renne, fighting for the king. Then when M. de Turenne,
in his turn, had appeared to abandon the royal cause, he had quitted
M. de Turenne, as he had quitted M. de Conde. It resulted from this
invariable line of conduct, that, as Conde and Turenne had never been
conquerors of each other but under the standard of the king, Raoul,
however young, had ten victories inscribed on his list of services, and
not one defeat from which his bravery or conscience had to suffer.

Raoul, therefore, had, in compliance with the wish of his father, served
obstinately and passively the fortunes of Louis XIV., in spite of the
tergiversations which were endemic, and, it might be said, inevitable,
at that period.

M. de Conde; on being restored to favor, had at once availed himself
of all the privileges of the amnesty to ask for many things back again
which had been granted to him before, and among others, Raoul. M. de la
Fere, with his invariable good sense, had immediately sent him again to
the prince.

A year, then, had passed away since the separation of the father and
son; a few letters had softened, but not removed, the pain of absence.
We have seen that Raoul had left at Blois another love in addition to
filial love. But let us do him this justice--if it had not been for
chance and Mademoiselle de Montalais, two great temptations, Raoul,
after delivering his message, would have galloped off towards his
father's house, turning his head round, perhaps, but without stopping
for a single instant, even if Louise had held out her arms to him.

So the first part of the journey was given by Raoul to regretting the
past which he had been forced to quit so quickly, that is to say, his
lady-love; and the other part to the friend he was about to join, so
much too slowly for his wishes.

Raoul found the garden-gate open, and rode straight in, without
regarding the long arms, raised in anger, of an old man dressed in a
jacket of violet-colored wool, and a large cap of faded velvet.

The old man, who was weeding with his hands a bed of dwarf roses and
arguerites, was indignant at seeing a horse thus traversing his sanded
and nicely-raked walks. He even ventured a vigorous "Humph!" which made
the cavalier turn round. Then there was a change of scene; for no sooner
had he caught sight of Raoul's face, than the old man sprang up and set
off in the direction of the house, amidst interrupted growlings, which
appeared to be paroxysms of wild delight.