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 THE 
 
 LIFE AND ADVENTURES 
 
 OF 
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL. 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR OF 
 
 DARNLEY," " RICHELIEU," " HENRY MASTERTON," 
 " MARY OF BURGUNDY," &c. 
 
 ®ot§ \)on S5crl{c{)ingen. 
 
 IN THREE VOLUMES. 
 
 VOL. I. 
 LONDON: 
 
 PRINTED FOR 
 
 LONGMAN, REES, ORME, BROWN, GREEN, & LONGMAN, 
 
 PATERNOSTER-ROW. 
 
 1834. 
 

 TO 
 
 HER IMPERIAL MAJESTY 
 
 ALEXANDRA FEODEROWNA, 
 
 EMPRESS OF ALL THE RUSSIAS. 
 
 Madam, 
 
 >^ I SHOULD have confined myself to ex- 
 
 3 pressing, in terms of unfeigned admiration 
 
 and respect, my gratitude 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 indi- 
 
 «w^ vidual as myself, had I not felt that the 
 
 ^ work which you have permitted me to 
 
 inscribe to your name is in every way 
 
 VOL. I. *A 2 
 
IV DEDICATION. 
 
 unworthy of" being presented to one, alike 
 illustrious by talents and virtues, and by 
 rank. 
 
 At the time that Your Imperial Ma- 
 jesty's gracious message was communi- 
 cated to me, the following pages were 
 not only written, but in the press ; and 
 my strong desire to obey your com- 
 mands without any delay, induces me to 
 dedicate this work to you, although it is 
 in some degree connected with a former 
 production, already, I believe, in Your 
 Majesty's possession. 
 
 Under other circumstances, I might 
 have laboured, though I certainly should 
 have laboured in vain, to produce 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 
 
DEDICATION, 
 
 have worthily testified the admiration 
 and pleasure with which I have marked, 
 from afar, the immense efforts of yourself 
 and your Imperial Consort to encourage 
 literature and science in your dominions, 
 and to improve the moral and social con- 
 dition of your subjects. 
 
 That those efforts may be crowned 
 with the most brilliant success, and re- 
 pay you, to the last of your days, with 
 the noblest recompence that monarchs 
 can receive, — the blessings of a happy 
 and enlightened people, — is the sincere 
 prayer of 
 
 Your Imperial Majesty's 
 
 most humble 
 
 and most obedient Servant, 
 
 George Payne Rainsfokd James. 
 
THE 
 
 ADVENTURES 
 
 JOHN MARSTON HALL 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 My father was a gentleman of small estate in 
 Lincolnshire, whose family possessions, under a 
 race of generous ancestors, had dwindled from 
 splendid lordships to bare competence. His 
 blood, which was derived 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 cul- 
 tivating any but the somewhat barren field of 
 vrar. He made a love match with a daughter 
 of the second Lord Wilmerton; and, in order 
 that his wife might not draw unpleasant com- 
 
 VOL. I. B 
 
parisons 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 bom ; 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 affection was to be gained, leaving 
 him to struggle on without further notice. 
 
 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 
 
3 
 
 not the civil war broken out, and all the royalists 
 hastened to the support of the King. Amongst 
 the first of the volunteers who flocked to the 
 royal standard, when it was raised at Notting- 
 ham, 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 Co- 
 lonel 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 excitement, 
 which was originally strong in his character, 
 grew gradually into a habit, and from a habit 
 became a passion. The tidings of an approach- 
 ing 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 
 
 B % 
 
kft at home, under tlie charge of my nurse, and 
 of the events of that period I, of course, remem- 
 ber but little. But shortly after the taking of 
 Birmingham, by Prince Rupert, aparty of Gettes's 
 brigade were quartered at our house for three 
 days, swept the whole estate of every thing that 
 it produced, carried off 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 penni- 
 less, the nurse carried me away in search of 
 my only sur\dying parent, whose regiment 
 was quartered at a few miles distance ; and 
 being a woman who loved quiet, and hated to 
 see houses burned over head, she resigned 
 her charge of me as soon as she had con- 
 scientiously 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 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 ad- 
 venture ; were involved in more than one se- 
 vere struggle, and encountered as many hard- 
 ships as a longer campaign could have inflicted. 
 My father found that I bore up stoutly against 
 them all, that I was not so great an encum- 
 brance, in moments of danger and haste, as he 
 had expected; and that in those lapses of in- 
 action which will break in upon a soldier's life 
 I afforded him amusement and occupation of 
 the tenderest and most engaging kind. Thus I 
 soon became necessary to his comfort and his 
 happiness ; 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 became evi- 
 dent 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 
 B 3 
 
6 
 
 embraced. My hands, almost in infancy, were 
 accustomed to the sword, the dag, and the pe- 
 tronel ; and I remember, ere I was six years 
 old, being permitted, as a high favour, to apply 
 the match to the touchhole of a culverin that 
 commanded a road by which the Roundheads 
 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 
 amidst 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 suifered to continue, and to long 
 for the moment of activity and exertion. It 
 was vdth joy and satisfaction that my father be- 
 held this disposition in his son, and he strove 
 by every means in his power to promote its 
 
growth, and to direct the efforts that it prompt- 
 ed. He taught me to he quick and decisive, as 
 well as bold and fearless : he hade me always 
 think, in the first place, what was best to he 
 done, and how it might hest be executed ; and 
 then to perform what my reason had suggested 
 without either fear or hesitation. Always keep- 
 ing his view fixed upon the ultimate advantage 
 of the cause he had espoused, he zealously 
 instructed me to remark and remember every 
 part of the country through which we passed in 
 our wandering life, and the person of every one 
 who was brought into temporary connection 
 with us in the changing fortunes of those ad- 
 venturous times. 
 
 Besides teaching me to ride and to shoot, and 
 to perform 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 prevent- 
 ed from engaging any other person in that capa- 
 city, by our continual changes from place to place, 
 B 4 
 
8 
 
 but he was also rendered unable to do so by his 
 pecuniary circumstances, 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 Captain 
 Hall sometimes enjoyed a moment of temporary 
 prosperity, after squeezing some rich parliamen- 
 tarian, 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 
 capability 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 
 ci\il 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 generally surrounded this kind of 
 
existence was gay and Kappy enough. When 
 they saw a comrade sent to his long home, or a 
 friend fall dead by their side, a minute's mourn- 
 ing, and a vow to revenge him, was all that the 
 sight excited ; and many a cheerful bowl, and a 
 gay jest, would circulate in the evening amongst 
 the Cavaliers who 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 sur- 
 prising 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 ex- 
 citementwhich 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 I felt at the 
 B 5 
 
10 
 
 overthrow 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 gratification 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 royaHsts ; 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. 
 Amongst 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 dan- 
 ger there 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, active, and 
 fearless, I was often enabled to assist the de- 
 
11 
 
 feated or pursued Cavalier, to mislead the Par- 
 liamentarian by false information, or to gain 
 intelligence of the enemy's movements, and to 
 guide my friends either to security or victory. 
 
 Amongst all the comrades and connections 
 of my father, Goring, afterwards Lord Norwicli, 
 was the foremost in his affections ; and with him 
 also I was an infinite favourite, although there 
 were several others to whom I was personally 
 more attached. I remember, however, many 
 instances of great favour received from him; and, 
 as difficulties multiplied round the royal cause, 
 and as dangers threatened more and more im- 
 minently 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 vreeks together, 
 when our paths were surrounded by enemies 
 against whom our force was too weak to con- 
 tend. 
 
 B 6 
 
1^ 
 
 At length, when I was little more than ten 
 years old, and a momentary gleam of success 
 brightened the cause of the Cavaliers, my fa- 
 ther and Lord Goring unfortunately 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 gaily 
 along, without the slightest idea that there was 
 an enemy in our neighbourhood, w^e were sud- 
 denly surprised by a party of the parliamentarian 
 forces ; and, after a rapid but desperate struggle, 
 every man of my father's troop was put to 
 death. He himself fell amongst 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 for- 
 ward, I saw one of the pikemen stoop over 
 him, and, while my father held up his hand, in 
 the vain endeavour to ward oif the blow, the 
 man drove his weapon through him, and pinned 
 him to the ground. I had a large horse-pistol 
 
13 
 
 ill 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, vrithout 
 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 afterwards that no one had 
 been taken to mercy by the victors. It was 
 evening when we began a fight, which, in dur- 
 ation, 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 gal- 
 lant soldiers lying dead around me. In truth, 
 this was the first event that ever made me 
 think of death, even for a moment, as of a 
 thing to be feared, or regard strife as the great 
 
14 
 
 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 expressions which the human coun- 
 tenance can assume under different modes of 
 violent death ; but it was the sight of my fa- 
 ther's corpse which brought it home to my own 
 heart. 
 
 When I had recovered my senses completely 
 — which was not for several minutes after con- 
 sciousness 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 affection towards 
 myself which I had seen it bear so often, I could 
 not help feeling that death is indeed a horrible 
 thing. I looked at it long, tiU 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 de- 
 
15 
 
 fined, which would not let me leave the corpse 
 of my father miinterred 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, 
 tliither 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 neighbour- 
 hood 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 
 grey 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 oflUce 
 was performed decently enough on the spot it- 
 self; and in about three or four hours it was all 
 over, leaving no trace of the skirmish, but the 
 turf beaten up by the horses' feet and here and 
 there died with gore, and the long low mound 
 of fresh earth which covered the trench contain- 
 ing the dead bodies. I foimd, by the convers- 
 ation of the men employed, that this act of 
 
16 
 
 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 re- 
 source ; without money, or protection, or ex- 
 pectation ; but perhaps I was better fitted for 
 such circumstances than any one who was ever 
 yet cast an orphan upon the world. I was ac- 
 customed to rely upon myself alone ; to take 
 every event as I 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 confidently 
 anticipated that the next cast of the die in 
 fortune's hand would reverse my fate, and bring 
 me back to prosperity again. 
 
 I was mistaken, however. A long series of 
 sufferings ensued ; and they were sufferings of a 
 
17 
 
 nature that I had never encountered before. 
 I had often, indeed, undergone privation, and 
 known poverty. I 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 sol- 
 dier'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 vdthout one alleviating cir- 
 cumstance, or one consoling reflection. 
 
 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 plim- 
 derers who had stripped the dead around me. 
 My clothes, indeed, probably being of little value 
 either in point of size or quality, had been left 
 me ; and these, with a pistol and a dagger, 
 which I found upon the ground, constituted my 
 whole property, when at length I left the earth 
 
18 
 
 that contained the body of my unfortunate parent, 
 and went forth again into the world. 
 
 It would be diificult to give any detailed ac- 
 count of the life I now led. I wandered over al- 
 most 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 my- 
 self to a troop of Cavaliers, and for a few days 
 lived the life to which I had been accustomed in 
 former years. But the power of the Parlia- 
 ment 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, however, yielded for one moment to de- 
 spair ; 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 
 whortle-berries, roots and acorns, — I have 
 hummed to myself 
 
 " There's a better time coming ! " 
 
19 
 
 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 remember ever having done 
 what I should even now consider an evil act on 
 my own account. Nevertheless, I must acknow- 
 ledge that, when a wounded or a fugitive compa- 
 nion wanted food or other necessaries, and could 
 not obtain them for himself, I have often ventured 
 beyond any code of morality 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, I 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 
 
^0 
 
 my youth and my knowledge of the country en- 
 abled me, in general, to pass unmolested : but 
 Langdale knew that he could 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, I encoun- 
 tered more difficulties and some dangers. The 
 small stock of money with which I had been fur- 
 nished failed me before the object was accom- 
 plished ; 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 off 
 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 comrades who were 
 lying concealed in the neighbouring fields, and 
 were half dyingof hunger : but, in the presentcase, 
 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, not- 
 
^1 
 
 withstanding my most vigorous resistance, and 
 left me in the hands of a gaoler, whose tokens 
 of affection remained upon my skin for several 
 weeks afterwards. 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 hy 
 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 amongst 
 a royalist population, and saw in every part of 
 the county preparations for a great effort in fa- 
 vour 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 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 Nor- 
 vdch,) but I met with many an old acquaint- 
 ance amongst the officers, and every kindness 
 was shown to the son of Captain Hall. As an 
 attack was expected early the next morning, 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 can- 
 not speak to thee now ! " 
 
 It was the first rebuff I had ever received 
 
28 
 
 from a Cavalier, and I thought that my heart 
 would have broke ; but I still clung to his stir- 
 rup, and said, " What, my Lord, have you forgot 
 Little Ball-o'-Fire ?" 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 farther con- 
 versation. The enemy had been more on the 
 alert than we expected, and were, by this time, 
 rapidly advancing, and the shot of their artil- 
 lery 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, ordered 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, 
 
24 
 
 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 gen- 
 tleman come up with a troop of Cavaliers. Ask 
 if he be Colonel Masterton: 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 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 » 
 
25 
 
 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 sol- 
 diers 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 address myself. I watched 
 him for a minute, as his keen rapid glance 
 ran over the confused spectacle that was pass- 
 ing 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, " Colo- 
 nel Masterton." 
 
 " Well, my little man," he replied, with a 
 look of surprise, " what is it ? " 
 
 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 
 
 VOL. I. c 
 
26 
 
 then asked '' Can you lead me by some by-path 
 to the left of the enemy's Ime ?" 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 any where 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 moment drove them to 
 the devil. 
 
 I ran on as hard as I could to see what was 
 going forward, 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 
 I beheld, amongst the Parliamentarian foot, 
 was that of the man who had killed my father. 
 
27 
 
 I never forget faces, and his I was not likely to 
 forget. The fellow was pike in hand, in front 
 of the young cavalier ; and I had just time to 
 mark him so as not to be mistaken, when Colo- 
 nel 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 I contrived to keep 
 near Colonel Masterton's regiment through the 
 w^hole aifair, till just w^hen 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 
 gentleman seemed surprised to find me so near . 
 him;' and after another charge upon a body of 
 the London troopers we made our way for- 
 ward, 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 considered as a battle w^on, for we 
 
 were ultimately obliged to retreat. After a 
 
 c 2 
 
^8 
 
 long, severe march we halted for the night, and 
 I remained quartered with Colonel Masterton 
 and his regiment, and was treated with the 
 greatest kindness both by officers and men. 
 It was soon fomid that the army, being chiefly 
 composed of raw and ill-disciplined troops, could 
 not be held together ; and the same night Colo- 
 nel Masterton was ordered to lead his regiment 
 towards the right of the enemy's line of ad- 
 vance, 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 outpost 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 circumstances, although attached to 
 the royal cause, had not called upon themselves 
 the indignation of the Parliament, in near so 
 high a degree as it had been excited against 
 
59 
 
 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. 
 
 c 3 
 
CHAPTERS II. III. IV. V. VI.» 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 * * * * * 
 
 * ^ ^ ^ * 
 
 * The above chapters are omitted by the editor of this 
 ^'ork, inasmuch as every fact contained in them is to be 
 found much more fully detailed in the " Memou's of Henry 
 Masterton, Lord Masterton ; " and it may be only neces- 
 sary to add, for the information of such persons as are un- 
 fortunate 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. Farther, 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 promp- 
 titude 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 Mas-^ 
 
31 
 
 terton 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 modifi- 
 cation 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. 
 
 c 4 
 
CHAPTER yil. 
 
 When all these aiFairs were settled, and my 
 young Lord Masterton and fair lady were look- 
 ing 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 contributing to render other people happy, 
 there are few things more tiresome than look- 
 ing on after the work is complete. I loved 
 Lord Masterton, it is true, as sincerely 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 
 
33 
 
 motives tliat I loved them. Nevertheless, 1 
 acknowledge again that the time hmig very 
 hea\y upon my hands ; and after the first 
 week of the honeymoon, with all its bustle and 
 its gaiety was over, I began to long for some- 
 thing new. 
 
 I have no doubt that Lord Masterton, wlio 
 was keen enough in perceiving other people's 
 feelings, had no difficulty in understanding that 
 the happiness of himself and his wife was too 
 quiet and tranquil in its nature to be very 
 amusing to other people ; and knowing per- 
 fectly that I was of a disposition to which 
 activity, either mental or corporeal, was ab- 
 solutely 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- education. 
 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 
 ?ai attempt was made to cram me with Greek, 
 which I resisted with all the repugnance of 
 c 5 
 
S4 
 
 a child for an emetic. Still Lord Master ton, 
 thinking himself bound to act the part of an 
 elder brother to the orphan boy he had taken 
 imder 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 
 possible 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 no- 
 ticed any of the fretful and impatient move- 
 ments 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 I 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 supe- 
 
35 
 
 riority of his mind, to complain 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 I 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 re- 
 ceived directions from my Lord to prepare to 
 accompany him on a long ride. 
 
 This was all veiy pleasant to me, especially 
 as it seemed to augur something new ; and no 
 language that ever yet I heard is adequate to 
 describe the sort of thu'st for some novelty — 
 some change in my situation — which then con- 
 sumed me. Gladly did I get myself ready, gladly 
 did I mount my horse ; and, riding forward witli 
 Lord Masterton alone, while the grooms re- 
 mained at a good distance behind, I gave way to 
 all the \\dld gladness of my heart. 
 
 Lord Masterton suffered the first burst of joy 
 to have its full course, and smiled as he re- 
 c 6 
 
36 
 
 marked 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 se- 
 rious to say to you." 
 
 In a moment I was all attention, and he pro- 
 ceeded : — 
 
 " I was in hopes," he said, " to have kept 
 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 have parted 
 with you in order to have placed you in some 
 station where you might win honour, and make 
 your way to fame. For such a purpose, how- 
 ever, it was necessary that all those points which 
 circumstances had caused your father to neglect 
 in your education should be supplied here, and 
 I consequently have endeavoured to obtain for 
 you every sort of instruction which this country 
 can afford." 
 
 '* Indeed, my Lord," I cried, as he paused 
 for a moment, ^^ I am not of the wood of which 
 men make a scholar, and I am afraid, if my 
 getting on in the world is ever to depend upon 
 
37 
 
 my learning, that I shall drop by the wayside 
 from pure weariness." 
 
 *^ I have come to the same conclusion too," 
 he answered, in a tone which expressed some 
 degree of mortification, 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 had hoped, in- 
 deed, that it would wear away, though Lord 
 Langleigh assured me that it would not ; but 
 now having given you the trial, having added 
 something to your stock of knowledge, and hav- 
 ing found that your distaste to study increased 
 rather than diminished, I have determined 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 I 
 should have thrown myself at his feet to pour 
 forth the gratitude that swelled in my heart. 
 Words, however, were not wanting; and al- 
 though I never made use of more than served 
 
my purpose, yet I contrived to make him un- 
 derstand 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 implies 
 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 
 before me the tears rose in my eyes. 
 
 " Such, nevertheless, must be the case," he 
 continued ; *' 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 \\dth you ? " Lord Masterton 
 smiled. — *' I am afraid," he replied, '^ that I 
 cannot mingle in the scenes of civil strife that 
 are going on here, solely to find occupation 
 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 return to our subject : 
 it becomes us now to think of 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 gentle- 
 man who was here the other day, with our good 
 friend Monsieiu* de Vitray, was pleased with 
 your history, and expressed a desire for just 
 such a boy as you, to bring up in his ovm steps, 
 which have ever been foremost in the field of 
 battle." 
 
 *' Who, who was that?" I cried eagerly. " I 
 
40 
 
 saw them all. Was it the dark man with the 
 heavy hangmg brow ? I do not like him." 
 
