day developed before his son in the vaults of Saint Denis, - the Comte de
la Fere, in the name of his son, had always declined them. Moreover,
instead of following M. de Conde in his rebellion, the vicomte had
followed M. de Turenne, fighting for the king. Then when M. de Turenne,
in his turn, had appeared to abandon the royal cause, he had quitted M.
de Turenne, as he had quitted M. de Conde. It resulted from this
invariable line of conduct, that, as Conde and Turenne had never been
conquerors of each other but under the standard of the king, Raoul,
however young, had ten victories inscribed on his list of services, and
not one defeat from which his bravery or conscience had to suffer.

Raoul, therefore, had, in compliance with the wish of his father, served
obstinately and passively the fortunes of Louis XIV., in spite of the
tergiversations which were endemic, and, it might be said, inevitable,
at that period.

M. de Conde; on being restored to favor, had at once availed himself of
all the privileges of the amnesty to ask for many things back again which
had been granted to him before, and among others, Raoul. M. de la Fere,
with his invariable good sense, had immediately sent him again to the
prince.

A year, then, had passed away since the separation of the father and son;
a few letters had softened, but not removed, the pain of absence. We
have seen that Raoul had left at Blois another love in addition to filial
love. But let us do him this justice - if it had not been for chance and
Mademoiselle de Montalais, two great temptations, Raoul, after delivering
his message, would have galloped off towards his father's house, turning
his head round, perhaps, but without stopping for a single instant, even
if Louise had held out her arms to him.