“Certainly the one you rode in upon is the best, master, but all four are grand animals.  The two I picked up on the battlefield are fine animals also.”

“It does not make much matter which I ride now, Paolo; we shall have the opportunity of seeing which has the most fire and endurance as we ride along; and at any rate I shall keep Enghien’s four horses for my own riding, keeping two with me and leaving two behind at the castle.  I shall buy four strong and serviceable horses for the troopers when I get my first rents, for in sooth my purse is beginning to run very low.”

“Possibly, master, when you look in the armoire in your room you may find something to replenish it.  One of the cardinal’s servants brought a packet for you.  I stowed it away and locked the door of your room.”

“Well, there is no time to lose, Paolo, so see at once about the matters that I have told you.  Here is sufficient money to buy the other goods.”

“Here is the key of the room, sir.”

Having seen Paolo hurry away, Hector went up to his room.  In the armoire he found the packet, which was a heavy one.  Opening it, he found a letter and a bag sealed with wax.  The letter was from the intendant general.  It was directed, “A Monsieur le Baron de la Villar.”

“It does not look as if it could be for me,” Hector said, with a merry laugh.  Breaking the seal he found: 

By the order of Monseigneur Cardinal Mazarin, first minister of the crown, I enclose the last half year’s rents of the estates of la Villar received by me from the royal intendant in charge of the said estates three weeks since, to defray the necessary expenses that must be incurred by you between the period of your taking possession and, of receiving the next half yearly payment of rents.

Enclosed with this was a formal permit, giving a month’s leave of absence to visit his estates, “To Colonel Campbell, Baron de la Villar, commanding the Poitou regiment.”

“Very nice and thoughtful on the part of the cardinal,” Hector said, “and, moreover, very seasonable, for I was wondering how I should pay the retainers at the castle and my four troopers until the rents began to come in.  By the time I had paid the usual fees to the servants here, and the expenses of the journey to Poitou and back, I should have been almost penniless, and should have been obliged to borrow from someone on the strength of my coming rents, which would have been a very bad beginning.”

After bidding farewell to Conde, and thanking him for his hospitality, Hector started immediately the midday meal was concluded.  His cavalcade made a good show as he rode through the streets of Paris, with the four orderlies behind him, splendidly mounted, followed by Paolo leading another fine horse carrying baggage.  The journey was an uneventful one, and on arriving at the castle of Villar, Hector was received by the royal intendant.  It was still