This was welcome news to Hector, who at once prepared to cross into Italy; but when they reached Chambery he heard that Turenne had been ordered to join the army that was collected near the Spanish frontier, in order to conquer Roussillon, which lay between Languedoc and Catalonia.  The latter province had been for three years in a state of insurrection against Spain, and had besought aid from France.  This, however, could not easily be afforded them so long as the fortress of Perpignan guarded the way, and with other strongholds prevented all communication between the south of France and Catalonia.  As it was uncertain whether Turenne would follow the coast route or cross the passes, Hector and his companion rode forward at once, and arrived at Turin before he left.

“I am glad to see you back again,” the general said as Hector entered his room, “and trust that you are now strong again.  Your letter, giving me your reasons for leaving Sedan, was forwarded to me by a messenger, with others from my brother and his wife.  He speaks in high terms of you, and regretted your leaving them; but the reason you gave for so doing in your letter to me more than justified the course you took, and showed that you were thoughtful in other than military matters.  You served me better by leaving Sedan than you could have done in any other way.  In these unhappy disputes with my brother, the cardinal has never permitted my relationship to Bouillon to shake his confidence in me.  But after being engaged for many years in combating plots against him, he cannot but be suspicious of all, and that an officer of my staff should be staying at Sedan when the dispute was going to end in open warfare might well have excited a doubt of me while, had you traveled direct here at that moment, it might, as you said, have been considered that you were the bearer of important communications between my brother and myself.

“Now, I hope that you are completely restored to health; you are looking well, and have grown a good deal, the consequence, no doubt, of your being so long in bed.  You have heard that I am ordered to Roussillon, of which I am glad, for the war languishes here.  The king, I hear, will take up his headquarters at Narbonne, and Richelieu is coming down to look after matters as he did at Rochelle.  So I expect that things will move quickly there.  They say the king is not in good health, and that the cardinal himself is failing.  Should he die it will be a grievous loss for France, for there is no one who could in any way fill his place.  It has been evident for some time that the king has been in weak health.  The dauphin is but a child.  A regency with the queen as its nominal head, and Richelieu as its staff and ruler, would be possible; but without Richelieu the prospect would be a very dark one, and I cannot think of it without apprehension.  However, I must continue to do as I have been doing ever since Bouillon fell out with the court; I must think only that I am a soldier, prepared to strike where ordered, whether against a foreign foe or a rebellious subject.