"The loss is not mine; my husband's estates were confiscated when
he crossed into Germany with the duke, and were some ten months
ago granted to a Monsieur de Thours, a relative of the Prince
of Conde; but he sent me a courteous letter to say that as he
was serving with the Duc d'Enghien, I was welcome to continue to
occupy the chateau until the war was over, receiving the rents as
his chatelaine, paying the retainers, and keeping up the establishment,
and sending the surplus to his agents at Nancy. This I was glad
to do, for, indeed, had it not been for his kind offer my daughter
and I would scarcely have known whither to go, as my husband expended
his last crown in equipping a force for the service of the duke."

At this moment Macpherson exclaimed:

"I see the head of a company mounting the slope, colonel."

"Yes, and there is Captain Mieville. Ah! he has halted the men, and
is riding forward alone to take in the situation. I hope that the
peasants won't catch sight of him." When Mieville reached a point
where he could obtain a view of the front of the chateau he checked
his horse, and after surveying the scene for a minute rode back
to the company. A movement was at once visible.

"He is extending them on each side," Hector said. "That is good.
He is going to inclose the peasants, and as from the slope in the
ground they cannot see the troops until they are within a hundred
yards, he will catch them in a trap."

The company moved round, in fact, until they had formed almost