CHAPTER XI: THE CASTLE OF LA VILLAR
The next morning he called at eleven o'clock, at which hour thecardinal's secretary had informed him that Mazarin would expect him.He went to the abode of the minister. Mazarin received him with markedcourtesy.
"Here are the deeds appointing to you the estate of la Villar and yourpatent of nobility," he said, pointing to a box upon his table. "Youhave been singularly fortunate, sir, and from all inquiries that I havemade from officers who have served with Monsieur de Turenne, and, I maysay, from Colonel Maclvor, I hear nothing but good of you, as a soldierdevoted to duty, as a young man free from the vices and dissipations toocommon among those of your age, and as possessing intelligence as wellas courage. Such men, sir, even royalty does well to attach to itself,and for them a splendid career is open. I, high as is the office inwhich Providence has placed me, may well envy you. You fight against theenemies of France; I am surrounded by enemies open and secret, and thewar is no less earnest than that which Turenne and Enghien are waging.
"The great nobles of France are jealous that I, a foreigner, shouldhave the ear of the queen, and be first minister of the country. Gladlyindeed would I resign my position and return to my bishopric in Italy,were it not that I promised the great man to whose place I have sounworthily succeeded, that I would do my best for the country on whosebehalf he spent every hour of his life, and that I would, unless drivenfrom it by force, hold the seals of office until the young king shouldbe old enough to rule France unaided. You, baron, are like myself aforeigner, and ready to risk your life in the service of France, andyou will understand how I am situated and how I feel. You, happilyfor yourself, are not so highly placed as to excite enmity, althoughdoubtless not a few of those who flocked round you yesterday evening tocongratulate you on your good fortune felt a sensation of envy that ayoung soldier of fortune should be so honoured.
"In my case envy is accompanied by the deepest animosity. The greatnobles find me an obstacle in the way of their grasping power, and theywould hesitate at nothing to rid themselves of me. Were it not for thesupport of the queen, my position would be untenable even for an hour.Without me the queen herself would speedily become as much a cipher asshe was so long as the weak king reigned. We have need, both of us,of men of heart and devotion such as I take you to be. I ask for noengagements, sir, but I felt that there was a genuine ring in your voiceyesterday evening when you promised faithful service to her majesty, andI feel that if such service is needed you will be ready to render it."
"I shall indeed, your eminence. I cannot conceive that any circumstancescan occur that would render such aid as I could offer of service to you,but be assured that should such an occasion arise, the queen may countupon me to render it to the extent of my life; and when I say thequeen I, of course, include your eminence as her trusted adviser andsupporter."
"Well spoken, sir. I believe your words, and it may be that the occasionis not so far distant as you may imagine. Here is the box, sir. By theway, it will, I am sure, be a pleasure for you to know that her majestyhas the intention of creating the Viscount de Turenne field marshal assoon as he arrives in Paris."
"It is indeed, monseigneur; never did a soldier better earn such honour.There, indeed sir, is a true and noble heart, loyal to his duty beyondall things, adored by his soldiers, ready to serve under officersaltogether inferior to himself, incapable of jealousy, and devoted tohis sovereign and his country."
"You do not speak too warmly of him," the cardinal said; "and among allthe difficulties of the situation there seems to be but one fixedpoint, and that point is that upon Monsieur de Turenne we can at leastconfidently rely."
Hector felt that his audience was at an end, and taking the box from thetable, and again thanking the cardinal for the honour bestowed upon him,he retired. The cardinal's chamberlain met him at the door. "Will youstep in here, monsieur le baron?" he said, and led the way into a smallapartment. "As a stranger to the court, monsieur, you are probablyunaware of the value of the gift that has been granted to you, or of itsduties and obligations."
"Altogether, sir; beyond the fact that it is in Poitou, which hermajesty mentioned yesterday, I know absolutely nothing about it."