 '* No, no," he answered. ** It was Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin who sat at table on Lord 
 Langleigh's left, with dark hair, just mingled 
 with grey, and a scar across his forehead." 
 
 '' I Hke him," I replied, " I like him !" and 
 Lord Masterton 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 in- 
 terests and your happiness. Lord Langleigh is 
 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 degrading for the 
 son of the first nobleman in the land to be- 
 come 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 
 
41 
 
 reach the usual age, we are willmg 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 irrevocably." 
 
 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 ac- 
 tivity once more, was all joy ; and if there had 
 been any thing which could have given 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 I 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 consider- 
 ation in my lookings forward towards the future ; 
 but the memory of some pains and some degrad- 
 
ations whicli I had suffered did certainly cross 
 any mind for a single moment, though without 
 any power to affect my hopes or purposes. By 
 the liberality, however, of my kind protectors, 
 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 nobleman'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 I 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 an- 
 ticipations 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 I expressed at leaving him, he 
 had himself known what the spirit of adventm'e 
 was too well not to make full allowance for the 
 passionate desire of novelty that I felt, and for 
 
43 
 
 the restless love of change which habit had, in 
 my case, rendered second nature. 
 
 To hear the success of Lord Langleigh's mis- 
 sion was now my thirst. But he did not re- 
 turn for several houi's, and I was obliged to 
 bridle my impatience the best way I could. 
 When he did appear, however, his countenance, 
 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 Master ton was 
 out of the way, I was still compelled to digest 
 my curiosity till the next morning. Before 
 breakfast, however, I 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 informed me, \vith his 
 usual prompt but somewhat sparkling manner, 
 that the Due de Villardin had very wilhngly 
 agreed to all that he proposed. 
 
 <* You are not to think," he added, " from 
 his readiness to take you, urchin/' — the name 
 
44 
 
 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- 
 marshal of. My son-in-law tells me, what in- 
 deed I very well knew vsdthout 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 in- 
 trigue, 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 
 
45 
 
 tender point ; and, though I was young enough 
 to think of such matters lightly, yet, during the 
 nine 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 ^nd eagerly ; and his words sunk 
 down into my heart, producing therein the first 
 of many changes which I shall yet have to 
 notice in my principles and conduct, as in pass- 
 ing 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 re- 
 gret the past ; but from that moment I formed 
 my determination 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 
 
46 
 
 at all necessary. 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 
 Monsieur de Villardin himself by the chief 
 ecuyer of Lord Langleigh, who accompanied 
 me into Paris. 
 
 My new Lord received me very graciously, 
 and promised me great things if I attached my- 
 self to him as zealously as I had done to Lord 
 Masterton. His countenance, I have already 
 said, had pleased me from the first ; and it cer- 
 tainly was one well calculated to command both 
 respect and regard. Nevertheless, as I came 
 to know him better, I rema^rked occasionally 
 two expressions which I had not at first ob- 
 served, but which ware strongly indicative of 
 his real character, or, rather, of his faults. The 
 first was a quick, sharp, enquiring, perhaps 
 fierce expression, when any thing was said in an 
 under tone by the persons around him. This, 
 however, passed away in a minute ; but the se- 
 
47 
 
 cond, which consisted in a tremendous gather* 
 ing together of the brows when any one 
 seriously oiFended him, would last for some 
 hours, and it was evidently with difficulty that 
 he could re-assume his usual gay and cheerful 
 manner, through the whole of the rest of the 
 day. 
 
 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 feehngs 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 revenge- 
 ful. At the same time I discovered, by other 
 circumstances, that he was highly sensitive to 
 ridicule ; and that, knovnng well to how many 
 jests he would expose himself if he sufiered his 
 irritable jealousy to appear, he laboured stre- 
 
48 
 
 nuously to cover it by the same light and witty 
 manner of treating every thing, v^^hich 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 harmonise 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 im- 
 mediately after I had been presented to him- 
 self, 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 ; 
 considerably 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 do- 
 mestic discomfort had tamed the light heart and 
 banished the vanities of youth, she had de- 
 cidedly that love of admiration which has often, 
 
49 
 
 in this world, done more harm to a woman's 
 character, than half-a-dozen faux pas. It mat- 
 tered 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 influ- 
 ence : a thousand little airs would she assume 
 to excite attention; and bright and sparkling 
 was the triumph which lighted up her eyes when 
 she had succeeded in captivating or attracting. 
 In the 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 husband 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 
 
 VOL. I. D 
 
50 
 
 of little more than six years old, who afterw^ards 
 became my frequent playfellow. 
 
 Having introduced me to his lady, and told 
 her several particulars of m,y history, adding no 
 small commendations thereunto on my own 
 behaviour, the Duke summoned 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 apartment, which consisted of 
 two small, neat chambers, on the lower story, 
 looking out into the coui't. Excellent old Je- 
 rome 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, 
 generally end in impudence and intrigue. His 
 
51 
 
 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 any where, and in any cir- 
 cumstances. 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 page- 
 hood, I could have any thing better in my cha- 
 racter than the pert sauciness of its latter 
 epoch ; and, having conceived this bad opinion 
 of me, the good old man very soon civilly told 
 me, that he would lead me to the page's room, 
 where I would find three others, as gay and 
 bold as myself. But before I proceed to this 
 new theatre on which my yomig abilities were 
 destined to display themselves, let me add that, 
 ere many days had passed, I found means to 
 convince worthy Jerome Laborde that the cir- 
 cumstances of my former life had rendered me 
 a very different creature from any he had yet 
 D 2 
 
 LIBRARY 4 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF lUJNOIS 
 
52 . 
 
 met with in all his long experience of pages. 
 The injustice that he found he had done me, 
 added to the favourable impression he after- 
 wards 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 signalise 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 previously 
 stipulated that T should enjoy. On entering the 
 page's 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, of course, I 
 became the subject of their raillery, and for 
 some time submitted to afford them matter for 
 amusement. Their first employment was, na- 
 tm'ally, the examination of my dress, which I 
 could see, by a frequent shrug of the shoulders, 
 and the words mauvais goiit, did not parti- 
 cularly please these juvenile petit-mattres. 
 
53 
 
 Going from that, however, to other matters, 
 they carried their jocularity so far, that I 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 intended them to occupy during 
 the rest of my stay in the family. I conse- 
 quently took advantage of the first insolent 
 word spoken by the eldest — who appeared to 
 have a right prescriptive to tjrrannise — and, 
 having drubbed him more heartily than ever he 
 was drubbed before, I proceeded to reduce 
 the two others to a complete state of discipline 
 and subordination. 
 
 It may easily be supposed that all this was 
 not effected without considerable noise ; for 
 though we were all small enough to have lain 
 quiet in any house, my three companions were 
 very vociferous. Just as I was 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, notwithstand- 
 ing all they had suffered from him in former times, 
 D 3 
 
54 
 
 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 con- 
 flict. This discovery, however, did not prevent 
 my giving full force to my blow, and my an- 
 tagonist measured his length upon the floor at 
 his master's feet. 
 
 <« Yery well struck for a coup d'essai,'' cried 
 the Duke, walking in ; ^' every fresh dog must 
 of course fight his way through the pack ; 
 but now, young gentlemen, as your new com- 
 rade seems to have satisfied you pretty well 
 that his must be the first station amongst you 
 right of superior strength and activity, I 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 eye^\. 
 
55 
 
 me from under Ms bent brows with a look that 
 was sufficient warning that I had gained an 
 enemy. This was an acquisition not particu- 
 larly disagreeable to me; for, to tell the truth, 
 I had at that time been so much more ac- 
 customed to deal with enemies than friends, 
 that I hardly felt in my element without them ; 
 and, indeed, as I 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 after- 
 wards; but how 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 I 
 have mentioned the childish squabble which 
 took place between me and the other pages, had 
 it not been necessary to explain the origin of a 
 D 4 
 
56 
 
 good solid hatred whicli Gaspard de Belleville 
 conceived towards me, and which lasted, un- 
 diminished, through life, rendering his own 
 days miserable, and ha\dng quite sufficient effect 
 upon my fate to show me that we should never 
 make an enemy when we can make a friend. 
 
57 
 
 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 qua- 
 lities of knave and fool. The parliament was 
 playing the fool in Paris, and yet sacrificing 
 the country to the nicest calculations of its own 
 interest. The party of the Duke of Bouillon 
 was playing the fool, and letting slip every op- 
 portunity 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 playing the 
 fool at St. Germain, treating weakly where it 
 D 5 
 
58 
 
 might have acted vigorously, and yet cheating 
 all the other parties vdth the most consummate 
 art. 
 
 The situation of France at the time I entered 
 Paris was, in a fev^ 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-lay e, shut out of the city of 
 Paris, which they were besieging v^dthout a suf- 
 ficient 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 pre- 
 vented 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 do 
 Conti, and the Archbishop de Retz, laboured 
 night and day to keep both people and par- 
 
59 
 
 liament in a state of agitation and excitement, 
 in order that each of these worthy and notable 
 leaders might wring from the weakness of a 
 regency every sort of gift, honourj and emolu- 
 ment. 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 con- 
 tradicting their own established characters ap- 
 peared to have seized upon every one. Ac- 
 knowledged cowards led armies and rushed into 
 battle, the most faithful tiu:ned traitors, the 
 most honest became knaves, the firm were in a 
 continual state of vacillation, the wise shovv-ed 
 themselves fools, and the brave ran away. 
 However, as it became evident to the Parisian 
 generals that the parliament was inclined to se- 
 parate from the people, and make peace with 
 the court for itself, before the concessions were 
 granted which they, the generals, demanded for 
 themselves, they determined to do their best, ])y 
 means of the people within the city and of armies 
 without, to compel the parliament to be honest to 
 D 6 
 
60 
 
 them and dishonest to the court. Negotiations 
 were immediately opened with the Spanish go- 
 vernment of the Low Countries, Spanish ambas- 
 sadors 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 tlie 
 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 negotia- 
 tions. 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 
 
61 
 
 *' Down with Mazarin ! down with the par- 
 liament !" 
 
 By the time that we issued forth into the 
 streets to take our way to the building where 
 the great judicial body was assembled, the 
 rumour had become still more general, and 
 the crowds, of course, were increased. No- 
 thing was heard but cries and shouts, and what 
 were then called Mazarinades. Poniards, mus- 
 kets, pikes, and swords were in all hands ; and 
 so very indiscriminate was the use which the peo- 
 ple 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 in safety. The numbers in the 
 neighbourhood of the palais were still more 
 immense and vociferous ; and even the crowd 
 of guards who were keeping the court and the 
 doors of the building 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 en- 
 
62 
 
 tered 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 ex- 
 claim from amongst 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 plea- 
 santries upon the parliament, upon Mazarin, up- 
 on himself, upon the court, and upon everything, 
 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 reduce them to order and de- 
 cency. Now Monsieur de Villardin 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, v/hich 
 could only serve to inflame still farther the minds 
 of a mad and excited populace, can only be ac- 
 counted for upon the grounds of the general 
 insanity which seemed at that time to have 
 seized upon all ranks and classes. 
 
 This oration being finished, we entered the 
 Parliament House ; and, by the special favour of 
 one of the door-keepers, my new lord was per- 
 mitted to take me with him into the interior of 
 the building, perhaps anticipating 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 j^as j^erdus, which was full of people 
 of all sorts and descriptions ; guards, door-keep- 
 ers, and officers of the pedals; counsellors, 
 statesmen, members of the different chambers, 
 and the mixed crowd of attendants belonging to 
 
64 
 
 all those who were thronging to the parliament 
 on the present momentous occasion. Passing 
 onward, through the small refreshment rooms 
 called Les Buvettds, where no obstacle was pre- 
 sented 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 disgrace- 
 ful confusion has seldom perhaps been witnessed. 
 Half-a-dozen people were upon their feet ha- 
 ranguing at once; and several minutes elapsed 
 before any thing could be heard except a con- 
 fused gabble of tongues, which might have done 
 honour to the top of the tower of Babel. 
 
 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 deter- 
 mined pertinacity of the party, obtained the as- 
 cendency ; 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 ofiicer, occupied one of the prin- 
 cipal places of the assembly, — " now, Sir Presi- 
 dent, since I can make myself heard, I demand 
 
65 
 
 distinctly whether you or any of your fellow- 
 deputies have, at your conference with Mazarin 
 and the court, made any provision whatever for 
 the secui'ity 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," 
 answered the President, *' I will, with the per- 
 mission of the parliament, read the joroces ver- 
 bal of our proceedings at the conference at Ruel. 
 Then having seen what we have really done, the 
 chambers will be enabled to judge whether 
 they caa 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 thing! Your autho- 
 rity expired four or five days ago ! There is no 
 peace ; we will have no peace! The deputies 
 liave gone beyond their powers ; they have aban- 
 doned 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 
 
66 
 
 were drowned in murmurs and reproaches ; 
 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 tur- 
 bulence had not even the impressiveness 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 scold- 
 ing in a market. 
 
 After the silence of perhaps a minute which 
 ensued, a little pale young man, who seemed to 
 me slightly deformed, and who I afterwards 
 found was the Prince de Conti, rose near the 
 head of the hall, and said, in a mild and sweet- 
 toned voice, that he did wonder that the depu- 
 ties from the parliament had thought fit to con- 
 clude a peace with the court, without consulting 
 himself and the generals of the army. Another 
 person, who was afterwards addressed as the 
 Duke de Bouillon, with a broad, unmeaning 
 countenance, which, however, lighted up in an 
 extraordinary manner when he began to speak, 
 
followed the Prince de Conti in addressing tlie 
 parliament : — 
 
 " Gentlemen," lie said, " since you have 
 thought fit to conclude a peace mth the court, 
 and allowed the Cardinal Mazarin, whose en- 
 mity I have so highly provoked 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 dis- 
 avow it. The deputies had no power," cried a 
 dozen voices at once; and every body again be- 
 gan 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, but whose good looks were 
 principally composed of high health and stu- 
 pidity, laid his hand upon the hilt of his sword, 
 and declared that it should never draw blood 
 for Mazarin. Another protested that the par- 
 liament had rendered itself for ever unworthy 
 of the confidence of the people ; and, what be- 
 
68 
 
 tween 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 mo- 
 mentary pause, when every tongue, as if by 
 common consent, halted to take breath, he 
 passed behind the famous De Retz, then arch- 
 bishop-coadjutor of Paris, snatched forth a po- 
 niard, which he had espied lying concealed in 
 the bosom of that factious prelate, and, holding 
 it up to the eyes of the parliament, exclaimed, 
 ** 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 
 law}^ers, called the President de Coigneux, 
 
69 
 
 rose, and made the most sensible proposition 
 which had yet been heard; namely, that, as 
 the deputies had acted without authority, 
 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 permitted to take it for 
 the basis of a new one, should be directed, in 
 addition, to stipulate for immunity and recom- 
 pense to the generals and nobles who had en- 
 gaged in the cause of the parliament. 
 
 He had not yet concluded his harangue, how- 
 ever, when a tremendous noise in the court below, 
 and even in the hall without, together with loud 
 shouts of " Down with Mazarin ! Down with 
 the parhament ! 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 sten- 
 torian 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 tremendous that 
 
70 
 
 what he said could not be distinguished; and 
 the moment after the great door of the hall 
 opened, and one of the doorkeepers entered, 
 pale and trembhng, 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 Beaufort. 
 
 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 afterwards — went out and tran- 
 quillised the people for a few minutes; 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 mem- 
 ber of the deputation which had signed the peace, 
 the anger of the multitude was most fiercely ex- 
 cited — still maintained his place with calm dig- 
 nity; and declared, without the slightest shade 
 of fear detracting from his perfect self-possession, 
 that a proposition being before the parliament, 
 
71 
 
 it could not separate without com'ng to some 
 decision on the subject. The motion that the 
 deputies should be sent back was immediately 
 put ; and was carried with somewhat timid ra- 
 pidity. The next question was, how to get the 
 obnoxious deputies to their houses with their 
 lives, especially the Chief President, who, not- 
 withstanding 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 ordi- 
 nary time, and on any ordinary occasion ; and, for 
 a moment after, there followed a general pause, 
 while the whole assembly looked upon him 
 with a feeling of interest and apprehension that 
 is difficult to describe. Even I, myself, who 
 had never seen him before, and now, as I stood 
 behind, under one of the arches, only caught an 
 occasional view of him through the crowd, felt 
 that I would have shed my own blood to save 
 him. Every body present was well aware that 
 there existed a thousand chances to one that 
 he would be massacred the moment he showed 
 his face amongst the infuriated mob without ; 
 
72 
 
 but lie himself did not seem to feel that he was 
 an object of any particular attention, or to sup- 
 pose that there was any imminent danger, 
 though he must have been internally convinced 
 that his life was not certain for a moment. 
 C-almly rising, however, after he had declared 
 the vote of the chambers, and hadpronounced 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 Bouil- 
 lon and several other officers, amongst whom 
 my new lord was one, pressed about him, and 
 entreated him to pass round by the writing- 
 rooms at the back of the building, 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 com- 
 mit such an act of cowardice as to go out by 
 any but the way to which I am accustomed." 
 
 ** At least," cried the Archbishop, " do not 
 attempt to proceed till I have endeavoured to 
 calm the people." 
 
73 
 
 A bitter smile curled the lip of tlie Pre- 
 sident, who well knew that prelate to be the 
 instigator of half the sedition which took place 
 in the city; but he rephed, 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 amongst the officers surrounded 
 liim as he advanced, in order to protect him; 
 and Monsieur de Villardin, placing himself on 
 his right hand, bade me go on immediately be- 
 fore, 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 expect great things from them is the best of 
 all ways to cause them to use great exertions ; 
 
 VOL. I, E 
 
74 
 
 and the words that I overheard at once made me 
 determine to leave nothing undone that could 
 show^ my zeal or activity. The rest of the po- 
 pular nobles and lawyers now approached to 
 protect the other deputies, and thus we ad- 
 vanced to the door. When we were close to it, 
 the huissier threw it open, and a sight certainly 
 somewhat appalling presented itself. The outer 
 hall was filled to suffocation vdth a dense 
 mass of ill-favoured vagabonds, who presented 
 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 combmation 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 parliament, none upon me, I advanced, 
 
75 
 
 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 ; and, therefore, setting my heel upon his 
 toes, I gave them a gentle squeeze', which made 
 him start back, roaring, upon those behind him. 
 The tumult, 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 half 
 way through the hall. We lost no time in tak- 
 ing advantage of this favourable circumstance ; 
 but, before we had proceeded far, Du Boisle 
 threw himself in the way of the President, 
 and addressed him in language which at once 
 showed why his oratory was so much more suc- 
 cessful in a mob than in a court of justice. As 
 his harangue was rather lengthy, and a crowd, 
 like damp hay, always heats itself by standing 
 close packed together, I soon saw brandishing 
 of weapons, and caught a sight of two or 
 E 2 
 
76 
 
 three men mounting upon the benches at the 
 back, and calmly taking aim, with their muskets, 
 at various persons in our little party. It there- 
 fore seemed necessary to bring the advocate's 
 oration 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 amongst 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 confu- 
 sion which followed, the President and his com- 
 panions pushed forward, 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 multitude followed, 
 shouting imprecations upon us ; and as we en- 
 deavoured to disperse, after having accomplished 
 our purpose, a thousand scenes of confusion and 
 
77 
 
 brutality ensued. What became of the other no- 
 bles and counsellors, 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 conspicuous in defend- 
 ing the President, he was surrounded and at- 
 tacked 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 attendance upon him. At that 
 moment, however, a young cavalier of not more 
 than four or five and twenty years of age, fol- 
 lowed by two or three servants, dashed in 
 amongst the butchers, received in his own arm 
 the blow of the dagger which was intended 
 for the Duke's throat, and cleared the space 
 round him. 
 
