In the villages only women were to be seen; there was no sign of life or movement in the fields; and he passed two chateaux which were now but empty shells.

As soon as he had crossed into his own estates he found the houses entirely deserted; no man, woman, nor child was to be seen; no animals grazed in the fields, and the little stacks of hay and straw had been carried away.
"It is evident," he said to Paolo, "that MacIntosh has called all the tenantry into the chateau; had they joined the insurgents the women and children would still be here." As they ascended the steep hill on whose brow the chateau stood, he could make out that there were a number of men posted upon the walls.
"He is evidently determined that he will not be caught napping, Paolo, and all the peasants of Poitou could not take the place unless they were well provided with cannon." The chateau, indeed, still retained the characteristics of a castle.

The site had evidently been selected with a sole eye to defence; the hill on which it stood fell abruptly away on three sides, and could hardly be attacked except in front.

Here a plateau extended some three or four hundred yards long and upwards of a hundred yards across.

A wall with flanking turrets had been a sufficient defence on the other three sides, but here there was a strong tower on each flank, and also on each side of the central gate.