'Ah, Marquis, at present I have little desire to leave them and these exciting scenes, even for the pastoral home where my gallant father and his forefathers sleep.' 'How! You have another love affair in hand. (A blush and a sigh.) I am right, then. The devil, Blane! you are very lucky to have all these pretty amusements at this distance from the Louvre. But as a bribe to detain you among us----' 'My Lord Marquis, believe me, I require no bribe.' 'I have obtained for you from the Cardinal Duke de Lavalette the captaincy of Lutzelstein; you remember that old tower which commands an important defile of the Vosges, two or three leagues from Phalsbourg; and if you accept----' 'Accept, Marquis! I do so with gratitude; and if the enemy pass that way, Lavalette will find that his confidence has not been misplaced.' 'Good. An escort of thirty of the dragoons De Brissac will be given to you, and you will have to depart this very evening to assume this new command.' 'I shall be ready in an hour.' 'Adieu, then, till we meet again.' 'Farewell, my lord.' And we parted. I left this brilliant, high-born, and high-spirited noble, little weening that I was never again to see either him, or my brave comrades of the Garde du Corps Ecossais! CHAPTER LXVI. THE CASTLE OF LUTZELSTEIN. With a mind full of chequered thoughts, I set out that evening for the scene of my new duties, duly furnished with all the papers given to me by the Marquis, and escorted by a party of Brissac's dragoons. I left Schlettstadt behind, and took the way towards the wooded Vosges. I thought of Marie Louise, and of all that fate and fortune had so studiously, sternly, and unremittingly raised between us as barriers, after all the kindness, love, and adventure we had shared together; and I vainly strove to dismiss her from my mind with a prayer that she might be happy. Then I thought of my home and the letters just received from Scotland--letters by which I was free to return whenever I wearied of war, and the service of king Louis. Then came a glow of honest pride for the trust reposed in me, by this appointment to command a fortress, however small, and I resolved to fulfil that trust to the utmost. Alas, for the vanity of human resolves! How I obeyed king Louis, and how I fulfilled the trust of Lavalette, the sequel will show.