m; but more than once he said:

"'I wish I had your English cousin with me. I like you much,
Laville; but your cousin is more like myself, and I should learn
much of him. You are brave and merry and good-tempered, and so is
he; but he has a longer head than you have,'--which I know is quite
true--'you would be quite content to spend your life at court,
Francois; where you would make a good figure, and would take things
as they come. He would not. If he did not like things he would
intrigue, he would look below the surface, he would join a party,
he would be capable of waiting, biding his time. I am only
seventeen, Francois; but it is of all things the most important for
a prince to learn to read men, and to study their characters, and I
am getting on.

"'Your cousin is not ambitious. He would never conspire for his own
advantage, but he would be an invaluable minister and adviser, to a
prince in difficulties. The Admiral meant well, but he was wrong in
refusing to let me have Philip Fletcher. When I am my own master I
will have him, if I can catch him; but I do not suppose that I
shall, because of that very fault of not being ambitious. He has
made his own plans, and is bent, as he told me, on returning to
England; and nothing that I can offer him will, I am sure, alter
his determination. But it is a pity, a great pity.'

"By all this you see, Philip, that those who think the Prince of
Navarre merely a merry, careless young fellow, who is likely to
rule his little kingdom in patriarchal fashion; and to trouble
himself with nothing outside, so long as his subjects are contented
and allowed to worship in their own way, are likely to find
themselves sorely mistaken. However, if you come over soon, you
will be able to judge for yourself.

"The Queen of Navarre saw a great deal of the countess, my mother,
when they were at La Rochelle together; and has invited her to pay
her a visit at Bearn, and the prince has requested me to accompany
her. Of course if you come over you will go with us, and will be
sure of a hearty welcome from Henry. We shall have some good
hunting, and there is no court grandeur, and certainly no more
state than we have at our chateau. In fact, my good mother is a
much more important personage, there, than is Jeanne of Navarre at
Bearn."

This letter hastened Philip's departure. The prospect of hunting in
the mountains of Navarre was a pleasant one. He liked the young
prince; and had, in the shor