purses were empty, a hundred towns had been sacked and burned, the
prisons were full of Protestants, the fields were uncultivated. Added to
all this, the long promised help from England had never arrived, and the
new marechal had appeared in the province accompanied by fresh troops."

Nevertheless, in spite of his desperate position, Cavalier listened to
the propositions laid before him by Lacombe with cold and haughty front,
and his reply was that he would never lay down arms till the Protestants
had obtained the right to the free exercise of their religion.

Firm as was this answer, Lalande did not despair of inducing Cavalier to
come to terms: he therefore wrote him a letter with his own hand, asking
him for an interview, and pledging his word that if they came to no
agreement Cavalier should be free to retire without any harm being done
him; but he added that, if he refused this request, he should regard him
as an enemy to peace, and responsible for all the blood which might be
shed in future.

This overture, made with a soldier's frankness, had a great effect on
Cavalier, and in order that neither his friends nor his enemies should
have the least excuse for blaming him, he resolved to show everyone that
he was eager to seize the first chance of making peace on advantageous
terms.

He therefore replied to Lalande, that he would come to the bridge of
Avene on that very day, the 12th May, at noon, and sent his letter by
Catinat, ordering him to deliver it into the hands of the Catholic
general himself.

Catinat was worthy of his mission. He was a peasant from Cayla, whose