he chief, as the most
immediate and pressing danger, was the debt to Francis the notary, which
might at any moment be brought before the Court.

Thus it was that the three sons found themselves without money or
position, with nothing but a bare patent of nobility. The third and
youngest alone had made any progress, if such it could be called. By
dint of his own persistent efforts, and by enduring insults and rebuffs
with indifference, he had at last obtained an appointment in that
section of the Treasury which received the dues upon merchandise, and
regulated the imposts. He was but a messenger at every man's call; his
pay was not sufficient to obtain his food, still it was an advance, and
he was in a government office. He could but just exist in the town,
sleeping in a garret, where he stored the provisions he took in with him
every Monday morning from the Old House. He came home on the Saturday
and returned to his work on the Monday. Even his patience was almost
worn out.

The whole place was thus falling to decay, while at the same time it
seemed to be flowing with milk and honey, for under the Baron's personal
attention the estate, though so carelessly guarded, had become a very
garden. The cattle had increased, and were of the best kind, the horses
were celebrated and sought for, the sheep valued, the crops the wonder
of the province. Yet there was no money; the product went to the notary.
This extraordinary fertility was the cause of the covetous longing of
the Court favourites to divide the spoil.

CHAPTER V

BARON AQUILA

Felix's own position was bitter in the extreme. He felt he had talent.
He loved deeply, he knew that he was in turn as deeply beloved; but he
was utterly powerless. On the confines of the estate, indeed, the men
would run gladly to do his bidding. Beyond, and on his own account, he
was helpless. Manual labour (to plough, to sow, to work on shipboard)
could produce nothing in a time when almost all work was done by
bondsmen or family retainers. The life of a hunter in the woods was
free, but produced nothing.

The furs he sold simply maintained him; it was barter for existence, not
profit. The shepherds on the hills roamed in comparative freedom, but
they had no wealth except of sheep. He could not start as a merchant
without money; he could not enclose an estate and build a house or
castle fit for the nuptials of a noble's daughter without money, or that
personal influence which