As by this time the siege of that place was formed, and as I had heard, on good authority, that the Duke of Ascoe was marching to swell the forces of Alva's army, the idea which Genlis had taken up, that he could deliver Mons with a force of less than six thousand men, seemed to me so absurd, that I told him at once I would not accompany him, my intention and duty being to join the Prince of Orange. He answered at first by a sneer, but shortly after begged me at least to accompany him as far as St. Quentin, as he had learned that the peasantry on the frontier had been armed by the Duke of Alva, and were in force in that neighbourhood. On the following day we made a short march towards Ham; but we soon learned that Don Ferdinand de Toledo was before us, with a regular army equal to our own, instead of a troop of ill-disciplined peasantry. The enemy as now within ten miles' march of us; a battle was inevitable; and, of course, it was impossible even to think of retiring at that moment. Yet, ere the sun went down, I had only one desire, namely, to mount my horse and ride to Paris at full speed. At Guiscard, where we halted for the night, a courier reached me from the prince dauphin. The words of the letter were so few and prompt, that they evinced how eagerly and hastily my friend had written. "If you can with honour," so the letter went, "give up your command and come to Paris, do so without a moment's delay. Your rival, without warning or notice of any kind, has returned--is in Paris, and in the house of the Baron de Blancford. You will blame me for this, but I can endure the blame; for, on my honour, I do not deserve it. His journey has been concealed with care; and, though I watched anxiously, have been deceived. Come quick, then, De Cerons, for you Protestants now carry everything at the court before you; and if you delay an hour, Monsieur de Blancford's influence may have overborne all. Think, too, what must be your course; for remember, that, as we both foresaw, your late opposition to the will of the father in the marriage of his own daughter was declared vexatious by the Parliament, and you were fined a hundred crowns. If you resolve on letting the sword decide between you and your rival, forget not your friend D'Auvergne." Scarcely giving the messenger time to refresh himself, I despatched him with two letters, one to the Dauphin d'Auvergne, informing him of the position in which we stood with regard to the enemy, and telling him I would but stay to fight, and then hasten back to the capital; and the other to the good Martin Vern, whose parting words in regard to my love of Louise gave me the only glimpse of hope that could now visit me. To him I told all that had occurred as briefly as possible; but besought him, at all events, to use the utmost exertions to stop any hasty steps on the part of the baron.