"There will be stirring business soon," said he. "Turenne is moving, and I hear that Condé has arrived from the south on purpose to oppose him. It will be a battle of giants, and here are we tied up in this wretched hole doing nothing. We shan't even see the fight, much less take part in it."
"Why, you are becoming a regular fire-eater! Have you not had enough fighting?"
"I only object to all the work being done by others. I would rather take my own share. What are you supposed to be doing?"
"Nothing, and for once in a way it is a very pleasant occupation. Have you met Raoul?"
"No, and I expect he is a dozen miles off by now. He is in luck; his squadron acts as a kind of bodyguard to the Marshal. I had no idea that Beauchamp was such a daring fellow."
"He is like the rest, anxious to make a name for himself. Ah, here comes Pillot to warn me that it is my turn for duty."
Gien was still crowded with numbers of the Queen's troops, gentlemen of the King, and Mazarin's bodyguard, in addition to the hosts of servants and attendants on the Court. Hundreds watched Turenne's advance, and almost every one seemed to imagine that the Marshal had little to do but march peacefully to Paris.
From the gossip among Mazarin's gentlemen next morning I gathered that Turenne had halted at a place called Briare, while Hocquincourt, our second general, had advanced to Blenau.
"The Marshal is preparing his plans," exclaimed one of our fellows complacently, "and if Condé's army stays to fight it will be soundly beaten. I prophesy that within a month we shall be inside Paris."
I remembered these boastful words and laughed, when, a night or two afterwards, Pillot burst into my room and wakened me rather brusquely.