s in search of
their sons and their kindred, formed a scene that must have moved the
coldest heart, and that _never_ can be _effaced_ from my memory!

In traversing La Grande Place, I was attracted to a kind of military
vehicle, by the voice of plaintive distress appealing for my succour,
reiterating the word _compatriote_. On approaching, I beheld a
handsome and interesting-looking female, in equestrian costume;--by
her side were two servants, and two very fine saddle-horses. A tent,
and some baggage-wagons, belonging to some regiment, appeared to be
included in her train. She announced herself to me as the wife of
Captain ----, aid-de-camp to General C----: by some mistake of orders,
fatal to her peace of mind, the baggage of her husband's regiment had
not been included in the general orders for following the army.
Anguish was expressed on her fine countenance. She knew only that we
were victorious; but she knew not whether her husband was to be
numbered with the dead, or with the living. She was without resource,
and unacquainted with the French language. She appealed to my
protection, and pointed to her servants to corroborate her statement.
Fatigued in mind as I was, yet how impossible to hesitate an instant!
I immediately conducted her to the librarian, who gave me a room; and
I sent for refreshments, and fain would have persuaded her to attempt
seeking some repose; but her mental sufferings were too great to
permit her to remain tranquil. She declared that nothing should
prevent her following the army to Paris, beseeching me to obtain
permission for her to ride on with the first detachment that quitted
the city. I was obliged to comply, for there is no reasoning with the
anxious mind of an attached wife! and I presented myself before our
choleric commandant. Being in black, I was mistaken for a hapless
widow, and all pressed to offer me service. I found Captain W----, who
immediately interested himself, and I had the supreme pleasure of not
only obtaining an escort, but of receiving the certain assurance of
her gallant husband's safety. She spent the evening with us, and
created a general interest. She had accompanied her husband in the
campaigns in Spain, soon after a marriage _purement d'inclination_.
Captain ---- had been brought up to the Bar; but the mania of war
seized him, and he preferred figuring in the _Army List_, and
practising military tactics, to studying _Burn's Justice_ and
_Blackstone's Commenta