master, I was too busy myself to look round."

"It was Beaufort himself; I ran him through, low down in the shoulder."

Paolo uttered an exclamation of dismay.

"It cannot be helped now," Hector went on, "but there will be no living
in Paris or even in France after this!"

Mazarin had not retired to bed when they reached his hotel.

"What now, monsieur?" he asked.

"We have had our second battle, your eminence, and it has been a serious
one. We were attacked by five-and-twenty ruffians; we slew some ten of
them. Then their leader, who had been keeping in the rear shouting to
them, seeing that his men were not likely to get the best of us, pushed
through them and himself attacked me. I wounded him somewhat seriously,
at least the thrust was just below the shoulder; and when I tell you
that it was Beaufort himself you will see that the matter is serious
indeed."

"It could not be worse," the cardinal said gravely; "you will have the
whole of the adherents of the house of Vendome banded against you, and
even your bravery could not long triumph over such odds. France is no
longer a place for you. Neither the queen's protection nor mine would
avail you aught."

He took two or three turns up the room.

"In the first place, Monsieur Campbell, I will buy your fief back from
you; there are plenty who would gladly purchase it, or I can bestow it,
as it was bestowed upon you, upon someone who has served the crown well.
I will send the price to the banker who already holds money of yours
in his keeping. I should advise you to mount tonight and ride for the
seacoast. Tomorrow would be too late."

He opened a cabinet.

"Here are a thousand crowns for your present expenses. Which road will
you take? I should advise you not to go to Calais; that is the line on
which, as soon as it is known that you have gone, they will pursue you,
and even did they not overtake you on the way they might reach Calais
before you could obtain a ship for England, for at present there is but
little trade between the countries, and that not openly."

"I will make for Nantes, your eminence; there I can be joined by friends
from my chateau."

A slight smile passed over the cardinal's face.

"'Tis no time for jesting," he said; "but in truth I had intended to
find a rich heiress for you. But when I heard that two ladies were
staying at the castle I laid the project aside; and 'tis as well that I
did so, for, were you married to a princess, your