The horses set off, and, amid the sound of bells and the cracking of
whips, the carriage reached the national road from Paris to Beauvais,
which, from Montsoult, passes around the railway by a rapid descent, from
the summit of which is visible, on the right, the Chateau of
Franconville; on the left, the village of Nerville perched on its crest.

One of the footmen on the rear seat held the reins, and a quarter of an
hour later the carriage stopped just before arriving at the foot of
Valpendant.

Valpendant had formerly been a feudal manor within the confines of Ile-
de-France, built midway upon a hill, as its name indicated. On the side
toward the plain was a moat, and the castle itself commanded the view of
a valley, through which ran the little stream called Le Roi, which flows
into the river Oise near the hamlet of Mours. Acquired in the fifteenth
century by the lords of Prerolles, it had become an agricultural
territory worked for their profit, first by forced labor, and later by
farmers.

Even recently, the courtyard, filled with squawking fowls and domestic
animals of all kinds, and the sheds crowded with agricultural implements
piled up in disorder, presented a scene of confusion frequent among
cultivators, and significant of the alienation of old domains from their
former owners.

"We have arrived!" said the Duchess, alighting first.

"What, is it here?" Henri exclaimed, his heart beating more quickly.