<000005>Some weeks after their marriage the Comte de Genlis had to rejoin his regiment, which was at Nancy, and as it was then not the custom for officers¡¯ wives to accompany them, and he thought F¨¦licit¨¦ too young to be left by herself at a court such as that of Louis XV., he decided to take an apartment for her at Origny, in a convent where he had relations, as people often did in such cases.
Louis XVI. was the most unsuitable person to rule over the French, a nation more than any other alive to, and abhorrent of, any suspicion of ridicule or contempt. And to them the virtues and faults of Louis were alike ridiculous. When he interfered in the love affairs of the Prince de Cond¨¦, and ordered the Princesse de Monaco to retire into a convent, the Prince de Cond¨¦ became his enemy, and people laughed. When he spent hours and hours shut up alone making keys and locks they shrugged their shoulders, and asked if that was a diversion for the descendant of Henri IV. and Louis le Grand.
Director
¡°Marat avait dit dans un journal que les chemises de Mesdames lui appartenaient. Les patriotes de province crurent de bonne foi que Mesdames avaient emport¨¦ les chemises de Marat, et les habitants d¡¯Arnay-ci-devant-le-duc sachant qu¡¯elles devaient passer par l¨¤, decid¨¨rent qu¡¯il fallait les arr¨ºter pour leur, faire rendre les chemises qu¡¯elles avaient vole¨¦s.... On les fait descendre de voiture et les officiers municipales avec leurs habits noirs, leur gravit¨¦, leurs ¨¦charpes, leur civism et leurs perruques, disent ¨¤ Mesdames:But the stories against Mme. de Genlis have never been cleared up. Much that was said about her was undoubtedly false, but there remain serious accusations which can neither be proved nor disproved; and that a long, intimate friendship between a prince of the character of Philippe-¨¦galit¨¦ and a young, attractive woman who was governess to his children should have been no more than a platonic one, passes the bounds of credibility.Terror-stricken, they agreed that these papers must be shown to the Queen, and when, a day or two afterwards, Mme. Auguier was in waiting, she took them to Marie Antoinette, who read and returned them saying¡ª