entry should be prepared. They wanted to have regaled M. de Bellaise
with a banquet, and were sadly disappointed when he said he had only
stolen a few hours to set his wife's heart at rest, and must return
immediately to the camp.

There was little after that to make me anxious, for our army merely
went through a course of triumphs, taking one city after another in
rapid succession. I remained at Mezieres, and M. de Bellaise
sometimes was able to spend a few days with me, much, I fear, to the
derision of his fellow-soldiers, who could not understand a man's
choosing such a form of recreation. We had been walking under the
fine trees in the PLACE on a beautiful summer evening, and were
mounting the stairs on our return home, when we heard a voice
demanding of the hostess whether this were the lodging of Captain de
Bellaise.

I feared that it was a summons from the camp, but as the stranger
came forward I saw that he was a very young man in the dress of a
groom, booted, spurred, and covered with dust and dried splashes of
mud, though his voice and pronunciation were those of a gentleman.

'Do you bring tidings from M. le Marquis?' inquired my husband, who
had recognized our livery.

'Ah! I have deceived you likewise, and no wonder, for I should not
have known you, Philippe,' cried the new comer.

'Armand d'Aubepine! Impossible! I thought your child was a girl,'
exclaimed my husband.