wrest from Philip the duchy of Bercy. Philip was heir by adoption only,
and the inheritance had been secured at the last by help of a lie--surely
his was a righteous cause!

His motives had not their origin in hatred of Philip alone, nor in desire
for honours and estates for himself, nor in racial antagonism, for had he
not been allied with England in this war against the Government? He
hated Philip the man, but he hated still more Philip the usurper who had
brought shame to the escutcheon of Bercy. There was also at work another
and deeper design to be shown in good time. Philip had retired from the
English navy, and gone back to his duchy of Bercy. Here he threw himself
into the struggle with the Austrians against the French. Received with
enthusiasm by the people, who as yet knew little or nothing of the doings
in the Cohue Royale, he now took over command of the army and proved
himself almost as able in the field as he had been at sea. Of these
things Detricand knew, and knew also that the lines were closing in round
the duchy; that one day soon Bonaparte would send a force which should
strangle the little army and its Austrian allies. The game then would be
another step nearer the end. Free to move at will, he visited the Courts
of Prussia, Russia, Spain, Italy, and Austria, and laid before them his
claims to the duchy, urging an insistence on its neutrality, and a trial
of his cause against Philip. Ceaselessly, adroitly, with persistence and
power, he toiled towards his end, the way made easier by tales told of
his prowess in the Vendee. He had offers without number to take service
in foreign armies, but he was not to be tempted. Gossip of the Courts
said that there was some strange romance behind this tireless pursuit of
an inheritance, but he paid no heed. If at last there crept over Europe
wonderful tales of Detricand's past life in Jersey, of the real Duchesse
de Bercy, and of the new Prince of Vaufontaine, Detricand did not, or
feigned not to, hear them; and the Comtesse Chantavoine had disappeared