subject 
 which occupied so great a part in the thoughts of both at 
 that time. Of course I did not press the topic, and the 
 conversation turned to other matters. 
 
 What I had said to him was nevertheless true ; for 
 certainly had I not believed that, for several days before 
 the death of Madame de Villardin, the duke himself had 
 been positively insane, I would, without hesitation, have 
 restored to him all his gifts, and would have quitted for 
 ever a man to whom I could not help attaching, in my 
 own mind, the darkest of suspicions. But his whole 
 previous conduct had so firmly impressed me with the 
 idea, that at no period between my return from St. Malo 
 and the death of his unhappy wife, had he possessed the 
 complete command of his own reason, that I felt him to
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 169 
 
 be more an object of pity than of censure. Even more-^ 
 regarding his conduct in this light, and looking upon him 
 as one whose happiness had been cast away for ever, 
 under the influence of mental disease, all that had oc- 
 curred proved a strong, though mournful tie, which 
 bound me to him more firmly than ever ; and, when I 
 remembered the promise which I had so shortly before 
 made to this unhappy lady who was now no more, I 
 determined that no time nor circumstances should ever 
 induce me to quit entirely the child that she had left, till 
 I saw her hand given to some one who would have the 
 right and power to protect her. I say that my determi- 
 nation was not to quit her entirely,, because the conduct 
 of Monsieur de Villardin towards me, since his recovery, 
 had been such, that I knew not whether he either desired 
 my longer abode with him, or whether it was to be upon 
 such terms as 1 could now alone endure. 
 
 Although no son could have attended upon a father 
 with more care and anxiety than I had done upon him, 
 yet he had scarcely addressed ten words to me since his 
 convalescence began. Those that he had spoken, indeed, 
 had always been kind and afl'ectionate ; and I had often 
 caught his eyes fixed upon me with a look of intense 
 interest, — mournful, perhaps painful, but still full of re- 
 gard and feeling. Nevertheless, the strangeness of his 
 silence, which I ought to have attributed to other causes, 
 made me anxious and unhappy ; and, as I was not a 
 person to express any of that loud indignation for ill- 
 requited kindness, which is sure to pile contempt upon 
 ingratitude, I frequently thought of asking his per^- 
 mission, calmly and tranquilly, but firmly and urgently, 
 to return to Paris, and to mingle in the scenes of strife 
 and turmoil which were again beginning to agitate the 
 unquiet capital of France. 
 
 I was saved, however, from the pain which such a 
 request would have occasioned to us both. On the day 
 following that in the course of which I had reason to 
 believe he had relieved his bosom of the load that 
 weighed upon his heart, and had poured forth both 
 his sorrows and his faults to the ears of the confessor, 
 he beckoned me immediately after breakfast towards 
 his library, and led the way thither himself. 1 followed, 
 and closed the door ; and as soon as I had done so, he 
 put his hand upon my shoulder, and gazing in my face 
 with an expression of deep grief, he said, " Why — why, 
 
 Vol. L— H
 
 170 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 my dear boy, did you save my life ? — why — why did you 
 preserve me to daily sorrow and continual regret V 
 
 Although I was seldom destitute of a reply, his 
 question might have been a painful one to answer, had 
 not my conversations with Father Ferdinand given me 
 altogether a new view of human life from that which I 
 had formerly entertained. 
 
 "My lord," I answered boldly, " every man, I have 
 heard, has something to repent of in this world, and it 
 is always better to have time here, where repentance 
 avails us, than to go where it is a punishment instead of 
 a penance." 
 
 "You say true, — you say true," replied the duke, 
 " and I thank you for the life you have preserved, as well 
 as for the kindness and the courage which prompted 
 and enabled you to preserve it." He paused for a 
 moment thoughtfully, and then proceeded: "You have 
 thought me cold, unkind, ungrateful, since I have re- 
 covered life and health ; but it has not been so. I have 
 felt all that you have done for me ; I have seen all that 
 you have felt for me ; and I have a thousand times 
 longed to thank you for the whole ; but ever, when I 
 was about to speak, all the horrible memories which 
 are in your heart and in mine, have risen up before me, 
 and compelled me to silence. I have scarcely had 
 courage even to address you, much less to speak with 
 you on subjects connected with the terrible past." 
 
 Such an explanation was more than sufficient, and the 
 pain of it once over, all further difficulty or reserve 
 between us was at an end. He spoke some time longer 
 with me in the library; and though he alluded but 
 vaguely and remotely to the past, yet he did speak of it 
 more than once with that sort of lingering tendency 
 which a man always has to return, in conversation with 
 others, to any subject that occupies all his thoughts 
 when alone. At length, taking a key from the table, he 
 said, " I have a fearful task before me, but one which I 
 promised to execute myself. Nevertheless, I confess 
 my heart so plays the coward with me, that I am afraid 
 to enter those rooms alone. You must go with me, at 
 least, as far as the ante-room, and wait for me there till 
 my task is concluded." 
 
 Although he did not mention what rooms he meant, 
 yet as I had heard from the old major-domo that Father 
 Ferdinand had, with his own hands, closed and sealed
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 171 
 
 the apartments of Madame de Villardin immediately 
 after his arrival at the chateau, I easily divined that it 
 was to those chambers that the duke now alluded. 
 i instantly prepared to follow, but still ventured to ask 
 whether he had not better desire the good priest to 
 accompany him in the sad duty he was about to per- 
 form. 
 
 He shook his head gloomily, and replied, " No, no, I 
 must go alone ;" and then, with a pale cheek and waver- 
 ing steps, took his way up the great staircase. His 
 hand shook so fearfully that he could scarcely remove 
 the seal, and turn the key in the lock of Madame de 
 Villardin's chamber-door; and sitting down in the ante- 
 room he paused for several minutes, in order to gain 
 strength for the undertaking. At length he started up 
 abruptly, exclaiming, " Now !" and entering her bed- 
 room, which communicated with a dressing-room on 
 the other side, he closed the door behind him. Full of 
 sad thoughts, I stood gazing out of the lattice for some 
 time ; but at the end of about a quarter of an hour, I 
 heard the ante-room door open, and turning my head 
 round without any noise, perceived Madame Suzette 
 stealing quietly in, and looking about her. As soon as 
 she perceived me she halted ; and, with as much abhor- 
 rence as ever I felt towards any loathsome reptile in my 
 life, I walked forward, and taking her by the arm, turned 
 her quietly but firmly towards the door. 
 
 Thinking, probably, that I was there alone, she seemed 
 about to take some noisy notice of my unceremonious 
 ejection of her pretty person; but, pointing sternly 
 towards the bed-chamber, I whispered, " The duke is 
 there;" and, glad to get off unobserved, she tripped 
 away as quietly and speedily as possible. I kept my 
 silent and now undisturbed watch in the ante-room for 
 nearly two hours, and all seemed so still and quiet 
 within the chamber beyond, that I began at length to 
 feel alarmed lest the excitement and agitation which 
 Monsieur de Villardin had evidently experienced when 
 he entered, should have overpowered him in the course 
 of his undertaking. 
 
 He came forth, however, just as I was about to open 
 
 the door, and was evidently calmer and more firm than 
 
 when he had left me, though I should say that the 
 
 expression of deep, stern grief, which had now becom« 
 
 H2
 
 172 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 habitual to his countenance, was, if any thing, a shade 
 deeper than before. 
 
 " Did I not hear another step than yours about an hour 
 ago?" were the first words he spoke. I rephed in the 
 affirmative, and told him at once who it was that had 
 intruded. He looked at me for a moment or two with 
 a sort of inquiring glance, as if he sought to read some- 
 thing in my heart ere he himself spoke. 
 
 " Suzette !" he said, thoughtfully ; " I have been think- 
 ing of keeping her here to take charge of Laura." 
 
 My feelings burst forth whether I would or not, and 
 I exclaimed, " What ! give the care of the daughter to 
 her who calumniated the mother !" 
 
 The retort was so sudden and so unexpected that the 
 duke started, and gazed at me for a moment, with a 
 look in which I thought I could trace no slight anger at 
 my rash exclamation. I had spoken the truth, however, 
 though I had spoken it too boldly and unadvisedly, and 
 I was not to be abashed while such a conviction was at 
 my heart ; but casting down my eyes, I waited calmly 
 for the rebuke that I doubted not was to follow. But 
 Monsieur de Villardin paused, and for several moments 
 uttered not a word ; till at length, grasping my arm, he 
 said in a low but emphatic tone, — 
 
 " However you made the discovery, young man, you 
 say true. She did calumniate her mistress ! For 
 though there is still much to be accounted for, which, 
 probably, will never in this world receive an explanation, 
 yet I were worse than base to doubt the proofs of virtue 
 and of love with which those cabinets have furnished 
 me. I heap coals of fire upon my own head by yielding 
 to the conviction ; I inflict the tortures of hell already 
 on my heart by making the acknowledgment ; but I 
 own before you, who probably have seen more deeply 
 into my weakness and my madness than any human 
 being, that I did that beloved girl false and shameful 
 wrong, and that from my soul 1 believe her — now 
 that it is too late — to have been as pure as purity 
 itself." 
 
 He trembled as he spoke with the very energy of his 
 feelings, though every tone was as low as a lover's 
 whisper, and when he had concluded, he sank down into 
 a seat, and gazed at vacancy, giving way, I am sure, to 
 all that longing, burning thirst to recall the past, which
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 173 
 
 every one at some time feels amid the errors and the 
 faults of life. 
 
 It was long ere he recovered himself; but when he 
 did so he called my attention to a letter that he held in 
 his hand, saying, that it concerned me as well as him- 
 self. The hand-writing was that of Madame de Villar- 
 din, and the epistle covered two sheets of paper, one 
 of which he gave me to peruse, after having made 
 an ineffectual effort to read it to me himself. I re- 
 member the contents almost word for word, and put 
 down here that part which most interested me at the 
 time. 
 
 " I mean not to reproach you, my lord," it went on, 
 after a broken sentence at the top of the page, " far, far 
 from it ; and I only thus assert my innocence of even 
 one evil thought ; 1 only thus attempt to prove that I 
 could not have been guilty ; I only thus depict all that I 
 have suffered, in order that you may love our children 
 when I am dead, and grant me, in dying, a few not very 
 burdensome* requests. I repeat again, that without 
 knowing why, 1 am convinced that I shall not survive 
 many months. Nor does this conviction arise in the 
 common terror of women in my present situation. On 
 the contrary, I fear not to die ; and now that I am de- 
 prived of your affection, I have nothing to attach me to 
 the world but the dear child that we both love, and the 
 one which is yet unborn. Still I feel that death is not 
 far from me ; and therefore these lines, which will never 
 meet your eye till I am dead, may well be looked upon 
 as my dying words. Oh then, my lord, I beseech you 
 to love the children that I leave you with tender and 
 equal affection ; and should a regret at any time cross 
 your mind for sorrows inflicted on their mother, make 
 me atonement by your affection for them. If ever the 
 spirits of the dead be permitted to watch over those 
 they loved while living, my soul shall follow you and 
 our children through existence, and every kind word or 
 deed towards them shall be received as wiping away 
 some unmerited reproach or some harsh act towards 
 myself. 
 
 " My next request is, that you would yourself confirm 
 and sanction an engagement which I caused the young 
 Englishman, who has since saved our daughter from a 
 watery grave, to enter into in regard to our children. 
 Your fate, my lord, is of course uncertain; and how
 
 174 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 long you may be permitted to guard and protect them 
 no one can tell. I have heard much of this young gen- 
 tleman and his history, both from yourself and from 
 others, and I have myself seen that he is alw^ays prompt 
 to succour and defend, and that his knowledge of the 
 world, in all its changes and disguises, is extraordinary 
 for one so young. As it is more than probable that he 
 will grow up with our children as an elder brother, I 
 have made him promise that he will never wholly leave 
 them, but will always come forward to give them aid 
 and assistance, wherever you may be, whenever they 
 may need his help. In making this request to him, I 
 felt sure that I could not be doing wrong, as the person 
 whom I besought to undertake the task, and whom I 
 entreated, while you acted towards my children as a 
 father, to act towards them as a brother, is one in whom 
 you yourself seem to place the fullest confidence ; but I 
 have since been confirmed in what I have done by the 
 opinion of our excellent friend and spiritual guide, 
 Father Ferdinand, who not only assures me that this 
 young gentleman's goodness of heart and rectitude of 
 judgment may be depended on, but undertakes boldly, 
 that in case of my death you shall sanction my conduct, 
 induce him to repeat his promise, and give him every 
 opportunity of executing it, both during your life and 
 after your death. 
 
 " My requests, I think, are now all made, except that 
 you would bestow upon my servants the sums which I 
 have written dov/n upon the paper attached to this 
 letter, and that you would assign to the convent of Ur- 
 sulines at Juvigny the thousand crowns of revenue, 
 which, with your consent, I promised them on the birth 
 of our daughter, and which has never been formally 
 made over to them. Besides this, I trust that you will 
 give a thousand livres to the church of St. Peter at 
 Rennes, to be expended in masses for my soul ; and, as 
 my last request, I beseech you to think of me kindly, 
 and when I am dead, to do that justice to my memory 
 which you have not done to my faith and honour while 
 living." 
 
 I could well conceive, as I read these words, how 
 poignantly they must have gone home to the heart of 
 Monsieur de Villardin; and even as I read them in 
 silence before him I could see from his eye, — which 
 was fixed upon my face, scanning its expression from
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 175 
 
 line to line, — that he again mentally ran over all which 
 that paper contained, and inflicted on his own heart 
 every gentle word as the most severe of punish- 
 ments. 
 
 " Do you undertake the task V he demanded, when I 
 had done. 
 
 " I have already done so, my lord," I replied, " and I 
 never forget my word." 
 
 " Your task may become a strange and a difficult one," 
 he said, musing ; " but never mind," he added, abruptly, 
 and at the same time rising, " whatever comes of it, so 
 it shall be. I on my part promise, before heaven and 
 before you, on my hope of pardon, and on my honour 
 as a man, to give you every means of executing what 
 you have undertaken, and to take such measures as 
 will secure you the same opportunity should I die. She 
 said right," he continued, holding out his hand to me, 
 "she said right, poor girl; you do possess my confi- 
 dence most fully ; none ever possessed it so much ; and 
 would to God, would to God that you had possessed 
 it more ! Oh, had I but trusted your words ! Oh 
 God ! oh God ! that it should now be all beyond re- 
 call !" and he groaned bitterly under the torture of 
 remorse. 
 
 " Tell me," he cried, after a long pause, " tell me ! do 
 you know of any cause which that woman — that Suzette 
 had to hate her mistress "?" 
 
