back the princes. He would require a considerable sum to prepare for his
journey, and to guard against all the contingencies of this somewhat
audacious attempt. Mme. Acquet was informed of the situation by her
mother whom she came to visit at Donnay, and on the 22d December, 1805,
the coach from Rouen to Paris was attacked on the slope of Authevernes,
at a distance of only three leagues from the Chateau of Tournebut. The
travellers noticed that one of the brigands, dressed in a military
costume, and whom his comrades called The Dragon, was so much thinner
and more active than the rest, that he might well have been taken "for a
woman dressed as a man." A fresh attack was made at the same place by
the same band on the 15th February, 1806; and as before the band
disappeared so rapidly, once the blow was struck, that it seemed they
must have taken refuge in one of the neighbouring houses. Suspicion fell
on the Chateau de Mussegros, situated about three leagues from
Authevernes; but nobody then thought of Tournebut, the owners of which
had been absent for seven months. It was only in March that Mme. de
Combray returned there, and it was in April that d'Ache, having laid in
a good stock of money, decided to cross the channel and convey to the
princes the good wishes of their faithful provinces in the west.

D'Ache had not wasted his time during his stay at Mandeville. It was a
difficult enterprise in existing circumstances to arrange his crossings
with any chance of success. The embarkation was easy enough, and David
the Intrepid had undertaken to see to it; but it was especially
important to secure a safe return, and a secret landing on the French
coast, lined as it was by patrols, watched day and night by custom-house
officers, and guarded by sentinels at every point where a boat could
approach the shore, offered almost insuperable difficulties. D'Ache
selected a little creek at the foot of the rocks of Saint Honorine,
scarcely two leagues from Trevieres and David, who knew all the coast
guards in the district, bribed one of them to become an accomplice.

It was on a stormy night at the end of April, 1806, that d'Ache put to
sea in a boat seventeen feet long, which was steered by David the
Intrepid. After tossing about for fifty hours, they landed in England.
David immediately stood out to sea again, while d'Ache took the road to
London.

One can easily imagine what the feelings of these royalist fanatics must
have been