ket ball, which slightly wounded me in the leg,
but it is a trifle, and I have escaped with the obligation of lying on
my back for some time, which puts me much out of humour. I hope that you
will feel no anxiety, this event ought, on the contrary, rather to
reassure you, since I am incapacitated from appearing on the field for
some time. I have resolved to take good care of myself, be convinced of
this, my dearest love."

Notwithstanding the cheerful tenor of this letter, Adrienne was not able
to eat or sleep after its arrival, until in a second letter he again
assured her of the slightness of his injury, and added:

"I must now give you your lesson as the wife of an American
general-officer. They will say to you, 'They have been beaten.' You must
answer, 'That is true, but when two armies of equal numbers meet in the
field, old soldiers have naturally the advantage over new ones. They
have had besides, the pleasure of killing a great many of the enemy;
many more than they have lost.' They will afterward say, 'All that is
very well, but Philadelphia is taken, the Capital of America, the
rampart of Liberty!' You must politely answer, 'You are all great
fools.' Philadelphia is a poor forlorn town, exposed on every side,
whose harbour is already closed, although the residence of Congress lent
it some degree of celebrity. This is the famous city which, it may be
added, we will soon make them yield to us! If they continue to
persecute you with questions you may send them about their business in
terms which the Vicomte de Noailles will teach you, for I cannot lose
time in talking to my friends of politics."

Thrilling indeed were those days of 1777 after the battle of Brandywine,
for the Americans struggling so valiantly for the liberty they were so
determined to secure, and valiant was young Lafayette in upholding that
Cause which he had so bravely espoused. A letter from General Greene to
General Washington in which he speaks glowingly about the young
Frenchman would have filled Adrienne's heart to overflowing with pride,
could she but have read it, for it was full of descriptions of her
husband's bravery even before he had recovered from the wound received
at the battle of Brandywine, and General Greene adds:

"The Marquis Lafayette is determined to be in the way of danger." But
Lafayette's own account of his doings, both to General Washington, with
whom he was on the most intimate and affectionate terms, and to his
w