"Without being an estate of the first class," the chamberlain said, "itis one which is of importance in its province. The revenue is punctuallypaid and is amply sufficient to enable its lord to make a good figure atcourt, and to rank among the notables in the province. It is a fief helddirectly from the crown; its owner is bound to furnish feudal serviceof twenty-five mounted men and twenty-five arquebusiers, or, should heprefer it, fifty horsemen in all. Some of its owners have in times ofperil raised a force of thrice that strength. So you will see that theLord of la Villar is not an unimportant personage. The estate is held atpresent by a royal intendant. You will find in that box an order for himto place you in possession of the castle and estate whensoever you maypresent yourself, and as at the present moment your services can bespared from the army, it might be as well to visit it at once, if onlyfor a few days. Possibly the cardinal did not inform you that he hasordered that the regiment that has been just recruited shall bear thename of the regiment of Poitou, and has appointed you to its command."
This news gave much greater pleasure to Hector than did the gift of thefief, or the rank that accompanied it.
"Will you please give my earnest thanks to his excellency," he said,"and assure him that he can depend upon my devotion."
When Hector returned to the Hotel Conde he found that the soldiers whohad started with him from Rocroi had all arrived, bringing with them thetwelve horses that had been left on the road; four of these were to behanded over to each of the officers. The division was just being made ashe entered the courtyard, each officer taking the four he had ridden bythe way.
Paolo at once came up to him. "What are we to do with these horses,master?" he asked, with an air of bewilderment.
"We have now seven of them, counting mine, the one I led, and that yourode when you set out."
"I must see where I can bestow them for the present until we think thematter over;" and going up to one of Conde's officers, he asked him ifhe could recommend a place where he might leave safely four horses for atime.
"The auberge of the Pome d'Or is but a street from here, monsieur; ithas good stables, and the host is an honest man, which is not often thecase with men of his class. When the stables here are full the princeoften engages extra stalls there for the use of his guests. I will sendfour men with the horses at once, if such is your pleasure."
"You will greatly oblige me by doing so," Hector replied. Having seenthe horses safely and comfortably lodged at the inn, Hector returned tothe hotel with Paolo.
"You are not tired, I hope, Paolo?" he asked as they walked back.
"No, master; we have taken three days to do what you did in one, andhave fatigued neither ourselves nor our beasts."
"That is well, for I am going to start on a journey this afternoon, thatis to say, if I can manage to make my arrangements."
"May I ask where you are going, master?"
"You will be surprised to hear that I am going to visit my estates inPoitou."
Paolo looked sharply up to see whether Hector was joking. Seeing that helooked serious, he said hesitatingly, "But I did not know, master, thatyou had estates in Poitou. I never heard you speak of them."
"Because I had them not, Paolo. That box that you are carrying holds thetitles. The fief was granted to me last night by the queen herself, theDuc d'Enghien and General Gassion having been good enough to make a gooddeal more of that night adventure of ours than it deserved. The estatescarry a title with them, and I am now the Baron de la Villar."
Paolo gave an exclamation of delight. "Well, master, I am glad indeed;but," he went on in a changed tone, "now that you, monsieur, have becomea noble, you will no longer require the services of a lad from Savoy."
"Indeed I shall, Paolo, as long as you choose to remain with me. Why,have you not shared with
me in the adventures, one of which made me acaptain, and the other a colonel and a noble? Of course I shall haveother servants, but you will always be my bodyservant and companion."
"And are you going to leave the army, monsieur?" Paolo asked, afterpouring out his thanks.
"No, I shall still remain in the army. Turenne will be in Paris soon,and will then go to the Rhine to take the command there, and I hope togo with my regiment."
"Then you have a regiment, master?"
"Yes; one of the newly formed regiments has been named the regiment ofPoitou, and I am to have the command. Of course, it may be sent eitherto him or to Enghien, but I hope that it will be to Turenne; and Ishould think so, because from what I hear there is scarcely any armyleft on the Rhine, and therefore it is probable that the new regimentswill all be sent there, as Enghien's force is quite sufficient to copewith any enemy he is likely to meet with in Flanders. Now, I am goingdown to the barracks, and for the next two or three hours you can amuseyourself by taking a look at Paris."
It was not to the barracks that Hector made his way, but to The ScottishSoldier.
"I did not expect to see you so soon again, colonel. Your man brought meword that I was not to come this morning, as you would be engaged," thesergeant said when he entered.
