{"product_id":"2940013956889","title":"The Abbess of Vlaye","description":"The Abbess of Vlaye by Stanley J. Weyman, author of \"Under the Red Robe,\" \"A Gentleman of France,\" \"My Lady Rotha,\" \"The Red Cockade,\" \"Count Hannibal,\" \"The Castle Inn,\" etc.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eCONTENTS\u003cbr\u003eChapter 1. Villeneuve-L'Abbesse.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 2. The Tower Chamber.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 3. Still Waters Troubled.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 4. The Dilemma.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 5. The Captain of Vlaye.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 6. In the Hay-Field.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 7. A Soldiers' Frolic.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 8. Father Angel.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 9. Speedy Justice.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 10. Midnight Alarms.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 11. The Chapel by the Ford.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 12. The Peasants' Camp.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 13. Hostages.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 14. Saint and Sinner.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 15. Fears.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 16. To Do or Not To Do?\u003cbr\u003eChapter 17. The Heart of Cain.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 18. Two in the Mill.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 19. The Captain of Vlaye's Condition.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 20. The Abbess Moves.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 21. The Castle of Vlaye.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 22. A Night by the River.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 23. The Bride's Dot.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 24. Fors L'amour.\u003cbr\u003eChapter 25. His Last Ride.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eINTRODUCTION. A KING IN COUNCIL.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eMonsieur des Ageaux was a man of whom his best friends could not say that he shone, or tried to shine, in the pursuit of the fair sex. He was of an age, something over thirty, when experience renders more formidable the remaining charms of youth; and former conquests whet the sword for new emprises. And the time in which he lived and governed the province of Périgord for the King was a time in which the favour of ladies, and the good things to be gained thereby, stood for much, and morality for little. So that for the ambitious the path of dalliance presented almost as many chances of advancement as the more strenuous road of war.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eYet des Ageaux, though he was an ambitious man and one whose appetite success--and in his degree he had been very successful--had but sharpened, showed no inclination to take that path, or to rise by trifling. Nay, he turned from it; he shunned if he did not dislike the other sex. Whether he doubted his powers--he was a taciturn, grave man--or he had energy only for the one pursuit he loved, the government of men, the thing was certain. Yet he was not unpopular even at Court, the lax Court of Henry the Fourth. But he was known for a thoughtful, dry man, older than his years and no favourite with great ladies; of whom some dubbed him shy, and some a clown, and all--a piece of furniture.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNone the less, where men were concerned, he passed for a man more useful than most; or, for certain, seeing that he boasted no great claims, and belonged to no great family, he had not been Governor of a province. Governors of provinces in those days were of the highest; cousins of the King, when these could be trusted, which was rare; peers and Marshals of France, great Dukes with vast hereditary possessions, old landed Vicomtes, and the like. Only at the tail of the list came some half-dozen men whom discretion and service, or the playfulness of fortune had--mirabile dictum--raised to office. And at the tail of all came des Ageaux; for Périgord, his province, land of the pie and the goose liver, was part of the King's demesne, the King was his own Governor in it, and des Ageaux bore only the title of \"Lieutenant for the King in the country of Périgord.\"\u003cbr\u003e..continued","brand":"Denise Henry","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47083393220848,"sku":"2940013956889","price":1.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/2940013956889_p0.jpg?v=1763597957","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/2940013956889","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}