Of all the mansions in the place, the Hôtel St. Quentin was, in my opinion, the most imposing; carved and ornamented and stately, with gardens at the side. But there was about it none of that stir and liveliness one expects to see about the houses of the great. No visitors passed in or out, and the big iron gates were shut, as if none were looked for. Of a truth, the persons who visited Monsieur these days preferred to slip in by the postern after nightfall, as if there had never been a time when they were proud to be seen in his hall. Beyond the grilles a sentry, in the green and scarlet of Monsieur's men-at-arms, stood on guard, and I called out to him boldly. He turned at once; then looked as if the sight of me scarce repaid him. "I wish to enter, if you please," I said. "I am come to see M. le Duc." "You?" he ejaculated, his eye wandering over my attire, which, none of the newest, showed signs of my journey. "Yes, I," I answered in some resentment. "I am one of his men." He looked me up and down with a grin. "Oh, one of his men! Well, my man, you must know M. le Duc is not receiving to-day." "I am Félix Broux," I told him. "You may be Félix anybody for all it avails; you cannot see Monsieur." "Then I will see Vigo." Vigo was Monsieur's Master of Horse, the staunchest man in France. This sentry was nobody, just a common fellow picked up since Monsieur left St. Quentin, but Vigo had been at his side these twenty years. "Vigo, say you! Vigo does not see street boys." "I am no street boy," I cried angrily. "I know Vigo well. You shall smart for flouting me, when I have Monsieur's ear." "Aye, when you have! Be off with you, rascal. I have no time to bother with you." "Imbecile!" I sputtered. But he had turned his back on me and resumed his pacing up and down the court. "Oh, very well for you, monsieur," I cried out loudly, hoping he could hear me. "But you will laugh t'other side of your mouth by and by. I'll pay you off." It was maddening to be halted like this at the door of my goal; it made a fool of me. But while I debated whether to set up an outcry that would bring forward some officer with more sense than the surly sentry, or whether to seek some other entrance, I became aware of a sudden bustle in the courtyard, a narrow slice of which I could see through the gateway. A page dashed across; then a pair of flunkeys passed. There was some noise of voices and, finally, of hoofs and wheels. Half a dozen men-at-arms ran to the gates and swung them open, taking their stand on each side. Clearly, M. le Duc was about to drive out. A little knot of people had quickly collected--sprung from between the stones of the pavement, it would seem--to see Monsieur emerge. "He is a bold man," I heard one say, and a woman answer, "Aye, and a handsome," ere the heavy coach rolled out of the arch.