“Oh no, monsieur, that you are not. I know how madame would have me act if she knew you were here; and now I know who you are, I am as anxious to serve you as madame herself. But I pray you take some supper; I have given your man his in the kitchen; he seems a very kind, simple-hearted creature, anxious to do anything; and after you have supped we will have half-an-hour’s conversation.” “It will afford me much pleasure, my good dame,” said our hero, “for I long to ask a great many questions.” “Very well; now pray take your supper, and I will come up by-and-by, when I have put some things to rights for your man. It’s a pity he does not understand our language.” “Oh, he will pick it up very soon, Dame Moret,” said Lieutenant Thornton, with a smile, “for he is inclined to go to the fountain head for instruction.” The good dame laughed, and hoping he would make a good meal, retired. Our hero did eat heartily, for he was but one-and-twenty, and of a high and fearless disposition, and his critical situation did not trouble him; he scarcely bestowed a thought upon it. The loss of his time from his profession was the only thing that vexed him, and he resolved in a day or two to make an attempt to get off in a boat, and take his chance of reaching England, or some vessel of war. When Dame Moret thought he had finished his supper, she and her daughter Annette re-entered the room. The latter removed the things, and the dame sat down, first putting a bottle of excellent Burgundy before our hero. “You will find that very good wine, sir, for Monsieur l’Intendant loves a bottle of good Burgundy, and madame sent a good store here from Paris.” “I am astonished at this place being called Coulancourt,” said our hero, “and at hearing that madame is living in Paris, and restored to her estates, for I feared she was in the power of her enemies.” “I am so anxious to ask after her daughter, Mademoiselle Mabel,” said Dame Moret; “she was but a child, I may say, when she was here—six years old, I think—but she was as lovely, engaging a little girl as ever eyes beheld; and her little brother, Julian—alas! what a fate was his, so young, and such a noble boy!” “Well, dame, I will tell you all about Mabel, and you shall tell me about Madame Coulancourt. How I should like to see her, and tell her how tenderly her daughter loves and remembers her.” Lieutenant Thornton then told the attentive dame all his adventures, from the period Mabel was placed under his care till their arrival in England, and the singular abduction of the papers and jewels from the casket entrusted to him; and how Mabel was placed in a highly-respectable school, and under the care of a most kind French lady, the widow of Admiral Volney; finishing with an account of his mishap on board the Vengeance, and the cruel conduct of Captain Gaudet.