 " Personally I know of none," I answered ; " but, if 
 I mistake not, good old Jerome Laborde could assign 
 sutficient reasons for all her malice." 
 
 "I will inquire!" he rejoined, " I will inquire !" and 
 carefully locking the doors, he turned away from the 
 apartments of his dead wife. 
 
 The agitation and exertion he had gone through, how- 
 ever, had been too much for him ; and ere he reached 
 his library, towards which his steps were directed in 
 the first instance, he was obliged to turn to his own 
 chamber, and lie down to rest for the remainder of the 
 day. The next morning early, good old Jerome La- 
 borde was summoned to his master's presence, and I 
 fully believe, in his fright — for he held Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin in great awe — he would either have prevaricated 
 so desperately as not to obtain credence for his tale, or 
 he would have denied any knowledge of Suzette's be- 
 haviour altogether. I luckily, however, saw him before
 
 176 THE ADTENTURES OF 
 
 he went, and exhorted him to tell the whole truth ex- 
 actly as it was ; and I conclude he did so, though I was 
 not present. 
 
 Whatever took place, the result was but just ; for no 
 sooner was his conference over with Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin, than the good major-domo came forth, armed 
 with authority to send forth Madame Suzette, with all 
 her moveables, without allowing her to sleep another 
 night in the house. 
 
 Some time was, indeed, consumed in her preparations ; 
 but as I had notice from Jerome of the order he had re- 
 ceived, and I intended to spend the greater part of the 
 day in my own apartments, I certainly did not expect 
 to see Suzette more. 1 was astonished, however, by 
 the door of my little saloon being thrown uncerenioni« 
 ously open about two hours after ; and in walked the 
 soubrette, with an air of determined effrontery which I 
 have seldom seen surpassed in man or woman. 
 
 " I have come. Monsieur I'Anglais," she said, making 
 me a mock courtesy, " to take my leave of you before 
 I go, and to thank you for all your kindness. I am not 
 unaware of all your good offices, and as I shall not in all 
 probability be very far off, I shall take good care to re- 
 pay them. I do not doubt that some opportunity will 
 occur ; in the mean time, farewell !" and without wait- 
 ing any reply she walked out of the room, leaving all the 
 doors open behind her as she went. 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 As it is not so much the history of other people that 
 I am writing as my own, I must now speak for a few 
 minutes of myself, and of all that had been going on du- 
 ring some years in the little world of my own bosom. 
 During the last six months a greater change had taken 
 place in my mind and my character than I remember to 
 have felt at any other period of my hfe, — though I sup- 
 pose that there is no epoch in man's existence, when his 
 feelings and disposition maybe considered as so irrevo- 
 cably fixed as to be insusceptible, during the rest of his 
 days, of change or modification. The original fabric of
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 177 
 
 the mind, of course, remains the same ; but — as educa- 
 tion shares with nature in the character of each human 
 being, and as hfe is but a continual education, — I feel 
 convinced that we go on altering from the cradle to the 
 grave. The tree grows up and spreads, and certainly 
 remains forever the ash, the elm, or the oak that it first 
 sprouted from the ground ; but its form, and appearance, 
 and size, and strength, and beauty, are changed by 
 winds, and storms, and circumstances, and accidents, 
 and position, and time ; and so, I am convinced, it is 
 with the human heart. We are all change throughout 
 our being ; and were it not for a few remaining traits, a 
 few slight traces, of early predilections and original char- 
 acter, it would be very difficult for the old man or the 
 man of middle age to prove even to himself, from the 
 state of his own mind, his identity with the young man 
 or the boy. The alterations which had taken place in 
 my own mind and feelings, however, within the last six 
 months, had been so great and rapid, that they were even 
 remarkable to myself, and now form, in memory, an 
 epoch from Avhich I date a new and distinct course of 
 being. My corporeal frame, it is true, was also under- 
 going a change, and rising rapidly, almost prematurely, 
 towards manhood; but my mind was also affected, in a 
 manner totally distinct and apart, by the scenes in which 
 I mingled, by the persons with whom I conversed, and 
 by the deep feelings, strong passions, and awful events, 
 in all of which I took a part. Scarcely a year before, 
 scenes of bloodshed and slaughter, energetic attempts 
 and dangerous enterprises, had passed around me as a 
 sort of pageant in which I acted my part, without any 
 deep or lasting impression — without any great thought 
 or excited passion. It had been all a sort of youthful 
 sport to me, which — although I suffered some inconve- 
 niences, felt some sorrows, and encountered many dan- 
 gers — was upon the whole more a matter of amusement 
 than of pain. My first deep grief was occasioned by the 
 death of my father. My first strongly roused-passion 
 was the thirst for vengeance upon the man that had slain 
 him. After that came my connexion with Lord Mas- 
 terton, and certainly the love and affection that I felt 
 towards him, and the interest I took in his fate and in 
 that of the Lady Emily, prepared the way for what I 
 was now feehng : but still it was all very, very different 
 from my intense participation in the passions and the sor- 
 H3
 
 178 THE ADrENTFRES OT 
 
 rows of Monsieur and Madame de Villardin, and eqttally 
 so from the sensation of gloom and awe, which the sad 
 events that were passing around me impressed upon my 
 mind. The effect of my conversations with Father Fer- 
 dinand I have already related; and under the influence of 
 the whole together, I found my heart losing rapidly its 
 boyish lightness, and becoming, day by day, susceptible 
 of more deep and powerful sympathies than I ever 
 dreamed it was possible to feel. If I may use the ex- 
 pression, during the last six months I had been educated 
 in the school of dark and vehement passions, and the 
 lessons that I had received had been at least so far in- 
 structive as to teach me, whatever I felt, to feel deeply. 
 The boldness and decision of my conduct in former 
 times had proceeded both from the promptness of deter- 
 mination which my father had inculcated, and from the 
 habit which I had acquired amid scenes of turbulence 
 and confusion, of valuing human life and all connected 
 with it as a mere nothing : but now, although 1 had 
 learned to estimate almost every thing differently, yet, 
 by having been taught to feel a deep and personal interest 
 in all with whom I became connected, I had acquired a 
 new and stronger motive for exercising the same promp- 
 titude in all circumstances, and employing even more 
 vigorously than before all the best energies of my mind. 
 Such had become my feelings at the time when Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin recovered ; and, even in watching by 
 his sick bed, I had experienced the greatest difference 
 between the sensations which I then felt towards him,, 
 and those which I remembered having undergone in at- 
 tending upon Lord Masterton under somewhat similar 
 cricumstances. For Lord Masterton, indeed, I had felt 
 as much affection and more esteem ^ but towards Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin, pity and regret, and many other 
 mingled sensations, rendered my feelings of in- 
 terest far more deep and intense. There were memories 
 and ties between us that could never be broken ; there 
 was the confidence of dark and secret acts that could 
 never be forgotten — there was many a deed of kind- 
 ness and of feeling, too, which no conduct towards 
 others could cancel as regarded myself ; and even my 
 very suspicions in respect to the last terrible catastrophe 
 were in themselves a source of mournful, painful, but 
 profound interest.
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. -179 
 
 Such, then, as I have said, were my feelings when 
 Monsieur de Villardin recovered ; and if I had sympa- 
 thized with him even under his madness and his errors, 
 how much more was my affection increased towards 
 him by the conduct that he subsequently pursued ! The 
 deep grief, the bitter remorse, the stern self-condemna- 
 tion which he evidently felt, increased my esteem with- 
 out diminishing my interest ; and his conduct to myself, 
 which I have related in the last chapter, scarcely grati- 
 fied me so much, I confess, as his contemptuous dis- 
 missal of her who had traduced his injured wife. 
 
 The absence of Madame Suzette was most indubitably 
 a relief to the whole house, with the exception, perhaps, 
 of one person in it. Even Mademoiselle de Villardin, 
 young as she was, seemed to take a part in the general 
 satisfaction ; for she had already, though why I know 
 not, acquired a distaste to the soubrette, which had been 
 strongly apparent even before her mother's death, as 
 well as a partiality for the duchess's second woman, 
 Lise, who now became the young lady's principal 
 attendant. 
 
 The departure of Suzette was followed close by that 
 of another person, who, though not so generally dis- 
 liked in the household, was but little more amiable, 
 at least in my eyes, than the soubrette herself. This 
 was Gaspard de Belleville ; but it would seem that Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin had various motives for not dismiss- 
 ing him at once from his family with the same uncere- 
 monious decision which he had evinced towards the 
 woman; and, therefore, waited for an opportunity of 
 placing him in a situation, where the road to honour and 
 distinction was open to him, if he chose to follow it. 
 
 The first occasion that presented itself also gave rise 
 to a temporary separation between Monsieur de Villar- 
 din and myself, and may require some farther explana- 
 tion than could be afforded by a mere detail of the cir- 
 cumstances which took place at the chateau. When 
 Monsieur de Villardin had quitted Paris in haste, he had 
 left the regency triumphant. The parliament had be- 
 come the devoted slave of the court. The generals had 
 made their peace. The young king, the queen-mother, 
 and the cardinal, had entered Paris, and regained greater 
 power than ever ; and the only shadow of an independ- 
 ent faction that remained consisted in the union of the 
 lower classes, led and headed by the Cardinal de Retz
 
 180 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 and the Duke of Beaufort. Mazarin ruled every thing^; 
 but he soon began to find that a friend, to whose services 
 he owed every thing, might be more difficult to manage 
 than even an enemy. The Prince de Conde had re- 
 stored him to authority, and brought back the court in 
 triumph: but, young, vehement, and hasty, he con- 
 sidered his claims as inexhaustible, and the slightest 
 opposition he looked upon as an insult. Supported by 
 his brother-in-law the Duke de Longueville, by his 
 brother the Prince de Conti, and a number of the first 
 nobles of the land, he soon aimed at governing the state, 
 opposed the court in all its proceedings, dictated to the 
 regent, and insulted the minister. The crafty Italian, 
 however, now feeling himself more secure, determined 
 at once to coalesce with his former enemies, in order to 
 punish one, who, from his protector, had changed into 
 his tyrant. To the party of the Fronde, led by the Car- 
 dinal de Retz, the great Conde was, for the time, as 
 much an object of hate and jealousy as he was to Maza- 
 rin himself; and, for the purpose of revenging upon 
 him the former defeats of the Parisians, De Retz will- 
 ingly joined with the minister, for whom he entertained 
 the most thorough contempt. Taken by surprise in the 
 very palace itself, the Princes of Conde and Conti, and 
 the Duke de Longueville, were arrested by the captain 
 of the queen's guards, and were hurried oflf as fast as 
 possible to the castle of Vincennes. Terror immediately 
 seized upon all their partizans, and one-half the nobility 
 of France fled from Paris on the day of their arrest. 
 Mary de Bourbon, Duchess of Longueville, breathing 
 indignation against the enemy of her brothers and her 
 husband, made her escape into Normandy, accompanied 
 by about sixty horsemen, and declared that she would 
 once more raise the standard of civil war. The Duke 
 de Bouillon fled towards the south with the same pur- 
 pose ; the Marechal de Luxembourg took the way to 
 Burgundy ; and the celebrated Turenne himself, pro- 
 ceeding into Champagne, instantly avowed himself the 
 partizan of the princes, and levied troops for their 
 deliverance. 
 
 Though such was the general feeling of the principal 
 nobles of the French court, very different, indeed, were 
 the sentiments of the people of Paris upon the arrest 
 of the princes. Led by De Retz and Beaufort, and re- 
 membering the insults and defeats which Conde had
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 181 
 
 inflicted upon them, the citizens of the capital could 
 hardly find means sufficient to express their joy at the 
 indignity offered to the greatest man of the country. 
 Shouts and songs signalized his downfall. Bonfires 
 blazed at every corner. Even the noxious minister 
 himself was enthusiastically applauded for his ingrati- 
 tude to his deliverer and protector ; and every one de- 
 clared that after this act the cardinal himself was no 
 longer a Mazarin. 
 
 Various rumours of these occurrences, which had 
 taken place early in the year, had reached us in our re- 
 tirement at Dumont ; but I need not tell the reader that 
 we had quite sufficient matter in the events of our pri- 
 vate life to occupy all our thoughts. Even had it not 
 been so, it is more than probable that Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin would have avoided taking any part in the civil 
 dissensions of the time, as he might have found some 
 difficulty in choosing the party to which he would give 
 his support. Bound by ties of intimate regard to the 
 Prince de Conde, he felt, of course, anxious for his 
 liberation; and although he had opposed the prince 
 himself in the cause of the parliament, he was naturally 
 of a loyal disposition. It is true that, like all the rest 
 of the world at that time, he was destined to change his 
 party more than once, but beyond doubt his own feelings 
 naturally led him towards the court. Under these cir- 
 cumstances, in all probability, he would, as I have said, 
 have remained neuter, notwithstanding that continual 
 desire for activity which Lord Langleigh had noticed at 
 the time I was first introduced to him ; but about the 
 period of which I speak, an application was made to 
 him, which — coming as it did at a moment when any 
 sort of employment offered the prospect of relief from 
 those bitter and consuming thoughts that preyed upon 
 him, — proved irresistible. 
 
 About three days after the dismissal of Madame Su- 
 zette, I was riding by the side of the duke in one of the 
 roads leading direct to the chateau, when we were sud- 
 denly encountered by a horseman coming at full speed, 
 who paused and drew up his horse as soon as he per- 
 ceived our party. Singling out Monsieur de Villardin, 
 he at once rode up to him, and delivered a sealed packet, 
 which was received with that sort of listless air which 
 a combination of sickness and despondency had left be-
 
 182 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 hind upon the duke, who demanded carelessly, " From 
 whom V 
 
 " From the Princess de Conde, and the Dukes of 
 Bouillon and Rochefoucault," rephed the courier. 
 
 Three names so friendly to his ears caused Monsieur 
 de Villardin to show a greater degree of interest than 
 he had done at first ; and, turning his horse, he bade the 
 messenger follow, and rode back to the chateau. After 
 dismounting, he retired to read his letters alone ; and, 
 as our proposed ride was thus brought to an end, I pro- 
 ceeded to join Father Ferdinand, whom I had seen 
 walking in the park as we passed. 
 
