CHAPTER I.

A ducal monomaniac.

The traveller who wishes to go from Poitiers to London by the shortest route will find that the simplest way is to take a seat in the stage-coach which runs to Saumur; and when you book your place, the polite clerk tells you that you must take your seat punctually at six o’clock.  The next morning, therefore, the traveller has to rise from his bed at a very early hour, and make a hurried and incomplete toilet, and on arriving, flushed and panting, at the office, discover that there was no occasion for such extreme haste.

In the hotel from whence the coach starts every one seems to be asleep, and a waiter, whose eyes are scarcely open, wanders languidly about.  There is not the slightest good in losing your temper, or in pouring out a string of violent remonstrances.  In a small restaurant opposite a cup of hot coffee can be procured, and it is there that the disappointed travellers congregate, to await the hour when the coach really makes a start.

At length, however, all is ready, the conductor utters a tremendous execration, the coachman cracks his whip, the horses spring forward, the wheels rattle, and the coach is off at last.  Whilst the conductor smokes his pipe tranquilly, the passengers gaze out of the windows and admire the beautiful aspect of the surrounding country.  On each side stretch the woods and fields of Bevron.  The covers are full of game, which has increased enormously, as the owner of the property has never allowed a shot to be fired since he had the misfortune, some twenty years ago, to kill one of his dependents whilst out shooting.  On the right hand side some distance off rise the tower and battlements of the Chateau de Mussidan.  It is two years ago since the Dowager Countess of Chevanche died, leaving all her fortune to her niece, Mademoiselle Sabine de Mussidan.  She was a kind-hearted woman, rough and ready in her manner, but very popular amongst the peasantry.  Farther off, on the top of some rising ground, appears an imposing structure, of an ancient style of architecture; this is the ancient residence of the Dukes of Champdoce.  The left wing is a picturesque mass of ruins; the roof has fallen in, and the mullions of the windows are dotted with a thick growth of clustering ivy.  Rain, storm, and sunshine have all done their work, and painted the mouldering walls with a hundred varied tints.  In 1840 the inheritor of one of the noblest names of France resided here with his only son.  The name of the present proprietor was Caesar Guillaume Duepair de Champdoce.  He was looked upon both by the gentry and peasantry of the country side as a most eccentric individual.  He could be seen any day wandering about, dressed in the most shabby manner, and wearing a coat that was frequently in urgent need of repair, a leathern cap on his head, wooden shoes, and a stout oaken cudgel in his hand.  In winter he supplemented to these an ancient sheepskin coat.  He was sixty years of age, very powerfully built, and possessing enormous strength.  The expression upon his face showed that his will was as strong as his thews and sinews.  Beneath his shaggy eyebrows twinkled a pair of light-gray eyes, which darkened when a fit of passion overtook him, and this was no unusual occurrence.