for her family and her old home, even while
fairly recognizing the fact that her first duties and her first affections
now belonged to France. The old warrior avowed that he had been greatly
moved by the touching affection with which she spoke to him of her love
and veneration for her mother; and by the tears which he saw in her eyes
when she said that the one thing wanting to her happiness was the hope of
being allowed one day to see that dear mother once more. She showed him
some of the last presents which the empress had sent her, and dwelt with
fond minuteness of observation on some views of Schoenbrunn and other spots
in the neighborhood of Vienna which were endeared to her by her early
recollections.

The return of mild weather seemed to be bringing with it same return of
strength to the king, when, on the 28th of April, he was suddenly seized
with illness, which was presently pronounced by the physicians to be the
small-pox. All was consternation at Versailles, for it was soon perceived
to be a severe if not a malignant attack; and at the same time all was
perplexity. Thirty years before, when Louis had been supposed to be on his
deathbed at Metz, bishops, peers, and ministers had found in the loss of
royal favor reason to repent the precipitation with which they had
insisted on the withdrawal of Madame de Chateauroux; and now, should he
again recover, it was likely that Madame du Barri would he equally
resentful, and that the confessor who should make her removal a necessary
condition of his administering the sacraments of the Church to the king,
and the courtiers who should support or act upon their requisition, would
surely find reason to repent it. Accordingly, for the first few days of
Louis's illness, she remained at Versailles; but he grew visibly worse.
His daughters, who, though they had not had the disease themselves, tended
his sick-bed with the most devoted and fearless affection, consulted the
physicians, who declared it dangerous to admit of any further delay in the
ministration of the rites of the Church. He himself gave his sanction to
the ladies' departure, and then the royal confessor administered the
sacraments, and drew up a declaration to be published in the royal name,
that, "though he owed no account of his conduct to any but God alone, he
nevertheless declared that he repented having given rise to scandal among
his subjects, and only desired to live for the support of religion and the
welf