s to insure his son's success. He
had appealed to family friends, and through the Chevalier de Florian, an
occasional guest at the chateau, he had received an assurance that
Philip would find an earnest champion in the Duke de Penthieore. Fortune
seemed inclined to smile on the young man; nevertheless the Marquis was
beset with doubts, for all this occurred in the year 1783, just as the
hostility to the king was beginning to manifest itself in an alarming
manner, and the Marquis asked himself again and again if this was a
propitious moment to send so young a man, almost a boy, into a divided
and disaffected court--a court, too, that was subjected to the closest
espionage on the part of a people already deeply incensed and irritated
by the scandal and debauchery of the nobility, and utterly insensible to
the king's well-meant efforts to institute a much-needed reform.

But the birth of the Dauphin, which occurred that same year, dissipated
M. de Chamondrin's doubts. He was completely reassured by the enthusiasm
of a nation, which, even in its dire extremity, broke into songs of
rejoicing over the new-born heir. Philip's departure was decided upon.

The young people had been aware of their father's intentions for some
time. They knew the hour of separation was approaching, and the tears
sprang to their eyes whenever any allusion to Philip's intended
departure was made in their presence; but, with the characteristic
light-heartedness of youth, they dismissed the unwelcome thought from
their minds, and in present joys forgot the sorrow the future held in
store for them. But the flight of time is rapid, and that which causes
us little anxiety because it was the future, that is, a possibility,
becomes the present, in other words, reality. One day the Marquis, not
without emotion, made known his plans to his wife and afterwards to his
son. Philip was to start for Paris at the close of autumn, or in about
two months, and Coursegol was to accompany him. This news carried
despair to the heart of Dolores, for she loved Philip devotedly. Had he
not been her brother, her protector, and the sharer of all her joys
since she was old enough to talk? Could it be she was about to lose him?

In spite of all their efforts to conceal the fact, the grief was
general. The departure of Philip would be a sore trial to all the
inmates of the chateau. Dolores was inconsolable. A dozen times a day,
the Marquise, conquering her own sadness, endeavo