 1 strolled up and down the different alleys with him 
 for nearly an hour ; and though, of course, the deep 
 shadow of the past still overhung us both, our conversa- 
 tion was lighter than usual ; and the arrival of the mes- 
 senger from the Princess de Conde furnished us with a 
 subject which soon led us to the political events of the 
 day. With these Father Ferdinand was much better 
 acquainted than myself ; and, in his brief but perspicuous 
 manner, he gave me a clear view of all that had been 
 lately passing in the capital. The detail was over, and 
 we were moralizing upon the facts, when a servant ap- 
 proached in breathless haste, telling me that he and 
 several of his fellows had been seeking me every where, 
 as the duke had demanded to see me some time before. 
 I followed at once, and found Monsieur de Villardin in 
 his library with the letters still before him. 
 
 " Here are important tidings, and important requests," 
 he said, pointing to the papers as I entered ; " and, 
 among other things to which they give rise, there is an 
 expedition for you to perform, if you will undertake it." 
 He looked up as he spoke, for my reply ; and I answered, 
 that any thing with which he might think fit to charge 
 me, I should feel honoured in performing ; and he thus 
 went on : — 
 
 " No, no ; you must follow your own judgment, when 
 you have heard what it is, John Marston. There may 
 be danger in the case, my boy ; and certainly some 
 fatigue and exertion must be expended on the task. 
 Tell me first what you know of the events which have 
 lately occurred in the capital. Are you aware that the 
 Prince de Conde and his brother, as well as Monsieur 
 de Longueville, are both in prison at Vincennes V 
 
 I replied, that I was well aware of the facts he men-
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 183 
 
 tioned, and added several others which I had learned 
 both from general rumour, and from the more correct 
 account of Father Ferdinand. 
 
 " Well, then, you know fully sufficient to judge of the 
 risk," replied Monsieur de Villardin. " You can easily 
 conceive that this notorious piece of injustice, com- 
 mitted in the case of three such distinguished persons, 
 has set all France in a flame ; and almost every man of 
 honourable feeling is now putting his foot in the stirrup 
 to compel the cardinal to liberate the princes. Mon- 
 sieur de Bouillon here informs me, that the cause in 
 Guyenne is in the most hopeful state ; and adjures me, 
 both by my regard for him and by my regard for the 
 Prince de Conde, to join him immediately with what 
 force I can collect. 
 
 At the same time, the Princess de Conde, while mak- 
 ing a similar request, does not conceal that, by the in- 
 fluence used in Paris, she trusts to see her husband at 
 liberty in a few weeks. Now, as the only circumstance 
 which could induce me to join the party of the princes 
 would be their continued imprisonment, I much desire, 
 without calling attention upon myself, to ascertain the 
 real state of the negotiations in Paris." 
 
 He then explained to me, that it was his wish I should 
 instantly set out for the capital, and conferring with 
 Gourville — an attendant of the Duke de Rochefoucault, 
 then in Paris, employed in endeavouring to eff"ect the 
 liberation of the princes, — that I should make myself 
 fully acquainted with ever}^ particular of their situation. 
 At the same time he proposed to send Gaspard de 
 Belleville to the Duke de Bouillon and the Princess de 
 Conde, charged with a message to the purport that he 
 would join them at the end of three weeks, if he found 
 that the princes were not likely to be liberated within 
 a month. 
 
 Of course, I willingly undertook the task ,- and I could 
 plainly see also that Monsieur de Villardin, although he 
 was unwilling to commit himself again with the court, 
 was secretly delighted with the prospect of once more 
 entering upon an active course of life, which, by con- 
 stant employment, would afford the means of withdraw- 
 ing his thoughts from all the painful subjects on which 
 they now rested. Eagerly and rapidly he drew up a 
 letter to Gourville, bidding him confide entirely in me ;
 
 184 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 and, having given it to me, he made me remark that he 
 had written on the back, " By the hands of Monsieur de 
 Juvigny." 
 
 " You must, on no accomit," he added, " appear as a 
 foreigner, which in Paris v^ould instantly call upon you 
 a degree of attention that is to be avoided by all means. 
 You have now no longer the slightest accent, except, 
 indeed it be a touch of the patois of Bretagne ; which, 
 however, will the more confirm the Parisians in the 
 belief that you are a Frenchman, and you may boldly 
 pass yourself as a Breton even upon Gourville himself. 
 I must furnish you, however, with plenty of that golden 
 oil which makes all doors turn easily upon their hinges ; 
 and, remember, spare no expense to reach Paris soon, 
 and to return quickly ; for every hour spent upon the 
 road is lost to better purposes. Not so, however, with 
 your inquiries : let them be diligent and minute ; do 
 not come away without knowing every thing that can 
 be known ; and remember, that should fortune, which 
 has been favourable to you in many instances, put it in 
 your power to aid or serve the Prince de Conde, you 
 have my strongest injunction to do so." 
 
 Whether he suspected that such would, indeed, prove 
 the case, I do not know ; but he three times spoke of 
 the chance of my serving the prince as not impossible, 
 and reiterated his charge to take advantage of it, if it did 
 occur. He then added a great many cautions and ex- 
 planations for the direction of my conduct, and gave me 
 a larger sum of money than ever I had possessed before. 
 To all this he joined a number of billets of introduction 
 to different persons of his acquaintance in Paris, con- 
 ceived in the following terms : — 
 
 " To Monsieur de . 
 
 " Know, and put full confidence in my young friend, 
 Monsieur de Juvigny. 
 
 (Signed) " De Villardin." 
 
 I found that this sort of letter of credit had been com- 
 mon in the times of the former war ; and as it com- 
 mitted no party to any thing, even if seized, was of 
 course very convenient. Every thing else apparently 
 being arranged, I was taking my leave, intending to set
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 185 
 
 out instantly, and alone, when Monsieur de Villardin, 
 to my surprise, bade me take two of the servants, whom 
 he named, to give me assistance in case of need. 
 
 " No, no, my lord," I said, " for Heaven's sake do not 
 inflict such shackles upon me ; I shall be much better 
 by myself; and as to assistance, 1 shall want none, 
 depend upon it. I have always been able to make my 
 own eyes find my own way, and my own hand keep my 
 own head since I was eight years old, and with your 
 permission I will go alone. Besides, if I took any of 
 the servants from this place, 1 should have my English 
 birth and education known to every one they came near 
 in five minutes — especially if we bade them keep it 
 secret." 
 
 "Well, well, do as you please," replied the duke; 
 " but if you go alone, you had a great deal better ride 
 post ; for, as I know you are an indefatigable horseman, 
 you will by that means be able to do double the distance 
 in the same space of time." 
 
 To this I willingly agreed, and it having been ar- 
 ranged that I was at least to take a servant with me as 
 far as the next relay, in order to bring back my own 
 horse, I left Monsieur de Villardin, and proceeded to 
 make my preparations, which, I need not say, were 
 brief enough. 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 I COULD not but feel melancholy as 1 rode away fronn 
 the chateau, and passed by many of the spots which 
 were engraven upon the tablet of my memory by acts 
 and feelings that could never suffer them to be effaced. 
 It was not, indeed, that I entertained any sad or gloomy 
 anticipation in regard to the future; for,, through life, 
 the noblest blessing of all the many with which 
 Heaven has heaped up my lot, has been that inde- 
 structible hopefulness of disposition, which always pre- 
 sents a bright prospect in the coming years : but it was 
 that memory, as if stimulated by the act of leaving the 
 place, called up again, and passed in long review before
 
 186 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 my eyes, all those dark hours and horrible deeds which 
 had filled up my residence in Brittany. It was against 
 my will that these recollections swarmed upon me ; 
 but there are moments when we have no power to bid 
 memory cease her recapitulations — when the heart, 
 often from some mere trifling accident, is cast prostrate 
 before the past, and cannot struggle up against the 
 torrent of remembrances that pour over it ; and such 
 was then the case with myself. 
 
 If I had given a world, I could not banish from my 
 thoughts the violent death, and dying countenance, the 
 bloody grave of the Count de Mesnil, the gentle looks, 
 the melancholy fate of Madame de Villardin — the 
 gloomy swimming down that fatal stream in the endea- 
 vour to find her, the long torch-light search for her 
 body, and the terrible nights of watching 1 had spent 
 by the bedside of her delirious and culpable husband. 
 
 As memory would have way, I strove to turn into 
 some gentler course, and tried to fix it upon something 
 sweeter in the past. There were only two or three 
 acts, however, which 1 could recall, that afforded a 
 pleasant resting-place for thought in all that occurred 
 to me since I first entered the house of Monsieur de 
 Villardin. The efl'orts I had made to remove from the 
 mind of the duke the wild suspicions that he had then en- 
 tertained of his wife, were now, of course, most grateful 
 in remembrance. Nor, indeed, do I recollect among 
 all that 1 ever did in my life, any thing which gave me 
 greater pleasure than I experienced at that moment, in 
 calling to mind the rescue of sweet little Laura de Vil- 
 lardin from the same stream that had afterward proved 
 fatal to her mother, though, after all, it was but the 
 service of a water-dog. Neither, indeed, did the mem- 
 ory of all the little kindnesses I had shown to Jacques 
 Marlot prove at all ungrateful to me, though, I confess, 
 they had been done more in a spirit of merriment, per- 
 haps, than benevolence. One is almost always benefi- 
 cent when one laughs, with the exception, perhaps, of a 
 few human hyenas, who scarcely deserve the name of 
 men ; and, notwithstanding all his misfortunes and dis- 
 tresses, the worthy printer was always connected in 
 my mind with associations of a gay and jocose char- 
 acter. 
 
 Jt was upon him, then, by this train of associations 
 that my thoughts last rested as I rode away from the
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 187 
 
 chateau of Dumont ; and as my constant attendance 
 upon Monsieur de Villardin had prevented my seeing 
 Maitre Jacques for nearly six weeks, I was suddenly 
 seized with a great desire to take leave of him ere I 
 went to Paris. The road by his house was as near, 
 though somewhat rougher, and I turned my bridle 
 thitherward almost as soon as his image rose up before 
 my mind. At his door I met with Father Ferdinand, 
 whom I had left a couple of hours before in the park ; 
 and, after explaining to the good priest that I was 
 bound to Paris, on the business of Monsieur de Villar- 
 din, I received his benediction and one or two injunc- 
 tions in regard to my conduct ; and while he pursued 
 his way back to the chateau, I knocked loudly with the 
 but of my whip at the door of the ci-devant printer. 
 He came out immediately, and but few words passed 
 between us, as I had not time to dismount. Nor, in- 
 deed, did he ask me to come in when he found that I 
 was bound upon an errand of importance, but, wishing 
 me all prosperity, and that I might live long enough to 
 save a great number of honest men from the gallows, 
 he bade me adieu, and suffered me to depart. 
 
 I have marked this visit, for, strange enough to say, 
 it was the last time that I saw the good printer for nearly 
 six years ; and, by the end of that period, I need hardly 
 say that we had both undergone many changes, at least 
 in personal appearance. 
 
 From Juvigny I rode as fast as possible to the next 
 post relay, and there leaving my horse with the servant 
 who had accompanied me, I set out with my postillion 
 as fast as I could go. Remembering the directions 
 which I had received, I certainly did not fail to make all 
 speed ; and I found it no difficult thing to induce the 
 post-boys to put much more celerity into their beasts 
 than the law required, or indeed allowed. By this 
 means, and by utter forgetfulness of all personal fatigue, 
 I reached Paris full two days sooner than I should 
 otherwise have done, and much earlier, I am convinced, 
 than Monsieur de Villardin himself anticipated. 
 
 The moment I arrived, I found out the residence of 
 Gourville, who was then lodging at a small house in the 
 Rue St. Thomas; and, after some difficulty, which 
 showed me that he was not very much, at his ease in re- 
 gard to his own situation, 1 was admitted to his apart- 
 ments, and found a young man of a shrewd, intelligent
 
 188 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 countenance, and simple but not vulgar manners. Fol- 
 lowing a habit I had acquired of examining every new 
 face closely ere I said a word myself, I paused a mo- 
 ment or two before I delivered the letter with which I 
 was charged from Monsieur de Villardin, and I could 
 easily see that Gourville was annoyed and alarmed 
 by the visit of a person so completely a stranger to him, 
 and whose manners, I believe, appeared somewhat ex- 
 traordinary. The moment, however, that I had explained 
 to him the object of my coming, his countenance cleared, 
 but still he said not one word which could have com- 
 mitted himself in any way, till he had first read Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin's letter. Nor was he even satisfied 
 with that, without first speaking to me himself upon 
 various matters which 1 very well understood were 
 more designed to draw out my character, and ascertain 
 whether I were really trustworthy than to gain infor- 
 mation of another kind. As it was not at all unlike the 
 conduct which I should have pursued myself under 
 similar circumstances, I did not certainly feel in the 
 least offended ; and, after about half an hour spent in 
 this sort of spider-like investigation, which did not take 
 place less upon my side than upon his, we began more 
 clearly to understand each other, and the conversation 
 turned to the objects which brought me thither. 
 
 " Well, Monsieur de Juvigny," said Gourville, at 
 length, " plainly and straightforwardly, what is it that 
 you want to know ]" 
 
 " Plainly and straightforwardly, then," I replied, " what 
 I want to know is, whether there is any chance of the 
 liberation of the princes, and whether that chance is 
 immediate or remote." 
 
 Gourville smiled, and paused for a moment or two, 
 and then, assuming an air of frankness, which I never 
 saw put on suddenly but when it was intended to de- 
 ceive, he replied, " Oh ! indubitably ; there is every 
 chance of their liberation. The princess dowager, as 
 you well know, is every day presenting some new peti- 
 tion either to the court or to the parliament, and un- 
 doubtedly her just complaints will be in the end attended 
 to ; and the princes will be restored to the liberty of 
 which they have been most unjustifiably deprived." 
 
 As I have said before, from the very air of candour 
 with which he began to speak, I had perceived that 
 Gourville intended to deceive me ; and, therefore, I only
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 189 
 
 smiled incredulously as a reply. " It is very true, I can 
 assure you," he added ; and I saw that, either from 
 doubting my judgment, on account of my youth, or from 
 some suspicion of my character, he was so far deter- 
 mined to give me no real information, that I must em- 
 ploy other means to extort it from him than any I had 
 hitherto used. As I knew, however, that he could be 
 depended upon for secrecy at least, I affected, at length, 
 to receive what he said as truth ; and replied, " Well, 
 well, since such is the case — and of course I cannot 
 doubt your word — I will immediately write to Monsieur 
 de Villardin, informing him that there is no necessity 
 whatever for his committing himself by joining the 
 princess and Monsieur de Bouillon at Bordeaux, as the 
 princes are certain of obtaining their liberation, without 
 his taking a step which might embroil him with many 
 of his best friends, as well as with the court." This, of 
 course, did not suit Gourville's plans at all, and, as I had 
 foreseen, it forced him into an explanation. 
 
