has just sent for me, and her majesty, being at once a
woman and a queen, does not like being kept waiting. She always wishes
to receive the first news from the army, therefore I can venture to take
you with me without asking her permission.

"I have brought Monsieur de Villar to your majesty," he said as
he entered the queen's apartment. "He has just reached Paris with
despatches from the Viscount Turenne. He has only this instant arrived,
and I thought I might venture to bring him at once to you."

"'Tis a long time since we have seen you, monsieur," the queen said
graciously, "but we have heard of you from the marshal's despatches, and
were glad to see that your regiment bore itself as well in the field of
battle as in the park of Versailles. What news do you bring? Nothing of
importance, I hope, for there can hardly be good news when the marshal
has so scanty a force with which to guard the frontier."

"The Viscount de Turenne is too zealous in your service, madam, to
remain idle, however small his force. He started suddenly the day I left
with his cavalry and a small body of infantry to march to Treves, with
two or three regiments he has persuaded the Duc d'Enghien to send him
from Metz with some guns, and he hoped to capture the city and clear the
electorate of the enemy before they can receive strong reinforcements,
seeing that they are all scattered in their winter quarters."

"A bold stroke indeed, cardinal," the queen said, much gratified. "It
has touched our honour that the elector should so long have suffered for
his fidelity to France; and, moreover, its possession in his hands will
relieve us of much anxiety and give us the Moselle as a barrier against
the incursions of the enemy in that corner of our dominions. He is
indefatigable, this good viscount, cardinal; and he is not one of those
who look for great rewards for every service. He has indeed carried
on the war largely on his own resources, which has been of no slight
advantage to us, seeing that our exchequer is but too often strained to
meet demands from other quarters. If he succeeds in this enterprise, you
must write in our name and bid him come hither to receive our thanks in
person, and to rest for a while from his labours in our service.

"You have changed somewhat, Monsieur de Villar, since we last saw you.
The ladies of the court called you then the little colonel--not because
of your size, for you already overtopped the greater portion o