"Come in, come in, I implore you!" murmured Louise.

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


Chapter II:
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 window where the two girls were concealed,
"A message for his royal highness," he said.

"Ah, ah!" cried the soldier. "Officer, a messenger!"

But this brave guard knew very well that no officer would appear, seeing
that the only one who could have appeared dwelt at the other side of the