 " No, no, sir ! no, no !" he replied. " Do not do that 
 too hastily. Wait at least a day or two, that we may 
 see the effect of the means we are using at present." 
 
 " That, I am sorry to say," replied I, " is quite out of 
 the question. I came here, as you well know, to in- 
 vestigate for Monsieur de Villardin what were the 
 chances in favour of the immediate liberation of the 
 princes ; and I promised him to write immediately after 
 I had seen you, to give him such information as would 
 determine the part that he was to take. Come, come. 
 Monsieur Gourville, you are not acting candidly with 
 me. If you speak frankly, you have nothing to fear. 
 If you do not speak frankly, you may prevent Monsieur 
 de Villardin from throwing his whole weight into the 
 scale of the princes. You may speak freely to me, I 
 assure you. I am not so much of a boy as I may seem." 
 
 " It appears not, indeed," replied my companion ; 
 " and, therefore, I suppose I must speak frankly with 
 you : but there is one thing, young gentleman, I would 
 have you remark, which is, that if I do admit you to my 
 confidence, you must take your part also in the schemes 
 which I am pursuing ; and as I tell you that they are 
 just as likely to conduct every one concerned in them 
 to the gallows, as to produce any other result, you may 
 judge whether this is the sort of confidence that you 
 would like."
 
 190 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 I smiled at his reply ; and said, that I was too much 
 accustomed to dangers of all kinds to fear the gallows 
 more than any other sort of death. 
 
 " Well, well, if that be the case," he replied, " the 
 matter will soon be settled. Monsieur de Villardin here 
 tells me to trust you entirely, and Monsieur de Roche- 
 foucault enjoins me to trust in him in the same manner. 
 So that, of course, I must obey, whatever be the conse- 
 tjuences, though I do not, I confess, like to confide 
 secrets of such vital importance to more people than 
 necessary." 
 
 He then proceeded to inform me, — though with a 
 great deal of difficulty and hesitation, even after having 
 made up his mind to do so, — that a plan was, at that mo- 
 ment, in progress for the liberation of the Prince de 
 Conde, by means of the soldiers of the guard in garrison 
 at Vincennes, where the prince was at that time con- 
 fined. These men, many of whom had served under 
 Conde, and all of whom admired and loved him, Gour- 
 ville represented as uniformly favourable to the scheme ; 
 cind I learned that the execution of the whole was merely 
 put off till the Sunday following, in order that the attempt 
 might be made while the governor and officers were at 
 vespers in the chapel. 
 
 " The only difficulty," he continued, " which presents 
 itself to the course of the whole undertaking, is to prepare 
 the princes themselves for the effort that is to be made 
 in their favour. No one is allowed to see them except 
 Pallu, the surgeon of the Prince de Conde, who visits 
 him three times a week, in order to dress the wound in 
 his arm. Now Pallu is himself as much attached to the 
 prince as any man can be, but he is as timid as a child ; 
 and, notwithstanding all my persuasions, will not be the 
 bearer of a message to his highness." 
 
 " But cannot you contrive to introduce some one 
 else ]" I demanded ; " I should think that might be easily 
 done." 
 
 "Indeed!" said Gourville, with a smile, "I have 
 turned it in my head in every way I can think of; and 
 yet I not only do not see any easy method, but I confess 
 that I perceive no possible means of conveying the in- 
 formation to Monsieur le Prince. We are, therefore, 
 preparing to execute our scheme as well as we can 
 without." 
 
 I mused a moment ere I answered, and then merely
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 191 
 
 Bsked, what was the post which GourvilUe intended to 
 assign me in the matter, and which he had declared 
 was dangerous. 
 
 " Simply this," he replied, " and you will see at once 
 that it is not more perilous than that of any other per- 
 son concerned. We are about to station twenty or 
 thirty cavaUers in the different villages around Vincennes, 
 divided into parties of three or four, and each provided 
 with led horses, to afford the princes the means of 
 escape, whatever direction they may judge fit to take. 
 If any of the parties are caught, they will be hanged, 
 to a certainty, but each man must of course make his 
 mind up to his risk ; and what I proposed was, that you 
 should be joined to one of these bodies, and act as 
 guide to the princes into Brittany, in case that they 
 should determine upon pursuing that road ; for I judge, 
 by your tongue, that you are a Breton, and doubt not 
 that you know the country well." 
 
 " That I do, most assuredly," replied I ; " but never- 
 theless, I think 1 can serve you better in another way, 
 — and not without exposing myself," I added, seeing a 
 slight smile curl my companion's lip, " fully as much, 
 if not more, than any of you." 
 
 " And pray what do you propose ?" he said. 
 
 " Simply," I answered, " to convey the tidings of our 
 design to the princes themselves." 
 
 " Impossible," he replied, " depend upon it, that is 
 quite impossible." 
 
 " Not near so much so, rest assured, as you imagine," 
 I answered. "The fact is, I know Monsieur de Pallu 
 well, for he attended long upon a gentleman to whom I 
 was much attached, and I saw him regularly every day. 
 Now I know all his manners and his habits so well that 
 I could fearlessly take upon me to feign myself one of 
 his assistants, and to give such an account of him- 
 self and his person, if by any chance I should be ques- 
 tioned, that I am certain I should escape detection. I 
 doubt not in the least," I added, seeing Gourville's coun- 
 tenance begin to brighten as my plan developed itself, 
 " I doubt not in the least that, although he cannot be 
 prevailed upon to deliver the message to the princes 
 himself, he may easily be induced to neglect his visit 
 to Vincennes for one single day. As soon as that is 
 determined, I will take advantage of the fact, and, dress- 
 ing myself as a gar9on apothecaire, I will present my-
 
 192 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 self at Vincennes, with dressings and plasters, and, de» 
 daring that Monsieur de Pallu is ill, or called by some 
 urgent case elsewhere, will demand to see the prince 
 and dress his arm." 
 
 " Bravo ! mon cher Breton !" cried Gourville, catch- 
 ing me in his arms and actually embracing me ; " bravo ! 
 bravo ! Pallu will consent, of course ; and if he do not, 
 a little gentle force, or some good-natured ruse will 
 easily bring the matters to bear, as far at least as he is 
 concerned. Diable ! I would keep him in his house 
 with a pistol at his throat sooner than such a hopeful 
 enterprise should fail. — But are you sure, my good 
 young friend, that your courage will hold out ?" he 
 added, as he began to reflect ; the very delight he felt 
 at my proposal making him apprehensive lest it should 
 fail. " Remember, for heaven's sake, that Vincennes 
 is a terrible looking place ; and what with its draw- 
 bridges, its guards, and its chains, its gloomy passages, 
 and frowning stone walls, you may lose your presence 
 of mind at the very moment when it is most necessary ; 
 and not only forfeit your own life, but overthrow our 
 whole scheme." 
 
 " No fear, no fear !" I answered, smiling : " I am more 
 accustomed to such work than you know of, and have 
 no apprehensions." 
 
 "Well, well," answered Gourville, " have your will, 
 then ; though I must say you look to me very young to 
 have much acquaintance with proceedings dangerous 
 in themselves, and ten thousand times more dangerous 
 in their consequences. You cannot be above six- 
 teen r' 
 
 " Not so much," I replied. " And yet for many a 
 year I have lived amid scenes to which all that is pass- 
 ing in these foolish wars is but child's play. But now 
 let us concert our plans, that nothing may go wrong." 
 
 After some more conversation on the subject, Gour- 
 ville proceeded to the house of Pallu, and finding him 
 at home, went in, while I remained in the street. On 
 his return, he informed me that all was arranged with the 
 worthy surgeon, who consented to show an apparent 
 neglect to the Prince de Conde ; but required that, in 
 order to screen himself completely from the ire of the 
 court, in case of our detection, a fictitious letter, de- 
 manding his immediate presence at St. Germain, should
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 193 
 
 be sent to him at the very hour in the evening that he 
 usually visited his patient in Vincennes. 
 
 All this was settled with the surgeon, and nothing re- 
 mained but for me to play my part. The time for exe- 
 cuting my design was, of necessity, three o'clock on 
 the following day, as that was the usual period of Pallu's 
 visit ; and having proceeded to the house of the well- 
 known fripier Martin, where every sort of dress under 
 the sun was to be procured for a little more than its 
 real value, I furnished myself with the complete equip- 
 ment of a surgeon's eleve. I spent the rest of that 
 evening in concluding my arrangements with Gour- 
 ville, who gave me all that minute information which 
 was necessary to the accomplishment of what I had 
 undertaken. 
 
 On the following morning early, I rode out to St. 
 Maur to see Lord Masterton, but found that Lord Lang- 
 leigh and himself were absent in Normandy. I saw 
 the Lady Emily, however, and could not but feel what 
 a contrast her bright and smiling looks afforded to those 
 which had latterly appeared upon the countenance of 
 poor Madame de Villardin, once as gay and happy as 
 her own. 
 
 On my return to Paris, it was nearly time to set out 
 for Vincennes ; and, mounted on a little sturdy horse, 
 which seemed made on purpose for a surgeon's pony, fur- 
 nished with ointments and plasters in boundless pro- 
 fusion, and habited as a garden chirurgien, I rode off 
 upon my expedition, and soon approached the prison 
 of the princes. The castle had nothing very formidable 
 in its aspect to my eyes ; but, nevertheless, in gazing 
 up at the donjon, and remembering the purpose of my 
 visit, I felt more as I used to do in days of old than I 
 had done for some time. I was little " Ball oTire" all 
 over; and I could almost fancy myself upon some of 
 my expeditions during the civil wars of England, This 
 feeling tended to put me much more at my ease than 
 1 might otherwise have been ; and as there is nothing 
 so serviceable as effrontery under such circumstances, 
 it proved of real use to me. 
 
 On entering the gate, the first question asked me was 
 by a grim-looking guardsman, who came up as the 
 sentry stopped me, and demanded what I wanted there. 
 
 I answered, with all the naivete in the world, that I 
 wanted to see the Prince de Conde. 
 
 Vol. L— I
 
 194 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 " Indeed !" exclaimed the guard, not a little astonished 
 at my coolness. " And pray what may be your name, 
 my good youth 1" 
 
 " 1 am called Jerome," I replied ; " and I am assistant 
 to Monsieur de Pallu, the surgeon, who sent me here 
 because he was obliged — " 
 
 " Oh ! if that be the case," cried the soldier, inter- 
 rupting me, you must come to Monsieur de Bar. We 
 cannot let you in without his authority, for we must 
 not even speak to the prince ourselves." 
 
 From the man's tone, I doubted not that this was 
 one of the sergeants of the guard, whom Gourville had 
 spoken of as in the interest of the princes ; but of 
 course I had nothing to do but to go through with my 
 part as gargon apothecaire ; and, therefore, assuming 
 as stupid an air as possible, I suffered myself to be led 
 to the presence of Monsieur de Bar, the governor. I 
 never saw a less prepossessing fellow, or one better 
 framed by the hand of nature for a jailer. As soon 
 as I had informed him that Monsieur de Pallu, having 
 been sent for to St. Germain on a case of life and 
 death, had despatched me to dress the prince's arm, 
 which he thought could not remain till the following day, 
 the governor knit his brows, and stared me all over 
 with a heavy frown, as if I had committed some 
 offence. But, without taking any notice, or showing 
 the slightest agitation, I stood upon one leg, like an 
 awkward boy, and looked around the room with an air 
 of stolid curiosity, which completely deceived him. 
 
 " Monsieur de Pallu should not have gone away on 
 any pretext," said the governor, abruptly, when he had 
 satisfied himself with his examination of my person. 
 " It is disgraceful of him to send a stupid boy like you 
 to dress the prince's wound. I have a great mind to 
 send you back." 
 
 I gazed at him for a moment with open mouth and" 
 eyes ; and then assuring him that I could dress the 
 wound as well as Monsieur de Pallu himself, I pro- 
 ceeded to detail exactly that surgeon's method of pro- 
 ceeding, which I had watched attentively during his 
 attendance on Lord Masterton. The governor cut me 
 short with an oath, however ; and telling me that he 
 did not want to learn surgery, rose, and took the key of 
 the apartments in which the princes were confined.
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL, 195 
 
 Throwing: open the door, he pushed me m by the 
 shoulders, bidding me to knock loudly at that same door 
 when I had done, and not to stop longer than necessary. 
 I now found myself alone, in a httle ante-chamber ; and, 
 as it had but one other door, of course I advanced to- 
 wards it, and entered the next room without ceremony. 
 Here, seated at a table, which was covered with pots of 
 beautiful carnations, sat a young man of about five or 
 six-and -twenty, busily tending and arranging his flow- 
 ers. He was alone — though I heard voices in a cham- 
 ber beyond ; — and, from the whole appearance of the 
 apartment, the neglect and poverty of the furniture, and 
 the simplicity of the young man's own attire, I might 
 have imagined that he was some valet de chambre, ad- 
 mitted to the prison in order to attend upon the princes, 
 had he not looked up : as he did so, however, the eagle- 
 eye could not be mistaken, and I felt that I must be in 
 the presence of the great Conde. 
 
 " Who are you, my boy ?" he asked, as soon as he 
 saw me. " Good faith, this- is a pleasing novelty : I 
 have not seen a new face these two months ; let me 
 look at you:" and, rising from his seat, he approached 
 the window near which I passed as I entered from the 
 ante-room. He was neither very tall nor very strongly 
 made, but there was the promise of extraordinary ac- 
 tivity in every limb. His features were slightly aqui- 
 line, and in general good, without being very striking. 
 But his eye was, indeed, remarkable. It was deep set, 
 it is true, and not particularly large ; but there was a 
 light, a keenness, an intensity in its slightest glance, 
 that is quite indescribable. It was quick, too, as the 
 lightning ; and I observed, that at almost every other 
 word, the corner of the eyebrow next the nose was 
 drawn forward, and rounded, as it were, so as to shade 
 the eye in a degree, and to cut off every ray of light but 
 those which fell upon the object at which he was 
 looking. 
 
 " Who are you, my boy 1 Who are you — who are 
 you V he repeated, quickly. " Has Monsieur de Bar 
 forgotten himself, and learned to believe that gentle- 
 manly conduct is consistent with the office of a jailer?" 
 
 For a moment I was in doubt how to answer ; but, as 
 I still heard voices in the other room, I thought it best 
 to be cautious, and, being obliged to speak loud, on ac- 
 count of my distance from the prince at the moment, I 
 12
 
 196 THE ADVENTURES OP 
 
 told him the same story that I had passed upon the 
 governor. 
 