"Yes, but our talk was only postponed, sergeant; now I want you to aidme in a matter that I have on hand."
"What sort of matter is it?"
"I want to find four good men to take into my service. The queen hasgranted me an estate, as if a colonelcy was not an ample and more thanample reward for discovering that ambuscade. It is the fief of la Villarin Poitou, and the most absurd point of the thing is that with it is atitle, and I am now Colonel Campbell, Baron de la Villar."
"Well, well," the sergeant exclaimed; "you will be coming and telling menext that you are going to marry a princess of the blood. Did one everhear of such things! However, Hector, lad, I congratulate you with allmy heart, and I am as glad as if it had been a bairn of my own that hadhad your good fortune. Now, in what can I help you about the four men?What sort of men do you want?"
"I want four good men and true, sergeant, men that I can rely upon. Ishall want them to ride with me in the field as orderlies, for I havebeen appointed to the command of an infantry regiment. Of course, Ishould like young and active men, but that they should be steady andaccustomed to arms is still more important."
"I know but few men outside the regiment," the sergeant said. "Theladdies like to have the place to themselves, and I don't encourageothers about; but if you can do with good men who have somewhat passedtheir prime, but are still capable of service and handy with their arms,I know just the men that will suit you. We had a little bit of troublein the regiment a week since; four of the men--Allan Macpherson, JockHunter, Donald Nicholl, and Sandy Grahame--came in after tattoo, and alla bit fu'. It was not here they got it, though; I know better thanto supply men with liquor when it is time for them to be off to thebarracks. Captain Muir, who is the only dour carl in the regiment,happened to be on duty, and he spoke a good deal more hardly to themthan to my mind there was any occasion, seeing that they are goodsoldiers and not in the guardroom more often than others. They answeredhim more freely, no doubt, than they would have done had they not beenin their cups.
"They were had up before the colonel the next morning. They had allserved their time, and having been greatly angered at their treatment,they at once up and told the colonel that they would take theirdischarges. The colonel would have pacified them, but Captain Muir stoodout strongly, and said that if such insolence as theirs was allowed togo unpunished it would be a bad example indeed for the regiment; sothe colonel paid them up to the day and gave them their papers. It hascaused a lot of feeling in the regiment, as you may guess, and the menall groaned and booed when Muir came on parade the next day, and it wasas much as the colonel himself--whom they all love as a father--coulddo to silence them. It is said that he spoke very sharply to Muirafterwards, and that it is likely the captain will get transferred toanother regiment. However, that is too late for the men who have left.Their comrades are going to get up a subscription to send them back toScotland, for you may be sure the hotheaded fools have not a bawbee oftheir pay laid by."
"I know them all, sergeant, and I should say they would be the very mento suit me; they are all strong and hearty fellows, and might havebeen good for another ten years campaigning if it had not been for thisbusiness. Can you send for them?"
"They will all be here in half an hour for their meal," the sergeantsaid. "They are lodged upstairs, for you may be sure that they wouldcome to me; and even if I kept them for six months, I should not havelost much when I reckon what they have spent here during their service.I have no doubt they will jump at the offer; for they were mere ladswhen they came over--it was your father who sent for them--and I knowthat they reckon they will find none of the old folk when they returnhome. And now what are your estates like, lad?"
"I know very little about them at present, beyond the fact that I ambound by my feudal obligations to put fifty men in the field when calledupon to do so."
"Then it must be a place of good size," the sergeant said. "And you holdit direct from the crown?"
Hector nodded.
"That is good. When you hold from one of the great lords, you never knowwhom you may be called upon to fight against--it may be the king, it maybe his minister, it may be some other noble--while holding direct, youhave only the king's enemies to fight against."
"Or rather, MacIntosh, the chief minister's enemies; for, after all,when a king signs a proclamation, it is usually a minister's signaturethat ought to be attached to it."
"Well, well, Master Hector, it makes little difference to us Scots whoit is that we fight for, it is no quarrel of ours. We have taken serviceunder the King of France; but when there are two parties, and eachclaims to be in favour of the king, we have simply to fight for whoeverhappens to have the king's signature. If they both have it, then itis the general who commands our division who gives us orders, and itmatters nought to us whom he takes his orders from."