 E 3 
 
78 
 
 At the same time, though he was sharply- 
 wounded, he exclaimed, with the utmost good 
 humour, " What 1 gentlemen, are you going 
 to kill your friends ? This is no Mazarin ! 
 This is one of the generals. Do you not re- 
 member Monsieur de Villardin ? " It is astonish- 
 ing 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 laudable em- 
 ployment 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. 
 
 As soon as we were left alone, the Duke 
 turned to his deliverer, and expressed his grati- 
 tude 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 
 
79 
 
 remain one moment longer ignorant of the name 
 of one to whom I am so deeply indebted." 
 
 " I can well believe that you have forgot me," 
 answered 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 
 Britany." 
 
 *' Good Heaven, my dear Count, is it pos- 
 sible ? " exclaimed Monsieur de Yillardin : " I 
 had, indeed, forgot you ; but you were merely 
 a boy when I last saw you. You are changed 
 indeed. I never thought to see you such a 
 height. You are taller by full two inches than 
 your father was. Gracious Heaven! but you 
 are bleeding," 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 Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin : ** call up my horses. Are 
 those yours standing yonder, Count ? " 
 E 4 
 
80 
 
 The reply was in the affirmative; and the 
 young cavalier added, that seeing Monsieur de 
 Villardin coming out of the palais, he had fol- 
 lowed on foot to claim acquaintance with him. 
 
 I was not long in finding the grooms ; and 
 the two gentlemen having mounted, we rode 
 home, after having spent a morning as full of 
 bustle as even 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. 
 
81 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 A.FTER supping with the pages, whose meals 
 were taken in a separate chamber, I enquired 
 of the old major-domo, who I 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, learning 
 that I might absent myself in security, I told 
 my old adviser that I should ^o out into the 
 streets of Paris, and take a stroll through the 
 city, which I had not seen since I left it vsdth 
 Lord Masterton many months before. The good 
 old man gave me a great many sage and prudent 
 cautions as to my behaviour ; but, at the same 
 time, having a billet to send to his nephew, one 
 Jacques Marlot, a printer, who hved upon the 
 Key of the Goldsmiths, he did not at all oppose 
 my expedition, but, on the contrary, requested 
 me to dehver the note as I went. 
 
 I willingly undertook the task, and sallied 
 forth full of glad thoughts, and well disposed 
 
 £ 5 
 
to be pleased with every thing that a great city 
 could present. 
 
 To tell the truth, my freedom from the 
 irksome restraint 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, perhaps, 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 de- 
 scribe. 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 demorahsation of the whole people 
 more completely than it had done, by this time, 
 in the French capital. It luckily happened, 
 
83 
 
 however, that, though 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 gaiety, the bustle, 
 and the livehness of the people, the witty ri- 
 baldry of their songs and jests, their easily 
 excited merriment, and their extravagant gri- 
 maces. All this certainly pleased and interested 
 me ; and I met with many a sight to attract 
 my attention and arrest my steps as I walked 
 on to the Quai des Orfevres. However, I 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 imhke the busts of Socra- 
 tes, if we can conceive the countenance of the 
 philosopher covered over with a florid and 
 B 6 
 
84 
 
 somewhat wine-imbued skin, and lighted np 
 with two sparkling small black eyes, full of 
 unquenchable fire and malice. 
 
 At the time that I entered he was busily 
 engaged, though in total soHtude, in despatch- 
 ing the goodly form of a fat roasted capon, which 
 he took care to bathe in repeated draughts from 
 a tankard of warm wine which stood in his 
 chimney corner. He received me with the sort 
 of gay civility, which his whole demeanour 
 bespoke ; and, opening his uncle's note, grinned 
 merrily at the contents ; observing that his re- 
 lation 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. 
 
 *' Mafoi" he added, " I vdll make my peace 
 as they have made theirs, with arms in my 
 hand ;" and, setting me down a cup, he insisted 
 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 
 
85 
 
 Paris, should be able to afford rich Burgundy, and 
 to feed upon fat capon ; but I soon found that, 
 being of a very unscrupulous nature, Master 
 Jacques Marlot obtained large prices for printing 
 all those defamatory libels against Mazarin, the 
 Queen, and the whole court, which then formed 
 the amusement and the reproach of the city. 
 It was his rule never to enquire who the au- 
 thors 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 might add, many a reverend pen, 
 poured forth its gall from under the mantle of 
 Jacques Marlot, 
 
 My promptitude in catching his bo?i 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 between himself and me, he invited me 
 cordially to come back and see him again in a 
 few days at the same hour, which I did not fail 
 
86 
 
 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 epi- 
 curean, in the whole life and conduct of Jacques 
 Marlot, that I 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 every one shall have an op- 
 portunity of judging ; for this casual acquaint- 
 ance, formed under such very common-place 
 circumstances, went on into after years, and 
 followed me through many a strange scene to 
 distant parts of the land. Those scenes, how- 
 ever, will, themselves, require too long detail 
 for me to pause upon our less interesting in- 
 terviews ; 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 hons mots and anec- 
 dotes in half an hour than had met my ear for 
 many a day before. 
 
87 
 
 On my return home, I found a neat small 
 room, not far from the apartments of the good 
 major-domo, prepared as my lodging ; and by 
 the time I had half undressed myself, in order 
 to go to bed, I was surprized to see the door 
 open, and Monsieur de Yillardin 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 rebellion at 
 the very thought, partly engendered by my old 
 habits of independence, partly by the sense of 
 having in a degree recovered it anew. To my 
 good young lord, whom I had lately left, I 
 had been bound by ties of affection and grati- 
 tude, which would have made me do any thing 
 to please him, and which 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 Villardin, at least 
 as yet; and I determined to show him that, 
 though I was perfectly wilHng to give him every 
 sort of attendance when he required it, yet 
 that I looked upon the rest of my time as at 
 
88 
 
 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 gen- 
 tle blood in my veins as he had ; and, in short, 
 I 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 
 began upon quite a different topic, without tak- 
 ing the slightest notice of my late absence. 
 
 Setting down the taper that he carried, he 
 threw himself 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 page, we have begun together, this 
 morning, as well as I could wish, and I find 
 that the character I have received with you does 
 you no more than justice : I doubt not that 
 every hour will increase my regard for you ; and 
 I shall take care that you have every opportu- 
 nity 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 
 
89 
 
 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 Yil- 
 lardin, "it is but right that we should clearly 
 understand upon what terms we are to go on to- 
 gether. Now," he continued, 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 you also, — 
 " now, I am not in the least a suspicious man ; 
 far from it ; by nature I am quite the contrary ; 
 nevertheless, I think it but right that every 
 master of a large household like this should be 
 thoroughly acquainted with all that takes place 
 in his dwelKng. 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 under- 
 stood very well what he meant ; and I was sure 
 
90 
 
 tliat, altliougli he felt some difficulty in explain- 
 ing himself at first, he would not be long before 
 he found an opportunity of doing so completely. 
 However, I thought my usual straightforward 
 way was the best, and I answered, " I am al- 
 ways frank and free, my Lord. I say what I 
 think to every body, and of every body." 
 
 *^ So I have heard, so I have heard, " said 
 the Duke ; " and I must desire that you do so, 
 particularly towards me, remembering that I 
 look upon a person who would see his master 
 wronged as fully more culpable than the per- 
 son who wrongs liim." 
 
 ** 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 own person, 
 I shall hold myself bound to tell you, in order 
 that you may do it. I am sure your Lordship 
 does not wish me to become a spy upon any 
 body, nor would it have any effect if you did ; 
 for I would not remain in the house of any one 
 half an hour who was to require such a thing 
 of me." 
 
91 
 
 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 convinced that Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin, — from some of those vague 
 and visionary douhts which haunt the minds 
 of suspicious men, the spectres of a diseased 
 imagination, — would have liked me to watch all 
 the events of any importance 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 disho- 
 nourable. I know you are of gentle blood, and 
 have served well in a noble cause ; and there- 
 fore, 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 course, I 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 
 
92 
 
 that I had made it. Not that I did not con- 
 sider 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 good lord might construe 
 my words rather more liberally than I had in- 
 tended them to be understood. As they were 
 spoken, however, there was no help for it ; and 
 though I repeated over again, — to make the 
 engagement as clear and definite as possible, — 
 that I 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 in- 
 clined to concede. I found indeed, afterwards, 
 that he himself very well understood, that 
 there was another way of making it, a point 
 of honour vdth me to do as he desired, 
 which was by loading me vdth benefits, and 
 bestowing on me that confidence, which would 
 have rendered it an act of the greatest ingra- 
 titude on my part to conceal from him any 
 attempt to injure him. 
 
 Satisfied with the promise I had made, and 
 
93 
 
 determined with regard to the course he would 
 pursue towards 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 Wilmerton, my mother's father, some fifteen 
 years before ; and ended by giving me an assur- 
 ance, which he nobly accomplished, that thence- 
 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 pro- 
 mises he had made, and which I fully beheved 
 he would keep, still presented some clouds and 
 shadows that I certainly could have wished away. 
 After this conversation I was almost con- 
 tinually mth Monsieur de Villardin, especially 
 as, in all those exercises 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 into which I could have 
 
94 
 
 "wisbed them to fall. Master Gaspard de Belle- 
 ville, the eldest of my three companions, sub- 
 mitted to necessity with a somewhat bad grace ; 
 and the two younger, as soon as they had become 
 reconciled to me as their new comrade, and ac- 
 customed to my manners and accent, sought 
 shelter under my protection 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 
 vrith 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 unmarked 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 ene- 
 
95 
 
 my'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 I could wish. 
 
 This state of things, however, could not, of 
 course, last for ever ; and had no other circum- 
 stance occurred to interrupt its duration, the 
 gradual recovery of Monsieur 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 
 eventually occasioned my departure from Paris 
 rather faster than I approved of. The first 
 treaty of peace which had been signed was in- 
 dignantly rejected, as we have seen, by the 
 parliament, the populace, and the generals ; and 
 the deputies were again sent back to treat at 
 Ruel. During their conferences, as an armis- 
 tice had been refused. Monsieur de Villardin 
 and others took care to amuse Mazarin by fre- 
 quent excursions, which sometimes were pushed 
 to the gates of St. Germain. Mazarin, always 
 timid, made concessions in proportion to his 
 
96 
 
 alarm; but, at the same time, as he loved not 
 the sort of arms with which the Parisian ge- 
 nerals fought him, he took care to combat 
 them with weapons peculiarly his own. Three 
 fresh armies, as I have said, were directing their 
 course towards Paris in support of the parlia- 
 ment. 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 incor- 
 ruptible, 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 thii'd, 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 produced 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, 
 
97 
 
 in the abstract, to yield to any measure caU 
 culated to put it down. Thus, then, the war 
 was brought to an end; but still so turbulent 
 and disorganised was the state of Paris, that the 
 court dared not set foot within its walls ; and, 
 while the people were committing every sort of 
 excess, and the most scandalous Hbels upon 
 Mazarin and the royal family were every day 
 published, the parliament, in order to signalise 
 their zeal for their new allies, the court, pro- 
 ceeded against the authors and printers with 
 the most tyrannical severity. 
 
 Of course my good Mend Jacques Marlot 
 could not escape, and I one day found old Je- 
 rome Laborde, the major-domo, in great afflic- 
 tion on account of his nephew, who had been 
 arrested that morning for the publication of the 
 famous attack upon the queen, called *^ La Cus- 
 tode." 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 intelligence in 
 
 VOL. I. F 
 
98 
 
 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 I Aux Mazarins ! aux Mazarins ! " Run- 
 ning my eye a little forward, I soon perceived 
 that the cause of the tumult originated in the 
 procession of the criminal lieutenant and his 
 archers towards the place of execution, whither 
 they were carrying some condemned criminal to 
 make his last public appearance in the most dis- 
 agreeable manner. As it was evident that the 
 principal personage 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, notwith- 
 standing his endeavours to assume a sober and 
 sedate demeanour under the very grave circum- 
 stances in wliich he was placed. 
 
 Every sort of mad enterprise was then a» 
 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 Bourreau. 
 
 Amongst the mob were a great number of 
 
99 
 
 printers' devils, booksellers' boys, and other 
 shopmen ; and speaking a word or two to those 
 who seemed the most zealous, our plan was 
 quickly arranged, and spread like wild-fire 
 amongst 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 
 liim. He soon, however, reached the gibbet in 
 the Place de Greve, and poor Marlot turned, — 
 with a face out of which even his rueful situ- 
 ation could not banish entirely 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 mo- 
 ment 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 confusion ; and, 
 taking advantage of the moment, we pushed on 
 F 2 
 
100 
 
 and charged the panic-stmck officers of jtistice.* 
 Some of the guards were felled to the earth 5 
 some of them fled as fast as their legs would 
 carry them. The criminal lieutenant was beaten 
 severely, and glad to escape with his hfe ; and 
 Jacques Marlot was in an instant set at liberty, 
 amongst the shouts and gratulations of the 
 populace. 
 
 FeeUng that I 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 
 
 ♦ The Cardinal de Retz mentions in his Memoirs, that 
 two criminals were rescued, and seems to imply that they 
 were saved from the gallows together. Joly, whose work 
 forms a running commentary upon that of De Retz, shows 
 that the Cardinal spoke of Jacques Marlot, the printer, as 
 ane of these culprits, and mentions his crime, — though the 
 punishment of death for writing, or rather for printing, a 
 libel, may seem a little severe. It must be acknowledged, 
 indeed, that " La Custode," a copy of which exists in the 
 British Museum, is a most dirty and scurrilous attack 
 upon the Queen ; but still, the tyranny of the whole pro- 
 ceeding against this unhappy man seemed to justify the 
 hatred which the people conceived, about this time, to- 
 wards the great body of Parisian lawyers. 
 
101 
 
 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 
 deliverance. 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 Yillardin 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 throughout my little Hfe, whenever I had 
 committed a fault which I was conscious might 
 affect some other persons, to make them ac- 
 quainted vsdth it immediately, that they might 
 be upon their guard against the consequences ; 
 and, follovdng this rule, I at once went up to 
 Monsieur de Villardin, and informed him that I 
 beheved I had done a very foolish thing. 
 
 ** It is half repaired by acknowledging it so 
 frankly," replied the Duke ; " but what is it, 
 ^y boy* that we may do the best to remedy 
 it?" 
 
 Without farther circumlocution I informed 
 F 3 
 
10^ 
 
 him of the facts, which seemed to startle him a 
 good deal. 
 
 ** This is impleasant indeed," he replied, 
 " but in truth, I cannot find in my heart to he 
 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 recog- 
 nised. 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 they may have to do the next." 
 
 I 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 pro- 
 ceeded most zealously, not having the slightest 
 inclination to act as substitute for Jacques Mar- 
 lot in the elevated station which the criminal 
 judge of the Tournelle Court had destined him 
 to fill that very morning. The thoughts of such 
 a consummation to my enterprises disgusted 
 me considerably, as, of all deaths imder the 
 
103 
 
 sun, I had the greatest objection to that of 
 hanging ; and the idea thereof occupied me so 
 completely, that it was not till I had finished 
 the preparation of my saddle-bags, that I be- 
 thought 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 apart- 
 ments; 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 La- 
 borde," I said, as soon as I had obtained ad- 
 mission; " 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 fi:om certain au- 
 thority that his nephew had been delivered by 
 the hands of the people. He was at first in- 
 credulous, 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 
 F 4- 
 
104 
 
 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 vrent out 
 himself to ascertain the facts. I did not see 
 him afterwards till night ; but I was very well 
 assiu*ed that he must soon receive satisfactory 
 confirmation of the good tidings which I had 
 brought him. 
 
105 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Shortly after Monsieur de Villardin's return 
 on the day of which I have just heen 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 circum- 
 stance 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 handsome person was not 
 shown to less advantage by appearing in becom- 
 ing 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 beautiful, 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 
 F 5 
 
106 
 
 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, gaiety, good taste and 
 grace, could render it, my pleasure was of course 
 confined to seeing, others, without attracting the 
 slightest attention myself. Confounded with 
 the other pages, of whom there was an immense 
 profusion, nobody, in all probabiUty, 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 purposes, and gave not one idea 
 to any body else, except as they were con- 
 nected 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 their conversation to 
 
107 
 
 politics and factious intrigue ; while cunning 
 statesmen, deep lawyers, and reverend divines, 
 old warriors, and grey-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 carried along with him one or two 
 of his particular friends in the body of the 
 vehicle, I ruminated over my disappointment ; 
 too young, indeed, to investigate metaphysically 
 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 Vil- 
 lardin's friends descended and went in with 
 him, to pay their respects to the Duchess, who, 
 having been slightly indisposed, had remained 
 at home. He, of course, accompanied 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 
 F 6 
 
108 
 
 me attach to his words a greater degree of im- 
 portance 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 Gaspard de 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 kind- 
 ness 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 criminal lieutenant 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 
 
109 
 
 in the sort of perversity with which fate destined 
 me to be a wanderer, that I could not help 
 laughing, notwithstanding the difficulties of my 
 situation. 
 
 " You laugh, my son," cried the old man in 
 great astonishment, " 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. I 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 spending my whole 
 existence in a prison, that is a very different 
 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 permission." 
 
 " You are too quick, my son, you are too 
 quick," cried the old man ; ** it was the Duke 
 himself who 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- 
 
110 
 
 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 
 stiU. 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 Britany 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 wiU 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 ?" 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 
 
Ill 
 
 you have every thing ready, he says, go to 
 hed, 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 
 tiU 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 ^vishes and provided for my safety, better 
 than any I could have laid out for myself. It 
 offered me the prospect, 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 proceeded to put 
 it into execution with every feeling of joy and 
 gratitude. Good Jerome Labor de undertook 
 to have me called at the appointed hour, and, 
 accustomed from infancy to take repose at any 
 
112 
 
 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 
 was himself up ; and, as I afterwards discovered, 
 had risen at that early hour solely on my ac- 
 count; a mark of kindness and interest 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 Britany, 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 w^hich already appeared 
 the saddle-bags containing my wealth and ap- 
 parel. Old Jerome Laborde was also there, 
 ready to embrace me before I took my de- 
 parture ; and ere we set out, he did not forget to 
 burden the groom vnth a hissac loaded with 
 various Parisian dehcacies, to console me on my 
 journey. 
 
113 
 
 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 without 
 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 further, we saw a small open wood in 
 the neighbourhood of Epernon, into which we 
 retired for the purpose of lightening good Je- 
 rome Laborde's hissac of some of its savoury 
 contents. The groom, who, Hke most of Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin's domestics, 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 
 pate of turkey and trufl[les which formed the 
 staple of the hissac^ looked none the worse for 
 its crust having cracked in more than one place 
 
114 
 
 under the jumbling of our ride, suffering the 
 topaz-like jelly to shine forth through the aper- 
 tures. 
 