 " Ha !" he said, " Pallu should have come to me first. 
 He forgets that he is my oracle as well as surgeon, and 
 the only human thing that I see from week's end to 
 week's end, except the grim visages of my jailers, or 
 the gloomy ones of my fellow-prisoners. However, if 
 there was life or death in the case, as you say, of course 
 he could not come." 
 
 While he was speaking I advanced quietly to the 
 table, and putting down the packet of salves and dress- 
 ings upon it, I approached closer to the prince without 
 saying a word. He looked at me sharply as I did so, 
 seeming to comprehend at once that there was some- 
 thing extraordinary in this manoeuvre ; and, when I was 
 within about a yard of him, he put out his hand to stop 
 my farther advance, saying, " Stay, stay ; no nearer, if 
 you please, till I hear more of your business." 
 
 I bowed low, and replied, in a tone that could only be 
 heard by himself, " If your highness will sit down and 
 permit me to dress your arm, or, at least, seem to do 
 so, I may prove more oracular than Monsieur de Pallu. 
 I come from your highness's faithful friend and servant, 
 Monsieur de Villardin, and from your no less faithful 
 servant, Gourville." 
 
 " Hush !" he replied, " hush !" and, advancing to the 
 door which led into the other room, he said, speaking 
 to the Prince de Conti and the Duke de Longueville, 
 who were within, " Messieurs, I am going to have my 
 wound dressed ; and, therefore, unless you wish to learn 
 surgery, you may stay where you are for half an hour." 
 He then closed the door, and, returning to his seat near 
 the table, stripped off his coat, and, drawing back his 
 sleeve, presented his arm to me, saying at the same 
 time, " Now !" 
 
 I, on my part, busied myself with the dressings, and 
 while I did so, proceeded to explain to him, in a low 
 tone, but as distinctly as possible, the measures that had 
 been taken for setting him at liberty on the Sunday fol- 
 lowing. 1 told him that the guards, who had entered 
 into our plan, were already provided with the means of 
 fastening the officers into the chapel during the vesper 
 service, that horses would be ready at each of the vil- 
 lages within four miles of Vincennes, that the whole 
 garrison was in his favour, and that nothing was want-
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 197 
 
 ing but preparation on his part to take advantage of the 
 opportunity when it occurred. 
 
 " Fear not," he repUed, in the same tone, " fear not 
 that I will be found unprepared. No, no ; as soon as 
 that door is open, 1 will be quite ready to walk out of it. 
 But tell me," he added, " who are you that have been 
 trusted with such an important communication, and 
 have had courage and address sufficient to execute it V 
 
 " I am one, your highness," repUed I, " for whom you 
 were kind enough some time ago, at the intercession of 
 Monsieur de Villardin, to obtain some favours at the 
 hands of the court." 
 
 " What ! the young Englishman," he cried, " who 
 saved his daughter's life ! — Is it so T" 
 
 I replied in the affirmative ; and he added, " Well, 
 then, they were the last favours that I obtained for any 
 one, for not three days after my arrest took place." 
 
 " Most grateful I am to your highness," I replied, 
 " and I thank Heaven that the commission with which 
 Monsieur de Villardin has intrusted me enables me to 
 be of some slight service to your cause." 
 
 " Of inestimable service, young gentleman," he re- 
 plied ; " for, in truth, I know none, except yourself, and 
 perhaps Gourville, who would have undertaken the dan- 
 gerous task which you have accomphshed. Should you 
 be successful, — which I will not doubt, since the scheme 
 is so well devised and so well conducted — I shall 
 not be found wanting in gratitude to any who have 
 served me, especially to one who has served me so 
 well as you have : and now, as it is clear enough that 
 you know nothing of dressing wounds, get you gone as 
 speedily as possible, lest Pallu himself should come, 
 and worse should befall you." 
 
 " There is no fear, my lord," I replied ; " we have 
 taken good means to keep Monsieur de Pallu away." 
 
 " Indeed !" he answered, " then it would seem you 
 have forgot nothing; but, nevertheless, I am anxious 
 for your safety. Tell Gourville and the rest that I shall 
 be ready to a moment at the hour of vespers ; and, once 
 beyond these prison walls, the court and Mazarin shall 
 have something to remember which they may find not 
 easy to forget. Fare you well, young man ; and be 
 sure, that, whether we succeed or not, Conde will not 
 be found ungrateful."
 
 198 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 My errand was done, and of course I did not feel in- 
 clined to linger in such dangerous circumstances. 
 
 Gathering up all the trumpery which I had brought 
 with me on the pretence of dressing his wound, I took 
 my leave, and, retiring into the antechamber, I knocked 
 hard, as I had been told to do, in order to call some one 
 to the door. During nearly ten minutes, however, I 
 knocked in vain, and, of course, gradually increased the 
 vehemence of my application, till the whole passages 
 rang again with the sound. At length the governor ap- 
 peared, and showered upon my head no mitigated 
 abuse for the noise which 1 had made. As it was ne- 
 cessary, however, to proceed with the same caution in 
 effecting my exit as I had employed in procuring admit- 
 tance to the prison, I resumed my air of stupidity, and, 
 muttering something about having knocked for ten min- 
 utes, I glided past him as he locked the door, and walked 
 on towards the stairs. With a few more abusive epi- 
 thets he suffered me to depart, and, passing dovrn into 
 the court, the wicket gate was thrown open for me to 
 go out into the park. 
 
 As the soldier at the gate maliciously refused to open 
 it any farther, I was obliged to lead my pony through 
 the wicket ; and as the aperture seemed much less than 
 the animal conceived its own dignity and magnitude re- 
 quired, it cost me nearly a quarter of an hour to force 
 it through. When this w^as at length effected, amid the 
 merriment of the soldiery, I mounted, and proceeded 
 on my way ; nor did any thing occur in the course of 
 my ride towards Paris which was worthy of remark, 
 except the fact of my meeting, at about twenty yards 
 from the gate of the chateau, one of the sergeants of 
 the guard, who, with downcast looks, and a rapid but 
 unsteady pace, was returning towards the castle which 
 I had just left.
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 199 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 It was late in the day when I returned to Gourville's 
 lodging, and I thought he would have gone mad with 
 joy when I told him the success of my attempt. He 
 frankly avowed to me also, that, though well accustomed 
 to dangerous enterprises, he had listened during my ab- 
 sence for every sound, expecting each minute to find 
 that I had been arrested, and that a lettre de cachet had 
 been sent for his own apprehension. 
 
 " And did you really think. Monsieur Gourville," I de- 
 manded, " that, even had I been stopped myself, I would 
 have implicated you ?" 
 
 " There is no knowing, monsieur, — there is no know- 
 ing," replied he ; " the question is not a pleasant thing, 
 and I have never been able to tell how I should myself 
 behave under its infliction. I acknowledge that it is 
 just as likely that 1 should yield all sorts of secrets to 
 its potent influence, as that I should conceal them." 
 
 " Of course, then, I can neither be surprised nor 
 offended," I replied, " at your attributing to me the 
 same feelings; but to speak of other matters. To- 
 morrow early I shall go out to St. Maur, to see if a 
 friend, whom I expect there, has returned ; but I shall 
 be back in the evening, and you will find me at my au- 
 berge by five o'clock." Thus ended our conversation, 
 and we parted. 
 
 It is wonderful what changes a few hours produce 
 in this life. On leaving Gourville that night, we were 
 both as fully persuaded as mortal men could be, that 
 our scheme was going on better and better each hour. 
 Nor did we entertain a doubt that we should be able to 
 carry it forward successfully to the close. Ere I had 
 risen from my bed, however, the next morning, I was 
 surprised by some one knocking sharply at my chamber 
 door ; and on opening it, the first thing I saw was the 
 face of Gourville, apparently many shades paler than it 
 had been when 1 left him the night before. " We are 
 lost !" he said ; " some unfortunate accident has discov- 
 ered our whole design."
 
 800 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 " Unfortunate, indeed," I answered ; " but let me 
 hear, my good friend, what is it that has filled you with 
 such sad tidings this morning, when I left you last night 
 borne up upon the very pinions of hope V 
 
 " I have just discovered," he replied, " that after a 
 long consultation before daylight this morning between 
 the Duke de Beaufort, the archbishop coadjutor, the car- 
 dinal, and the Duke of Orleans, Monsieur de Beaufort 
 himself, with three troops of cavalry, set out for Vin- 
 cennes a little before the dawn ; and, after searching 
 every village in the neighbourhood, proceeded to the 
 chateau, and there remains." 
 
 This information was certainly alarming enough ; but 
 still it seemed to me necessary to obtain some more 
 correct intelligence in regard to the causes of these 
 movements on the part of the court than Gourville had 
 yet obtained, ere we decided upon abandoning an at- 
 tempt, which, as far as it had proceeded, had been con- 
 ducted with great success. Gourville coincided with 
 me in opinion ; but the difficulty was, where and how 
 to obtain the information that we required. 
 
 " At all events," he said, " it is my duty to communi- 
 cate immediately what has occurred to the poor fellow, 
 Franc-coeur, through whom I have carried on my cor- 
 respondence with the soldiers at Vincennes. He be- 
 longs to another company of the guards, who are now 
 in Paris ; and as the matter may touch his life, should 
 we be actually betrayed, I must give him instant notice, 
 that he may betake himself to a place of security. As 
 I go I will endeavour to obtain all the information I can, 
 and will return in less than an hour, and let you know 
 my discoveries." 
 
 He was as good as his word, and returning even paler 
 than before, seemed somewhat surprised to find me qui- 
 etly eating my breakfast, as if nothing had occurred to 
 derange my ordinary habits, or affect my appetite. He 
 now told me that he had found the sergeant not only 
 informed of all the particulars with which he himself 
 was acquainted, but also possessed of a knowledge of 
 their cause. This he had communicated to Gourville, 
 who now related it to me ; and it appeared that one of 
 the soldiers, who had been trusted with the scheme for 
 delivering the princes, had taken fright the day before, 
 and, pretending to confess himself at the church of 
 Notre Dame, had given the penitentiary a billet, inform-
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 201 
 
 ing him that, on the following Sunday, at three o'clock, 
 the princes were to be set at liberty, by means of an 
 understanding between their friends and some persons 
 within the castle of Vincennes. 
 
 *' Now," continued Gourville, " although Franc-cceur 
 declares that, notwithstanding this piece of treachery, 
 he is sure his comrade will not betray us any further, 
 yet, as it is clear that our scheme is now hopeless, 
 and as I never put great faith in any man's resolution 
 under the influence of the question, 1 think it will be a 
 great deal better both for you and me to leave Paris as 
 fast as possible." 
 
 " Certainly, as the scheme is hopeless," I replied, " I 
 see nothing that should detain us ; and therefore I shall 
 return with all speed to Brittany, where, perhaps, it 
 may be advisable," I added, with a laugh, " to tell Mon- 
 sieur de Yillardin by no means to put any trust in all 
 those fine petitions and remonstrances of the princess 
 dowager, of which you boasted so much when first I 
 saw you." 
 
 " No, no," replied Gourville, smiling in turn ; " let 
 him not rely upon them for the liberation of his princely 
 friend. Tell him rather, for me, that I now look upon 
 it as absolutely impossible to obtain the freedom of the 
 princes by any means but the sword. The parliament 
 and the queen are alike resolved not to give them their 
 liberty ; and it is to the efforts of their friends alone 
 that we must look for their deliverance." 
 
 After a few more words to the same effect, we parted ; 
 and mounting the sturdy little horse which I had bought 
 to carry me to Vincennes, I rode away as hard as I 
 could, on the side of Brittany. When I had completely 
 tired out my beast, I again took the post, and pursued 
 my way towards Dumont with very little rest or cessa- 
 tion. It is true, when I arrived I was desperately fa- 
 tigued, for nine days had taken me to Paris and back, a 
 distance of more than seven hundred miles ; and during 
 the period of my absence, I had spent two whole days 
 and part of another in the capital. Nor had I any very 
 consolatory remembrances to make me bear up with 
 spirit under my corporeal weariness, having been foiled 
 in my endeavours to serve the prince at the moment 
 that success seemed within my grasp ; but at all events, 
 I felt that I had some reason to be satisfied with my 
 journey, inasmuch as I had obtained every information 
 13
 
 202 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 that Monsieur de Villardin could require, and had found 
 an opportunity of personally seeing and attempting to 
 aid his friend, though our scheme had ultimately proved 
 ineffectual. The chief mortification, indeed, which I 
 experienced, arose from a fear that the Prince de Conde 
 — who would, of course, remain ignorant of the events 
 which had taken place without the walls of his prison 
 — might imagine that I had deceived him ; and I could 
 only console myself by remembering that one day he 
 must learn the truth. 
 
 On arriving at Dumont, every thing I saw announced 
 that Monsieur de Villardin had not waited for the in- 
 formation which he had sent me to seek, ere he formed 
 his determination. The desire of a change of scene and 
 thought, and the wish to deliver his friend, had overcome 
 every other feeling, and he was, in fact, actually in arms 
 when I arrived. At first he would scarcely believe that 
 I had performed the journey, but when he learned all 
 that I had done besides, he loaded me with thanks and 
 praises. 
 
 He then told me his own plans, and informed me that 
 he could but allow me one day for repose, as on the 
 Thursday morning following he was about to march, 
 with all the forces he had been able to collect, for 
 Bordeaux. 
 
 " I sent off Gaspard de Belleville to Bordeaux," he 
 added, "the morning after your departure for Paris, 
 charging him with a fetter for the princess, and another 
 for Monsieur de Bouillon. In each of these 1 said, that 
 unless the princes were liberated within three weeks, 
 their friends might expect to see me in Guyenne. — As 
 Gaspard is now of age, too," he added, in that sort of 
 peculiar discursive tone which a man assumes when he 
 wishes to communicate a matter of particular interest, 
 as if it were one of no interest at all, — " as Gaspard is 
 now of age, too, to enter the service, I have requested 
 Monsieur de Bouillon to give him a commission in one 
 of the regiments at Bordeaux ; but I have not forgotten 
 you, and as 1 wish you always to be near me, I propose 
 to give you a troop in the regiment of cavalry I am now 
 raising. — Monsieur de Turenne had a company of infan- 
 try at your age, and I see no reason why I should not 
 do the same for you, especially as I have a great lack 
 of officers who have stood fire." 
 
 Although, to tell the truth, I would much rather have
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 203 
 
 entered the service on the part of the king and the 
 court, than on the part of their adversaries, yet the idea 
 of activity and enterprise seldom came amiss ; and I 
 thanked Monsieur de Villardin sincerely for his kind- 
 ness, but added, that I trusted he would find the means 
 of keeping me near him. 
 