"At any rate, MacIntosh, it is not for soldiers to inquire too deeplyinto these matters; if we did, we should have one half of the regimentfiring into the other."
"So we should, lad, so we should; therefore we soldiers do wisely inleaving the matter to our officers. If the colonel says 'Charge!' wecharge; if he says 'Dismount and take to your musketoons!' we do so,without troubling our heads as to whether it is Germans or Spaniards orFrenchmen whom we have to aim at. Ah, here come your four men!"
As the four troopers entered the cabaret and saw who was speaking toMacIntosh they hesitated, and would have turned, but the sergeant calledout, "Attention! salute!" and they stood as motionless as statues tillHector ordered them to stand easy.
"I have been talking about you men to Sergeant MacIntosh, who tells methat you have taken your discharge and the reason for your so doing. Ithink that you acted hastily; however, that is your affair. The matterthat concerns me is this:--I am appointed colonel of an infantryregiment and I want four good men as orderlies. They will be mounted,and I shall see that they draw rations when there are any rations to behad; but they will be my troopers and not soldiers of the regiment. Iwant good men, who can be relied upon in any emergency; they will ridebehind me in battle, act as scouts if necessary, and they will receivedouble the pay of ordinary troopers. In peacetime, or when the regimentis in winter quarters, I shall pass my time either in Paris or on myestate in Poitou, and they will of course accompany me. I may tellyou that I am now Baron de la Villar, but I should wish to be alwaysaddressed as Colonel Campbell. I know you all of old, and that your onlyfailing is somewhat too great a love for the wine flask; that must onlybe indulged in at times when you are not only off duty, but when thereis no possibility of your services being required. Now, what do youthink, men; will my service suit you?"
"That it would, sir," burst from them simultaneously.
"Of cou
rse, there will be some other advantages beyond that of pay. Whenthe time comes that you get beyond active service in the field, I shallbe able to provide you with easier posts at la Villar, and there youwill find a comfortable home in your old age, if you prefer to stay withme rather than to return to Scotland."
"No further word need be spoken, colonel," Allan Macpherson said; "weare your men, and shall be proud to follow you, were there no questionof pay at all, but just our rations and a home to look forward to whenour arms get weak and eyes dim."
"Then, men, if so say you all, the service begins from the present time.You have your armour and headpieces, your doublets and jackboots,so there is not much to buy. I have horses ready for you. You havepistols."
"Yes, we have all pistols and swords, colonel, but the musketoonsbelonged to the regiment."
"There will be no occasion for you to carry them. Get for yourselvesfour long cloaks well lined and serviceable--'tis best that they shouldbe all of a colour, dark blue or gray--and broad hats to match thecloaks; have in each a small red feather. I would that you should make adecent show, for we shall start in two hours for Poitou. Here are twentycrowns. See that you have ammunition for your pistols. Be at the HotelConde in two hours from the present time. Your dinner here is ready foryou, eat heartily, but do not drink too deeply in honour of your newservice.
"Now, MacIntosh, I have a word or two further to speak to you."
They went into an inner room.
"Now, old friend, are you tired of this life of keeper of a cabaret?because I shall want you down in Poitou. Your house was mine whenI sorely needed it, and mine shall be yours now. You are as yet butfifty-five, and I take it that you can do a man's work still, for youno longer suffer from that wound that disabled you ten years ago. Now,I shall require someone to drill the fifty men who will form mycontingent, if all vassals of the king are called upon to take thefield. Of course they will not always be under arms; most of them willbe the sons of tenants, or substitutes provided by them, and will onlygive two or three days' service a month. It is probable, however, thathalf will be regular retainers at the castle. I know nothing about thecastle at present, or how large it is, or whether it is defensible ornot; still, it was spoken of as a castle, and 'tis, I suppose, one to acertain degree.