 Scarcely, however, had I time to help my- 
 self to a ponderous slice, and to add thereto 
 a portion of wild boar's face, which exceeded 
 any , Hampshire chaw I ever tasted, when I 
 fancied that I heard a low groan quite near. 
 The sound made me start up and look around ; 
 but as I could perceive nothing, as hunger was 
 um'uly, 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 demolished 
 the sHce 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 began 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 moment after the 
 body of a man appeared, cautiously descending 
 from the higher boughs. As he swarmed down 
 the trunk, tightly embracing its rugged circum- 
 
115 
 
 ference with his arms, which operation was 
 rendered somewhat difficult by a certain degree 
 of obesity in his own person, 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 ! 
 — philosophy is in vain — I resign myself to 
 my fate !" 
 
 The next minute his feet touched the ground, 
 and turning round with a sort of joyous pirou- 
 ette, 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 perception of what we had been catt- 
 ing 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 exclamation 
 was, as he turned round, " Gentlemen, I am an 
 hungred ; and if ye do not give me food, ye 
 have committed a heinous sin in displaying that 
 
116 
 
 delicious ^^^^ before me.— Ye Gods ! what do I 
 see ?" he continued, as his eye lighted 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 vrelcome I could give the unfor- 
 tunate printer, I 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 account, 
 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, grace- 
 fully enough, both his gratitude for my services, 
 and his grief for the inconveniences to which 
 they had exposed me. He then told me that 
 as soon as he was out of the hands of the arch- 
 firs the day before, he had taken leave of his 
 
117 
 
 friendly mob of deliverers, and trusting to no- 
 thing but his own legs, had made the best of his 
 way out of Paris. 
 
 " As soon as I 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, 
 however, vin blanc d'Epernon; and though it 
 was not quite so good as the vin blanc d'Eper- 
 nay, it quenched my thirst ; and having dug up 
 as many pignuts as I could find, I mounted yon- 
 der oak with all the agility of a light diet, and 
 soothed myself to sleep by comparing myself 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 
 
118 
 
 under their protection to do so foolish a thing 
 as go to the gallows with money in their pockets. 
 However, I never despair, doubting not now, 
 as heretofore, to make something out of what- 
 ever lot dame Fortune 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 phi- 
 losophy, which was much of the same quahty 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 pro- 
 posal in a way that I thought somewhat extra- 
 ordinary; but, nevertheless, 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 
 
119 
 
 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 Britany, 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, al- 
 though in some cases union was security, in this 
 instance our best hope of escape lay in sepa- 
 rating, especially as it was more than probable 
 that, the knowledge of my being attached to 
 Monsieur de Villardin 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 stiU 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 jour- 
 ney 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 
 
enquired very particularly 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 w^hich my guide spread 
 before him ; and v^^ith a cunning smile evaded 
 his questions, w^hispering to me as he embraced 
 me at parting, " Beware of your guide." 
 
 Early — too early had I learned to distrust 
 my fellow-creatures, a lesson which we have 
 unfortunately too frequent opportunities of re- 
 peating in our course through the world ever to 
 forget, when once the sweet confidence of inno- 
 cence and inexperience, like the bloom upon 
 ripe fruit, has been brushed away by the first 
 touch of the polluting world. I had seen fully 
 enough, however, to doubt the faith of my present 
 conductor, and I resolved to watch him closely as 
 we proceeded, not well knov^dng what particular 
 line his roguery might take, but suspecting 
 strongly that he was not the most honest of ser- 
 vants, nor likely to prove the most infallible of 
 guides. 
 
 It luckily so happened that the saddle-bags 
 containing my stores of all kinds were upon my 
 
121 
 
 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 com- 
 mands conferred. Nor was it at all unpleasant, 
 I confess, to reflect that, in the event of any dis- 
 pute arising between myself and my companion, 
 who had been directed in all respects to consider 
 himself as my servant, 1 had nothing to do but 
 ride away, and leave him to do the best for him- 
 self, — which reflection was the more especially 
 gratifying, as I believed he might obtain a con- 
 siderable reward by betraying me, and did not 
 much doubt that he had some thoughts of the 
 kind in his own mind. 
 
 1 showed him, at least, that expedition was 
 part of my plan ; for as soon as we were once 
 more in our saddles, I pushed forward with all 
 speed, and accomplished nearly forty miles more 
 before night. A considerable town lay at the dis- 
 tance of a few miles to our right, and thither my 
 guide strongly recommended me to proceed, laud- 
 ing 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, 
 
 VOL, I. G 
 
122 
 
 halted there, preferring 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 refreshment 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 than four days to reach the 
 place of our destination ; but for the last hun- 
 dred 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 behaviour had not taken place 
 from any increased reverence for myself. 
 
 '* Whatever it is he intends to do," I thought, 
 
us 
 
 as I remarked 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 sus- 
 picious 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 con- 
 cluded 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 further. I certainly fell into the 
 trap ; and simply because he desired to go on, 
 determined to halt at the next village. 
 
 When we reached it, the first house I espied 
 G 2 
 
1^4 
 
 was a neat cabaret, and drawing in my rein I 
 sprang to the ground, announcing my deter- 
 mination of sleeping there. A grin of satisfac- 
 tion on the groom's face was the first thing that 
 excited suspicion in my mind that I had over- 
 reached myself; but the countenance of mine 
 host, who now appeared, confirmed my doubts ; 
 and as he spoke to the servant as an old friend, 
 I soon found that I had made a terrible mis- 
 take. On enquiring the distance to Rennes, too, 
 and finding that our horses could by no means 
 have accomplished it, I saw that the attempt 
 had been proposed solely to make me do the 
 contrary; and thence deducing that, at this 
 very spot, the consummation of the groom's 
 manoeuvres was destined to take place, of 
 course I determined to be all eyes, ears, and 
 understanding. 
 
 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 I could not attend 
 to half her civil ofiers of the various sorts of 
 
U5 
 
 relreshment that the house aiforded, on account 
 of my anxiety to keep watch over the groom. 
 In this endeavour I was tolerably successful for 
 some time, and I do not think he obtained an 
 opportunity of exchanging one word with 
 the landlord, till we had concluded our supper, 
 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, 
 I had another subject of anxiety in my saddle- 
 bags, which were left up stairs in the chamber 
 assigned to me ; and after I 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 vacant, 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 beck- 
 oned me to her, and said in a low voice, " You 
 G 3 
 
126 
 
 are betrayed, mon jpauvre gargon ; but if you 
 would bear 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 my- 
 self 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 towards 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 noiseless 
 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 distin- 
 guished the words made use of. The groom 
 was acting the orator as I came up, and pro- 
 ceeded 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 
 
127 
 
 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- 
 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, seem- 
 ingly, 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 reward?" demanded mine host. 
 
 " All I can tell thee, Parnac, is this," replied 
 the groom. *^ I heard it offered by proclam- 
 ation, as we were riding home, the evening 
 before I came away. A thousand crowns were 
 G 4 
 
128 
 
 to be given to any oiie who would deliver up 
 the leader of those that had rescued the cri- 
 minal, and two thousand crowns to those who 
 would deliver up the criminal himself. I would 
 have done it myself, 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 
 thousand 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 get ? " 
 
 " Why, of course, I will pay thee for the 
 man and horse sent to the city," rephed the 
 groom. 
 
 " Ay, but that \vill not be quite enough," 
 answered mine host, " to pay me for risking 
 your good lord's custom and patronage. Some- 
 thing more ! something more ! good Peter, or 
 thou mayest ride to Rennes to-night thyself." 
 
129 
 
 '^ Well," answered Peter, " I will tell you 
 what, Parnac ; 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 thousand crowns 
 besides. If he finds them gone and complains, 
 it will pass for a piece of the archers' handiwork, 
 and no enquiry will be made." 
 
 '' Ay, now thou speakest reason," answered 
 his respectable 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," re- 
 plied 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 
 G 5 
 
130 
 
 refer alone to their private 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 ixdles from the village, the highway 
 was intersected by another, 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 towois through which it alone 
 passed. It used, she said, to have a bad re- 
 putation 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 
 
131 
 
 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 I found he had al- 
 ready calculated. He promised to be punctual, 
 and not doubting 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 appre- 
 hension, 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 
 babbling 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. 
 
 G 6 
 
13^ 
 
 CHAP. XL 
 
 I WAS up and watchful early the next morning; 
 for although I had now obtained as much in- 
 formation in regard to my worthy guide's pur- 
 poses as was necessary to enable me to shape 
 my own plans thereby, I thought it better to 
 prevent him, as far as possible, from organising 
 his scheme more completely with the landlord, 
 and providing against contingencies. By seeing 
 a bespattered horse standing in the yard, and the 
 complacent countenances both of the groom and 
 the landlord, I divined that their messenger had 
 returned from Rennes, or from whatever other 
 town they had sent to in search of officers to ap- 
 prehend me, and that all their arrangements had 
 hithertobeen successful. Trusting, however, that 
 they would find that such calculations, formed 
 without the consent of so principal a party as 
 myself, would be more difiicult to execute 
 than they anticipated, I took my breakfast in 
 
133 
 
 great tranquillity, and as soon as the horses 
 were ready, paid my score and set out* 
 
 The groom was in great glee, which continued 
 uninterrupted for four good miles of our morn- 
 ing'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 destin- 
 ation, and I now prepared myself for the execu- 
 tion of my design. Not knowing whether I 
 might not have a severe struggle to efiect 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 finger-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 w^as quietly riding on 
 in the direction of Rennes, I shouted, " Holla ! 
 where are you going, good Peter V' 
 
 He came back with a sweet complacent coun- 
 tenance, and told me that he had been going on 
 the road to Rennes, which was the only one we 
 
134 
 
 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. 
 
 I listened to the whole detail as calmly and 
 attentively as possible ; and then, much to his 
 surprise, I informed him, that I loved robbers, 
 delighted in 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 I 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 e7i cavaUer, put on a 
 blustering aspect, stood up in the stirrups with 
 the frown of a Sylla, and told me that he would 
 
135 
 
 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 I 
 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 esta- 
 bhshed a very tolerable reputation for never 
 suffering any thing of the kind that I under- 
 took to remain unfinished or imperfect ; and, 
 as I was both better armed and mounted than 
 himself, my companion was easily convinced 
 that it would be wiser to abandon every thing 
 like compulsory measures towards me. He 
 declared, however, that although he shovdd 
 certainly not attempt to force me 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 I 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 
 
136 
 
 my ease when I was quite alone. In the pre- 
 sent 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 de- 
 termined 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 levelHng it at his head, with the 
 distance of about ten yards between us, I or- 
 dered 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 affected to laugh, declar- 
 ing 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, judici- 
 ously timed, brought his doubts to a conclusion, 
 and gave the preponderance to obedience. He 
 said that he would obey, of course, if I posi- 
 tively directed him, for that the Duke had 
 given him strict orders to follow my commands 
 implicitly. 
 
137 
 
 " 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 dangerous road, the 
 consequence be upon jour own head." 
 
 As I thought that there was no use in driving 
 him to desperation, I did not choose to let him 
 know how intimately acquainted I was with the 
 good designs he entertained 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 OAvn breast till 
 such time as I could confide them to Monsieur 
 De Villardin. As soon as I became sure that re- 
 treat was impossible, and that my companion 
 must go forward on the road which I pointed 
 out, I dropped my hostile attitude, replaced my 
 pistol in the holster, and, joining him again, 
 endeavoured to enter into conversation as if 
 
138 
 
 nothing had happened to disturb our equanimity ; 
 but, I believe, in this I expected more from 
 human nature than human nature could af- 
 ford ; the man was disappointed of a good 
 thousand crowns, besides what he had called 
 the pickings of mysaddle-bags ; and he like- 
 wise laboured under the mortification of having 
 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 with- 
 out some apprehension that I had discovered 
 his designs ; and I doubted not, that if he could 
 have made himself perfectly sure that such was 
 the case, he would have soon brought the mat- 
 ter between us to a struggle for life. I was ac- 
 customed 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 
 
139 
 
 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 de- 
 scription, for it was as pleasant a road as ever 
 I 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 fa- 
 tiguing. 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 extreme 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 
 
140 
 
 amongst the higher trees, some of which ap- 
 peared of great antiquity, we lost all sight of 
 the surrounding country, except where, every 
 now and then, the ground had been cleared by 
 some accidental circumstance, or where the track 
 that we were pursuing ascended to some com- 
 manding 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 beautiful 
 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 generally rode on in sulky silence ; 
 but I never suffered him to go far without my 
 society, lest any of the roads which inter- 
 sected 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. 
 
 I had just made one of these pauses, and my 
 
141 
 
 companion 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 
 I 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 with 
 him before he reached the little brake. I had 
 just time, however, to gain a more accurate 
 knowledge of the spot, and to perceive that it 
 was a gap, but not a road, down which the Kght 
 was streaming, 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 vio- 
 lently, rolled over, dyeing the sand with its 
 blood. 
 
 These sort of surprises are generally followed 
 by a speedy explanation ; and the appearance 
 of four stout, weU-dressed, good-looking gen- 
 tlemen, with firelocks in their hands, pistols in 
 
142 
 
 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 expe- 
 dient, as the ball, which was probably intended 
 for his horse, had deviated 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 committed, engender in their own 
 bosoms a great deal more fury than is at 
 all necessary to the acomplishment 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, 
 
143 
 
 or rushed to the charge, will be a great deal 
 humanised within five minutes after the struggle 
 is over. 
 
 The robbers rushed immediately upon the 
 groom hke hungry wolves ; and, turning him 
 over, for he had fallen 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, Serjeant. Why the devil did you fire 
 so high?" 
 
 " You have done the same for the other, 
 Hubert," replied the one he addressed. 
 
 " I hope not," said the first ; " I had liis 
 horse fair enough ; but let us see." 
 
 On the assurance of these charitable expres- 
 sions, I ventured a low groan, which, indeed, 
 had long wanted utterance ; for the pain I suf- 
 fered by the horse lying on my leg was most 
 intense, especially as he more than once made 
 a dying efibrt to start up, and then fell back 
 again upon me. 
 
 '^ It is a boy," said the leader of the robbers, 
 
144 
 
 as they came near. '* Art thou dead or alive, 
 mon gargon ? " 
 
 ** Not quite dead," I replied, " but I can- 
 not get up, for the horse is upon my leg." 
 
 ** Ah! so I see, poor boy," said the other. 
 " Help us here, Serjeant, 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 
 sensation, 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 moment or two with a sort of cynical 
 grin, and then, turning to his companions, he 
 remarked, " He takes it coolly enough, in all 
 conscience. Come, tell us, Vho are you, mon 
 heau page ? and whither you were going ? " 
 
 ^* 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 vnth a movement of im- 
 
145 
 
 patient 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?" he asked, the 
 next moment, 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, Serjeant, 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 Frenchman-" 
 
 ** No, but what is better," replied I, " a true 
 Englishman." 
 
 '* The better T 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, Serjeant, bring 
 
 VOL. I. H 
 
146 
 
 those saddle-bags ; there may be something 
 worth having within ; and you, rran9ois 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 m-an," he .continued, 
 tui'ning towards me again ; " what, cannot you 
 walk ? then, good faith, you must limp ! " 
 
 Of coiu'se I did as I was directed, and, limp- 
 ing on as well as I was able, followed my con- 
 ductor 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 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 en- 
 tering the old building found that it was more 
 
147 
 
 dilapidated in appearance 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 immediately 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 undeceived, 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 
 H 2 
 
148 
 
 Hubert, tlieir leader ; ** now, young gentleman, 
 we are men of honour and humanity, and there- 
 fore 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!" ex- 
 claimed 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, 
 interfered 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 sad- 
 dle, bridle, and horse equipments, 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 of letters 
 and orders with which Monsieur de Villardin 
 had charged me for his farmers and agents in 
 Britanny. These were vn-apped 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 to be found 
 
149 
 
 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 remain long in suspense, iriform- 
 ing 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 resistance, 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 
 remamed several days at the old mill, very well 
 H 3 
 
150 
 
 contented with the treatment I received from 
 my new companions, who certainly lived upon 
 the fat of the land, and seemed not to suffer any 
 remembrance of the means by wliich it was ac- 
 quired, at all to trouble its digestion. I acknow- 
 ledge, too, that if I could have escaped the honour 
 and reputation of the thing, I would very wil- 
 lingly 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 enquiring mind ; 
 and from the information I could give him in 
 regard to the state of affairs in 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 enquiries 
 concerning England, its manners, customs, pro- 
 duce, trade, and situation, that I ended by ask- 
 ing 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 
 
151 
 
 his shoulder to see that all his companions were 
 absent, he added, " you do not think, my boy, 
 that my state of Kfe has never been different 
 from that which you now witness, or that this 
 trade is to continue always." 
 
 " No," replied 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 mo- 
 ment his face again took on a smile, and he 
 added, " this adventure, with what we have 
 amassed already, will make my fortune sufficient 
 to embark in a different speculation. The fel- 
 lows who are with me may carry on their old 
 trade if they like, but, for my part, I have had 
 enough of it." 
 
 " I thmk you are very right," I replied ; *' it 
 is always as well to leave off while the play is 
 good." 
 
 ** True," answered he ; " but I have one 
 warning to give you, my good youth. If, in the 
 course of yoiu: life hereafter, you should ever 
 meet me in a different station from that in 
 which you now see me — such a thing may 
 H 4 
 
152 
 
 happen you know — and if ever you do, take 
 good care that your memory be not too re- 
 tentive, for if, by either word or look, you pre- 
 tend to recognise me, I shall certainly 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 
 replied, "but you are warned ; and so be- 
 ware." ' - 
 
 As we were engaged in such familiar conver- 
 sation, I would fain have asked him what sort 
 of connection could exist between him and 
 Monsieur de Villardin ; but, reflecting that he 
 might think the question somewhat impertinent, 
 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. 
 
153 
 
 Four days more passed without the appear- 
 ance of the courier ; and the robbers beginning 
 to be apprehensive of his having taken another 
 road, sent out to obtain inteUigence, as their 
 stock of Avine and provisions gave signs of v^ax- 
 ing low. Their messengers soon returned, but 
 what tidings they brought I know not. Most 
 probably their report went to show that the 
 courier had arrived at the next town, and 
 would be accompanied through the forest by an 
 escort; for ahnost immediately after their re- 
 turn, 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 
 cliimney, 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 %\dnd set from the side of the high road, 
 in less than twenty minutes after their de- 
 parture I heard two smart vollies of musketry, 
 followed by a few dropping shots. 
 
 I looked out eagerly as far as my confined 
 casement Vv'ould allow me, and at length beheld 
 H 5 
 
154 
 
 Hubert with only four of his companions on their 
 legs, bearing along in their arms a sixth person, 
 who seemed to be very dangerously 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, 
 wliich, 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 I do not know, as they did 
 not think fit to let me out of durance for nearly 
 three hours. During that time, I saw from 
 the window nine of the horses which they pos- 
 sessed brought out, of which six were instantly 
 saddled, and loaded with a portion of their 
 movables. 
 
 As soon as this was complete, to my surprise 
 I beheld the captain come out, and, after shoot- 
 ing upon the spot the three horses that remained 
 unsaddled, mount, together 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 
 
155 
 
 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 pro- 
 ceedings, Hubert called to me to draw back 
 from the window ; and, as I 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 gal- 
 loping 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 sad- 
 dled at the door for my use. 
 
 11 6 
 
156 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 When my worthy acquaintance Hubert and 
 his companions had departed in the manner I 
 have described in the last chapter, I had time to 
 look round me, and consider both my own situa- 
 tion 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, how- 
 ever, 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. 
 
