family
went out by a door that was not in use, and got into a hackney coach.
The last to come was the queen, who had been frightened by meeting
Lafayette. Afterwards she asked him whether he had recognised her. He
replied that if he had met her not once but thrice, he could never
have recognised her, after what she had told him the day before; for
she had said that they were not going away. Bailly, who was at home,
ill, had taken alarm at the persistent rumours of departure, and urged
Lafayette to redouble his precautions. After a last inspection the
general assured the mayor that Gouvion was on guard, and not a mouse
could escape. The journalists, Marat and Freron, had also been warned.
Freron went to the Tuileries late at night, and satisfied himself that
all was quiet. Nobody took notice of a coachman, chatting and taking
snuff with a comrade, or guessed that it was the colonel of Royal
Swedes, who in that hour built himself an everlasting name. It was
twelve when the queen arrived; and the man, who had made her heart
beat in happier years, mounted the box and drove away into the
darkness. Their secret was known, and their movements had been
observed by watchful eyes. The keeper of the wardrobe was intimate
with General Gouvion. She had warned him in good time, and had given
notice to persons about the queen that she knew what was going on. The
alarm was given at two in the morning, but that she might not be
compromised it was given by devious ways. A traveller from Marseilles
was roused at his lodgings by a friendly voice. He refused to get up,
and went to sleep again. Some hours later the visitor returned, and
prevailed with the sleeper. He came from the palace, and reported that
the king was gone. They took the news to one of the deputies, who
hastened to Lafayette, while the man from the palace disappeared.
Lafayette, as soon as he was dressed, conferred with the mayor and
with the president of the Assembly, Beauharnais, the first husband of
the Empress Josephine, and they persuaded him that nothing could avert
civil war but the capture of the king. Thereupon Lafayette wrote an
order declaring that Lewis had been carried off, and calling on all
good citizens to bring him back. He believed that too much time had
been lost; but nothing less than this, which was a warrant for arrest,
would have appeased the rage of the people at his lack of vigilance.
He despatched his officers, chiefly towards Lille. One of them,