monsieur!" whispered Jacques; "we shall return."

"Yes," I replied, with a sudden glow of confidence, "we shall return;
let us hold fast by that!"

L'ENVOI.

My story as I set out to tell it really ends on the day when the _White
Rose_ left the harbour of Rochelle, but those who have followed my
fortunes thus far may not take it amiss if I relate very briefly the
upshot of my adventures.

Concerning Jeanne and her English husband there is little to tell.
Happy, it is said, is the country that has no history, and their lives
were one long happiness, passed in their beautiful home, surrounded by
friends, and blessed by the presence of little children.

For four years I stayed with them, until, indeed, the joyful news of
Henry's escape from Paris sent me, accompanied by the faithful Jacques,
in hot haste to France, where the offer of my services was gladly
accepted by the great Huguenot chief.

"The dawn is long in coming, Le Blanc," he said kindly; "but it will
come at last."

It would take too long to tell you of the years of strife, of our
marches and countermarches, of our defeats and victories, of how we
changed from hope to despair, and from despair to hope, until on that
memorable field of Ivri we smote our enemies hip and thigh, and broke
the League that had brought so much misery on the country.

It was at Ivri, right at the moment of triumph, I lost Jacques, who,
through good and ill, had followed my fortunes with a loyalty and
devotion that no man ever exceeded, and fell just when I had the power
to reward his services.

Renaud L'Estang I rarely met after my return. He served his patron
faithfully and well, and on Anjou's death joined the household of the
Duke of Guise, who held him in high esteem. He was, I believe, slain in
one of the numerous skirmishes, but even that I learned only by hearsay.

In spite of my vaunts and boastings Etienne Cordel enjoyed his
ill-gotten gains for several years, and then it was not to me, but to a
higher judge he had to render his account.

But when Henry of Navarre became King of France, the estates of Le Blanc
were restored to their rightful owner, and in the old castle to-day,
hung in the place of honour, is the sword which Henry gave me at
Arnay-le-Duc, and on which he has graciously caused to be inscribed,
"From Henry of Navarre to the Sieur Le Blanc."

End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of For The Admiral, by W.J. Marx

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