ou may have heard."

"I hope to have the honour of serving under you with my regiment, sir."

"I shall be glad to have you, but I fear there is little chance of it.
I am to take the command of the Weimar troops. The death of the duke
has been a heavy blow to us, and it is thought that unless I go down
there--I say it because I have served there and am known by the Weimar
troops--that force will break up altogether. From what I hear, I hardly
think there is much chance of having any French regiments with me, and
those now being raised are likely to be sent to fight under Enghien in
Flanders. My position is, as you know, a painful one, owing to Bouillon
having gone to Italy to take the command of the Pope's troops. I believe
that is the reason why Mazarin has withdrawn me from the command of our
army in Savoy. However, as a soldier I accept the work he has given me,
not allowing family matters to interfere in any way with it, though it
is my opinion that Bouillon has been very hardly treated by the breaking
of the engagements that were given him when he surrendered Sedan to
France."

A week later Hector presented himself at the levee of Cardinal Mazarin.

"I was expecting to see you, baron. I received your note saying that you
had taken the command of your regiment, and would do yourself the honour
of presenting yourself as soon as you had put matters in trim. Are you
satisfied with your men and your officers?"

"With both, your eminence, and trust that in two or three months' time
you will do us the honour of inspecting us."

"And how did you find your barony?"

"I was delighted with it. The castle is a strong one, and I am taking
steps to add to its strength; and I believe when it is finished that it
will be almost impregnable save by an army, and that well commanded."

"Then you think," the cardinal said with a smile, but with a certain air
of seriousness, "that you could offer me a safe asylum if I needed one."

"I trust that such an event may never occur, your eminence, but if it
should, my castle is at your disposal, and I will guarantee that it will
resist for three months, whoever might attack it."

"One can never say," the cardinal said mournfully. "Oh, these nobles!
They are, as they have ever been, the curse of France. Each man thinks
only of himself and of increasing his domains. What France may suffer
matters nothing to them so that they are enriched. Were one of them
capable of ruling France I woul