"At any rate, I desire that if I do put a troop in the field they shallbe as well drilled and as well equipped as are the Scottish regiment ofmusketeers. I suppose that there must be an official to act as my agentwhen I am away, and to act as castellan, but in any case the captain ofmy troop will be in charge of all matters connected with its defence.Now, old friend, the post is yours if you like to take it. As a soldier,none can be better fitted for the post than a sergeant of the Scottishregiment; as a man, there is no one I could rely on better than you.Your duties would not be heavy, your position an honourable one. Thecastle would be your home as well as mine, and when I am there you wouldhave the four troopers to crack with."
"Your offer is a most kind one," the sergeant said, "but I must thinkit over in all lights before I answer. I should miss the company of thelads, but already many of my old comrades are gone; most are still inParis earning with difficulty their bread, some are under the sod, somehave returned home. Every year the number who rode with me lessens. Theywill be countrymen, but no longer comrades. Certainly I have no thoughtof returning to Scotland, the people are ower gude for me; besides,the country is all in a stir and the folks are flying at each other'sthroats. I wudna go back, not if they offered me a barony. Then, on theother hand, I misdoubt me how I should feel among strangers--I don't sayforeigners, for I have been so long here that as far as tongue goes Iam as much French as I am Scottish. Still, I would rather be formingtroopers in your service than drawing stoups of wine, and the youngsoldiers do not regard me as the old ones did, and grumble if I willdraw them no more. Most of all, I should like to be with you and in yourservice, and to know that I had a home in my old age."
"That you will have whenever you come to claim it, MacIntosh, whetheryou accept my offer or not. However, I think that what you say is best,and that it would be well for you to think the matter well over and giveme no answer until I return. I should be sorry indeed if, after givingup your place here and going down to Poitou, you should regret theexchange. Therefore, we will leave it so. And now I must be going; wemust postpone our chat over old times and the regiment until I return."
On returning to Conde's hotel Hector found Paolo awaiting him.
"Paolo, you must go out and buy six horse cloths and five housings; letthem be fairly handsome. I have taken four old soldiers into my service,and should wish their horse appointments to be fit for troopers in oneof the royal regiments, but without any insignia or cognizance, saymaroon with yellow braiding. I shall also want four valises for the men,and bags for carrying forage. You can wrap up the housings that camewith the horses; they all bear Enghien's cognizance, and this must beremoved before we can use them. The men can strap them behind theirvalises. Were there pistols in the holsters?"
"Yes, master, they were just as when you rode them."
"It was a princely gift," Hector said, "for the horses are all splendidanimals. Have you packed up my things?"
"Yes, master, they are all ready for placing on the sumpter horse. Ibought a dozen of good wine, thinking that you might need it on the way,for some of these country auberges keep but poor stuff."
"We are getting luxurious all at once," Hector laughed. "How about myarmour?"
"That is also packed up. I thought that you would not care to rideheavily accoutred."
"Certainly not. Which of the horses do you take to be the best?"
"Certainly the one you rode in upon is the best, master, but all fourare grand animals. The two I picked up on the battlefield are fineanimals also."
"It does not make much matter which I ride now, Paolo; we shall have theopportunity of seeing which has the most fire and endurance as we ridealong; and at any rate I shall keep Enghien's four horses for my ownriding, keeping two with me and leaving two behind at the castle. Ishall buy four strong and serviceable horses for the troopers when I getmy first rents, for in sooth my purse is beginning to run very low."
"Possibly, master, when you look in the armoire in your room you mayfind something to replenish it. One of the cardinal's servants brought apacket for you. I stowed it away and locked the door of your room."
"Well, there is no time to lose, Paolo, so see at once about the mattersthat I have told you. Here is sufficient money to buy the other goods."
"Here is the key of the room, sir."
Having seen Paolo hurry away, Hector went up to his room. In the armoirehe found the packet, which was a heavy one. Opening it, he found aletter and a bag sealed with wax. The letter was from the intendantgeneral. It was directed, "A Monsieur le Baron de la Villar."
"It does not look as if it could be for me," Hector said, with a merrylaugh. Breaking the seal he found:
By the order of Monseigneur Cardinal Mazarin, first minister of thecrown, I enclose the last half year's rents of the estates of la Villarreceived by me from the royal intendant in charge of the said estatesthree weeks since, to defray the necessary expenses that must beincurred by you between the period of your taking possession and, ofreceiving the next half yearly payment of rents.
