midday
Enclosed with this was a formal permit , giving a month 's leave of absence to visit his estates , `` To Colonel Campbell , Baron de la Villar , commanding the Poitou regiment . '' `` Very nice and thoughtful on the part of the cardinal , '' Hector said , `` and , moreover , very seasonable , for I was wondering how I should pay the retainers at the castle and my four troopers until the rents began to come in . By the time I had paid the usual fees to the servants here , and the expenses of the journey to Poitou and back , I should have been almost penniless , and should have been obliged to borrow from someone on the strength of my coming rents , which would have been a very bad beginning . '' After bidding farewell to Conde , and thanking him for his hospitality , Hector started immediately the midday meal was concluded . His cavalcade made a good show as he rode through the streets of Paris , with the four orderlies behind him , splendidly mounted , followed by Paolo leading another fine horse carrying baggage . The journey was an uneventful one , and on arriving at the castle of Villar , Hector was received by the royal intendant . It was still a place of considerable strength , standing on the crest of a hill .