“I have had fifty thousand crowns for the past three years and have put them out on good security, so that the sum stands at present in my books at sixty-four thousand crowns.  Three days ago I received from Cardinal Mazarin bills to the amount of one hundred and fifty thousand crowns, being, he said, due to you for the surrender of the fief of la Villar, and for other services rendered to him.  The cardinal is a good paymaster,” he added with a slight smile at seeing Hector’s surprise at the news, “but it was plain from his letter to me that he considered that the value of your services was greatly in excess of the sum, large as it is, that he sent, especially as they had brought great misfortunes upon you, and had forced you to abandon France, and give up your profession, in which, he said, your prospects of gaining the highest rank were of the brightest.  Now, sir, if there are any services that I can render you I am at your disposal.  You will naturally wish to invest your money in some way, and, though I say it myself, I know of no one who could lay it out to better advantage.”

“You may help me assuredly,” Hector said, “for I am an entire stranger in England.  I wish to purchase an estate, but have no idea how to set about it, while, doubtless, you are acquainted with many such domains at present for sale.  I may say that I will on no account purchase an estate which has been confiscated by parliament on account of its owner being loyal to the crown.  Charles II may, and I believe will, return and mount the throne, and these estates will then beyond doubt be restored to their former owners, therefore I will have nought to do with such property.”

“You could not choose a better time for laying out your money in land,” the banker said.  “Great numbers of the nobles and gentlemen of England have been killed or are in exile; many, again, who still hold their land are well nigh ruined by the moneys they spent in the king’s service, and would gladly sell now could they obtain anything like a fair value for their estates.  I know of a score at least of such properties which are so deeply mortgaged that the owners can scarce afford to live in their own homes, and would gladly take a sum that would suffice to pay off the mortgage and give them the wherewithal to live upon, either abroad or in Virginia, to which colony many loyal gentlemen have already gone to settle.  If you will call tomorrow I will give you a list of such estates, with their size, the amount of their revenues, and the price at which their owners would, I know, be glad to sell, for I and some of my friends have been approached by them with that view.”