The countess rode on horseback, and her female attendant en croupe behind one of the troopers.

They journeyed by easy stages, stopping sometimes at hostelries in the towns, but more often at chateaux belonging to gentlemen known to the countess or her son.

They several times came upon groups of rough-looking men; but the two gentlemen, their servants, and the six fully-armed retainers were a force too formidable to be meddled with, and they arrived safely at Bearn.
The royal abode was a modest building, far less stately than was Laville, before its ruin.

It stood a short distance out of the town, where they had left the men-at-arms, with instructions to find lodgings for themselves and their horses.

As they arrived at the entrance, Prince Henri himself ran down the steps, in a dress as plain as that which would be worn by an ordinary citizen.
"Welcome to Bearn," he said.