 " I will make you my aid-de-camp," he replied ; " but 
 we have a number of other arrangements to attend to. 
 Go, therefore, and lie down for two or three hours, a,nd 
 then join me in the esplanade at the end of the park." 
 
 I did as he bade me, as far as the lying down went ; 
 but, though tired to death, I could not sleep. I was 
 much refreshed, however, even by the sort of repose I 
 obtained, and as soon as I thought the time was expired, 
 I got up and walked out to the esplanade, where I found 
 that Monsieur de Villardin was occupied in reviewing, 
 or rather drilling, the regiment he had been employed 
 in raising during my absence. Four hundred men made 
 the extent of his force, and among them only two, who 
 had served in the wars of Paris, could give any assist- 
 ance in matters of discipline, if we except half a dozen 
 wild young nobles of the neighbourhood, who had joined 
 the corps of the duke, but who were not present on this 
 occasion. I may say, then, that I was of no slight 
 assistance to Monsieur de Villardin on that and the fol- 
 lowing day ; for though he was undoubtedly an excel- 
 lent officer, yet, of course, he could not drill four hundred 
 men without help from some one. The cavaliers with 
 whom we had to deal were in general tall, powerful 
 men, from the upper districts of Brittany ; and though 
 they looked stupid enough at first, yet when what they 
 were to do was explained to them, they proved neither 
 dull of comprehension nor slow in execution. 
 
 That which pleased me more than any thing else in 
 the whole scene, was to observe, that, while in actual 
 exertion and activity, the deep heavy gloom which had 
 overshadowed the countenance of the duke ever since 
 the death of his wife, passed away, and for the time he 
 was himself again. This change only lasted for the 
 time, it is true, and the moment he turned from the 
 esplanade the cloud was as dark and stern as ever. 
 Indeed, this observation may apply to the whole of the 
 rest of his life. In the field 1 have often seen him 
 cheerful, and even gay ; but the moment that the tem- 
 porary stimulus was withdrawn, he would fall back into
 
 204 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 a deep and bitter melancholy, which I never saw eii- 
 livened even by a smile. Generally after supper he 
 retired to a solitary chamber, and there remained alone 
 for several hours. At first I fancied that he occupied 
 himself in reading, for which he always had a strong 
 taste ; but being obliged, on more than one occasion, 
 in the course of the civil strife that ensued, to break in 
 upon his retirement, I almost always found him im- 
 mersed in deep thought, with his cheek resting on his 
 hand; and never saw a book near him during those 
 hours of the night that he thus passed alone. 
 
 On our return from the esplanade, which did not take 
 place till a late hour of the evening, we found Father 
 Ferdinand walking in the flower-garden with Made- 
 moiselle de Villardin, and smiling upon all her young 
 and graceful sports with that bland expression of re- 
 flected enjoyment which sits so well upon the lip of 
 age. As soon as the little Laura beheld me, she sprang 
 Tip as usual to my neck, and, making a sort of seat of 
 my arm, scolded me with childish vehemence for my 
 long absence. 
 
 " He will be absent from you still longer, my sweet 
 child," said Monsieur de Villardin, kissing her cheek ; 
 " and therefore you must remember to keep far from 
 the water, as there will be no one there to save you. 
 Do you know, my good father," he added, turning to the 
 priest, " that child would soon make me a very coward 1 
 The only thing I fear, in going to do what 1 conceive my 
 duty, is, that I may never see her again." 
 
 He waited for no reply, but turned into the house, and 
 we followed. After supper. Father Ferdinand and my- 
 self were left alone, and 1 now learned more of the 
 arrangements which Monsieur de Villardin had found it 
 necessary to make, than he had himself communicated. 
 As Brittany was in general loyal, and the governor 
 most decidedly attached to the court against which the 
 duke was now in arms, he had determmed upon sending 
 his whole household, with Mademoiselle de Villardin, 
 and every thing easily moveable, both from the Pres 
 Vallee and from Dumont, to the estates of his late wife 
 at Virmont in the Orleanois, where his daughter, being 
 in the immediate neighbourhood of her grand-uncle, 
 Monsieur de Loris, would, he fancied, be much more 
 safe than in Brittany. 
 
 " They have already arrested the wife and sister of
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 205 
 
 the Duke de Bouillon," said the confessor ; " and Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin thinks, that if they imprison women 
 as a sort of surety for their relatives, they may equally 
 well imprison children. He has prevailed upon me," 
 added the good priest, " to go to Virmont also, and to 
 superintend the education of his daughter, though God 
 knows I have every inducement to stay in this province, 
 and no worldly motive has ever been able to make me 
 quit it hitherto. Here I was born ;" he continued, 
 musing : " here are all the associations of my infancy 
 and of my age ; nor did I think to leave it, though the 
 duke has frequently asked me. — But I have now yielded 
 to another voice more persuasive than his." 
 
 " Indeed !" I said, in some surprise ; and he instantly 
 added, more in answer to my look than to the exclama- 
 tion, — " The voice of my own heart, my son." 
 
 The conversation then rambled on in a desultory- 
 manner; and the worthy father, ere we parted, gave 
 me an infinity of good advice, which, of course, I was 
 the more wilhng to take, because he put it less in the 
 dogmatical form of directions in regard to my own con- 
 duct, than under the semblance of the results of his own 
 experience and general observations upon man and the 
 world. He exacted from me a promise, also, that I 
 would write to him continually, giving him not only an 
 account of the general events in which I was about to 
 mingle, but also detailing my own actions, thoughts, and 
 feelings, as far as it was wise and prudent to do so by 
 the insecure conveyance of the post. 
 
 " In your letters to me, my son," he added, " you can- 
 not be too minute ; for, believe me, every thing that con- 
 cerns you, your health, your welfare, the progress of 
 your mind, and the success of your fortunes, are all a 
 matter of interest to me in no slight degree." 
 
 He has acknowledged to me since, that his chief mo- 
 tive, in exacting from me this promise, was not so much 
 the desire of watching over my conduct himself, as the 
 wish to add a sort of safeguard to all the good princi- 
 ples he had endeavoured to instil into my mind ; well 
 knowing that the sense of moral responsibility is seldom 
 so vivid in youth as greatly to affect our actions, unless 
 some co-operating restraint compels us continually to 
 examine our own hearts minutely. He did not choose 
 to suffer his motive to appear at the moment, however 
 laudable he knew it to be, fully understanding that my
 
 206 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 disposition was not one to submit to any checks but 
 those I chose to impose upon myself, 1 notice this 
 fact, indeed, more as a slight trait of that petty policy, 
 which the good father suffered to mingle with his other 
 more estimable qualities, than from any effect that was 
 produced upon myself; as my absence at Bordeaux was 
 too short, and the circumstances in which we were 
 placed were too difficult to admit of any extended cor- 
 respondence between us at that time. 
 
 On the Thursday morning we began our march, and 
 advanced rapidly towards Bordeaux, crossing an im- 
 mense extent of country, which was at that time in a 
 state of disorganization and confusion, which nobody 
 who did not see it at that period can possibly conceive. 
 Indeed, I will not attempt to describe it : for no one liv- 
 ing under an orderly and well-conducted form of gov- 
 ernment would believe that such a complete state of 
 anarchy and misrule could be produced throughout a 
 whole country, by the follies and dissensions of half a 
 dozen unruly and ambitious men. Although a single 
 regiment would at any time have stopped us on our 
 march, it not only seemed that no regiment was to be 
 found in the whole tract which we traversed ; but such 
 was the state of apathy and confusion that reigned in 
 every part of the kingdom, that no town or village 
 through which we passed appeared to have had the 
 slightest intimation of our approach till we showed our- 
 selves in its streets. Monsieur de Villardin himself, 
 quite accustomed to the sort of warfare which we were 
 pursuing, advanced direct upon Bordeaux with very little 
 caution, taking care, indeed, to avoid those towns which 
 he knew to be garrisoned for the court ; but heedless 
 altogether, — at least so it seemed to me, — in regard to 
 the movements of our enemies, who were certainly 
 marching in considerable force towards the same point 
 with ourselves. The whole business, indeed, was con- 
 ducted in so different a manner from that which I had 
 seen in our civil wars in England, that I could not but 
 come to the conclusion that the French were decidedly 
 a better-tempered people than ray own countrymen; and, 
 without being braver, that they bore every sort of mis- 
 fortune, fatigue, and danger, with a degree of light care- 
 lessness that no Englishman could have affected, much 
 less felt, under similar circumstances. 
 
 How it happened that we did not encounter the army
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 207 
 
 of Monsieur de Meilleraie I cannot at all explain, as we 
 certainly must have passed within five miles of his camp. 
 So, however, it did happen ; and, after a march of rather 
 more than ten days, we entered the city of Bordeaux, 
 amid the acclamations of the people, and the rejoic- 
 ings of our friends and partisans. We found the town, 
 indeed, in a very unpromising condition for undergoing 
 a siege. Provision and stores, it is true, were most 
 abundant, the people were zealous in the cause of the 
 princes, a considerable force of veteran troops were 
 within the place, and the generals were experienced and 
 determined ; but the fortifications of the city itself were, 
 to all appearance, incompetent to resist for a single day 
 the attack of a regular army. The inhabitants would 
 not hear of the suburbs being destroyed for the defence 
 of the rest of the city ; and it became necessary to pro- 
 tect them also against the enemy, who was now ap- 
 proaching rapidly. 
 
 Diligence and activity, however, remedied many de- 
 fects. Several redoubts were thrown up on the other 
 side of the Garonne ; the old castle of Blancfort, which 
 had seen the days of the Black Prince, was destined 
 once more to receive a garrison ; and numbers of the 
 citizens worked day and night at the wall and trenches, 
 in order to put them in a state for resistance before the 
 approach of the royal army. By this time the Duke of 
 Epernon was within a few miles of the city, and the first 
 active operations were undertaken on the side of Blanc- 
 fort, from which place Monsieur de Chambon, our mare- 
 chal de camp, was forced to make a precipitate retreat. 
 An eff'ort was made on the part of the Bordelais to sup- 
 port him, in which our regiment took a share ; but the 
 nature of the ground which the enemy now occupied, 
 was so strong, that all we could accomplish was to cover 
 the retreat of the marechal de camp, which was now 
 effected without difllculty and in good order. On that 
 side the duke was held at bay ; but the king and court 
 were by this time at Libourne, while Monsieur de Meil- 
 leraie was advancing towards the faubourg St. Surin, 
 which seemed quite untenable ; and it was evident that 
 he intended, if possible, to take advantage of its total 
 want of defences, in order to storm the city by the Porte 
 Digeaux. 
 
 It so happened, however, that in advance of the gate 
 was a dunghill, on which had been thrown a consider-
 
 208 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 able quantity of rubbish, left by some improvements 
 which had been carried on about two years before in 
 that quarter of the town, the whole forming an eleva- 
 tion of a few feet, at a short distance from the Porte 
 Digeaux. On visiting the spot, to see what might best 
 be done for the defence of the gate, the Dukes of Bou- 
 illon and Rouchefoucault, together with Monsieur de 
 Villardin and several others, advanced to the top of this 
 little mound, in order to gain a better view of the sur- 
 rounding objects, when it suddenly struck some one, I 
 do not know whom, that the very heap on which they 
 were standing might be converted into a half-moon, for 
 the defence of the gate. No sooner was this plan pro- 
 posed than it was executed. What little additions the 
 time permitted was immediately made ; and, though it 
 was utterly impossible either to erect a parapet or to 
 dig a fosse, a dunghill and a pile of rubbish thus became 
 the principal defence of the city of Bordeaux. 
 
 Scarcely were these preparations complete, when the 
 attack upon the faubourg commenced ; and, while the 
 Marechal de Meilleraie himself proceeded to force the 
 barricades which had been erected in the streets, and 
 were defended vigorously by the Duke de Rochefoucault, 
 a detachment was sent round by the vineyards and corn- 
 fields, in order to turn the faubourg, and attack the half- 
 moon from the west. This part of the plan, however, 
 had been foreseen by Monsieur de Bouillon and Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin ; and although the marechal succeeded 
 in forcing the barricades in the faubourg, the detach- 
 ment which I have mentioned got entangled among the 
 hedges and walls of the vineyards, which had been pre- 
 viously garnished with several corps of infantry, and was 
 glad to effect its retreat with the loss of nearly seven 
 hundred men. 
 
 The events of the day gave great encouragement to 
 the people of Bordeaux ; and, though we found it very 
 difficult to prevail upon the men to defend the half-moon 
 with any degree of regularity, yet, whenever it was 
 attacked by the enemy, a sudden sorti from the Porte 
 Digeaux and one of the neighbouring posterns suc- 
 ceeded, in all instances, in repelling the assailants, and 
 sweeping their trenches as far as they had been con- 
 ducted. 
 
 I do not propose to give any minute account of this 
 well-known siege. The part 1 took in it was little more
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 209 
 
 than that of a common soldier, though, by volunteering 
 my services upon all occasions and in every sort of oc- 
 cupation, I was continually in the midst of the fire. 
 By a species of stupidity, or perhaps from early initia- 
 tion into such scenes of peril, I have never been able to 
 remember, when actually engaged in battle, that there 
 was any sort of danger to be apprehended ; and though, 
 when Monsieur de Villardin and the Duke de Bouillon 
 — who about this time took a good deal of notice of me 
 — reprehended me for exposing myself madly, as they 
 called it, I used to make very strong and sincere resolu- 
 tions of prudence and circumspection ; yet, whenever 
 the next day came, and I found myself in the sally or on 
 the half-moon, I quite forgot to look out for the danger, 
 and never remembered my resolutions till I was once 
 more within the walls. 
 
