rcely reached the embankment leading to
Plessis, when the count and his wife, both mounted, she on her white
mule, he on his horse, and followed by two pages, joined the archers,
in order to enter Plessis-lez-Tours in company. All were moving slowly.
Georges was on foot, between two guards on horseback, one of whom held
him still by the leathern thong. Tristan, the count, and his wife were
naturally in advance; the criminal followed them. Mingling with the
archers, the young page questioned them, speaking sometimes to the
prisoner, so that he adroitly managed to say to him in a low voice:--

"I jumped the garden wall and took a letter to Plessis from madame to
the king. She came near dying when she heard of the accusation against
you. Take courage. She is going now to speak to the king about you."

Love had already given strength and wiliness to the countess. Her
laughter was part of the heroism which women display in the great crises
of life.

In spite of the singular fancy which possessed the author of "Quentin
Durward" to place the royal castle of Plessis-lez-Tours upon a height,
we must content ourselves by leaving it where it really was, namely on
low land, protected on either side by the Cher and the Loire; also by
the canal Sainte-Anne, so named by Louis XI. in honor of his beloved
daughter, Madame de Beaujeu. By uniting the two rivers between the
city of Tours and Plessis this canal not only served as a formidable
protection to the castle, but it offered a most precious road to
commerce. On the side towards Brehemont, a vast and fertile plain,
the park was defended by a moat, the remains of which still show its
enormous breadth and depth. At a period when the power of artillery was
still in embryo, the position of Plessis, long since chosen by Louis XI.
for his favorite retreat, might be considered impregnable. The castle,
built of brick and stone, had nothing remarkable about it; but it was
surrounded by noble trees, and from its windows could be seen, through
vistas cut in the park (plexitium), the finest points of view in the
world. No rival mansion rose near this solitary castle, standing in the
very centre of the little plain reserved for the king and guarded by
four streams of water.

If we may believe tradition, Louis XI. occupied the west wing, and
from his chamber he could see, at a glance the course of the Loire,
the opposite bank of the river, the pretty valley which the Croisille
waters, and part