ad after her sisters. She was not, like them,
fatally gifted with beauty. She was not beautiful at all, old Peter
said. And he had kept her secluded in Brabant instead of taking her
with him to Paris. The old man's longing to see this girl, whom he had
not seen for two years, was enough to make one weep.

And so we fared along, through North Germany, with its shaggy forests,
its wild moors, its rugged mountains, into the softer air of South
Germany, of well-tilled fields, handsome towns, bright-flowing rivers,
its castles and country houses, until we reached the Rhine country.
Thence we followed the great river until we came opposite Coblenz,
where we crossed, and the town being pleasant, and the weather
continuing clear and mild, we spent some days of rest and pleasure.

Count Saxe also wished to get a chance to study the great rock
fortress on the other side of the river. He still passed as Count
Moritz--he was not looking for company then. As there were many
officers about, it was far from certain that he could preserve his
incognito, but, by great good fortune, he was not recognized.

On a misty evening--we were to leave Coblenz on the morrow--as I stood
watching the fiercely flowing river, and the rich vine country around
it, I saw an apparition--Jacques Haret. What he was doing in Coblenz,
I neither knew nor cared. He came up, greeted me with effusion, and
asked me if Count Saxe was going to visit his brother, the King of
France, as Henry of England had visited Francis the First--and this
with a grin which was most distasteful to me. I desired to fling the
fellow into the ditch near-by, but I have lived long enough in this
world not to provoke a battle with a wit, if I can help it. So, I
referred him to Count Saxe for information; and even Jacques Haret
dared not bell the Saxe cat. I turned to go to the inn where Count
Saxe and his party were lodged, and Jacques Haret accompanied me, as
if I had invited him.

When we reached the inn, it was near supper time, and leaving him very
unceremoniously, I went to Count Saxe. He was about to join Madame
Riano at supper in her rooms, for we usually dined and supped as one
party, and we proceeded thither. Madame Riano, Francezka and the two
Chevernys awaited us. The cloth was laid, and by accident, so it
seemed, Peter had put an additional place at the table. I mentioned
that I had come across Jacques Haret, for I made no doubt the fellow
would intrude himself upon us, a