g girl. For a

T very popular amongst the peasantry. Farther off, on the top of some
rising ground, appears an imposing structure, of an ancient style of
architecture; this is the
ancient residence of the Dukes of Champdoce. The left

wing is a picturesque mass of
ruins; the roof has fallen
in, and the mullions of the windows are dotted with
a thick growth of clustering ivy. Rain, storm, and sunshine have all
done their work, and painted the mouldering
walls with a hundred varied tints. In 1840 the inheritor of one of the
noblest names of France resided here with his only son. The name of the
present proprietor
was Caesar Guillaume Duepair de
Champdoce. He was looked upon both by the gentry and peasantry of
the country side as a most eccentric individual. He could be seen any
day wandering about, dressed in the most shabby manner, and wearing a
coat that was frequently in urgent need of repair, a leathern cap on
his head, wooden shoes, and a
stout oaken cudgel in his hand. In winter he supplemented to these an
ancient sheepskin
coat. He was sixty years of age, very powerfully built, and possessing
enormous strength. The expression upon his face showed that his will
was as strong as his thews and sinews. Beneath his shaggy eyebrows
twinkled a pair

of light-gray

eyes, which darkened when a fit of passion overtook him, and this was
no unusual occurrence. During his military career in the army of the
Conde, he had received a sabre cut

across his cheek, and the cicatrice imparted a strange and unpleasant
expression to his face. He was not a bad-hearted man, but headstrong,
violent, and tyrannical to a degree.
The peasants saluted him with a mixture of respect and dread as
he walked to the chapel, to which he was a regular attendant on
Sundays, with his son. During the Mass he made the responses in an
audible voice, and at its conclusion invariably put a five-franc piece
into the plate. This, his subscription to the newspaper, and the sum he
paid
for being shaved twice each week, constituted the whole
of his outlay upon himself. He kept an excellent table, however; plump
fowls, vegetables of all kinds, and

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