"Have him in, have him in!" said the Duchess. "Good even to you, good Master Hall!" as he so entered. "What news of our poor client, whom you kindly took in charge?" "He is like to do well, your Grace," answered Master Hall. "All he needed was food. He told me he had not eaten in three days." "Alas! poor man. Did he tell you what brought him to such straits?" "Ay, madam. He is a poor Walloon minister, who had come to this country to seek a brother, whom he heard was very ill in London. His brother died, and he himself met with an accident which disabled him for a time. He spent all his money, and for past few days hath been absolutely starving. He says he would have died, but for the charity of a poor woman who keeps a very small eating-house near the water side. But now the good dame herself is turned out of house and home by a grasping landlord, who hopes to make a few more pence of rent, and is herself an object of charity." "I hope, with all my heart, the next tenant will cheat him of his rent altogether," said the Duchess, with her usual outspoken freedom. "Who are these Walloons, Master Hall, and where do they live?" "They are a people of French origin, an' it please your Grace, and live mostly about Leinburg, Liege, Namur, and the parts thereto adjacent. They are an industrious, thriving race, and much given to learning as well as trade. I have often sojourned among them when I have been abroad, and have ever found them kind and hospitable to strangers." "So much the more need that strangers should be hospitable to them," remarked the Duchess. "And of what religion are they?" "They are Protestants, madam, holding by the Augsburg Confession. * This gentleman is one of their clergy." * After Flanders fell under the power of Philip Second, a large number of Walloons emigrated to Holland and afterward to the New Netherlands. They are, in fact, the ancestors of the Dutch Reformed Church. "So! And what would you advise to be done for this poor man and his old landlady? Speak freely," added the Duchess, "we need fear no spies here." "Since your Grace will have me be so bold, I would recommend that the poor woman be established once more in a house where she can carry on her business. A small payment in advance would enable her to rent a much better stand than before, and then Monsieur Claude could lodge with her till he is sufficiently recovered to return home." "That sounds like a good scheme!" said the Duchess, thoughtfully: "And how much would be required for all? I mean to pay this poor woman's first quarter and Monsieur Claude's traveling expenses!" Master Hall named the sum, and the Duchess bade me take the money from her cabinet, and herself put it into his hand, with that sweet, graceful manner which made every such act on her part a personal favor.