157 
 
 Nevertheless, I judged that it might be expe- 
 dient to examine their habitation and its vicinity 
 thoroughly before I quitted it ; and, on doing 
 so, I found that in the hurry of their depar- 
 ture 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 not 
 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 afterwards, 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 
 retracing my steps to the exact point at which 
 I had fallen into the hands of the robbers, and 
 gladly found myself once more on the road to- 
 wards St. Malo, free from any apprehension of 
 fresh interruption. 
 
 The affray, however, with the courier and his 
 
158 
 
 escort, must have taken place farther up the 
 road, for it could not have failed to have left 
 bloody traces wherever it occurred ; and I met 
 with none such in my onward journey, 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 had 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 contented 
 that the robbery of the courier, and the murder 
 of his escort, had passed totally without my 
 personal cognisance, although I had no doubt 
 whatever of the facts. To put myself as far, 
 too, from the scene as possible, I galloped 
 on pretty quickly till I came to a carrefour, 
 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 
 
159 
 
 dress of a pedlar, 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 civilised 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 volumi- 
 nous and massy ; but, nevertheless, it did not 
 serve to conceal from me the identity of the 
 wearer with an acquaintance whose face had 
 boasted no such appendage a fortnight before. 
 I affected not to recognise him, however, and, 
 dismounting from my horse — which instantly 
 betrayed its ancient habits by brovv'sing the 
 roadside — I sat down on the same mound with 
 the other traveller, and began conversing with 
 
160 
 
 him as a peddling Jew. He spoke learnedly 
 and lamentably upon the evils and inconve- 
 niences of his own profession, and ended by 
 morahsing so sagely upon the necessity of 
 bearing our own portion of ills with constancy 
 and calmness, that I could not help exclaim- 
 ing, " Ah ! my dear philosopher, you are now 
 quite complete : when I knew you on the Quai 
 des OrfevTes you wanted nothing of Socrates 
 but the beard." 
 
 Jacques Marlot shook his head. " Can 
 your eyes see through stone walls, little ser- 
 pent," he cried ; " but remark what your good 
 crowns have done for me ; procured me this box 
 of trumpery, and a beard that is worth half the 
 money." 
 
 I am heartily glad to see you so well equipped," 
 replied 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 I was 
 glad to find that he sincerely felt for all the in- 
 
161 
 
 conveniences I had suifered, 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 that he himself could do very well with- 
 out, for that the contents of his box, assisted by 
 a fluent tongue and the gullibility of the pea- 
 santry, had proved quite sufficient, since he 
 began his new trade, to maintain him as well as 
 he could desire, though to say the truth liis 
 taste for the good things of life was not the 
 most moderate. 
 
 I refused to accept his offer, of course, telling 
 him that money was quite unnecessary to me, 
 as I counted upon reaching the castle of Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin in less than an hom\ 
 
 " You are quite mistaken, my son," he re- 
 plied, " whether you mean his castle of the 
 Pres Vallee, or that of Dumont ; the first being 
 at the distance of at least twenty, and the latter 
 nearly forty miles from the place where we now 
 stand." 
 
 This intelHgence surprised me a good deal, 
 as I found that I had entirely miscalculated my 
 
162 
 
 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 morn- 
 ing, 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 in the direction of the Pres 
 Vallee, to wliich 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 destina- 
 tion. Here I was received with all due re- 
 verence by the domestics who tenanted the 
 house, and delivered all the letters which I bore 
 to the farmers and receivers of Monsieur de 
 Villardin. 
 
 Nothing could be more beautiful, though 
 nothing could be more solemn, than the aspect 
 
163 
 
 of the castle, and the scene that surrounded it. 
 It was a fortified house, of no great military 
 strength, situated on a slight eminence, 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 that of 
 man, but which, nevertheless, had been so 
 skilfully thinned, that the boughs of one never 
 interfered with the boughs of another; and 
 each grew up in liberty, protecting, as it were, 
 under its branches, its own particular domain, 
 without infringing upon the bounds of its neigh- 
 bour. 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 ricli ground which had 
 been cleared and cultivated ages ago, in the 
 midst of a vast forest, the trees of which were still 
 
1G4 
 
 standing around. In fact, a person placed in the 
 centre of any of these open spaces, saw nothing 
 but wood beyond the meadow that surrounded 
 him, til], walking on for a minute or two, under 
 the shade of gigantic elms and oaks, he enterep 
 another wide pasture field like that he had just 
 left. 
 
 The effect of the whole would have been 
 gloomy, had it not been enlivened by the fre- 
 quent tui*ns of the river, and the sight of cattle 
 and sheep feeding in the various savannahs, 
 under the charge of their several herds, who 
 most frequently were found cheering their oc- 
 cupation with a song. There w^as 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 
 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 grey stone, and 
 covered in several parts with ivy, was in perfect 
 harmony with every thing around it; and the 
 good taste of Monsieur de Yillardin, who en- 
 
165 
 
 terecl fully into the peculiar character of the 
 scene, had left all the furniture and decorations 
 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 pro- 
 gress through the woiid, I must pause for a 
 moment to speak of that which was passino^ 
 vnthin my own heart, while the events which I 
 have described w^ere 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 Master ton 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 dehght in the 
 aspect of such scenes as the Pres Vallee, which 
 
166 
 
 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 yet 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 without giving them 
 any particular attention, unless they were 
 lighted up by pike and gun, I now stopped 
 to gaze, without well knowing why, whenever 
 anything that was fair or sw^eet met my eye. I 
 mi<''ht not, indeed, look at Nature's face with the 
 feelings of a painter or of a poet ; but I cer- 
 tainly did begin to experience great pleasiu^e in 
 the contemplation of a beautiful prospect, and 
 would turn away when I had done so, pleased, 
 but thoughtful, — I might almost say, sad. 
 
 I felt this more than I had ever felt it before 
 in the solitude of my new dwelling, and many a 
 hour I passed away in various sylvan sports, 
 which, while they gave me active employment, 
 still led me into the fairest scenes in the country 
 round. 
 
167 
 
 Nevertheless, I found myself bound in duty 
 to Monsieur 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 let- 
 ter, yet, forcing myself to the task with a great 
 effort, I detailed every thing that had 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 tranquillity 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 
 alleys, 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. 
 
168 
 
 leaving tlie letter to be delivered to the intend- 
 ant, who was absent at the time of my arrival. 
 
 At the end of ten days a courier reached the 
 Pres Yallee from Paris, bringing a large packet 
 addressed to myself, on opening which I found a 
 short letter from Monsieur de Villardin, direct- 
 ing me to wait for a fortnight longer in Bri- 
 tany 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 proceed- 
 ings should take place against John Marston 
 Hall, for the rescue of a prisoner from the 
 hands of the criminal lieutenant, and authorised 
 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 Bastxle hanging about the neck of one's 
 imagination. Although I had now no appre- 
 hensions from the pursuit of justice, I soon be- 
 gan to feel the solitude of the Pres Vallee less 
 
169 
 
 delightful than it had seemed at first ; and 
 though, had there been any one to share my 
 sports, or to occupy my time, I should still 
 have enjoyed it much, yet the hours gradually 
 became somewhat tiresome, shut up in an old 
 castle, with nothing but solemn woods around 
 one, and a library of old books for my sole com- 
 panions, 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 poured over several other books, 
 in order to while away the evenings. 
 
 At length, with infiidte joy, I heard that the 
 rents were all paid into the hands of the in- 
 tendant, with the exception of a small sum, 
 which was expected the next day; and I di- 
 rected the courier, who had remained for the 
 purpose of returning with me to Paris, to pre- 
 pare for our journey on the third day. 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-wi'iting of Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin, and contained but a few 
 
 VOL. I. I 
 
170 
 
 words, wliich 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 this 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 unplea- 
 sant 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 enter- 
 ing- 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 removing 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 
 
171 
 
 forth whatever portion of imagination entered 
 into the composition 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 min- 
 gling with my nature : I began to view the things 
 around me in a different light ; and though I 
 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, I 
 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. 
 I 2 
 
172 
 
 My conduct in these respects, indeed, was 
 somewhat strangely misconstrued by an old 
 female domestic who always remained in the 
 house ; but as the misconstruction was all to 
 my advantage, I had no reason to complain. 
 By a httle civility and kindness, I had estab- 
 lished with her the character of a complete 
 phoenix of pages ; and I afterwards found that 
 old Marguerite assured Madame 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 Vil- 
 lardin, an avant-courier arrived, and in about 
 two hours more the cavalcade appeared 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 horse- 
 men, one begun to have a much more respectful 
 idea of Monsieur de Villardin's establishment 
 
173 
 
 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 had left Paris. Old Je- 
 rome 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 continually, except when 
 she received company at home, and 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 in a considerable degree, he had 
 suddenly announced his determination of re- 
 tiring to Britany. 
 
 Madame de Villardin, unconscious of offence 
 herself, and, as most women do, mistaking her 
 I 3 
 
174 
 
 husband*s character, endeavoured to argue him 
 out of his resolution. A discussion ensued, the 
 particulars of which did not transpire, even to 
 the all enquiring ears of soubrettes and valets 
 de chanibre ; but the whole household perceived 
 that it must have been bitter and severe, for 
 when it was over, Madame de Villardin was 
 found fainting, and bathed in tears. The ar- 
 rangements for departiu*e 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 spontane- 
 ously, I thought I might, at- least, venture to 
 ask whether he believed 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 
 sei-vants finding it out." 
 
175 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 J^OR a time, the change produced on the do- 
 mestic affairs of Monsieur de Villardin, by his 
 retirement from Paris, was a great improve- 
 ment. The Duke seemed to feel himself more 
 at ease in the country than the description of 
 good Jerome Laborde permitted me to believe 
 he had been in the town ; and Madame de 
 Villardin, like a wise woman, making up her 
 mind to what she could not avoid, seemed de- 
 termined to dedicate herself 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. 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 
 I 4 
 
176 
 
 herself had become far more grave and ma- 
 tronly than she had appeared in Paris. The 
 Duke, \^ith 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 vras, 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 satisfac- 
 tion 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 delight 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 
 
177 
 
 pages as they were accustomed to encounter, 
 with whom the ordinary domestics of a house 
 are generally 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 Belle- 
 ville, wnose fear was the only restraint upon his 
 animosity. Certain it is, that his dishke was 
 not particularly diminished during our stay at 
 the Pres Vallee. The increasing regard and 
 confidence of our mutual lord towards myself, 
 the frequent rebukes and mortifications that 
 his awkwardness and inactivity in all our field 
 sports called upon himself, as well as the total 
 disregard 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, amongst 
 which, one of the pettiest, but one which best 
 showed his feelings, was a habit which he had of 
 never calling me by my name when speaking of 
 I 5 
 
178 
 
 me to others, but always designating me — 
 r Anglais — I'Etranger, — the Englishman — the 
 Foreigner. For all this I was very easily con- 
 soled, and indeed scarcely noticed it at all. 
 Monsieur de Villardin, however, himself took 
 notice of the latter circumstance I have men- 
 tioned, and one day sharply reproved 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 towards myself, 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 causing me to walk by his side, 
 made me give him a far more fuU 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 himself the share I had had in 
 the liberation of Jacques Marlot. 
 
179 
 
 ** To no one, I assure you, my Lord," I re- 
 plied ; " 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 nephev^ had been liberated, w^ithout 
 adding one w^ord which could induce him to be- 
 lieve 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 obtained 
 the most perfect account of your person, ap- 
 pearance, dress, and situation. Can you re* 
 member," he added, '' whether there was any 
 one present when you related the circumstances 
 to me ?" 
 
 " No one, my Lord," I replied, ** as you may 
 remember, but Gaspard de Belleville." 
 
 Monsieur de Villardin shook his head. '^ In- 
 deed ! " he said ; " Indeed ! Yet I cannot believe 
 the boy would be either so base or so foolish as 
 to betray such a conversation. However," he 
 added, changing the subject abruptly, '^ of course, 
 I 6 
 
180 
 
 as you have suffered robbery while engaged in my 
 ser^dce, 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 
 suspicion of Gaspard appear in your behaviour 
 towards him." 
 
 ** There exists so very little communication 
 between us, my Lord," I replied, " on any sub- 
 ject, that there is no fear of my betraying any 
 such feehng ; 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 apartment in the immediate 
 vicinity of his own, consisting of two very com- 
 fortable 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 preg- 
 nant ; and, about the same time, after a deep 
 
181 
 
 and fearful fit of gloom, of wliicli no one un- 
 derstood the cause, Monsieur de Yillardin shut 
 himself up almost entirely in his Hbrary and his 
 bedchamber, and was hardly seen by any body 
 for several days. Madame de Yillardin, 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 himself, 
 apparently by the exhortations of his confessor, 
 who was frequently with hun 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 pos- 
 sessed over the mind of Monsieur de Yillardin 
 was at all times extraordinary. His usual resi- 
 dence 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 all 
 shaken, nor the bold tone of his reproof at all 
 softened by absence ; for I remember once, on 
 passing the Hbrary door, which was ajar, having 
 unwillingly overheard him myself tax hispenitent 
 with absolute madness. However that might be, 
 
18S 
 
 the Duke very soon resumed his usual habits; and 
 it appeared to me that he endeavoured, by in- 
 creased kindness, to efface from the mind of the 
 Duchess whatever effect any harshness he had 
 shown her might have produced. Most gladly 
 did she seem to catch at every renewed proof of 
 his affection ; 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 Britanny 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 Vil- 
 lardin*s disposition led her into some of those 
 little acts of gaiety and display from which a 
 habitual love of admiration rendered it almost 
 
183 
 
 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 shghtest word in other instances, and 
 suspicious where there was no cause, was in 
 the present case totally bhnd, long after Ma- 
 dame de Villardin herself had become 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 
 Que cause of his blindness ; but, in truth, I 
 believe, there is also a sort of fatality in such 
 cases, or rather a madness, which, to a sus- 
 picious 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 ; 
 
184 
 
 but, of course, I dared not say a word to open the 
 eyes of my Lord upon such a subject, without 
 having some decided fact to warrant my inter- 
 ference. 
 
 In this state of affairs, nearly two months 
 more passed over our heads, without any cir- 
 cumstance occurring to change my own situation 
 or that of the other parties ; Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin continuing extremely partial to the so- 
 ciety of his young neighbour, and the Duchess, 
 on the contrary, treating him with a degree of 
 cold haughtiness 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 Belleville, 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. 
 
185 
 
 he directed me to ride back and bring it to liim 
 at Rennes. I accordingly lost no time in re- 
 turning to the Pres Vallee ; but was somewhat 
 surprised, when about half a mile from the 
 house, to remark a horse, which I very well 
 recognised as that of the Count de Mesnil, tied 
 to one of the old trees wliich I have before 
 described. I had taken a short cut across the 
 meadows, which deviation from the high road 
 had led me through a part of the grounds 
 that, lying at a distance from any of the or- 
 dinary paths, was generally very lonely : but, 
 in truth, when I beheld this sight, I wished 
 that I had pursued any other way ; for I ap- 
 prehended, 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 
 
186 
 
 entered fronted the other, which was unclosed, 
 and exactly opposite to which, on the wall of 
 the saloon, was hung a large Venetian 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 hel- 
 back to the glass, so that I could not see the 
 expression of her countenance, and that of 
 Monsieur de Mesnil, kneehng at her feet and 
 holding her hand vsdth some degree of force in 
 his own, while he pressed his lips upon it. 
 
 Although, as I have said, I could not see the 
 face of the Duchess, her words, and the tone in 
 which they were pronounced, were quite suf- 
 ficient to show me that she was repelling in- 
 dignantly the grossest insult that woman can 
 receive from man. 
 
 *' If you do not instantly quit me, sir," she 
 exclaimed in a loud and vehement voice, " I 
 will call those who can and will protect me 
 against your daring insolence. Rise, sii', rise : 
 I do not know which is the most to be despised, 
 your affectation of love for a woman you insult, 
 
187 
 
 or your hypocrisy in pretending Mendship for 
 the man you endeavour to wrong.'* 
 
 The Count was not without all those ordinary 
 arguments on the subject by which men furnish 
 women, who are already inclined to degrade them- 
 selves, with excuses for so doing. I did not allow 
 him time, however, to make much use of his ora- 
 tory ; but, by oversetting one of the tables in the 
 library, gave him intimation that some one was 
 near. Immediate and not very dignified 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 approaching 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 Hfe, I 
 believe, was not made up how to act ; and I did 
 not wish to encounter Madame de Villardin 
 until I had formed my determination. I had 
 also obtained the packet for which I was sent, 
 so that I had no cause to stay longer; and, 
 mounting again in the back court, I rode forward 
 towards Rennes. 
 
188 
 
 Although I knew that Monsieur de Villardin 
 waited for the papers, my pace was slow, I con- 
 fess; for I was embarrassed with meditations, 
 which were not easily brought to an end. Had 
 I been sure that the Duchess would have told 
 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 cause- 
 less jealousy of Monsieur de Villardin him- 
 self had so greatly alarmed his wife, that it 
 was very doubtful whether she would open 
 his eyes to the perfidy of his friend, not know- 
 ing what strange and violent effect the commu- 
 nication 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 
 considering how I might do so in such a manner 
 as to fulfil my duty, and yet to guard against 
 the slightest suspicion falling upon his innocent 
 wife. It may be thought, indeed, that for this 
 purpose, I had nothing to do but to tell all that 
 I had seen, precisely as I had seen it ; but 
 
1B9 
 
 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 attend- 
 ing 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 satisfac- 
 tion, 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 affectionate air, which I hoped might in- 
 duce her to open her whole heart to her hus- 
 band 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 constantly, on some excuse or 
 
190 
 
 anotKer, in the saloon or library, I had suf- 
 ficient opportunity^ of watching my Lord's coun- 
 tenance, 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 appear- 
 ing, and it was clear that the Duchess, most 
 weakly, had determined to conceal the insult 
 offered to her by the Count de Mesnil from 
 her husband. 
 
 The task then lay with me ; and when Ma- 
 dame de Yillardin 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 casting himself 
 
191 
 
 into an arm-chair, exclaimed, almost fiercely, 
 *' Now ! boy ! Now ! What is it you have to 
 say?" 
 
 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. Ad- 
 vancing, 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 vdll give me your word of honour 
 that you will hear every word I have to say 
 without interrupting me, I will go on ; but if 
 you will not, I ^\dll hold my tongue, and, on my 
 life, nothing shall ever make me open my hps." 
 He repaid me mth a fierce glance for the 
 conditions that I made ; but as he knew that T 
 was one to keep my word, he promised most 
 solemnly to hear me to an end. 
 
19^ 
 
 '' Well tlien, 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 deMesnil's horse 
 tied to the tree, he had nearly broke forth ; and 
 when I came to relate the scene that first met 
 my eye in the library, he started up from ofi* his 
 chair with every muscle of his face working 
 under excessive emotion. He remembered his 
 promise, however ; and sitting down again, co- 
 vered his eyes with his hand while I proceeded ; 
 but as T concluded with the words which his 
 wife had littered, he caught me by the arm, and 
 gazed eagerly in my face, exclaiming — " Ha! 
 did she say that?" 
 
 " On my honour ! On my soul, she did," 
 I replied, " as I hope in heaven ! " 
 
193 
 
 ** Boy, you have saved me ! " he exclaimed, 
 sinking hack in the chair ; and, to my astonish- 
 ment, 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 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 reigns amongst our highest dames 
 in Paris ; but let it suffice, that a woman who 
 so degrades 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 madness. — But you have 
 
 VOL. I. K 
 
194 
 
 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 suspicions man that ever laid aside his sus- 
 picions ? 
 
