had
shared ever since they quitted Poitiers, to quiet and reassure her. The
soubrette, thoroughly enamoured of Isabelle as of old, was devoted to
her, and took great delight in watching over and ministering to her;
an own sister could not have been kinder or more affectionately
considerate.

The only evidence that de Sigognac gave of the anxiety which he
secretly felt, was his always insisting upon occupying the room nearest
Isabelle's, and he used to lie down in his clothes, with his drawn sword
on the bed beside him, so as to be ready in case of any sudden alarm.
By day he generally walked on in advance of the chariot, taking upon
himself the duty of a scout; redoubling his vigilance wherever there
happened to be bushes, thickets, high walls, or lurking places of any
kind, favourable to an ambuscade, near the roadside. If he perceived
from afar a group of travellers approaching, whose appearance seemed to
him in the least suspicious, he would instantly draw his sword and fall
back upon the chariot, around which the tyrant, Scapin, Blazius and
Leander formed an apparently strong guard; though, of the last two
mentioned, one was incapacitated for active service by age, and the
other was as timid as a hare. Some times, varying his tactics like a
good general, who thinks of and provides against every emergency, the
baron would constitute himself a rear guard, and follow the chariot at
a little distance, keeping watch over the road behind them. But all his
precautions were needless, for no attack was made upon the travellers,
or any attempt to interfere with them, and they proceeded tranquilly
on their way, "without let or hindrance." Although it was winter, the
season was not a rigorous one, and our comedians, well fortified against
the cold by plenty of warm clothing and good nourishing food, did not
mind their exposure to the weather, and found their journey a very
enjoyable affair. To be sure, the sharp, frosty air brought a more
brilliant colour than usual into the cheeks of the fair members of the
troupe, but no one could say that it detracted from their charms; and
even when it extended, as it did sometimes, to their pretty little
noses, it could not be found serious fault with, for everything is
becoming to a young and beautiful woman.

At last they drew near to the capital--following the windings of the
Seine, whose waters flow past royal palaces, and many another edifice of
world-wide renown--and at four o'cloc