betrayal of the design. It was, of course, impossible to use any
royal carriage, and no ordinary vehicle was large enough to hold such a
party. But in the preceding year De Fersen had had a carriage of unusual
dimensions built for some friends in the South of Europe, so that he had
no difficulty now in procuring another of similar pattern from the same
maker; and Mr. Craufurd agreed to receive it into his stables, and at the
proper hour to convey it outside the barrier.

Yet in spite of the care displayed in these arrangements, and of the
absolute fidelity observed by all to whom the secret was intrusted, some
of the inferior attendants about the court suspected what was in
agitation. The queen herself, with some degree of imprudence, sent away a
large package to Brussels; one of her waiting-women discovered that she
and Madame Campan had spent an evening in packing up jewels, and sent
warning to Gouvion, an aid-de-camp of La Fayette, and to Bailly, the
mayor, that the queen at last was preparing to flee. Luckily Bailly had
received so many similar notices that he paid but little attention to
this; or perhaps he was already beginning to feel the repentance, which he
afterward exhibited, at his former insolence to his sovereign, and was not
unwilling to contribute to their safety by his inaction; while Gouvion was
not anxious to reveal the source from which he had obtained his
intelligence. Still, though nothing precise was known, the attention of
more than one person was awakened to the movements of the royal family,
and especially that of La Fayette, who, alarmed lest his prisoners should
escape him, redoubled his vigilance, driving down to the palace every
night, and often visiting them in their apartments to make himself certain
of their presence. Six hundred of the National Guard were on duty at the
Tuileries, and sentinels were placed at the end of every passage and at
the foot of every staircase; but fortunately a small room, with a secret
door which led into the queen's chamber, as it had been for some time
unoccupied, had escaped the observation of the officers on guard, and that
passage therefore offered a prospect of their being able to reach the
courtyard without being perceived.[1]

On the morning of the day appointed for the great enterprise, all in the
secret were vividly excited except the queen. She alone preserved her
coolness. No one could have guessed from her demeanor that she was on the
point of em