“Very well, you can go then, Campbell.  I am pleased with your spirit, and also with your thoughtfulness for your companions, who, although strong young men, do not seem to have your power of endurance.  I find, too, that you always carry out your instructions with intelligence, and that your reports on matters touching which I have sent you to inquire are always clear and full.  It may be that ere long I may find employment for you in which courage as well as intelligence is required.  There is but one drawback, namely, that you do not speak Italian.  I know that there are few officers in our service who do so; but it would be so much the more valuable were you able to master it.”

“I had intended to study the language, general, as soon as I got here, but have had no time to begin it.”

“That you certainly have not,” Turenne said with a smile.

“Do you think that it would be of any use, sir, if I were to take a Savoyard servant?  I find that many of them who come from places near the frontier speak French as well as their own language.”

“That would be useful, certainly; but you would have to be careful in your choice, and see that you get one whose sympathies are with the duchess; not only for your own safety, but because a chance word heard here, or an order given and conveyed to the Spaniards, might involve the loss of a battle.”

“I see that, general, and will be very careful.”

Hector had formed the acquaintance of several young officers attached to the household of the duchess, and on the day following his return from his mission he was supping with a party of four of them when he said: 

“Can one of you gentlemen recommend a servant to me?  He must be able to talk French as well as Italian.  He must be active and intelligent.  I should like him to be handy and accustomed to camp service, though this is not so important, for I want him as an interpreter before anything else.  I should like him to be a lightweight, so as to be able to ride with me.  He must be accustomed to fatigue, and he must have courage, for some of the journeys on which I may be sent will not be without danger, and of course he must be of the duchess’s party.”

“And I suppose,” one of the young men said, “that this Admirable Crichton of whom you are in search must be sober, honest, and truthful.  Are you particular whether he is Huguenot or Catholic?”

“As to the last, not a bit.  I should like him to be as sober as soldiers in general are, and if he confined himself to taking his wine when I did not require him, it would not be very important, provided that he is not talkative when in liquor.  As to his honesty, he would have no great temptation so far as I am concerned, but I certainly should not wish to lose him by his being strung up by the provost marshal for robbing citizens.  As to his truthfulness, providing he did not lie to me, it is a point on which I should not be particular.”