Enclosed with this was a formal permit, giving a month's leave ofabsence to visit his estates, "To Colonel Campbell, Baron de la Villar,commanding the Poitou regiment."
"Very nice and thoughtful on the part of the cardinal," Hector said,"and, moreover, very seasonable, for I was wondering how I should paythe retainers at the castle and my four troopers until the rents beganto come in. By the time I had paid the usual fees to the servants here,and the expenses of the journey to Poitou and back, I should have beenalmost penniless, and should have been obliged to borrow from someoneon the strength of my coming rents, which would have been a very badbeginning."
After bidding farewell to Conde, and thanking him for
his hospitality,Hector started immediately the midday meal was concluded. His cavalcademade a good show as he rode through the streets of Paris, with the fourorderlies behind him, splendidly mounted, followed by Paolo leadinganother fine horse carrying baggage. The journey was an uneventful one,and on arriving at the castle of Villar, Hector was received by theroyal intendant. It was still a place of considerable strength, standingon the crest of a hill. It had been kept in a good state of repair bythe intendant, and could offer a stout resistance to anything short ofan army provided with a powerful battering train. On making a tour ofthe estate Hector found that here, as throughout France, an immenseamount of distress existed, owing to the crushing taxation renderednecessary by the war; he made minute inquiries of the intendant of thecircumstances of the various tenants of the estate.
The officer was about to return to Paris now that his commission wasended, but as he had a son who had acted as his assistant, Hectorappointed him in his stead, charging him to press no one unduly. Heplaced under his care the domestic arrangements of the castle, retainingthe servants who had been there under the royal officer. There wasonly a permanent garrison of twelve men, but this could be raised to ahundred were the tenants of the estates driven to take refuge within thewalls. The expenses of keeping up the castle were not large. The riversafforded an abundance of fish, and the forests on the mountainsidessheltered an ample supply of game. Considerable numbers of half wildsheep and two or three herds of cattle grazed on the domain round thecastle, and there were eight good horses in the stables, besides a scoreof others on the hills. Most of the holdings had vineyards, and werebound to furnish a certain amount of wine to the castle, and as theconsumption had been small since the estate was confiscated, the cellarswere full. Hector told the steward that the command of the castle itselfwould be taken by an officer whom he would send down from Paris, whowould have control in all matters save in the management of the estate.
Before leaving, he called all the tenants together and told them that,seeing how heavily the royal taxes pressed upon them, he should remithalf their annual payments until better times came, and also the fine ofa year's rent which they would in the ordinary course of things payon the appointment of a new lord. The news filled the poor people withdelight.
"I shall, however," he went on, "expect that you will render fully andwillingly the military service you are bound to give according to thetenure of your holdings. In a short time my castellan will arrive here;he will have instructions from me to make the service as little onerousas possible, and that you shall each furnish your quota of men at timeswhen it may be most convenient for you. I shall, however, expect fifteenmen added to the strength of the garrison. These can be changed everyeight weeks. All the men capable of bearing arms will come up fortraining one or two days in each month. I trust that you will never becalled upon to defend the castle, but I would have it always kept insuch a state that were troubles to arise you could all, with your wivesand families, find refuge here and be able to defend yourselves againstall attacks.
"Next winter I shall have the fortifications strengthened. I know thatyou are bound to furnish horses and carts for so many days in the year.I shall want this work performed, but you will be paid both for your ownwork in building, and for your carts and horses; and as it will be doneat a time when there is little farm work on hand, this will be a benefitto you, and the wages will be deducted from the payments that you haveto make."
Loud cheers rose from the men, who were overjoyed on learning that theirnew lord was inclined to deal so generously with them, and especiallythat the fine, which many of them would have found it impossible to pay,was to be altogether remitted. Having completed all his arrangementsHector returned to Paris, mounting his men on four of the horses hefound in the stables, and leaving at the castle two of those whichEnghien had given him, and the two Paolo had caught on the field ofbattle. He arrived on the evening of the day before his leave expired,put up at the auberge of the Pome d'Or, and early the next morning tookhis way to The Scottish Soldier.