be impossible to obtain in France; and that in the
next place he should hardly advise him to learn even if he procured
the gloves, for that in such contests severe bruises often were
given.

"We think nothing of a black eye," he said laughing, "but I am
sure madame your mother would not be pleased to see you so marked;
besides, your people would not understand your motive in undertaking
so rough an exercise, and you might lose somewhat of their respect.
Be content, Count Ernest; you are an excellent swordsman, and
although I am improving under M. du Tillet's tuition I shall never
be your match. If you like; sometime when we are out and away
from observation we can take off our coats, and I can give you a
lesson in wrestling; it is a splendid exercise, and it has not the
disadvantages of boxing."

Little Jules looked up to Harry as a hero, and henceforth, when
they were together, gave him the same sort of implicit obedience
he paid to his elder brother. The ceremonious habits of the age
prevented anything like familiarity on the part of the younger
girls; but Jeanne and Virginie now always greeted him with a smile
when they met, and joined in conversation with him as with their
brothers in the evening.

The marquise, who had formerly protested, if playfully, against
her husband's whim in introducing an English boy into their family
circle, now regarded him with real affection, only refraining from
constant allusions to the debt she considered she owed him because
she saw that he really shrank from the subject.

The marquis shortly after this incident went to Paris for a fortnight
to ascertain from his friends there the exact position of things.
He returned depressed and angry.

The violence of the Assembly had increased from day to day. The
property of all the convents had been confiscated, and this measure
had been followed by the seizure of the vast estates of the church.
All the privileges of the nobility had been declared at an end,
and in August a decree had been passed abolishing all titles of
nobility. This decree had taken effect in Paris and in the great
towns, and also in some parts of the country where the passions of
the people were most aroused against the nobility; but in Burgundy
it had remained a dead letter. The Marquis de St. Caux was popular
upon his estates, and no one had ever neglected to concede to
him and to the marquise their titles. He himself had regarded the
decree with disdain. "They