"Pray, sir," he said, "how came you to fire the château at all, when the general order was given to keep silence, and conduct the advance with as much secrecy as possible?" "I caused the house to be burned, your Highness, by order of the Duke of Nemours," replied Gaspard. "But the Duke tells me," rejoined the Prince, "that the order was given at your suggestion. How was that, sir? speak!" "My reason for proposing it, my lord," replied the officer, "was, that I thought the regiment of Latour might miss its way without some signal from us; and by that time the Englishman there had discovered our march and lighted a beacon on the hill." "For which your Highness owes him no great thanks," said Monsieur de Villardin, with a smile: "for the tidings we received from him enabled us to keep you in check the next day." "He did his duty, and he did it well, my good friend," answered the Prince; "I would to God that my officers would do the same. As for you, sir," he continued, addressing Gaspard de Belleville, "it is quite sufficiently evident that your motives were not the best in burning the château of Virmont, and still more evident, that your conduct towards your prisoner afterwards was unworthy and ungenerous. In regard to the first, you have certainly taken care to shelter yourself under an order from the Duke of Nemours; but as you suggested that order, I shall dismiss you from every post about my person, though you keep your company. In regard to the treatment of your prisoner, of which Monsieur de Villardin has explained to me the cause, I can, of course, only reprove you for conduct unbecoming a French gentleman. There is no military law which enables me to punish such behaviour, except, indeed, by reducing the ransom which may be demanded for him, and which I fix at 400 crowns." Of course Gaspard de Belleville dared not reply to the severe terms of the Prince; but I saw his eye glare from my face to that of Monsieur de Villardin, with an expression which would have boded neither of us any good had his means of injuring us been equal to his desire of doing so. Monsieur de Villardin declared that he would pay my ransom himself, and immediately gave an order for the sum, which Condé delivered into the hands of my adversary, and bade him retire. "I am obliged," said the Prince, in a sort of apologetic tone, as soon as we were left without other witnesses--"I am obliged to suffer these fellows to make as much of their trade as they can, or a great number of them would leave me. In other respects, the system of taking ransoms, which, thank God, is becoming less common, is by no means one I like. But, however, I have suffered you to escape at a cheap rate, Monsieur de Juvigny," he added, turning towards me, "and as I find you are determined not to stay with me, I suppose I must even let you go."