Little occurred to me of a personal nature, during the whole of my residence at Bordeaux, that is at all worth relating. In the defence I endeavoured to do my duty; and under such circumstances it is very difficult to do more. I was fortunate enough, however, to please those who commanded, and received more praise for my conduct than I at all deserved. As I was scarcely ever absent from the point of attack, my more peaceful operations consisted principally in eating, drinking, and sleeping; and, as I knew nobody in the whole town, besides the personal attendants of Monsieur de Villardin,--with the exception of Gaspard de Belleville, who had now obtained a commission in the regiment of the Duke de Bouillon,--very little occurred to divert my thoughts even for a moment from the operations of the siege. Gaspard I saw but seldom; but when I did so, we met upon, perhaps, better terms than we had done in the house of Monsieur de Villardin. He had acquired a great deal of strut and swagger, it is true, upon the strength of his new situation; but, by this time, he knew me too well to provoke me deliberately, and, therefore, always maintained a degree of civility with which I was quite satisfied. I fancied, indeed, now he had left Monsieur de Villardin, and had embarked in an entirely new course of life, that the jealousy with which he had regarded me, on account of the Duke's preference for myself, had become extinct, and that his hatred was consequently at an end; but in this I afterwards found that I was mistaken. I had but little opportunity of observing his general conduct, but, from that which I did see of it, I should say, that, though not wanting in courage, he was at this time anything but enterprising; and that the great favour which he obtained with his commander was principally acquired by those somewhat servile and insinuating manners, which he knew well how to put on towards his superiors, though he was insufferably insolent and domineering to every one below him.