 '^ 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 hypocrite 
 and the ^nllain; and is contemptible. Never- 
 theless, 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 
 
195 
 
 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 far- 
 ther steps are to be taken in this 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 ViUardin was 
 down before me, and had probably been so 
 some time, as there were several sheets of 
 parchment before him, and he had just con- 
 cluded 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 Lang- 
 leigh, informed me that he and Lord Master- 
 ton had, in recompence for the services you 
 had rendered them, assigned you a sufficient 
 revenue from one of their farms to maintain 
 you at ease in the station which you are des- 
 tined to fill. Pray how much did they thus 
 grant you ?" 
 
 *' A thousand crowns per annum, my lord," 
 K 2 
 
196 
 
 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," answered the Duke ; " and for the service 
 you have rendered 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 dwelKng of the 
 former proprietor, whose family is now extinct. 
 It is called Juvigny. 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 your- 
 self. 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 
 
197 
 
 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 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 
 K 3 
 
198 
 
 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 dwelHng, and 
 bring me back liis reply." 
 
 Of course I very well miderstood 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 dis- 
 pute had I seen brought to the arbitrement 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 by some man equal in rank and 
 station to the person for whom it was intended. 
 I found afterwards, however, that his irritable 
 fear of ridicule, which was the next prominent 
 characteristic 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 
 
199 
 
 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 entered 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 gaily as if I 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 
 affectionate, so different 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 I had in the world to 
 have prevented the proposed encounter from 
 taking place. To do so was, of course, im- 
 possible ; and accordingly after breakfast I 
 mounted my horse, and rode away for Mesnil 
 Moray, the dwelling of Monsieur de Villardin's 
 adversary. 
 
 Though I was a little gloomy when I set out, 
 K 4 
 
200 
 
 old habits soon got the better of new feelings, 
 and I readily brought myself to look upon the 
 aiFair 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, before he has done with the 
 sword," and with this consolatory 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 pre- 
 sence. I thought he turned rather pale when he 
 saw me, but it might be merely imaginary ; and 
 certainly, throughout the whole, he behaved Hke 
 a man of honour and courage. He took the 
 billet, and, cutting the silk, read it attentively, 
 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 
 
201 
 
 which I imagined. I answered, therefore, 
 that " I did not ; " and the Count rejoined, 
 throwing the note into the fire, " Well, then, as 
 Monsieur de Villardin has been kind enough to 
 send me an unceremonious request, I will send 
 him an unceremonious reply. Tell him I will 
 accept his invitation, with all its particulars, and 
 that I am his very obedient servant. You may 
 add, I would have vn:itten,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 Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin playing with his little girl, 
 while Madame de Villardin was in her ovm 
 chamber, preparing to go out with him for a 
 walk. 
 
 "Have you brought any note?" he asked 
 me immediately, taking advantage of his wife's 
 absence, to enquire the result of my embassy 
 in private. I replied, that I had only re- 
 ceived 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. 
 
 K 5 
 
202 
 
 " Well, well/' lie said, as I 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 garden." 
 
 I did not well know what to anticipate from 
 these directions, 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. Never- 
 theless, I 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 de- 
 spatched 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 ne- 
 cessary formalities for investing me with the 
 
20S 
 
 property which he had bestowed upon me, 
 I easily divined that he had no fixed appoint- 
 ment 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 our- 
 selves 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 wliich 
 Monsieur de Mesnil's horse was tied, when 
 you passed yesterday morning ? " 
 
 ** I think I can," I replied, " and, cer- 
 tainly, 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 remembrance which was the tree I 
 sought ; and, having approached it, Monsieur 
 K 6 
 
204 
 
 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 I fall," he said, when we had concluded 
 our work, " let it be remembered, that I wish 
 this to be my grave. If I survive I will direct 
 you what to do." 
 
 Before leaving the spot, he caused me to carry 
 about a 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 
 directing me previously, to be up by five the 
 next morning, 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 coolness vdth which he set about all his 
 proceedings, and my knowledge of his skill as 
 a swordsman, made me feel very confident that 
 
205 
 
 the issue of the combat 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 I had observed of Monsieur de Villardin's 
 conduct during the day, I went to bed wdth 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 
 
206 
 
 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, dismounting at a little distance, he bowed 
 coldly to Monsieur 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 fill- 
 ing 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 Monsieur de 
 Mesnil ; "I am just as well pleased that he 
 should be present ; though, I must say, that I 
 should have thought the Duke de Villardin 
 might have found some fitter person than a 
 page to carry his cartel to the Count de Mes- 
 nil." 
 
 " I have chosen the method of proceeding 
 I have followed. Monsieur de Mesnil, not only 
 because I think these things between brave 
 
207 
 
 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 
 hypocrite, and a traitor, devoid of every good 
 feehng 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 ?" 
 
 He then gave me his horse's rein, and Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin led him to the spot which he 
 had chosen, made him examine it accurately, to 
 see that there was no inequality 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 per- 
 ceiving 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 pos- 
 ture of defence. 
 
208 
 
 The Count de Mesnil prepared for the combat 
 more slowly. He certainly evinced no fear ; 
 but there were two or three shght traits that 
 I remarked in his conduct, which induced me 
 to believe that, either from the consciousness of 
 having vnronged his friend, or from feeling him- 
 self 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 Villardin. 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 evi- 
 dent that the anticipations the sight naturally 
 called up were felt bitterly. He was pale, too, 
 and though he spoke firmly and calmly, I per- 
 ceived that there was a difficulty in unfastening 
 his cloak, and all the other little preparations, 
 which spoke a mind intensely occupied vrith 
 other 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 
 
209 
 
 Monsieur de Villardin had written had been 
 quite sufficient to explain all, and to make him 
 feel that amity was changed for ever into un- 
 quenchable hate between them. 
 
 At length all was 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 adversary, the assault 
 assumed a more serious character ; but still it 
 appeared that both wished to maintain the de- 
 fensive, 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 an- 
 tagonist hard, still keeping a wary hand and 
 eye, but evidently becoming more and more 
 vehement at each pass. At length, in a furious 
 lunge, by not keeping his right foot quite 
 straight, and probably more accustomed to the 
 salle d'armes than the green sward, he slipped, 
 
210 
 
 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 ofan accident, sir," 
 he said. The Count rose, with downcast eyes 
 and a burning cheek, and replied, after a mo- 
 ment's pause, " I cannot, of course, after this 
 act of generosity, think " 
 
 " If, sir," said Monsieur de Villardin, cut- 
 ting him short, " you are contented to go forth 
 into the world again, as one who bears the 
 name of villain, and hypocrite, and scoundrel — 
 and, I shall then add, coward — mount your horse 
 and begone: — if not, resume your place." 
 
 The Count's eyes 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 open. He then 
 
211 
 
 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?" I 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, — 
 
212 
 
 ** 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 unfastening 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 discover. " 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 
 
213 
 
 laid it there, without prayer or benediction. 
 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. 
 Notwithstanding the quantity of earth I had 
 removed the night 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 shovel- 
 fids 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 examination 
 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 repKed 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 
 
2U 
 
 his horse to that tree when he came on his 
 furtive 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 Monsiem- 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 ascer- 
 tain 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, I brought it to 
 the vicinity of the road which led to Mesnil 
 
215 
 
 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 up 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 regard to path. I climbed 
 up a neighbouring bank to 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 I had just taken 
 part, that, could he have found voice, would 
 have soon called the friends of his fallen lord to 
 avenge his death. 
 
S16 
 
 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 de- 
 prived us of the power of classing it with those 
 common encounters, 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 
 
^17 
 
 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 returned ; 
 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 hbrary, where I found 
 him, in his robe de chambre, seated at a table, 
 on which neither books nor papers were opened 
 before him, but there lay the fatal locket which 
 he had taken 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 frown- 
 ing brow that he was once more adding the 
 torments of suspicion to the pangs which the 
 
 VOL. I. L 
 
218 
 
 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 men- 
 tioned the w^ild 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 per- 
 fectly 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 dreamt of such a 
 thing as babbling, and the 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 consequently I was 
 subjected to no questions ; and the only single 
 observation referring to the business which I 
 ever heard in the family, was when the head 
 groom asked the Duke's permission to ake his 
 favourite horse to the farrier at Rennes, arguing 
 that the animal was ill, from having found him 
 
219 
 
 that morning as heated as if he had come from 
 a gallop. 
 
 The household of the Pres VaUee were, in- 
 deed, amongst the last to hear the rumours and 
 enquiries which soon began to spread concern- 
 ing the Count de Mesnil. That some accident 
 had happened to him became evident 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 ter- 
 minated ill for the Count. On examining the 
 trappings and accoutrements of the horse, it 
 was discovered that not only the girths but the 
 saddle itself was drenched with water, and of 
 cours-d conjecture was led upon a new and a 
 false train concerning the event that had oc- 
 curred. Some, indeed, contended, that the 
 1 2 
 
220 
 
 Count had been killed by robbers or assassins ; 
 but the greater part of liis followers believed 
 that, in attempting to swim the river, he had 
 been washed out of the saddle and disowned. 
 Information, however, was sent immediately to 
 Rennes ; all his relations had notice of what had 
 taken place, and an immediate search and in- 
 vestigation was 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 nobleman 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 disposition 
 of his property accordingly. He referred not, 
 however, in the slightest 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 pur- 
 
2^21 
 
 posely 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 mur- 
 dered by the robbers who had so lately attacked 
 and slain one of the royal couriers, v^dth 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, ex- 
 aggeration, and a thousand falsehoods and ab- 
 surdities 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 investigations 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 
 L 3 
 
regret that he had not pursued the usual mode 
 of arranging such encounters, which would, at 
 least, have spared him every accessary circum- 
 stance that now tormented him from day to 
 day. As a fi'iend of the dead nobleman, he was 
 frequently consulted upon his affairs, and even 
 in regard to the search for his body ; and every 
 one thought that they were speaking upon a 
 subject which must interest him, when they 
 detailed to his ears any of the numerous ab- 
 surdities that were current in the country con- 
 cerning the death of the Count. All this was 
 very terrible ; but, besides all this, there were 
 feehngs in the heart of Monsieur de Yillardin 
 which aggravated the regrets consequent upon 
 the deed which he had committed. He had 
 knowTi the young Coimt 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 
 
223 
 
 subject when we were perfectly alone, it was 
 more from various 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, even when he could avoid 
 it, rode in that direction, as if the very wind 
 wliich blew from the grave wafted fresh re- 
 proaches to liis heart. Even in riding to Rennes, 
 the road to which city passed within half a mile 
 of the spot, if he could possibly devise any 
 excuse for so doing, he would take the most 
 circuitous path, to avoid even coming in its 
 neighbourhood. 
 
 Nevertheless, whenever he spoke with me 
 upon the subject, he justified all that he had 
 done, and declared, that were it to do over 
 again, he would act exactly in the same man- 
 ner, 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, confirmed him in this impression — I 
 mean the suspicions which had been freshly 
 excited in regard to his wife, which, as the 
 L 4 
 
^24 
 
 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 on the subject ; but twice I 
 saw him with the locket in his hand, and at other 
 times his eye would rest on the dark tresses of 
 Madame de Villardin, while I could see plainly 
 that he was torturing his own heart by com- 
 paring them in shade and colour with the ringlet 
 which that locket contained. A doubt also 
 more dreadful still, seemed to have taken pos- 
 session of his mind ; at least I argued so from 
 the following circumstance. 
 
 From the various painful feelings connected 
 with the Pres Yallee, 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 with him in the saloon, in 
 regard to various matters which were to be done 
 before his arrival at Dumont. The Duchess 
 and his little girl were both present ; and, after 
 
225 
 
 he had concluded his directions, 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 be- 
 hind the Duke, and when his wife rose, and 
 proceeded towards her own room to write the 
 note she had promised, — displaying, as she did 
 so, that alteration in her figure which denoted 
 her situation, — I saw the eye of her husband 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 forgot 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 expression of deep grief, which, 
 I feel sure, must have been upon my counte- 
 nance, appeared instantly to calm him, and, 
 laying his hand affectionately upon my shoulder, 
 L 5 
 
2^6 
 
 he said, — " Thou art a good youth. When thou 
 hast got this note, go into the pai'k and wait 
 me there ; I msh to speak with thee for some 
 time." 
 
 As there is never any telb'ng 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 apprehension of his proposing to me to give 
 it up to him. But in this I did him injustice ; 
 and when, after receiving the billet, I had 
 gone out into the park, and he had joined me, 
 he at once turned the conversation to matters 
 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, wliich make me 
 desirous that you should repeat, once more. 
 
221 
 
 the conversation which you overheard between 
 Madame de Villardin and the imhappy 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 aJSect me." 
 
 I willingly obeyed, for I well knew that im- 
 pressions of good being never so lasting as im- 
 pressions 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," de- 
 manded the Duke, *' which side did you 
 take?" 
 
 *^ 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, 
 
 L 6 
 
£28 
 
 if you remember tlie 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 re- 
 turn." 
 
 *^ 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 I 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 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 
 
S^9 
 
 me, "it is her hair ! There is no mistake 1 
 Have I not proved it by every test ? 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 
 v^^illingly, for there is but little use in reasoning 
 with a madman, and such I looked upon Mon- 
 sieur 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 Dmnont 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 calculated, therefore, on finding a substantial 
 meal prepared for me in his room; nor was I 
 mistaken, for there it stood upon the table, 
 
280 
 
 consisting of every thing qualified 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 morn- 
 ing 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 Gas- 
 pard 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 him- 
 self." 
 
 This intelligence did not serve as a very plea- 
 sant accompaniment to my breakfast. I saw 
 at once how afiairs were going, and easily 
 
231 
 
 divined that my lord, finding me so little dis- 
 posed to pamper the jealousy, which, though it 
 tore his very heart, was still his favourite pas- 
 sion, was incHned 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 arrangement 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 conso- 
 lation to me to think that Gaspard could do 
 little to injure the poor Duchess. However 
 malevolent might be his natural disposition, as 
 far as I knew he had seen nothing which he 
 could distort to evil pui'poses, and I also be- 
 lieved him to be too stupid to firame a story 
 for himself, or to invent circumstances with 
 such a regard to probability as would de- 
 ceive even Monsieur de ViUardin's willing 
 
23^ 
 
 credulity. What might proceed from the 
 agency of the maid, Suzette, I could not tell. 
 She was, herself, a bold, intriguing, saucy wo- 
 man ; 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 attaclunent 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 ^\'itll my apprehensions, yet it was most 
 painful to me to think I might be supplanted in 
 the affection and confidence of a nobleman, for 
 whom, with all his faults and his weakness, I 
 entertained a sincere afifection. 
 
 " 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. De- 
 pend upon it Gaspard is not likely to do him 
 any good in these respects. Now it is your 
 
233 
 
 duty, surely, to strain every effort to counteract 
 any evil that may be done." 
 
 " But how can I ? — how can I, my dear 
 young gentleman ? " 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," 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 m.any 
 an opportunity of saying such words as, ' so good 
 a lady as Madame' — * so \drtuous 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 rephed, and ere we could say more the groom 
 appeared to tell me that the horses were wait- 
 
234 
 
 ing. 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 I was not 
 supposed to know that Monsieur de Villardin 
 had yet risen. 
 
235 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 Although I loved Monsieur de Villardin sin- 
 cerely, 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 Mes- 
 nil, a gloom had fallen over the place, of which 
 I could not divest it for a moment. These sen- 
 sations would probably have worn away in a few 
 days, although I 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 himself. His regret and me- 
 lancholy were a constant excitement to my own; 
 and though, of course, the feehngs that I expe- 
 rienced were far less poignant than his, and no 
 other internal torment was added to the awful 
 memories which oppressed me ; yet the cloud 
 that overcast his days shadowed mine also ; 
 and the sight of all the little traits which re- 
 
236 
 
 vealed how painfully he remembered 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 annoy- 
 ed at beholding continually the anxieties, sus- 
 picions, and cares, to which Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin 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 annoy- 
 ed, 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 bo- 
 som. From all these causes, my feelings, in- 
 stead of being painful, were joyful 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 I could dwell in 
 them for ever ; and each mile as I rode on 
 seemed to take more and more of the load from 
 ofif 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 
 
237 
 
 when the aspect of the world is cheerful around 
 them, the pleasure I experienced in getting away 
 from scenes of discomfort andpain 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 ad- 
 ventures 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 excite- 
 ment which I had lately felt was of a gloomy 
 and of a sombre character, which saddened with- 
 out satisfying — oppressed, but did not please 
 me. Now, however, I anticipated other scenes 
 and other pleasures ; and though in truth I 
 had not the shghtest reason to suppose that any 
 alteration would really take place, yet fancy 
 
^38 
 
 can always supply abundance of materials for 
 the architecture of hope ; and as I journeyed 
 on, I gave imagination full scope to work her 
 will, in building up gay edifices in the distant 
 prospect. 
 
 Notliing occurred to amuse or interest me in 
 the course of my journey except the simple change 
 of scenery ; but as the country through which 
 we passed was very beautiful, and the season 
 one which shows off the loveliness of nature to 
 the greatest advantage, what between fair ob- 
 jects 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, regularly transmitted to the other, by 
 the servants and messengers that were continu- 
 ally passing to and fro between them, I found 
 that the two or three domestics by whom the 
 house w^as at this time tenanted were prepared to 
 receive me with every sort of deference and re- 
 spect, having heard that I was an especial favourite 
 
239 
 
 with their lord, and that he had declared he re- 
 garded me as his own son. 
 
 The next morning, at breakfast, I was visited 
 by the intendant, and delivered to him the let- 
 ters 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 ap- 
 pear 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 immediately. " 
 I assured him, in reply, that I was perfectly 
 ignorant of his meaning, as I had not been be- 
 fore aware that his lord had written anything 
 concerning me at all. 
 
 " The Duke orders me here," said the in- 
 tendant 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 inclined to 
 take possession this morning, I shall have much 
 
^40 
 
 pleasure in walking down with you, and for- 
 mally making over to you the lands, as well as 
 pointing out the boundaries of the farm and 
 the dependencies thereunto attached." 
 
 It is not to be supposed that so young and new 
 a proprietor as myself would be very unwilHng 
 to see and take possession of the first property he 
 ever had in his life ; and, thanking the intend- 
 ant, 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 ac- 
 counts, I 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 perpendicular stone facing of about six feet 
 high, at the bottom of which lay an extensive 
 flower-garden, reached by a wide flight of ten 
 
Ml 
 
 steps ; and, beyond the garden, again extended 
 a fine park, laid out in walks and alleys, con- 
 taining 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, pursuing a path which wound in 
 
 VOL. I. M 
 
242 
 
 and out through a scene of mmgled 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 Mon- 
 sieur 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 proxi- 
 mity 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 possession 
 of my new property, we went round the Hmits, 
 which were much more extensive than I had 
 expected, and returned by the dwelling-house 
 of the old Lords of Juvigny, which consisted of 
 a small feudal tower, with modern offices on the 
 same scale, perched upon a high bank over- 
 hanging the water, and commanding a beautiful 
 prospect down the vaUey through which the 
 river wandered. 
 
 While the intendant was busy opening the 
 door, which, from having had entirely its own 
 
^43 
 
 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 grey 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 oppo- 
 site side of the river belonged. 
 