 Little occurred to me of a personal nature, during the 
 whole of my residence at Bordeaux, that is at all worth 
 relating. In the defence I endeavoured to do my duty ; 
 and under such circumstances it is very difficult to do 
 more. I was fortunate enough, however, to please 
 those who commanded, and received more praise for 
 my conduct than 1 at all deserved. As I was scarcely 
 ever absent from the point of attack, my more peaceful 
 operations consisted principally in eating, drinking, and 
 sleeping ; and, as I knew nobody in the whole town, 
 besides the personal attendants of Monsieur de Villardin, 
 — with the exception of Gaspard de Belleville, who had 
 now obtained a commission in the regiment of the Duke 
 de Bouillon, — very little occurred to divert my thoughts 
 even for a moment from the operations of the siege. 
 Gaspard I saw but seldom ; but when I did so, we met 
 upon, perhaps, better terms than we had done in the 
 house of Monsieur de Villardin. He had acquired a 
 great deal of strut and swagger, it is true, upon the 
 strength of his new situation ; but by this time he 
 knew me too well to provoke me deliberately, and 
 therefore, always maintained a degree of civility with 
 which I was quite satisfied. 1 fancied, indeed, now he 
 had left Monsieur de Villardin, and had embarked in an 
 entirely new course of life, that the jealousy with 
 which he had regarded me, on account of the duke's 
 preference for myself, had become extinct, and that his 
 hatred was consequently at an end ; but in this I after-
 
 210 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 ward found that I was mistaken. I had but little op- 
 portunity of observing his general conduct, but, from 
 that which I did see of it, I should say, that, though 
 not wanting in courage, he was at this time any thing 
 but enterprising : and that the great favour which he 
 obtained with his commander was principally acquired 
 by those somewhat servile and insinuating manners, 
 which he knew well how to put on towards his supe- 
 riors, though he was insufferably insolent and domi- 
 neering to every one below him. 
 
 One httle adventure 1 certainly did meet with, which, 
 though it produced no results at the time, I could not 
 help connecting in my own mind with the presence of 
 Gaspard de Belleville in Bordeaux. Having returned to 
 my own lodging, in the evening of the sixth day of the 
 siege, in order to get something to eat, as I had not 
 tasted food since the night before, I was suddenly 
 disturbed at my supper, by a cry of " Alerte ! Alerte ! — 
 to the walls ! to the walls !" and, hurrying on as fast as 
 possible, I was proceeding towards the Porte Digeaux, 
 when, at the corner of the narrow streets, I ran acci- 
 dentally against a lady handsomely dressed, and, nearly 
 knocking her down, struck out of her hand the black 
 velvet mask, called a loup, which was then very gene- 
 rally used by women in the higher classes^ under the 
 pretext of defending their complexions from the sun or 
 from the sharp air. Stooping hurriedly down, I picked 
 up the mask, and returning it to the lady, raised my 
 eyes to her face, for the first time, as I did so. My 
 surprise was not a little, I confess, to see in such 
 gay habiliments Madame Suzette, the suivante of the 
 late unhappy Duchesse de Villardin. She had recog- 
 nised me sooner, and was gazing on me with an expres- 
 sion of countenance which I shall not easily forget, — 
 such a strange mixture of coquetry, and hatred, and self- 
 satisfied vanity did it display. Taking back her mask, she 
 continued to gaze at me till she saw me about to speak ; 
 and then applying it to her face, she turned upon her 
 heel with an air of insolent scorn, and, tripping down 
 the street, left me to pursue my way to the walls. 
 Nor, during the rest of the siege, did I see her again, 
 although I think 1 should have recognised her in despite 
 of her loup. 
 
 For thirteen days the siege was continued with great 
 activity ; the half-moon remained in the hands of the
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 211 
 
 Bordelais, provisions were plenty, and the determina- 
 tion of the populace was but little shaken. However, 
 the Marechal de Meilleraie, finding his attack upon the 
 Porte Digeaux unavailing, entered upon a new plan of 
 operations, and pushed his trenches on the other side 
 of the town, in the gardens between the archbishop's 
 palace and the convent called the Chartron. Our 
 proper quarters in the town lay in that very neighbour- 
 hood ; Monsieur de Villardin having been assigned a 
 house by the side of the cathedral of St. Andrew, and 
 his men being billeted in the streets round about him. 
 We could do nothing, however, to stay the progress 
 of the besiegers : the trenches were carried on rapidly, 
 and, notwithstanding sallies innumerable, a battery of 
 six pieces of cannon opened upon the curtain, and very 
 soon effected a practicable breach. 
 
 Of course, all was now anxiety in the city; and 
 though the generals did every thing in their power to 
 keep up the spirits of the Bordelais, assuring them that 
 the breach was not practicable, that internal works 
 should be thrown up during the night to remedy the evil, 
 and that they themselves, with their own followers, and 
 the volunteers from the town, would undertake to make 
 good their defence against all the troops which could 
 be brought to act upon that point,— the people evidently 
 lost heart ; tumultuous meetings were held in different 
 parts of the city ; and 1 acknowledge, that the only 
 choice left for us appeared to me either to be given up by 
 the inhabitants as a sort of peace-offering to the court, 
 or, at least, to die in the breach, defending a town that 
 was no longer defensible. 
 
 Such, I believe, was the general opinion also of the 
 principal officers and gentlemen engaged in the cause 
 of the princes ; and it became a very difficult question 
 how to act. Nor were the Bordelais themselves more 
 decided. A number of generous voices were raised 
 against the very idea of delivering up the noblemen who 
 had trusted them, to their bitter enemies ; but the great 
 multitude, which never knows any mean between rash- 
 ness and timidity, called loudly upon their rulers to 
 make peace with the court at every sacrifice. 
 
 From this unpleasant situation both parties were 
 suddenly and unexpectedly relieved. While the magis- 
 trates were in debate in one place, and the generals 
 were in debate in another, and while the people, col*
 
 212 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 lected in every street and market-place, were murmur- 
 ing at their fate, and shouting against those who had 
 brought it upon them, the news suddenly reached us 
 that a deputation from the parliament of Paris had ar- 
 rived at the gates, offering to negotiate a treaty be- 
 tween the defenders of Bordeaux and the besieging 
 force. Every one caught gladly at the idea ; a sus- 
 pension of hostilities was immediately granted, and 
 deputies, both from the city and the generals, returned 
 with the Parisians to the town of Bourg, at which 
 place the whole court was assembled. The queen, 
 timid and vacillating, did not understand or believe 
 how completely the city was in her power. Mazarin, 
 unwilling to bring upon himself the overwhelming 
 odium of destroying such a number of the noblest 
 families in France as were then cooped up in the city, 
 did not press for any hard conditions ; and I rather sus- 
 pect that the Marechal de Meilleraie, having a great 
 number of friends among the besieged, rested satisfied 
 with feeling that he had the city in his power, if he 
 were forced to proceed, without making known the full 
 advantage of his situation to those who might have 
 been inclined to use it ungenerously. 
 
 The result, however, was, that the truce was ex- 
 tended to six days, and that during that time negotia- 
 tions were carried on, which terminated in a treaty of 
 peace, infinitely more favourable than the defenders of 
 Bordeaux could have hoped or expected. It was agreed 
 that full and free pardon should be given to all the inhab- 
 itants of the town, into which the court should enter, 
 unaccompanied by any other troops than an ordinary 
 guard ; that the Princess de Conde and her son might 
 retire in safety to Montrond, and that a general pardon 
 should be given to all the other persons concerned 
 directly or indirectly in the resistance offered by the 
 city to the royal forces, upon the sole condition that 
 the leaders should solemnly pledge themselves never to 
 bear arms against the king again.
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 2l3 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 As soon as the treaty had been duly signed, the Prin- 
 cess de Conde, with four of her principal supporters, of 
 whom Monsieur de Villardin was one, set out for Bourg, 
 where they were as kindly received and as hospitably 
 treated by the court as if they had never borne arms 
 against the throne. The whole party was splendidly 
 entertained at the lodging of the cardinal prime minis- 
 ter ; and on Monsieur de Villardin's return to Bordeaux, 
 I found that no slight impression had been made on his 
 mind by the gracious and unexpected reception he had 
 met. 
 
 The young king himself, he informed me, had conde- 
 scended to press him to take an active part in his ser- 
 vice ; and I gathered that the duke had replied in such 
 a manner as to leave no doubt that, as soon as the 
 princes were set at liberty, there would be none more 
 zealous and indefatigable in the royal cause than him- 
 self. Determined upon conducting his troops back to 
 Brittany in person, the duke despatched me with three 
 or four servants across the country to Virmont, for the 
 purpose of giving notice to Father Ferdinand and Made- 
 moiselle de Villardin, that he was safe and well, and 
 would speedily join us in the Orleanois. 
 
 Very well comprehending how glad the duke was to 
 find a fair excuse for taking up his residence in a part 
 of the country which was less painfully associated in 
 his mind than that which he had lately inhabited, I ven- 
 tured to press him to be the bearer of his own good 
 news to Virmont, and to suffer me to conduct the regi- 
 ment back to Brittany, which I argued he might very 
 well do, as almost all the other commanders were at 
 once dismissing their men, and suffering them to find 
 their way home as they best might. His ideas of duty, 
 however, were in this respect far more strict than those 
 of the other generals ; and, adhering to his determina- 
 tion, he began his march on the following day, while I 
 set out for Virmont. 
 
 I had now to travel through a part of the country I
 
 dl4 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 had never seen ; and a rich and splendid land it was. 
 No armies had passed for several years along the exact 
 tract which I took ; and as I compared the smiling 
 abundance of every thing around me with the scenes of 
 devastation and ruin I had so often seen, new estima- 
 tions of many things on this earth began to present 
 themselves to my mind, and I got even as far as to ad- 
 mit that — whatever charms a military life might have — 
 it would be a sad and terrible act to change such pros- 
 pects of beauty and happiness to scenes of ruin and deso- 
 lation. The gradual progress of all these slow altera- 
 tions in my own mind and feelings, working themselves 
 out one after another through life, has been a subject of 
 curious investigation to myself; and as I write for my 
 own amusement, I shall still continue to put them down 
 as they occur to my remembrance. 
 
 The first feeling that in my bosom tended most cer- 
 tainly to soften all the rest, was a growing taste for the 
 beauties of nature, of every kind and description ; and 
 as I approached Virmont, the warm and luxuriant banks 
 of the Loire struck me with the same pleasurable sensa- 
 tions as I had experienced on seeing the deep shades 
 and tranquil stillness of the Pres Vallee. Crossing the 
 Loire at Gien, I turned to the right, and a little beyond 
 Blenau was directed by the peasantry to the chateau de 
 Virmont, which was situated in a dry and sandy soil, 
 and surrounded by some rich but rather wild scenery. 
 The house itself was not a very large one, but it pos- 
 sessed various advantages which were not to be found at 
 either Dumont or the Pres Vallee, and, especially in my 
 eyes, was preferable to either of them, from being to- 
 tally unconnected with the dark and gloomy remem-^ 
 brances that hung like a boding cloud over both the 
 others. 
 
 Here I found Mademoiselle de Villardin with both 
 Father Ferdinand and her worthy relation, the good old 
 Count de Loris ; and great was the joy of all parties on 
 hearing, not the successful issue of our undertaking, but 
 the safe and fortunate manner in which it had terminated, 
 after promising much less pleasant results. I think 
 the ten days that followed were among the happiest of 
 my whole life. 1 was in the society of three people, 
 each of whom — though very different from each other — I 
 loved ; I was in a beautiful scene where all was new ; I 
 was myself caressed and applauded by every one ; there
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 215 
 
 was no violent passion, either good or evil, in my bosom ; 
 and there was no restraint upon my actions. Even 
 after we were joined by Monsieur de Villardin, although 
 the deep melancholy which had now resumed its place 
 in his demeanour, of course cast a degree of gloom over 
 the whole household; and though I especially felt 
 grieved and pained to witness the bitter sorrow that 
 preyed upon the heart of a man to whom I was sincerely 
 attached, still the days passed pleasantly enough ; and, 
 treated in every respect as if I had been the duke's own 
 son, I had every reason to be content with my condition. 
 
 The passing of such days will not bear detail ; but in 
 the mean time events were taking place in other parts 
 of France that again called us into active life. In Paris, 
 the popular faction called the Fronde, at the head of 
 which, as I have before said, were the Archbishop coad- 
 jutor de Retz and the Duke of Beaufort, had begun to 
 take umbrage at the kindness which Mazarin and the 
 court had shown to the defenders of Bordeaux; and 
 knowing very well that the minister had only employed 
 their party for the purpose of delivering himself from 
 the Prince de Conde and his friends, the popular lead- 
 ers began to suspect that Mazarin, as soon as it suited 
 him, would make what conditions he pleased with the 
 imprisoned princes, and set them at liberty without the 
 intervention of the Fronde. The success of the war in 
 Guyenne had raised the minister higher than they liked 
 also ; and the cardinal, foolishly believing himself quite 
 secure, soon began to treat the Frondeurs with very 
 little ceremony. 
 
 The Viscount de Turenne, it is true, was still in arms 
 in Champagne, but the good fortune of Mazarin was 
 again triumphant in this instance, as if on purpose to 
 make him think himself beyond the power of fate. 
 
 The Marechal du Plessis Praslin, an experienced 
 officer, but one certainly inferior to Turenne in every 
 respect, was sent against the only formidable opponent 
 of the court that now remained, and, after various ma- 
 noeuvres on both parts, completely defeated Turenne, 
 who fled to Bar-le-Duc, accompanied only by five hun- 
 dred horse. This success increased the pride of Maza- 
 rin, and taught him vainly to imagine that he could at 
 length put down the faction which had so long either 
 ruled or disorganized the state ; and although the par- 
 ties of the court and the Fronde had, for a time, unna-
 
 216 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 turally united for the ruin of Conde and his family, they 
 now found that the moment was come when the strug- 
 gle between themselves was to be renewed. Each de- 
 termined upon the liberation of the princes ; but Maza- 
 rin sought to obtain more from the prisoners than the 
 Fronde were inclined to demand ; and he consequently 
 temporized too long, while De Retz and Beaufort stirred 
 up the people and the parliament ; and the cry for the 
 liberation of Conde became as general among the Pari- 
 sians as the rejoicings for his imprisonment had been 
 about a year before. The Duke of Orleans, also lieu- 
 tenant-general of the kingdom, always weak and always 
 false, abandoned once more the cause of the minister. 
 The cry for the liberation of the princes was succeeded 
 by a clamour for the exile of Mazarin. After many inef- 
 fectual struggles, the queen regent was obliged to yield 
 her favourite to popular turbulence, and the minister fled 
 from the court happy to escape with life. The very 
 next morning, the parliament of Paris, which not long 
 before had condemned a man to death for publishing a 
 libel against the cardinal, now found reasons for declar- 
 ing him a disturber of the public peace, and for passing 
 sentence of outlawry against him ; and the people and 
 the parliament prepared to liberate with joy the princes 
 who had so lately been the objects of their execrations. 
 Mazarin, however, outstripped them in that very de- 
 sign ; and wishing to take the credit of the act to him- 
 self, no sooner had he quitted the capital, than, proceed- 
 ing to Havre, whither Conde and his companions had 
 been removed, he threw open their prison doors, and 
 himself announced their liberation. The princes treated 
 him with the contempt he merited, and the disgraced 
 minister, finding himself without resource, fled from a 
 country to which he was destined to return, after a very 
 short lapse of time, more powerful than ever. 
 
