set me thinking.

His advice seemed good. I must go to Paris and take service with some
prominent man. I would serve him faithfully; he would advance my
interests, and in the course of time I might save sufficient money to
purchase the family estate, whither I would remove my mother and father
that they might pass the end of their days in peace. That was the
dream which the soldier's words had started afresh.

My father would have let me go willingly enough, but my dear mother,
who had never seen the capital, feared for my welfare.

"This Paris," said she, "is a wicked place, full of snares and pitfalls
for young and old. Rest content where you are, my son, and be not
eager to rush into temptation. I think not so much of bodily peril as
of danger to the soul."

"Albert is a gentleman," said my father, "and the son of a gentleman:
he will do nothing dishonourable."

Perhaps after all I should never have left home, but for an incident
which happened a few days after Belloc's departure. One evening I had
wandered across the meadows skirting the river, and, busy with my
thoughts, had unconsciously strayed into the private grounds at Vancey.
The voices of men in earnest conversation broke my dream, and I found
myself at the back of a pleasant arbour.

"It is far too risky," said one. "Let De Retz find his tools
elsewhere. If the plot fails----"

"Pshaw!" exclaimed another, "it can't fail. I tell you De Retz has
spread his net so carefully that we are certain to land the big fish."

Unwilling to pry into other people's secrets, I was turning back when
the speakers, hearing the noise, rushed from the arbour, with their
swords half drawn. One was the owner of the chateau: the other my
cousin Henri.

"What beggar's brat is this?" cried Maubranne. "Off to your kennel,
you rascal, and stay there till I send my servants to whip you."

"Why, 'tis my cousin," said Henri, in surprise.

"How came you here, Albert? These are private grounds."

"Yes," I answered bitterly, "and once they belonged to your grandfather
and mine."

"Faith," laughed he carelessly, "he should have taken better care of
them. How long have you been here?"

"A few minutes. Do not be afraid; I learned none of your business."

"If I thought you had," growled Maubranne suspiciously, "you should
never leave the place. _Peste!_ it wouldn't be a bad idea to keep you
as it is; you would be back under your own roof," and he ended with a