ARTHUR BLANE;

OR,

THE HUNDRED CUIRASSIERS.

BY JAMES GRANT,

AUTHOR OF 'THE ROMANCE OF WAR,' ETC.

'He that would France win, Must at Scotland first begin!' Old Proverb.

LONDON: J. & C. BROWN & CO., AVE MARIA LANE. 1858

LONDON: PRINTED BY W. CLOWES AND SONS, STAMFORD STREET.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER

I. The Pretty Mask II. A Case of Rapiers III. The Château IV. The Bond of Makrent V. The Countess's Boudoir VI. Madame opens the Trenches VII. Charenton VIII. The Marechal de Logis IX. We Dine at the Fleur-de-lis X. The Scots in France XI. My First Parade XII. The Moth and the Candle XIII. Louis the Thirteenth XIV. The Oak Cabinet XV. Nicola XVI. War XVII. The March from Paris XVIII. The Two Abbés XIX. Tue Campaign in Alsace XX. The Decoy XXI. A Charge of the Scottish Guard XXII. A Dangerous Boast XXIII. The Bastion de Louise XXIV. Montjoie St. Denis XXV. Letters for Paris XXVI. The Castle of Versailles XXVII. Clara's Miniature—and how it proved a talisman XXVIII. Marion de l'Orme XXIX. Arrested XXX. The Bastille XXXI. Number 32 XXXII. Happiness XXXIII. In which I become an Abbé XXXIV. My Pretty Penitent XXXV. In Love with a Soubrette XXXVI. Our Journey together XXXVII. A Haunted Forest XXXVIII. What happened there XXXIX. What happened after XL. The Daughter of Macbeth XLI. Startling Tidings XLII. Vaudemont XLIII. L'Homme propose—Dieu dispose XLIV. Taken Prisoner XLV. Nanci XLVI. Surprise and Grief XLVII. The Palace XLVIII. Charles IV. XLIX. Defiance L. Rather Political LI. A Last Interview LII. The Chapel in the Wood LIII. The Tower of Phalsbourg LIV. The Count de Bitche LV. The Turret LVI. A Letter to Marie Louise LVII. The Random Shot LVIII. The Sally LIX. The Parole LX. A Rescue LXI. Isabel Douglas LXII. A Midnight March LXIII. The Ambush LXIV. Madame la Duchesse LXV. Appointed Captain of Lutzelstein LXVI. The Castle of Lutzelstein LXVII. Viscount Dundbrennan LXVIII. The Surprise LXIX. Husband and Wife LXX. A Catastrophe LXXI. The Viscount's Advice LXXII. The King's Mandate LXXIII. How we Obeyed it

Conclusion

Notes

PREFACE

In the following pages are narrated much of real life and adventure, with much that is historically true; but these passages I leave to the inquiring reader to discover or to separate. The localities are all described from old works or other sources, as they existed in the time of the hero.

Many of the characters are real, and belong to history, such as the Vicomte de Turenne, De Toneins, Vaudemont, Raoul d'Ische, the Marechal de la Force, the Marquis of Gordon, and others. The Count de Bitche was also a veritable personage who disgraced those days, and his abduction of the Countess of Lutzelstein was a real event.

The story of Tushielaw is an old Scottish legend.

So great was the French spirit for duelling in that age, that many of the clergy wore swords. Thus, in 1617, we find the Cardinal de Guise drawing his rapier upon the Duke of Nevers Gonzaga, and it is notorious that Cardinal de Retz fought a great many duels when, as an abbé, he was soliciting the Archbishopric of Paris.

Some notes of interest, regarding the Scots and Scottish Guard in France will be found at the end of this Romance, in which I have endeavoured to portray something of the free and reckless character of the French court and army during the reign of Louis XIII.,—a state of morals gradually introduced by his more dissolute predecessors, and which, under the Grand Monarque, increased, together with tyranny and misgovernment, until the foundations of the throne were sapped, the old dynasty of France expatriated, and her nobility destroyed.

Edinburgh, April 1858.

ARTHUR BLANE;

OR,

THE HUNDRED CUIRASSIERS.