rt in a battle in which
my brother and Turenne will both have command."

"If it be so, madame," Hector said, "there can be little doubt of
victory, for with the two greatest military geniuses France has produced
during the last hundred years it would be hard indeed if victory did not
attend their united banners."

The news of the honour that had been bestowed upon this young colonel
circulated rapidly through the salon, and many gentlemen came up and
begged Colonel Maclvor to introduce him to them. One who had received
so marked a proof of the queen's favour, and who had won the praise and
goodwill of both Turenne and Enghien, might well become in time a man of
mark, and so many compliments were showered upon Hector that he was glad
indeed when the queen again passed through the room on her way to her
apartments and he was at liberty to retire. He walked slowly back to
Conde's palace, went up to his room, changed his court suit for that
which he had worn during the day, and then went out again, feeling
that it would be hopeless to attempt to sleep. He paced backwards and
forwards for some hours on the quay, thinking of the changes that three
days had brought about.

He could scarcely realize even now, that he who a week ago was but a
captain with nought but his pay, was now not only a colonel but a noble
of France, with an estate of whose value he was ignorant, but as it
carried with it a patent of nobility it was evident that it must be one
of dimensions sufficient to support the title. The change excited no
feeling of exultation. His whole thoughts so far had been directed
solely to his career as a soldier. He had hoped that some day he might
win a colonelcy; more than that he had never thought of. High commands
in France were matters of birth, interest, and connection. Gassion, who
had just earned his marshal's baton, was the sole exception to the
rule. Hitherto generals, and still more marshals, had always been men
belonging to the first families of France. It had been a matter of
course that when an army went to the field it was under the command of
a prince of the blood, and the utmost an outsider could look for was the
command of a regiment. The promotion had delighted him, not for the sake
of the pay or position, but because, if he obtained the command of one
of the regiments that were rapidly being formed to meet the dangers that
threatened France, he would have opportunities of doing good service
and of ear