himself the painful office of acquainting the dauphin with the dangerous
state of his grandfather. This young prince, whose first impulses were
always amiable, immediately burst into tears; the dauphiness endeavoured
to console him. But from that moment her royal highness appeared to
show by her lofty and dignified bearing, her consciousness of the fresh
importance she had necessarily acquired in the eyes of the nation.
Meanwhile, the dauphin hastened to the sick room of his beloved
relative, anxious to bestow upon him the cares and attentions of a son;
but in the anteroom his progress was stopped by the duc de la Vrilliere,
who informed him, that the interests of the throne would not permit
his royal highness to endanger his life by inhaling the contagious
atmosphere of a room loaded with the venom of the small-pox. He adjured
him, in the name of the king and his country, not to risk such fearful
chances. The lords in attendance, who did not partake the heroism the
young prince, added their entreaties to those of _le petit saint_,
and succeeded, at length, in prevailing upon him to return to his
apartments, to the great joy of Marie Antoinette, who could not endure
the prospect of being separated from her husband at so important a
juncture.

No sooner had the princesses learned the danger of their august parent,
than without an instant's hesitation they hurried to him. I was in his
chamber when they arrived; they saluted me with great gentleness and
affability. When the king saw them, he inquired what had brought them
thither at so unusual an hour.

"We are come to see you, my dearest father," replied madame Adelaide;
"we have heard of your indisposition, and trifling as it is said to be,
we could not rest without satisfying our anxious wish to know how you
found yourself."

The other sisters expressed themselves in similar terms.

"It is all very well, my children," said Louis XV, with a pleasing
smile, "and you are all three very excellent girls, but I would rather
you should keep away from this close room; it can do you no good, and I
promise to let you know if I find myself getting any worse."

After a slight resistance the princesses feigned an obedience to his
will; but, in reality, they merely retired into an adjoining chamber,
concealed from the sight of their parent, where they remained, until
the moment when they undertook the charge of the patient. Their heroic
devotion was the admiration of all Franc