CHAPTER III.
It was a year of Grace early in the present century.
We are again in the beautiful country of beautiful France.

It is the chateau once more.

It is the same, but changed.

The unapproachable elegance, the inviolable security, have witnessed invasion.

The right wing of the chateau is in ruins, with traces of fire upon the blackened walls; while here and there, a broken statue or a roofless temple are sad memorials of the Revolution.