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shield the Royal Family from these bloodhounds? Can they imagine they
will be spared if the King should be murdered? I have no patience with
them!"
I then asked him our fare. "Two livres is the fare, but you shall not
pay anything. I see plainly, ladies, that you are not what you assume to
be."
"My good man," replied I, "we are not; and therefore take this louis d'or
for your trouble."
He caught my hand and pressed it to his lips, exclaiming, "I never in my
life knew a man who was faithful to his King, that God did not provide
for."
He then took us to Passy, but advised us not to remain at the place where
we had been staying; and fortunate enough it was for us that we did not,
for the house was set on fire and plundered by a rebel mob very soon
after.
I told the driver how much I was obliged to him for his services, and he
seemed delighted when I promised to give him proofs of my confidence in
his fidelity.
"If," said I, "you can find out my servant whom I left in Paris, I will
give you another louis d'or." I was afraid, at first, to mention where
he was to look for him.
"If he be not dead," replied the driver, "I will find him out."
"What!" cried I, "even though he should be at the Tuileries?"
"Why, madame, I am one of the national guard. I have only to put on my
uniform to be enabled to go to any part of the palace I please. Tell me
his name, and where you think it likely he may be found, and depend upon
it I will bring him to you."
"Perhaps," continued he, "it is your husband disguised as a servant; but
no matter. Give me a clue, and I'll warrant you he shall tell you the
rest himself by this time to-morrow."
"Well, then," replied I, "he is in the Pavilion of Flora."
"What, with the Princesse de Lamballe? Oh, I would go through fire and
water for that good Princess! She has done me the honour to stand
godmother to one of my children, and allows her a pension."
I took him at his word. We changed our quarters to his father's house,
a very neat little cottage, about a quarter of a mile from the town.
He afterwards rendered me many services in going to and fro from
Passy to Paris; and, as he promised, brought me my servant.
When the poor fellow arrived, his arm was in a sling. He had been
wounded by a musket shot, received in defence of the Princess. The
history of his disaster was this:
On the night of the riot, as he was going from the Pont Royal to the
apartment of Her Highness, he detected a group of villains under her
windows. Six of them were attempting to enter by a ladder. He fired,
and two fell. While he was reloading, the others shot at him. Had he
not, in the flurry of the moment, fired both his pistols at the same
time, he thinks he should not have been wounded, but might have punished
the assailant. One of the men, he said, could have been easily taken by
the national guard, who so glaringly encouraged the escape that he could
almost swear the guard was a party concerned. The loss of blood had so
exhausted him that he could not pursue the offender himself, whom
otherwise he could have taken without any difficulty.
As the employing of my servant had only been proposed, and the sudden
interruption of my conversation with Her Highness by the riot had
prevented my ever communicating the project to him, I wondered how he got
into the business, or ascertained so soon that the apartment of the
Princess was in danger. He explained that he never had heard of its
being so; but my own coachman having left me at the palace that day,
and not hearing of me for some time, had driven home, and, fearing that
my not returning arose from something which had happened, advised him to
go to the Pont Royal and hear what he could learn, as there was a report
of many persons having been murdered and thrown over the bridge.
My man took the advice, and armed himself to be ready in case of attack.
It was between one and two o'clock after midnight when he went. The
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