“I saw his Majesty last night,” he told Rupert when he returned next morning, “and he was very gracious.  I hear that even Brousac, who brought the news of our defeat, was kindly received.  I am told that he feels the cutting up of his guards very much.  A grand entertainment, which was to have taken place this week, has been postponed, and there will be no regular fetes this autumn.  I told his Majesty that I had brought you with me on parole, and the manner of your capture.  He charged me to make the time pass pleasantly for you, and to bring you down to Versailles, and to present you at the evening reception.

“We must get tailors to work at once, Rupert, for although you must of course appear in uniform, that somewhat war-stained coat of yours is scarcely fit for the most punctilious court in Europe.  However, as they will have this coat for a model, the tailors will soon fashion you a suit which would pass muster as your uniform before Marlborough himself.

“I saw Adele, and told her I had brought an English officer, who had galloped in the darkness into our ranks, as a prisoner.  I did not mention your name.  It will be amusing to see if she recognizes you.  She was quite indignant at my taking you prisoner, and said that she thought soldiers ought not to take advantage of an accident of that kind.  In fact, although Adele, as I tell her, is very French at heart, the five years she passed in Derby have left a deep impression upon her.  She was very happy at school.  Every one, as she says, was kind to her; and the result is, that although she rejoices over our victories in Italy and Germany, she talks very little about the Flanders campaign; about which, by the way, were she even as French as possible, there would not be anything very pleasant to say.”

Rupert was at once furnished from the wardrobe of the marquis with clothes of all kinds, and as they were about the same height—­although Rupert was somewhat broader and heavier—­the things fitted well, and Rupert was able to go about Paris, without being an object of observation and curiosity by the people.

Rupert was somewhat disappointed in Paris.  Its streets were narrower than those of London, and although the public buildings were fine, the Louvre especially being infinitely grander than the Palace of Saint James, there was not anything like the bustle and rush of business which had struck Rupert so much on his arrival in London.

Upon arriving at Versailles, however, Rupert was struck with wonder.  Nothing that he had seen could compare with the stately glories of Versailles, which was then the real capital of France.  A wing of the magnificent palace was set apart for the reception of the nobles and military men whose business brought them for short periods to the court, and here apartments had been assigned to the marquis.  The clothes had already been sent down by mounted lackeys, and Rupert was soon in full uniform again, the cuirass