 I answered, that I was glad to hear that 
 I was to have such good neighbours ; and, fol- 
 lowing the intendant, who had by this time 
 opened the door, I was inducted into my house, 
 which aiforded 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, 
 su', which being — as I understand the Duke — 
 conferred upon you in full, gives you every 
 seigneur al privilege, comprising droits de mou- 
 iin, et de colombier, d'eau, et de four." 
 M 2 
 
A« I turned away quite satisfied with all 
 these fine rights, of mill and dove-cot, water 
 and oven, I observed a slight smile pass be- 
 tween the intendant and the farmer ; and as I 
 did not affect to observe it, the honest coun- 
 tryman explained it by a question which he 
 asked my companion in one of those horse 
 whispers which may be heard distinctly at a 
 mile. 
 
 " Is he a boy really," asked the farmer, grin- 
 ning, " or a little man? " The intendant made 
 no reply, but enjoined silence by holding up one 
 of his fingers ; and, walking gravely after me, 
 showed me the same deferential respect 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 sHghtest 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 know- 
 
2i5 
 
 ledge of the world 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 vrin for me the character of a con- 
 ceited Kttle fellow from those who saw no far- 
 ther. However, as I have said, I was nettled 
 at finding that the respect with which the in- 
 tendant had been treating me, and which was 
 rather suspicious from its profoundness, was 
 nothing but a mockery ; and had any occasion 
 for venting my irritation 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 conse- 
 quently the absurdity, out of my feehngs ; 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 con- 
 M 3 
 
S46 
 
 tinue 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. I know, too, 
 that, as a foreigner, I cannot exercise any of the 
 rights you mentioned just now, without higher 
 permission, which, however, the Duke has al- 
 ready promised to solicit for me ; and, doubt- 
 less, it will be granted long before I am qualified 
 by age to make use of it." 
 
 The intendant opened his eyes half an inch 
 wider at a discourse which, T am sure, he did 
 not expect ; and, as I thought over the bu- 
 siness, I proceeded: — ** One thing, however, 
 I 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 over- 
 grown vdth 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 Monsieur de Villardin. 
 If you can find such a person as I describe, who 
 
247 
 
 will be 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 vdthout rent, and the land at the 
 lowest value of the ground." 
 
 Whether the intendant did or did not con- 
 ceive a better opinion of me from this discourse, 
 I can hardly tell ; for he was one of those men, 
 so often met vdth, 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 slightest 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. 
 M 4 
 
248 
 
 At the end of a week, Monsieur de Villardiii 
 and the whole household made their appear- 
 ance; and the hustle of taking possession of 
 their new ahode concealed for the first day any 
 changes that had occurred. When all the ar- 
 rangements were over, however, I began to see 
 a marked and unpleasant difference. Monsieur 
 de Villardin 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 perceive 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 m^ in most respects 
 as his son ; made me dine with himself and 
 Madame de Villardin ; 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 hght of a 
 page, but rather as one of his owti family, the 
 famihar intercourse which I had held with hina 
 
g4§ 
 
 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 weakness 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, though it might not have gratified 
 his jealousy by admitting suspicions I beheved 
 to be false, would command his esteem 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 affection ? I saw clearly, and I saw it with 
 regret, that Monsieur de ViUardin'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 
 M 5 
 
250 
 
 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 manner which I had formerly remarked, 
 was gone ; and grave, sad, and thoughtful, she 
 took her daily walk through the park, accom- 
 panied by myself and her little girl ; sometimes 
 endeavouring to amuse herself by talking 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 melan- 
 choly 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 de- 
 pressed, her words and her manner made me 
 think she was going to do so. 
 
251 
 
 " You have greatly won Monsieur de Villar- 
 din's confidence and esteem," she said, after 
 some previous conversation during one of our 
 walks ; *' and I very well perceive that hereafter 
 that esteem will he much increased. Now 
 Monsieur Hall," she proceeded, speaking v^dth 
 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, vnth any degree of confidence. Should 
 I die, then, in the course of the event which is 
 to befal me, — which I think more than pro- 
 bable, — as you wiU grow up to manhood witli 
 my children, and possess their father's confi- 
 dence, 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 ? WiU you promise me this, upon your 
 word of honour as a loyal Englishman and the 
 «on of a good soldier ? " 
 
 ** That I will, madam, and that I do," re- 
 M 6 
 
252 
 
 plied 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 — amongst 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, wiU 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 Httle likelihood 
 of my assistance being of much avail: yet never- 
 theless my zealous promise seemed to relieve 
 her mind greatly ; and, as I made it, I saw the 
 tears, which had been crowding to the gates of 
 
253 
 
 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. 
 
254 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 A FORTNIGHT, or rather more, passed away in 
 this unpleasant state ; and I found that time, 
 which reconciles 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 
 have abused 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 addi- 
 tional pain to my personal mortification. 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 Vil- 
 lardin of his morbid suspicions, but that, both 
 for the sake of maintaining his place in his 
 master's favour, and of annoying me, he would 
 do all that he could to foster any feelings which 
 he might find out that I had opposed. When 
 
255 
 
 these thoughts came across my mind — not being 
 of the most patient temper in the world, nor par- 
 ticularly scrupulous as to the means of gratify- 
 ing 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 acknowledge ; and I imagined 
 — if done fairly in single combat, strength against 
 strength, without any surprise or feint on my 
 part, and wath 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 
 Britany, I was as tall as he was, and nearly as 
 muscular. 
 
 What all this would have ended in, Heaven 
 
25G 
 
 only knows ; and I am almost afraid to calculate 
 now what would have been the probable result ; 
 but two circumstances took place soon after my 
 conversation with the Duchess, which I have de- 
 tailed 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 connection 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 
 
£57 
 
 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 confessor more than once at the 
 Pres Vallee ; and both from something pre- 
 possessing in his demeanour, and from the 
 effect which his exhortations had produced 
 upon Monsieur de Yillardin on a former occa- 
 sion, I argued in the same manner as good 
 Jerome Laborde in regard to his next visit. 
 
 Various circumstances detained him, it ap- 
 pears, at Rennes for several days after this con- 
 versation ; and the next time I 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^^ — 
 
258 
 
 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 concerns you 
 in a twofold degree. It seems that you have 
 told the intendant to seek you tenants for your 
 house at Juvigny, generously promising to let 
 them rest rent free if they will keep the house 
 in repair. Now, I find that Jerome has a ne- 
 phew 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 willing. 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 in- 
 trusted to him." 
 
 " By my faith! I am not so sure," answered 
 the Duke. " You know more of this youth 
 than I 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." 
 
259 
 
 '* But, my lord, I can assure you," answered 
 the old man, '* he has obtained grace and 
 pardon of the King, only coupled with the con- 
 dition that he never sets foot in Paris again, 
 nor ever attempts to exercise the business 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 at- 
 tacked the person and reputation of the Queen 
 Regent herself, had been pardoned upon any 
 consideration 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 completely at an end, and that 
 henceforth, he himself would answer for Jacques 
 living a sober, tranquil, and peaceful life. In- 
 dustrious and clever he always had been, he con- 
 tinued ; and as the good ladies of St. Ursula, 
 
260 
 
 the old man said, were going to give him the 
 management of their Httle farms, just opposite 
 to Juvigny, the house would come quite apro- 
 pos. Although with some diiSculty, the Duke 
 yielded to our solicitations, but solely on con- 
 dition that Jacques produced to the eyes of the 
 intendant the act of grace by which he was 
 relieved from all danger of the royal indignation. 
 Jerome wiUingly accepted of the terms ; and 
 I vdthdrew with him, in order to hear more of 
 my worthy philosopher's fate, and the adven- 
 tures 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, entreat- 
 ing him to make the request he had just done 
 to the Duke, and giving him satisfactory as- 
 surances that his pardon was really granted. 
 How it had been obtained, Jerome added, re- 
 mained to be explained to himself as well as to 
 me ; but respecting the farm of the Ursulines, 
 
S61 
 
 and Jacques Harlot'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 intendant's ; — " A little against 
 the intendant's stomach, I beheve," said the 
 major-domo ; *^ but it was an old love afiair, it 
 seems, before Jacques went from Rennes — 
 where he w^as 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 affair is all set right 
 with Monsieur I'lntendant." 
 
 I now found that Jacques, with his wife and 
 other movables, 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 methodically arranged 
 for all the hours of the day, I was somewhat 
 surprised to see him enter my chamber towards 
 
262 
 
 nightfall, and seat himself as if prepared for no 
 brief conversation. 
 
 After again thanking me for the fresh kind- 
 ness 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 introduce you to him, and will tell him all 
 you have done. But I took the liberty, my 
 son, of telUng him all before, and also of letting 
 him know how much you were attached to my 
 lord, and how eager you were to promote the 
 peace and happiness of all the family. Nay, 
 more — and I hope, and am sure, that you will 
 not think I went too far — I promised him that 
 you should meet him this evening, after sup- 
 per, in my apartment, and make his acquaint- 
 ance more completely." 
 
 " Oh! I will willingly meet him," replied I ; 
 " though I suppose we should have had plenty 
 of opportunities of making acquaintance during 
 
his stay in the chateau, without any appearance 
 of secresy." 
 
 " It need be no secret, my son," answered 
 the major-domo; " and in regard to your 
 making acquaintance with him afterwards, 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 I 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, I 
 found the Duke standing with the confessor, 
 to whom he instantly introduced me, saying, — 
 '* Father Ferdinand, this is the young English- 
 man I mentioned, whom I look upon — if not 
 as my own son, since such a feeling is, perhaps, 
 impossible — at least as the son of a dear bro- 
 ther, and treat accordingly." 
 
 The confessor took my hand, and looked at 
 
^64 
 
 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 wilKng- 
 ness 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 hfe ; 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 appeared between the lips of youthful 
 beauty. He was thin and pale, but his com- 
 plexion was clear, and, probably had never 
 been red ; and his form, which was tall, was 
 also upright and graceful, and in no degree 
 stiff. His robes, too, sat well upon him ; which 
 
265 
 
 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 movements, 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 
 inferred that he was one of those priests who so 
 frequently govern, with absolute sway, the little 
 kingdom of a private family, yet he was evidently 
 not one of those who would truckle to the pre- 
 judices, or give indulgence to the errors, of 
 any one in whose dwelling he was established. 
 There was in his whole conversation a tone of 
 bold independence, mingling with the tender- 
 ness of his manner, which took away from it 
 the slightest appearance of subserviency, and 
 made me feel that, in giving him tlie title of 
 Father, one only addressed him by a name which 
 he beheved 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 ^vith me 
 
 VOL. I. N 
 
266 
 
 for some time, kindly and frankly, upon a va- 
 riety of indifferent subjects. He was evidently 
 delighted 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 
 farther 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 ovm confidence, or to 
 wring from me the secrets of others. Gradu- 
 ally, however, he brought the conversation 
 round to the subject of Monsieur de Villardin, 
 and spoke with deep, and, certainly, sincere re- 
 gret, of the state to which the Duke appeared 
 to have brought himself. He asked me no ques- 
 tions, 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 wilhngly 
 promised to continue all my efforts, and our 
 conference thus ended. 
 
 After what I have just said, it may seem ex- 
 traordinary, that my first impression of Father 
 Ferdinand was not favourable. On retiring to 
 my own chamber, I sat down to meditate over 
 
267 
 
 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 allowed myself to remark the worst — I 
 may say, the sole bad, trait in Father Ferdi- 
 nand's nature. On it, with the keenness which 
 had been taught me from my youth, I pounced 
 like a tiger, and resolved to be as wary as pos- 
 sible 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, provided 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 efiect 
 
 N 2 
 
^68 
 
 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 admissi- 
 ble, but praiseworthy, in a priest. He stop- 
 ped 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, ag- 
 gravated rather than palliated by the motive, 
 inasmuch 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 con- 
 tact his most minute study ; employed every me- 
 thod 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 ad- 
 vantage and their peace. At first, however, he 
 proceeded cautiously ; suffered the traits of their 
 
269 
 
 hearts to develop themselves before his eyes ; 
 shocked none of their prejudices ; rudely as- 
 sailed none of their opinions, till such time as 
 he found himself secure 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 errors, 
 oppose their vices ; and, once having begun the 
 strife, would throw himself before their pas- 
 sions, 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 oc- 
 cupation which surely is mean, if there be any 
 thing mean on earth, — there was an air of au- 
 thority in his whole bearing, which made it 
 seem more as if he were examining witnesses 
 with the power and right of a judge, than en- 
 quiring into the private history of others for 
 objects of his own. 
 
 N 3 
 
270 
 
 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 himself, however, saw 
 it not as a blemish ; and were he now to behold 
 the lines in which I have endeavoured to pour-, 
 tray it in its true features, he would, very pro- 
 bably, say, that I had softened down one of the 
 best traits in his character to suit my own pre- 
 judices ; for he himself has always contended, 
 that the noblest victory he ever acquired 
 over human weakness, was that in which he 
 conquered his natural repugnance to employ 
 means which the world condemns and scorns, 
 for the sake of effecting the best of purposes. 
 
 In aU other respects, my memory can rest 
 upon every part of our acquaintance with plea- 
 sure ; and, look into it as narrowly as I will, I 
 find qualities in his character which I can ad- 
 mire and respect. In point of physical gifts, 
 nature had originally been very bountiful to 
 him indeed, and he had cultivated what she 
 gave with extraordinary care. A fine ear for 
 
^71 
 
 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 descrip- 
 tion, which seldom does justice to its object. 
 The next morning, in strolling through the 
 park, — Si 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, 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 behove me to be wary of all my moves ; 
 yet there was something so bland and pleasing 
 in his very salutation, that t 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 wisliing me good morn- 
 N 4 
 
272 
 
 ing. "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 morn- 
 ing, which inspires 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 preceding 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 had re- 
 strained on the preceding night, while in the 
 presence of the old domestic. Nor was it alone 
 
273 
 
 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 generous 
 heart, had, by a few weaknesses and faults, 
 created for himself lasting misery below, and 
 endangered his happiness for the long here- 
 after. 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; wliile all my prepossessions, I felt, 
 were rapidly giving way to a truer estimate of 
 my companion's character. 
 
 Seeing that I listeijed eagerly, and, mistaking 
 the cause of the siu'prise 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 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 difficult circumstances." 
 
 I replied not; for I began again to be upon 
 N 5 
 
274 
 
 my guard, fancying that all this might be but a 
 prelude to questions 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, \vith 
 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 conduct — making allow- 
 ance 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 cur- 
 rent 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 
 Monsieiu- de Villardin had confided that secret 
 to him, nor did I see that the strong terms he 
 
275 
 
 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 religious 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 Mon- 
 sieur de Villardin, and to restore him to a hap- 
 pier state of feeling. 
 
 ** I 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 wiU soon come when you 
 will not doubt me. In the meanwhile, to 
 speak of another part of our subject, good old 
 Laborde tells me that the page, Gaspard de 
 Belleville, seems lately to have taken jowy 
 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 
 N 6 
 
276 
 
 I speak with Monsieur de Villardin about it. 
 Have you yourself remarked any difference ? " 
 
 " So much so/' I replied, " that many a 
 painful feeling have I experienced on the sub- 
 ject. Indeed, I attribute the great increase of 
 that evil which we all deplore to the fact of 
 Monsieur de Villardm's now confiding entirely 
 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 ? " 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, re- 
 coiling 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. 
 
S77 
 
 *' Of course," I added, seeing the surprise 
 painted on his countenance, " I did not pro- 
 pose to do so without giving him every fair 
 equahty. You did not suppose, I trust, father, 
 that I vrould take him by surprise ? " 
 
 ** God forbid, my son, that you should do 
 such an act at all," replied the Confessor: *^ the 
 time wdll come when you will think better." 
 
 He said nothing more upon that subject, 
 however, governing his own feelings with won- 
 derful 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 perse- 
 veringly, he applied himself to change opinions 
 and prejudices which my early habits had ren- 
 dered almost a part of my nature. At first he 
 would take an opportunity of descanting gene- 
 rally 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 
 
278 
 
 gift, which no creature had a right to take from 
 another, except in those cases which God him- 
 self had pointed out. Now he represented it 
 as the space allotted to a sinner for repentance ; 
 now as the means of conferring benefits on 
 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 beyond man's compre- 
 hension 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 to 
 discover that his passion or his judgment had 
 deceived him, and that no injury had really 
 been done, or that it had been attributed 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 
 
279 
 
 would return and awaken every human sym- 
 pathy ; display the sweet ties broken, the dear 
 hopes destroyed, the noble careers cut short, by 
 such deeds : he would represent loves and af- 
 fections 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 trifling 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 exhort- 
 ation, that thenceforth I mingled with the 
 world with very different feelings in regard to 
 the relationship between man and man. 
 
S80 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 In speaking of Father Ferdinand, I have com- 
 pressed into one view the effect v^^hich vv^as 
 produced upon my mind by many long inter- 
 views with him. These took place, as I have 
 said, almost every morning ; but in the mean- 
 while 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 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 sufficient space of 
 time to run down, through the park, to Ju- 
 vigny ; and many a time did I meet him with 
 gleesome satisfaction depicted on his counte- 
 
S81 
 
 nance, returning from his expedition to his ne- 
 phew'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 Ursu- 
 lines just on the opposite side of the river, the 
 convent itself -svithin a quarter of a mile ; and a 
 httle stone bridge, at half that distance, to 
 render it easily accessible. 
 
 Madame la mariee was within, aided by a 
 bustling big-nosed Br e tonne servant e, 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 Mars ton Hall. 
 
 As he somewhat belaboured me with thanks 
 for all sort of kindnesses, past, present, and 
 
282 
 
 to come, I cut him as short as I could, by de- 
 manding 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 v^as very limited, and per- 
 haps the most decided fragment of my boyhood 
 that then remained to me wsls sl lingering dislike 
 to the generaHty of female society, and a very 
 juvenile contempt for w^omen in general. 
 
 *' Indeed!" exclaimed I, in reply to Jacques 
 Harlot's information, " indeed ! you make me 
 but the more curious. Let me offer my adora- 
 tions with all speed to the first of your household 
 divinities." 
 
 ** Well, well ; enter, enter, by all means," 
 he cried : ** I am not made of jealous stuff, 
 thank God ; and, as our love has already lasted 
 
283 
 
 five long years, I 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 Britanny, and 
 who had warned me of what was passing between 
 her father and the groom who then accompa- 
 nied me. After the first salutation, I returned 
 her my thanks in set form, although I had 
 nearly lost my life in consequence of her in- 
 formation ; and I then enquired 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 hospi- 
 table neighbourhood, on a certain day and hour ; 
 and that, in consequence, he had been arrested 
 and thrown into prison, where, within one fort- 
 
284 
 
 night, 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 punishment for 
 being suspected. The prisoner having thus 
 liberated himself, his daughter was left, accord- 
 ing 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 compliments 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 dwell- 
 ing, I yielded to my fate, and found that 
 
285 
 
 neither Jacques Harlot's taste for friandisej 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 
 pedlar; 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, 
 Jacques 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 
 advantage 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 
 
286 
 
 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 liter- 
 ally 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, 
 however, and in that position besought pardon 
 for his offences. 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, trembling, as he acknow- 
 ledged, for the consequences of his bold attempt. 
 The rule, however, was suffered to prevail even 
 in his case, although the Queen and the Cardinal 
 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 
 
287 
 
 any part of France. " And thus, my dear 
 benefactor," lie added, '^ I turned my steps 
 hither, determined to become a new Cincin- 
 natus, and, abandoning the government of Ro- 
 man 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, 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 indescri- 
 bable pleasure in sauntering by a running water, 
 and gazing upon the current gushing brightly by 
 
288 
 
 me. The banks here were irregular, sometimes 
 high and overhanging, sometimes sloping softly 
 down, and dipping their turf into the stream ; 
 and, as I often paused to gaze, and ponder, and 
 revolve a number of sweet sunshiny dreams that 
 were now very common to my mind, I was at 
 least tvnce the length of time in the walk than 
 I needed to have been. 
 
