"His father was a Seigneur—the last of the fief of Desaurac. The Seigneurs have all been fair men for generations, while this fellow—"
"Then he has noble blood in him?" The Marquis showed surprise. "Where is the fief?"
"The woods on the shore mark the beginning of it."
"But—I don't understand. The father was a Seigneur; the son—"
Bluntly the commandant explained; the son was a natural child; the mother, a common peasant woman whom the former Seigneur had taken to his house—
"I see!" The young nobleman tapped his knee. "And that being the case—"
"Under the terms of the ancient grant, there being no legal heir, the lands were confiscated to the crown. His Excellency, however, had already bought many of the incumbrances against the property, and, in view of this, and his services to the King, the fief, declared forfeited by the courts, was subsequently granted and deeded, without condition, to the Governor."
"To the Governor!" repeated the Marquis.
"Who at once began a rare clearing-out; forcing the peasants who for years had not been paying métayage, to meet this just requirement, or—move away!"
"And did not some of them object?"