"Bah! he does not know me. Let me see what he has come here
for."




CHAPTER 2

The Messenger.



Mademoiselle de Montalais was right; the young cavalier was
goodly to look upon.

He was a young man of from twenty-four to twenty-five years
of age, tall and slender, wearing gracefully the picturesque
military costume of the period. His large boots contained a
foot which Mademoiselle de Montalais might not have disowned
if she had been transformed into a man. With one of his
delicate but nervous hands he checked his horse in the
middle of the court, and with the other raised his hat,
whose long plumes shaded his at once serious and ingenuous
countenance.

The guards, roused by the steps of the horse, awoke and were
on foot in a minute. The young man waited till one of them
was close to his saddle-bow: then stooping towards him, in a
clear, distinct voice, which was perfectly audible at the