The village of Forêt presented a cheerful rustic aspect--such as a village should. Thatched barns and farmhouse in the usual style of such buildings in England, standing detached and retired from the broad street, if so it might be termed, embosomed in apple or cherry orchards;--quite unlike what one so often meets with in other parts of France, where the villages, of stone houses three or four storeys high, with large windows, &c., appear more like pieces of towns cut out and popped down here than what is consonant to our ideas of villages. From the place where our scuffle with the Nassau men took place we descended into the valley by a long winding hill, at the bottom of which the little village of Montay lay like an oasis in the desert; verdant meadows overshadowed by numerous pine-trees, a pretty rivulet winding along amongst them, here passed by a narrow stone bridge; the place itself consisting of one large farm, several cottages, and a small church;--altogether offering a refreshing variety in this ocean of corn. The heights rising abruptly above it on either side make this a sort of pass, which, had the retiring French thought fit to defend, would have cost us some trouble and many lives, no doubt. As it was, although we understood their outposts were not far, not a man was in sight; and we were allowed to pass as quietly as our own internal dissensions would allow, for the narrowness of the bridge produced here a fearful struggle. The road along which the army was marching, passing through Montay, immediately ascended the opposite heights. A road branching from this led to Cateau along the foot of these heights and through the meadows about a mile or rather more higher up the stream. We took this road, and thus, for the first time since leaving Nivelles, enjoyed the indescribable pleasure of having the road to ourselves. From the heights on this side of Forêt, whence the view was very extensive, I could distinguish nothing of the brigade; and now, finding ourselves quite alone, and seeing no symptoms of troops about Cateau, I began to be rather uneasy. In this dilemma I was about to establish my bivouac on a piece of turf just without the town--for the evening was fast closing in--when our lieutenant-major-general of cavalry, Lord Greenock, rode hastily up, and demanded why we were here. “My orders were to march to Cateau, my lord, and bivouac, with which I am complying. I expect Lord Edward will join us here;” and I gave him an account of their taking to the fields, &c. “There is some mistake in this,” replied Lord Greenock. “Your brigade has halted at Forêt, and you must return thither, for you are now in a very dangerous position, and at all events ought not to have crossed the river. The enemy’s outposts are on the heights; and should they attempt anything during the night, which is probable, you could never recross the bridge. Return, therefore, without delay.” This was comfortable, to have to grope our way to Forêt, and