sufficient for knowledge; above all other merits, "I spoke French like a
Parisian;" in short, it was wholly impossible for her to ascend the
crowded staircase, with her numberless dislocations, by the help of any
other arm on earth. The slightest hope of seeing Clotilde would have made
me confront all the etiquette of Spain; and I bore the contrast of my
undress costume with the feathered and silken multitude which filled the
stairs, in the spirit of a philosopher, until, by "many a step and slow,"
we reached the private wing of the mansion.

There, in an apartment fitted up with all the luxury of a boudoir, yet
looking melancholy from the dim lights and the silent attendants, lay
Clotilde on a sofa. But how changed from the being whom I had just seen at
the theatre! She had been in imminent danger, and was literally dragged
from under the horses' feet. A slight wound in her temple was still
bleeding, and her livid lips and half-closed eyes gave me the image of
death. As for Madame, she was in distraction; the volubility of her
sorrows made the well-trained domestics shrink, as from a display at which
they ought not to be present; and at length the only recipients of her
woes were myself and the physician, who, with ominous visage, and drops in
hand, was administering his aid to the passive patient. As Madame's
despair rendered her wholly useless, the doctor called on me to assist him
in raising her from the floor, on which she had flung herself like a
heroine in a tragedy.

While I was engaged in this most reluctant performance, the accents of a
sweet voice, and the rustling of silk, made me raise my eyes, and a vision
floated across the apartment; it was the duchess herself, glittering in
gold and jewels, turbaned and embroidered, as a Semiramis or a queen of
Sheba; she was brilliant enough for either. She had just left the fancy
ball behind, and was come "to make her personal enquiries for the health
of her young friend."

My office was rather startling, even to the habitual presence of mind of
the leader of fashion. I might have figured in her eyes, as the husband,
or the lover, or the doctor's apprentice; she almost uttered a scream. But
the sound, slight as it was, recalled the Marechal to her senses. The
explanation was given with promptitude, and received with politeness. My
family, in all its branches, came into her Grace's quick recollection; and
I was thus indebted to my adventure, not only for an introduc