Belle Rose: A Romance of the Cloak and Sword — page 19: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

sw i awe net SPT ale a ee aye ype W, | ’ Meats A 5 “ - ue ’ bal a pests i KM ae THE FALCONER’S SON. 9 mischievous urchin whom he was about to chastise, or let go the bull with whom he was struggling. All the young lady had to do was to make an imperceptible sign of her finger, give him a significant glance, to make Jacques run to her side, blushing and confused. Mademoiselle de Malzonvilliers’ father was a rich farmer of the revenue who had taken advantage of the times of the Fronde to make a fortune, while so many others, on the contrary, were ruined by that troublous period. He had not always called himself by the brilliant name of Malzonvilliers, which was that of an estate in which he had invested the better part of his fortune; but, like a shrewd man, he had thought that he might, like other bourgeois of his acquaintance, barter the peasant name of his father for one which did honor to his crowns. Mon- sieur Dufailly had progressively become, and as the result of skillful transformations, at first Monsieur du Failly, then Monsieur du Failly de Malzonvilliers, then finally Monsieur de Malzonvilliers, quite short. At present he was only waiting for a favorable occasion to give himself the title of baron or chevalier. At the epoch when his affairs necessitated frequent journeys into the province, and oftentimes even as far as Paris, Monsieur de Malzonvilliers had many times confided the care of his possessions to Guillaume Grinedal, who passed for the most honest arti- san in St. Omer. This confidence, which Monsieur de Mal- zonvilliers had never had occasion to regret, had estab- lished between the falconer and the farmer of revenue in- timate and daily relations, which profited the three chil- dren, Jacques, Claudine, and Pierre. Suzanne, who was almost as old as Claudine, had masters of every kind, and the lessons served for all, so that the sons of Pere Guil- laume soon knew more than half of the little bourgeois of St. Omer. Jacques profited above all by this instruction; as he had a just and persevering mind, he puzzled over things until he had understood them. He was often to be met in the fields, bareheaded, feet incased in wooden shoes, and a book in his hand, and he never let go of it until he had thoroughly mastered it. One thing alone could turn him aside from this occupation—it was the pleasure which he enjoyed in seeing his father handle the old arms which were brought to him from the four corners of the town and from the chateaux in the neighborhood to be put in condition. Guillaume Grinedal was the best gunsmith in the canton; it was an art which he had learned in the time CORniecoooks (CO) im