arin, first minister of the
crown, I enclose the last half year's rents of the estates of la Villar
received by me from the royal intendant in charge of the said estates
three weeks since, to defray the necessary expenses that must be
incurred by you between the period of your taking possession and, of
receiving the next half yearly payment of rents.

Enclosed with this was a formal permit, giving a month's leave of
absence to visit his estates, "To Colonel Campbell, Baron de la Villar,
commanding the Poitou regiment."

"Very nice and thoughtful on the part of the cardinal," Hector said,
"and, moreover, very seasonable, for I was wondering how I should pay
the retainers at the castle and my four troopers until the rents began
to come in. By the time I had paid the usual fees to the servants here,
and the expenses of the journey to Poitou and back, I should have been
almost penniless, and should have been obliged to borrow from someone
on the strength of my coming rents, which would have been a very bad
beginning."

After bidding farewell to Conde, and thanking him for his hospitality,
Hector started immediately the midday meal was concluded. His cavalcade
made a good show as he rode through the streets of Paris, with the four
orderlies behind him, splendidly mounted, followed by Paolo leading
another fine horse carrying baggage. The journey was an uneventful one,
and on arriving at the castle of Villar, Hector was received by the
royal intendant. It was still a place of considerable strength, standing
on the crest of a hill. It had been kept in a good state of repair by
the intendant, and could offer a stout resistance to anything short of
an army provided with a powerful battering train. On making a tour of
the estate Hector found that here, as throughout France, an immense
amount of distress existed, owing to the crushing taxation rendered
necessary by the war; he made minute inquiries of the intendant of the
circumstances of the various tenants of the estate.

The officer was about to return to Paris now that his commission was
ended, but as he had a son who had acted as his assistant, Hector
appointed him in his stead, charging him to press no one unduly. He
placed under his care the domestic arrangements of the castle, retaining
the servants who had been there under the royal officer. There was
only a permanent garrison of twelve men, but this could be raised to a
hundred were the tenants of the estates driven