'Who may those Imperialists be? Duke Charles, perhaps?'
'Nay, he is supposed to be with Count Gallas beyond the Rhine.'
'De Bitche probably?'
'Wrong again: he is shut up by our troops in Seltz.'
'This coach passes on the evening of the 11th.'
'To-morrow.'
'I will undertake this duty; and you, Dundrennan, will keep the castle for me in my absence.'
The Viscount demurred loudly against this arrangement; but in case the whole affair might be a decoy, a snare to lure off my garrison and recapture the castle of the Counts Palatine, he ultimately agreed to keep the place in my absence, and secure a retreat for me in case of my falling into an ambush.