--or parties of the
Marechaussee [mounted police], as they would now be termed, whom Louis,
who searched the wounds of the land with steel and cautery, employed to
suppress the disorderly bands which infested the interior. These last
suffered them to pursue, their way unmolested by virtue of a password
with which Quentin had been furnished for that purpose by the King
himself.

Their resting places were chiefly the monasteries, most of which were
obliged by the rules of their foundation to receive pilgrims, under
which character the ladies travelled, with hospitality and without any
troublesome inquiries into their rank and character, which most persons
of distinction were desirous of concealing while in the discharge
of their vows. The pretence of weariness was usually employed by the
Countesses of Croye as an excuse for instantly retiring to rest, and
Quentin, as their majordomo, arranged all that was necessary betwixt
them and their entertainers, with a shrewdness which saved them all
trouble, and an alacrity that failed not to excite a corresponding
degree of good will on the part of those who were thus sedulously
attended to.

One circumstance gave Quentin peculiar trouble, which was the character
and nation of his guide, who, as a heathen and an infidel vagabond,
addicted besides to occult arts (the badge of all his tribe), was often
looked upon as a very improper guest for the holy resting places at
which the company usually halted, and was not in consequence admitted
within even the outer circuit of their walls, save with extreme
reluctance. This was very embarrassing, for, on the one hand, it was
necessary to keep in good humour a man who was possessed of the secret
of their expedition, and, on the other, Quentin deemed it indispensable
to maintain a vigilant though secret watch on Hayraddin's conduct, in
order that, as far as might be, he should hold no communication with
any one without being observed. This of course was impossible, if the
Bohemian was lodged without the precincts of the convent at which they
stopped, and Durward could not help thinking that Hayraddin was desirous
of bringing about this latter arrangement for, instead of keeping
himself still and quiet in the quarters allotted to him, his
conversation, tricks, and songs were at the same time so entertaining
to the novices and younger brethren, and so unedifying in the opinion of
the seniors of the fraternity, that, in more cases than one, i