“Certainly, if it so pleases you, Captain Campbell.  The watchword tonight is ‘Conde’, but I will in addition give you a pass enjoining all officers to allow you to go where you please, you being on the staff of the prince.  I shall go round myself later on, for de Malo may intend a night attack, by which he would certainly gain advantages.  His troops are fresh, while ours are weary.  He has had every opportunity of studying the ground, while it is all new to us.  Still, I hardly think that he will move till morning.  Enterprise is not the strong point of the Spaniards, they love to fight in solid bodies, and hitherto their infantry have never been broken by cavalry.  At night they would lose the advantage of their steadiness of formation.  It is clear, by his willingness to allow us to pass the defile and take up this position, that de Malo is absolutely certain of victory and will wait, for daylight would permit him to make his expected victory a complete one, while at night great numbers of our army would be able to make their escape through the woods.”

Hector returned to the spot where his horses were picketed with those of Enghien’s staff.  He found Paolo lying down under a tree where he had been ordered to take up his post, so that Hector could find him if required.

“Are you asleep, Paolo?”

“No, master; I have been thinking about the battle tomorrow, and where I had best bestow myself.”

“As to that, Paolo, I should say that you had better keep with the prince’s servants here.  You will, of course, have your horse saddled and be ready to ride on the instant.  If we are victorious there will be no occasion for you to move, but if you see that we are beaten, my orders are that you are not to think of waiting for me.  I must keep with the others.  Doubtless the cavalry would cover the retreat, and it would be a serious inconvenience for me to have to come here to look after you, therefore as soon as you see that the day has gone against us mount and ride.  You can wait at our halting place of last night until you see the prince’s party come along.  If I am alive I shall be with them; if not, my advice to you is to ride south and to report yourself to Turenne.  He will, I doubt not, either take you into his own service, or give you such strong recommendations that you will have no difficulty in obtaining a post with some officer of distinction should you wish to continue with the army.  Now, I am going along our line of outposts, and I intend to reconnoitre the ground between us and the enemy.  That is what Turenne would be doing were he in command here.”

“I will go with you, master; when it comes to reconnoitering, methinks that I am as good as another.  I can run like a hare, and though a bullet would go faster, I am quite sure that none of these heavily armed Spaniards would have a chance of catching me.”

“I intended to take you with me, Paolo.  We shall need as much care and caution here as we did in getting into the citadel of Turin.”