FORE:And it was well-known that he had ordered the assault upon the fortress of Otshakoff to be prematurely made because she wished to see it.It was on the 27th of July, 1794, that she started on a journey to see her father, who was living in the Canton de Vaud, near the French frontier. For two nights she had not slept from the terrible presentiments which overwhelmed her. Young de Mun went with her, and having slept at Moudon, they set off again at daybreak for Lausanne. As they approached the end of their journey they were suddenly aware of a char--banc coming towards [243] them in a cloud of dust, driven by a man with a green umbrella, who stopped, got down and came up to them. It was the Duc dAyen, now Duc de Noailles, but so changed that his daughter scarcely recognised him. At once he asked if she had heard the news, and on seeing her agitation, said hastily with forced calmness that he knew nothing, and told M. de Mun to turn back towards Moudon.
FORE:Mme. Auguier sent her husbands valet de chambre [81] to help him up, and take him into the kitchen. Presently the valet returned, saying, Madame is indeed too kind; that man is a wretch. Here are some papers which have fallen out of his pocket. He gave them several sheets of papers, one of which began, Down with the Royal Family! down with the nobles! down with the priests! and all of which were filled with a tissue of blasphemies, litanies of the Revolution, threats and predictions horrible enough to make their hair stand on end.Then she knew that the worst had happened, and with a terrible cry she threw herself into her fathers [244] arms, and with tears and sobs wished she had been in the place of her sister.
FORE:In an agony of terror Pauline sprang out of the carriage and implored him to tell her the worst, for she could bear it.M. de Montbel had waited for nearly an hour, when suddenly a suspicion seized him. Springing [276] up suddenly he ran to the cottage, opened the door of one room, then another, then a third, and stood still with a cry of consternation.
THREE:The Abbesse de Montivilliers was one of the greatest abbesses in France, and was at the time this happened Mme. du Froulay, whose niece, Mme. de Crquy, then a pensionnaire in the abbey, relates the story.Louise, whose fate was so closely linked with her mothers, was one of those gentle, saintly characters, who scarcely seem to belong to this earth; whose thoughts, interests, and aspirations are in another world. But perhaps the most striking amongst them was Adrienne, the second girl, who besides being very handsome, was the most intellectual and talented of the sisters, and of whom the Duchess was as proud as the severity of her ideas permitted her to be.
THREE:Perfectly calm and undisturbed, she helped her mother dress, remarkingShe had written to ask a refuge of her uncle, the Duke of Modena, who sent her some money, but said political reasons prevented his receiving her in his duchy. The poor child, naturally merry and high-spirited, had grown quiet and sad, though she bore without complaining the hardships of her lot.