 One of the first acts of the Prince de Conde was to 
 write a letter of thanks to Monsieur de Villardin, for 
 the part he had taken in the late events : and he conde- 
 scended especially to notice my somewhat dangerous 
 enterprise in finding my way into Vincennes, for the 
 purpose of communicating to him the plan framed by 
 Gourville for his deliverance. He added, that he might 
 have supposed I had deceived him, as the scheme was 
 never put in execution, but that he had learned from 
 other sources the cause vi^hich prevented the attempt ;
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 217 
 
 and he concluded by assuring Monsieur de Villardin 
 that, if he could point out any object which either he or 
 I desired, the whole influence of the house of Conde 
 should be exerted to obtain it for us. This probably 
 might have led me into other scenes, and indeed might 
 have changed the complexion of my whole after-life, 
 had not events arisen which soon placed the prince in 
 a state of fiercer opposition to the court than ever. 
 
 Anne of Austria resolved to recall her favourite Maz- 
 arin : Conde himself, aspiring to govern the state, was 
 determined that the minister should remain in exile. 
 Means were soon found to embroil him with the party 
 of the Fronde ; and the prince at length made up his 
 mind both to revenge himself upon those who had 
 caused his imprisonment, and to strike boldly for the 
 supreme power by force of arms. Having once taken 
 his resolution, he pursued it with all that fearless decis- 
 ion which rendered him a great general, but more than 
 once made him a bad subject. Retiring from Paris, he 
 negotiated with all his former friends and adherents ; 
 and, carrying his measures still farther, treated with 
 Spain itself, the open and declared enemy of his native 
 country. From that crown he received every assur- 
 ance of assistance that he could desire, which assur- 
 ances were fulfilled to the letter ; but with his former 
 partisans in France he was not by any means so suc- 
 cessful. His causes of complaint against the court were 
 not at all such as to justify the violent and ruinous mea- 
 sures he was pursuing. His own ambitious motives 
 were apparent to every eye, and an immense change of 
 circumstances had been effected by the simple fact of 
 the young king having attained his majority. What 
 people might affect to consider a struggle between the 
 different powers of the state for the administration of 
 the realm during the infancy of the king, could now be 
 looked upon in no other light than as actual rebellion 
 against the royal authority. The Duke of Bouillon, — 
 tied by the engagement made at Bourg, and seeing the 
 present situation of the prince in a very different light 
 from that in which his position, while under im- 
 prisonment, had appeared to him — positively refused to 
 take part in his rebellion, though the regiment he had 
 raised, officers and soldiers, went over to the party of 
 Conde. Turenne followed the example of his brother 
 the Due de Bouillon, and declined to act with the prince 
 
 Vol. I.— K
 
 218 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 against the court. Monsieur de Villardin also, in reply 
 to a letter from Conde upon the subject, while he as- 
 sured him of his unabated personal regard, informed 
 him plainly that he not only would refuse all participa- 
 tion in new schemes against the court, but would con- 
 sider himself bound to serve against any one found in 
 rebellion to the royal authority, now that the monarch 
 had attained his majority. 
 
 Conde still, however, pursued his plan, and but too 
 many were found to give him support in its execution. 
 Nor did he calculate alone, it would seem, upon his pres- 
 ent partisans, and upon the assistance of Spain ; but, 
 knowing the levity of all political characters in that day, 
 he reckoned boldly upon a great number of his present 
 enemies coming over to his side, and foresaw, it would 
 appear, that the approaching recall of Mazarin would 
 soon induce the Fronde itself to co-operate directly 
 or indirectly in his schemes. Retiring upon Gui- 
 enne, which, from various causes, was almost always 
 ready for revolt, he at length absolutely raised the 
 standard of rebellion against the king. A large body of 
 troops, called the Corps de Conde, abandoned the royal 
 army on the frontiers of Flanders, and went over at 
 once to the Spanish force, which was now leagued with 
 the prince. Considerable bodies of troops joined him 
 in Bordeaux, a great part of Berri took arms in his fa- 
 vour, and, once more, the flame of civil war was lighted 
 throughout the land. 
 
 Negotiations were immediately entered into between 
 the court and all those officers who had refused, on the 
 present occasion, to serve with the prince. Of these, 
 Monsieur de Villardin was of course one ; and full pow- 
 ers were given to him to raise a regiment in the name 
 of the king, with a great many other marks of the royal 
 favour and confidence. He accepted the task without 
 hesitation, and declared his positive determination never 
 to suffer any circumstances to induce him again to op- 
 pose the royal authority ; but, at the same time, in the 
 vain hope that other events would cause Conde to make 
 his submission, he delayed as long as possible taking any 
 active part in the warlike operations against his friend, 
 under the pretence of requiring some time to complete 
 his preparations. 
 
 In the mean time Conde had lost no time, but was 
 making such progress in Guienne that the whole couiir
 
 JOHN MARSTOI<] HALL. 219 
 
 tiy began to take alarm at his success. The Count de 
 Harcourt, however, soon after checked his advance on 
 the side of Cogniac ; and the Marechal de Gramont, 
 marching with a considerable body of troops towards 
 Langon, threatened to turn the flank of the prince's 
 army. Each of the royal generals commanded more 
 men, and better disciplined forces, than those which 
 followed Conde, and the prince found himself obliged 
 to choose between fighting under disadvantages which 
 must have proved fatal, or temporizing with the court, 
 in order to give time for a diversion to be eifected in his 
 favour. He accordingly, with consummate policy, made 
 overtures to the queen for permitting the return of 
 Mazarin. The queen, whose partiality for her minister 
 did not permit her to see what Conde, as I have before 
 said, had at once perceived, that the recall of the car- 
 dinal would immediately throw the whole party of the 
 Fronde, together with the parliament and a great body 
 of the people, entirely into the hands of the rebeUious 
 prince, caught eagerly at the idea of the minister's 
 return. Not only did she give Conde both time and 
 repose by negotiating, at a moment when her generals 
 might have pushed their advantage to his complete over- 
 throw ; but, blindly running before the negotiation, she 
 despatched courier after courier to Mazarin, without at 
 all requiring that the prince should commit himself with 
 the Fronde by joining in the recall of the obnoxious 
 Italian. 
 
 Mazarin lost no time, but, at the head of a body of 
 troops which he had raised in Germany, he entered 
 France, and being immediately joined by the royal army 
 in Champagne, advanced at once across the country 
 towards Poitiers. All that Conde had foreseen now 
 took place : the Fronde, the parliament, the people, 
 were astonished and indignant at the unexpected return 
 of the hated minister. The Duke of Orleans obtained a 
 decree from the parliament of Paris, commanding all 
 governors of towns to arrest him in his progress ; a re- 
 ward of fifty thousand crowns was offered for his head ; 
 an army was raised by the Due de Beaufort, who effected 
 his junction with, the Duke de Nemours, the strongest 
 partisan of the Prince de Conde, and their united forces 
 were joined by a large body of Spaniards, which had 
 been promised some time before. At the same time the 
 Duke de Rohan, governor of Anjou, declared for Conde, 
 K2
 
 S20 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 with the whole province that he commanded, and every 
 part of the empire seemed rising at once against the 
 authority of the court. 
 
 Monsieur de ViDardin now found that it was no longer 
 a time for hesitation, and that if all the royalists remained 
 inactive, the constitution of the country itself must 
 be overthrown. The greater part of the regiment which 
 had served with him at Bordeaux had been again collected 
 by his orders in Brittany ; three or four more troops 
 were easily raised in the Orleanois ; the whole had been 
 more perfectly disciplined during the time he had re- 
 mained in inactivity than they had even been before, 
 and the moment that he heard of the general revolt, he 
 despatched couriers to the court at Poitiers, to announce 
 that he was on his march to support its cause, with an 
 effective force of twelve hundred men. This reinforce- 
 ment was a matter of no small consequence to a royal 
 army in those days ; and the pleasure that this news 
 occasioned to the young king and his court was greatly 
 increased from the circumstances of the time at which 
 Monsieur de Villardin's declaration arrived, and from the 
 hope it held out of others following his example. 
 
 A new era was now opening for me. One of the 
 troops of Monsieur de Villardin's regiment, raised by 
 the authority of the king himself, had been given to me, 
 and the high road to honour and promotion was now 
 thrown wide before me. The political events which I 
 have narrated above had occupied a considerable space 
 of time, so that I was now more than seventeen. The 
 little property which the kindness of Lord Masterton 
 and of Monsieur de Villardin had bestowed upon me, 
 was more than sufficient for all my wants and wishes ; 
 my troop was as fine and well disciplined a one as any 
 in the service; and on the twenty-eighth of February I 
 commenced my march with Monsieur de Villardin, full 
 of all the hopes of youth, although I had been prema- 
 turely taught the experience of manhood. I do not 
 know that such a combination of the two is either 
 pleasant or beneficial to him who possesses them ; and 
 I do believe that nature's plan is the best, in joining 
 youthful experience to youthful passions. For my 
 own part I may safely say, that having by the circum- 
 stances of my early days been carried too far forward 
 all through life, I have always found that it was painful 
 to be older than one's years.
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 221 
 
 We conducted our march as rapidly as possible to- 
 wards Poitiers, and I remember nothing worth relating 
 that occurred on the way. We found, however, at that 
 town, that the court and army had proceeded to Sau- 
 mur, and following it thither, with only a day's halt, we 
 again approached the Loire. We were welcomed with 
 infinite joy, and I was presented by Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin to the minister and to the young king, by both 
 of whom I was treated with great kindness. The 
 former was an elderly man of mild and insinuating 
 manners, but with nothing either impressive or grace- 
 ful in his demeanour : the latter was a youth of a fine 
 intelligent countenance, but apparently far more occu- 
 pied with the thoughts of field sports and courtly gal- 
 lantries than affairs of state or war. 
 
 The royal army at this time was commanded by 
 Marshals Turenne and d'Hocquincourt ; and Monsieur 
 de Villardin immediately received such an appointment 
 under the command of the former as suited his rank 
 and experience. We found, however, that our long 
 march to Saumur might have been spared us, for with- 
 in four days after our arrival it was announced that, 
 quiet being restored in Anjou, and the Prince de Conde 
 being kept in check by the Count de Harcourt and the 
 Marechal de Gramont, the king intended to return im- 
 mediately to Paris, in order to take measures against 
 the combined force of Spaniards and insurgents which 
 was rapidly traversing Champagne, and advancing to- 
 wards the Nivernois. The next morning the order 
 to march was given ; and following the course of the 
 Loire, for the purpose of securing the large towns 
 situated upon that river, we passed through Tours, 
 Amboise, and Blois, finding the country in general 
 loyal, and willing to receive the royal army. Orleans, 
 however, shut her gates against us ; and as our own 
 force was small, while the enemy, to the number of 
 fifteen thousand men, had already entered the Orlea- 
 nois, the attempt to reduce the city by force would have 
 been in vain. 
 
 Both the court and the generals were now eager to 
 meet the Dukes of Nemours and Beaufort, who com- 
 manded the adverse force on the other side of the river, 
 and between whom dissensions were said to exist which 
 were likely to neutralize entirely the superiority of 
 their forces : but none, certainly, was more desirous
 
 222 THE ADVENTURES OF 
 
 of dislodging them from the post than Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin, inasmuch as they occupied a position extending 
 from Montargis to the Loire, in a line drawn directly 
 between Lorris and Virmont, at the latter of which 
 places we had left Mademoiselle de Villardin, now a 
 pretty little girl of about eleven years old. Ere any 
 thing else would be attempted, it was necessary to 
 secure the bridge of Gergeaux, lest the enemy should 
 pass the river and fall upon our rear. This, however, 
 was not to be done without some trouble, as the bridge 
 had already been seized by M. de I'Etouf, lieutenant- 
 general of the enemy's force, who had found time to 
 effect a lodgement, and place his cannon, before suffi- 
 cient troops could be brought up to dispute the pos- 
 session. 
 
 Here, however, the genius of Turenne at once reme- 
 died all difficulties. Without ammunition, and with 
 only two hundred men, he kept possession of the little 
 town, erected a barricade upon the bridge, defended it 
 for two hours against an immensely superior force, 
 and yielded not a step till a sufficient reinforcement 
 arrived to enable him to drive back the enemy and blow 
 up the bridge. 
 
 Although not present at the beginning of the affair, I 
 obtained leave to ride on before the party destined to 
 support Monsieur de Turenne, and brought him the first 
 news of its approach ; nor throughout all the scenes of 
 the kind that I have witnessed, did I ever behold a man 
 who, in the midst of danger and excitement, displayed 
 such calm, unmoved tranquillity. He neither looked 
 vehement, nor heated, nor anxious, but, in the midst of 
 the enemy's fire, which was tremendous, listened to 
 my report as if I had been giving him an invitation to 
 dinner. 
 
 As soon as we had secured our rear by the destruc- 
 tion of the bridge of Gergeaux, we marched direct upon 
 Gien, and passing the Loire by the bridge at that town, 
 took up a position at the distance of about fifteen miles 
 from the enemy, in order to ascertain their exact situation 
 before hazarding any very bold stroke with our inferior 
 force. The court established itself at Gien ; and Tu- 
 renne fixed his head-quarters at Briare, while the Mare- 
 chal d'Hocquincourt took up his at Blenau. But it was 
 now discovered that forage, which had been scarce 
 along the whole line of our march, was not to be had in
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 223 
 
 any sufficient quantity, and the cavalry was obliged to 
 disperse in troops among the villages, in a semicircle 
 of about twenty miles to the right, left, and rear, of our 
 general position. 
 
 Monsieur de Villardin was obliged to remain with 
 Turenne, but he directed me to post my troop as near 
 as possible to the park and chateau of Virmont ; though, 
 as a part of the enemy's advanced guard occupied the 
 little village of that name, I could not approach so near 
 as I could wish. We found, however, upon inquiry, that 
 our adversaries were behaving with much courtesy to 
 the people of the country, and that the chateau of Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin had as yet been respected ; but, never- 
 theless, he was extremely anxious to withdraw his 
 daughter and household, if possible, from so exposed a 
 situation ; and on taking my leave of him i promised to 
 negotiate with the officers who occupied the village in 
 order to carry his wish into effect. 
 
 Thus long have I been obliged to pause upon the 
 general history of the times, which has been much 
 better detailed by others ; and as I am now about to re- 
 turn to my private life and personal adventures, I shall 
 close this chapter here, and begin my narration of the 
 events which followed on a fresh page. 
 
 END OP VOL. I.
 
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