 Luckily did it happen that I was so. When 
 I had got about half way to the chateau, I per- 
 ceived that there were others in the walk besides 
 myself; and, straining my eyes a httle, 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 gromid, 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 backwards and 
 forwards 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 
 
289 
 
 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 playfellow. 
 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 gaily to seek them, when an early 
 butterfly started up from the bosom of a flower 
 and caught her notice. The painted insect 
 fluttered on before 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 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 turn- 
 ed its course towards the opposite bank of the 
 river. With a bound forward. Mademoiselle 
 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. 
 
 VOL. I. O 
 
290 
 
 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 re- 
 member the time when I could not swim, and the 
 only difficulty was to discover the object of our 
 search. The first plunge over had made her sink, 
 and nothing appeared as my eye ran along the ri- 
 ver, but the flat ghstening 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, vdth 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 Kving ; and the joy which that 
 conviction gave me was indescribable, when, on 
 
S91 
 
 rising above the water, I saw the scene that the 
 bank presented. Madame de Villardin, on her 
 knees, with her hands clasped, and eyes strain- 
 ing 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 frenzy 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 Fer- 
 dinand, raising up his left hand with impressive 
 energy ; and I could not but think 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 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 
 o g 
 
292 
 
 above the surface of the stream, especially when, 
 by the ease with which my old habits of swim- 
 ming 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 I directed my course ; and 
 Monsieur de Yillardin, stooping down, as I ap- 
 proached, 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 speak- 
 ing ; but then calling 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 Vil- 
 lardin besought her husband to give their little 
 Laura into the hands of one of the servants, 
 with orders to carry her to the chateau, lest. 
 
293 
 
 from tlie 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 suggestion, 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 
 feelings were too intense for speech, and she 
 proceeded in perfect silence ; while the priest, 
 who followed by my side, questioned me con- 
 cerning all the circumstances which had attended 
 the accident. 
 
 When we arrived at the castle, we were met 
 by Monsieur de Villardin himself, leading his 
 daughter by the hand, now clad in drier gar- 
 ments, and smiling as gaily 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. He held his daughter up in 
 his arms to embrace her mother, and then 
 o 3 
 
^94 
 
 taking the Duchess's hand, he pressed a kiss 
 upon her cheek. 
 
 Without pretending to any fine feelings, 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 gratifi- 
 cation 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, feeling that the 
 Duke and Duchess would be better left alone 
 together with their child under the circum- 
 stances 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 
 
295 
 
 time, one of the lacqueys entered my room, and 
 informed me, that Monsieur de Villardin desired 
 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 overwhelmed me. 
 
 He knew not, he said, how he could ex- 
 press his feeUngs 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 
 threatened her ? 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 repHed, " I hope for nothing, 
 I vdsh nothing, I will accept of nothing, for 
 doing an act which is far more than repaid by 
 o 4 
 
296 
 
 seeing the happiness which it has given to your- 
 self and your most excellent lady. Or, if I 
 must ask a boon, it shall be alone, that you will, 
 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 I 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 I pro- 
 mise, 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 vdsh for at present, I can certainly ask 
 nothing now." 
 
 " Well, then," he added, " let it remain for 
 
297 
 
 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 coui't, 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 
 application 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 spe- 
 cial messenger, who, before three weeks were 
 over, brought me back letters of natiu-alisation 
 in all due form, and entitling me, John Marston 
 Hall, Sieur de Juvigny j — -a name which, after- 
 o 5 
 
298 
 
 wards, I occasionally adopted when circum- 
 stances required. 
 
 If, in the household of Monsieur de Villardin, 
 there had before been 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 contribute to my 
 comfort and happiness. My time was left per- 
 fectly at my own disposal. A servant was selected 
 peculiarly to attend upon me. A suite of hand- 
 some 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 ViUardin now selected me continually for his 
 companion ; and, though but little conversation 
 of a very private nature took place between us, 
 yet I felt that, as far as his confidence went, 
 Gaspard de Belleville was beneath my feet for 
 ever. 
 
 From Father Ferdinand, too, I received a 
 
^99 
 
 mark of affection and kindness, wliich, as I had 
 now learned to appreciate his character pro- 
 perly, 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 I soon after found the good priest 
 busily employed in placing them in order. 
 When the task was concluded, be 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, 
 o 6 
 
300 
 
 indeed, it offered not a bad type of his own 
 mind. The books were in general of any thing 
 but a heavy or very serious cast, though amongst 
 them were to be found a number of volumes, 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 
 generaHty, however, consisted of the best and 
 purest poets in the language ; of historians a 
 considerable number ; of romance 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 plea- 
 sant path of entertainment. 
 
 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 de- 
 sign 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 tvsdce or thrice in the course of each 
 day to peruse some of the volumes vrith which 
 he had supplied me, carried me through a great 
 
301 
 
 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 remarked 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 circum- 
 stance to wake the dormant affections of his 
 heart, when the accident that befel his child 
 occurred. The consequence, at the time, I have 
 already noticed ; and for several weeks the same 
 mood continued. Every thing assumed a new 
 
302 
 
 aspect, and to me, especially, tlie whole scene 
 was full of enjoyment. 
 
 Although the season was no longer one in 
 which we could urge the chase, as we had for- 
 merly done at the Pres Vallee, yet fishing and 
 falconry, which was still a favourite sport in that 
 part of Britany, afforded us constant amuse- 
 ment ; and, as I have said, I was ever by the 
 side of Monsieur de Villardin, often his only 
 follower, and always his most cherished com- 
 panion. The only one in the house whom this 
 change seemed really to oppress was my old 
 enemy Gaspard de Belleville ; and never did I 
 set out with the Duke on any expedition of 
 pleasure, but I caught a sight of his brow lower- 
 ing upon us, evidently full of gloomy disap- 
 pointment at seeing the new hold I had obtained 
 of his master's affections. That he would 
 struggle to regain them himself and endeavour 
 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 injuring Madame de Villardin, at 
 least in regard to the Count de Mesnil, was at 
 
303 
 
 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 accomplish, 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 civility. I 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, with- 
 out serving his own purpose, were but too fatal 
 to the peace of others. 
 
304 
 
 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 tranquillity 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 YiUardin, and 
 her appearance, became every day more inte- 
 resting ; and although I could at times see a 
 shade come over the countenance of her husband 
 while, as he gazed upon her, some unworthy sus- 
 picion crossed his mind, yet, in general, he seem- 
 ed to regard her with that increased tenderness 
 and interest, which every man must; or ought, 
 
305 
 
 to feel towards a being they love under such 
 circumstances. The medical attendants of the 
 Duchess had strongly enjoined 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 
 whenever she found herself tired, and proceed- 
 ing 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 believed that the demon which had 
 caused so much unhappiness 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 no- 
 thing of any interest occurred in its course, 
 except an accidental interview which I had at 
 St. Malo with an acquaintance I certainly did 
 not expect to see so soon again and in such a 
 place. After having visited the port and per- 
 
306 
 
 ambulated 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 just returned from the sea ; and there 
 sitting dovni 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 gaily- 
 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 gar9on, with " Yes, 
 captain — not a moment, captain — directly, 
 captain." This new guest was a strong, square- 
 built man, with a face that any one would have 
 unscrupulously pronounced a frank, open coun- 
 tenance ; but, as soon as my eyes rested upon 
 it, — although his whole garb and appearance 
 was perfectly naval, — yet I thought that I had 
 seen him filling the office of captain in the land 
 service rather than the marine. He caught me 
 
307 
 
 gazing at him, and, as lie 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 liis 
 mind as to his conduct ; and, taking a moment 
 when the room was full of different persons, he 
 exclaimed, after fixing his eyes upon me for a 
 moment, " I think, monsieur, I have had the 
 honour of meeting you before." 
 
 " I think so also," I repKed, making an in- 
 clination of the head : " your face is famihar 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 become a humble captain of a merchant 
 vessel trading to the colonies." 
 
 " I admire the versatility of your talents," 
 said I, assuming the same tone, though doubt- 
 ing greatly the truth of the tale he told me : 
 
308 
 
 " you must have acquired a knowledge of naval 
 matters quickly ; for now I remember 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 originally 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 
 continued 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 water. 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 weigh." 
 
 I very well comprehended that it might not 
 be quite agreeable to Captain Hubert, with 
 whom I had made a somewhat interesting ac- 
 quaintance in a certain forest near Rennes, to 
 leave a person who knew his former pursuits 
 
309 
 
 so well as I did, to walk unwatched through 
 the town of St. Malo, at least till such time as 
 he himself had fairly sailed ; the merchant ser- 
 vice, 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 applica- 
 tions of half a dozen clerks, and twdce the 
 number of seamen, all 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 ser- 
 vant 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, every 
 one busy on their own peculiar affairs, and 
 seeming to think that there was nobody else 
 in the world but themselves. Here the wor- 
 thy captain pointed out to me his vessel, 
 which, indeed, was of a goodly size, and, ap- 
 
310 
 
 parently, 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, I de- 
 clined ; and, playfully catching me by the collar, 
 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 cap- 
 tain's badinage ; 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. 
 
311 
 
 springing into his boat, he was instantly rowed 
 off to his ship, leaving me to congratulate my- 
 self on having escaped a trip to the colonies, 
 where most likely I should have been treated 
 more as the merchandise than the merchant,* 
 
 Amused vdth my adventure, I returned to 
 my auberge, 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 rencontre in the forest, he had 
 already made one successful trip across the 
 Atlantic, and had given every sort of satisfaction 
 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, I set 
 off on my return to Dumont, pleased with my 
 
 * In explanation of this expression of the worthy auto- 
 biographer, 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. 
 
312 
 
 whole expedition, and trusting, foolishly, to find 
 everything 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 Villardin 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 Belle- 
 \'iUe, who passed me in the vestibule, with a sort 
 of grin upon his countenance, which made me fear 
 that matters were not going so well as I could 
 wish ; for I had remarked that his smiles were 
 
313 
 
 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 enquiries 
 into the situation of affairs around me, as soon 
 as ever I had the slightest suspicion that any 
 thing had gone amiss. Without even proceed- 
 ing to my own apartments, therefore, I directed 
 my steps, at once, to the room of my domestic 
 oracle, the major-domo, and entered unan- 
 nounced. The old man was busy with papers 
 and accounts ; but the moment he saw me he 
 threw them down upon the table, and, lifting 
 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, Jerome?" I demanded. ** When I left 
 you, all bade fair to continue tranquil and at 
 peace." 
 
 ** Ay ! but there is some demon of mischief 
 at work in the house," replied the old man, 
 *« whose machinations we don't understand, 
 
 VOL. I. P 
 
314 
 
 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 pro- 
 duced 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 exactly what has occurred since 
 I 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 intimate than I Kked. I had 
 seen something of the same kind before at the 
 
315 
 
 Pres Yallee ; 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 threatened to discharge her if she behaved 
 so lightly. However, 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 seeing 
 who I was ; but I heard him say to her, speak- 
 ing 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 my 
 bounden 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 dressing-room, and the next moment 
 my master passed me like a madman ; while I 
 saw Lise, the other maid, running out of my 
 mistress's room as if for help. The moment 
 she set eyes upon me, she called me to come 
 up and help her ; and I found my mistress lying 
 p 2 
 
$16 
 
 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 in to her mistress's dress- 
 ing-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 afterwards, Suzette 
 went away, and the Duchess asked Lise whe- 
 ther she thought the riband would look well on 
 the mantle. Just while they were speaking, in 
 
317 
 
 came my lord, and Lise went on into the bed- 
 room beyond ; 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 I 
 have told you she was when I came there. Ever 
 since that time my lord has been like one dis- 
 tracted; and though he saw his v^dfe yesterday, 
 he spoke not a word to her, but all the time 
 he was in the room he continued 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 
 p 3 
 
318 
 
 de Yillardin, with more tremendous force than 
 ever, those suspicions which the exhortations 
 of Father Ferdinand and my own direct testi-' 
 mony to the Duchess's conduct had crushed 
 with difficulty, I did not in the least doubt. 
 Nor had I more hesitation in concluding that 
 Gaspard's hatred of myself, and desire to sup- 
 plant me in the confidence of Monsieur de Vil- 
 lardin, together with the offence which the 
 Duchess's rebuke in regard to the page had 
 given Suzette, were sufficient motives for the 
 lovers, or paramours, or whatever they might 
 be, to combine in fostering the suspicions of 
 Monsieur de ViUardin against his wife, 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 Belleville the secret of 
 his encoimter with the Count de Mesnil, and 
 the discovery of the locket and its contents ? or 
 could either Gaspard or Suzette have watched 
 
319 
 
 our proceedings on that occasion, or have over- 
 heard any of the conversations relating to it, 
 which had taken place between myself and the 
 Duke ? The first supposition I rejected at 
 once, for it was impossible to believe that 
 Monsieiu' de Villardin would trust to the ear 
 of one, whom he himself suspected of having 
 betrayed his confidence in former instances, a 
 secret which, from the concealment and privacy 
 that had attended the duel, might, in all pro- 
 bability, involve his own life. Neither could 
 I, in calling to mind with the most scrupulous 
 accuracy every circumstance relating to the 
 transaction, believe that we had either been 
 watched, or that any of our words had been over- 
 heard. 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 com- 
 bat; and any conversations that had taken place 
 upon the subject afterwards had always been car- 
 ried on in low tones, and in places where it was 
 almost impossible that they could be overheard, 
 p 4 
 
320 
 
 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 concerning the future. All 
 that I could suggest vras, 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 convers- 
 ation with the Duke, without waiting till he 
 was addressed upon it. This, of course, neither 
 Jerome Laborde 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 
 Ferdinand were, luckily, found without diffi- 
 culty ; 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 undertook that it should 
 
321 
 
 go, at the latest, the next morning. All this 
 occupied some time, and it was now growing 
 late ; but jet the Duke had not returned. An- 
 other hour elapsed; supper- tune arrived; and, 
 although one of the most regular men in his 
 habits that I ever saw, still Monsieur de Villar- 
 din 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 hus- 
 band. At that moment, however, Monsieiu* 
 de Villardin's step was heard in the vestibule ; 
 and immediately afterwards 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 apprehen- 
 sive for his safety, he cast down liis 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 firowningly upon myself and seve- 
 p 5 
 
322 
 
 ral 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 de- 
 meanour, and appeared eager to prevent the 
 servants, whose astonishment 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 Vil- 
 lardin frequently during supper, to which she 
 sat down vvdth him, using, as he addressed her, 
 all those forms of cold courtesy and politeness, 
 which none knew better how 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 atten- 
 tive 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 would or not, 
 into a state of dreary abstraction. 
 
 The next morning, a new change seemed 
 
S2S 
 
 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, per- 
 haps, something more approaching towards 
 fierceness in his manner than we had ever be- 
 held ; 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 morn- 
 ing I hoped that he was going to speak to me 
 on the subject of his new suspicions, for more 
 than once he looked earnestly, I may call it 
 vdldly, in my face ; and once, when he had 
 done so during a longer space than ever, he 
 suddenly broke off, and turned away, mutter- 
 ing, *' No, no! myself alone!" 
 
 I eagerly watched his conduct to Madame de 
 Villardin 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 dehghted with the change, and 
 p 6 
 
324 
 
 did all slie could to soften him still farther, 
 there appeared to me something not natural in 
 his manner, which alarmed me ; and I deter- 
 mined to walk down to Juvigny in order to 
 make sure that the letter had been despatched 
 to Father Ferdinand, for whose coming I 
 prayed more fervently than I had ever 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 reheved 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, accom- 
 panied by her Httle 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 descending the back 
 
325 
 
 staircase, — wMcli leading from my apartments 
 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 
 apartments, and, full of painful thoughts turned 
 to the window, 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 descended 
 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 
 
826 
 
 alleys. Never did I feel so tempted to play the 
 spy ; butjthough I was conscious 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, 
 she set out about ten minutes after her hus- 
 band, accompanied by myself alone. She walked 
 
3^7 
 
 but slowly, and rested about half way down the 
 walk ; but although the sun was below the ho- 
 rizon, 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 Yillardin come into the 
 alley as if from the bank of the river ; and, offer- 
 ing his arm to his wife, he took the garden-seat 
 which I was carrjdng and walked on down the 
 alley in silence. A minute or two after, how- 
 ever, as w^e approached one of the Kttle wooden 
 bridges, he paused, and asked Madame de Vil- 
 lardin whether she was able to walk on a little 
 further 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 
 
328 
 
 or sixty yards from the spot where we stood, 
 A feeling of awe and agitation 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 exist- 
 ence did I feel such a painful state of uncer- 
 tainty ; and, gazing after Monsieur de Villardin 
 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 approach- 
 ing the river ; and, walking fast to come up with 
 
3^9 
 
 them, I was within twenty yards of the bridge 
 when they began to cross it. Scarcely, how- 
 ever, had they taken two steps upon the wood- 
 work when I heard a crash, a scream, a plunge, 
 and both figures at once disappeared. 
 
 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 overhung 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 towards a sharp turn which it took about 
 fifty yards below, — all served to prevent me see- 
 ing distinctly what were the objects on the sur- 
 face of the water. Fragments of the bridge 
 there certainly were ; but I saw neither Madame 
 de Villardin nor her husband, though the whirl- 
 ing 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 
 
330 
 
 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 leapt from the 
 high bank at once into the stream, and, as 
 soon as I rose after the first plunge, I struck 
 rapidly do^vn 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, amongst 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 Monsieur de Yillardin. He seemed per- 
 fectly insensible ; but, springing to the shore, 
 I dragged him up the bank, and laid him 
 upon the turf. Still he made no movement: 
 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 
 
331 
 
 plunging into the stream, I swam rapidly round 
 the little peninsula I have mentioned. 
 
 The river here was more open, and whatever 
 light was in the sky was reflected clearly from 
 its bosom ; but, by this time, all the fragments 
 of the bridge had drifted out of sight, and, in 
 vain lifting my head as high as I could, I at- 
 tempted to discover any object floating upon 
 the water. Still darting on as fast as my 
 utmost efibrts could impel me along the cur- 
 rent, I endeavoured to regain the time lost 
 in drawing Monsieur de Villardin 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 per- 
 fectly exhausted, I was obliged to abandon the 
 attempt in despair, and landed about a mile 
 below the dwelling of good Jacques Marlot. 
 Thither I directed my steps as fast as possible ; 
 and, finding the door locked, I knocked for 
 several moments so violently as to bring him 
 himself, with a face of terror, to the gateway. 
 Telling him what had occurred, I besought him 
 
232 
 
 to rouse all the servants of tlie 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 
 I had left Monsieur de Yillardin, answering as 
 well as I could the eager questions which he 
 put to me, as we went, concerning 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 
 ahve, 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. 
 
333 
 
 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 un- 
 happy lady, from the spot where the bridge had 
 broken to a village nearly six miles further 
 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 sorrowful to the 
 chateau. 
 
 END OF THE FIRST VOLUME. 
 
London : 
 
 Printed by A. Spottiswoode, 
 
 New-Street- Square. 
 
UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-URBANA 
 
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