He had not again appeared at court, whether in consequence of the royal command, or not, no one knew.
The baron was one of the richest proprietors in the south of France.

He was a specimen of the best type of the French nobles, preferring to spend his time among his own wide estates to coming up to the capital, where his visits had at all times been rare.
During the daytime, Desmond went out but little.

When the hours of drill and exercise were over, he spent some time in visiting the quarters of the men of his company, making their personal acquaintance, and chatting freely with them.

They were glad to hear from him about their native country; and, as some of them came from his own neighbourhood, they took a lively interest in the news--the first that had reached them for years--of families with whom they were acquainted.

He spent two or three hours in the afternoons in the salle d'armes of the regiment, or at the schools of one or other of the maitres d'armes most in vogue, and then paid visits, with one or other of the officers of the regiment, to great houses of which they had the entree.
Of an evening he went out, accompanied by Mike Callaghan, and wandered about the less fashionable part of the town, which pleased him better than the more crowded and busy quarters.
One evening, he had gone farther than usual, had passed through the gates, and had followed the road by the banks of the river.