"De Répentigny en Canada."
The Baron turned to his nearest companion, and again the formula of introduction fell on Germain's ear—
"Chevalier de Blair, I have the honour of presenting you to Monsieur de Répentigny."
"Monsieur, I have the honour of saluting you," said de Blair.
Before Germain could collect his ideas he had bowed to each of the other Guards under the name "de Répentigny."
It cannot be said that, once he had recovered his self-possession after his narrow escape from being announced as a plebeian, any great qualms for the present overtook him. He reasoned that the title just attributed to him was not the result of his own seeking. Though destined to bring on all the serious consequences which form the matter of this story and to change a lighthearted young man into a desperate adventurer, it came in the aspect of a petty accident, which but facilitated his reception at the hands of the companions who crowded around him.
"Have I not seen you at Court? Were you not presented six months ago in the Oeil de Boeuf?" inquired de Blair.
"I am only a provincial," he answered. "I know nothing of the Court."
"When I first came from Dauphiny up to Versailles," laughed the Count de Bellecour, "I spoke such a patois they thought I was a horse."
"You come from Canada? Tell us about the Revolution in the English colonies. It is not a new affair, but we army men are always talking about it."