topped and took my hand; I wished to kiss his; he
would not suffer it, but drew me towards him by the hand, and kissed both
my cheeks without saying a single word.
The fear of another attack upon the Tuileries occasioned scrupulous search
among the King's papers
I burnt almost all those belonging to the Queen. She put her family
letters, a great deal of correspondence which she thought it necessary to
preserve for the history of the era of the Revolution, and particularly
Barnave's letters and her answers, of which she had copies, into a
portfolio, which she entrusted to M. de J----. That gentleman was unable
to save this deposit, and it was burnt. The Queen left a few papers in
her secretaire. Among them were instructions to Madame de Tourzel,
respecting the dispositions of her children and the characters and
abilities of the sub-governesses under that lady's orders. This paper,
which the Queen drew up at the time of Madame de Tourzel's appointment,
with several letters from Maria Theresa, filled with the best advice and
instructions, was printed after the 10th of August by order of the
Assembly in the collection of papers found in the secretaires of the King
and Queen.
Her Majesty had still, without reckoning the income of the month, one
hundred and forty thousand francs in gold. She was desirous of depositing
the whole of it with me; but I advised her to retain fifteen hundred
louis, as a sum of rather considerable amount might be suddenly necessary
for her. The King had an immense quantity of papers, and unfortunately
conceived the idea of privately making, with the assistance of a locksmith
who had worked with him above ten years, a place of concealment in an
inner corridor of his apartments. The place of concealment, but for the
man's information, would have been long undiscovered? The wall in which
it was made was painted to imitate large stones, and the opening was
entirely concealed among the brown grooves which formed the shaded part of
these painted stones. But even before this locksmith had denounced what
was afterwards called the iron closet to the Assembly, the Queen was aware
that he had talked of it to some of his friends; and that this man, in
whom the King from long habit placed too much confidence, was a Jacobin.
She warned the King of it, and prevailed on him to fill a very large
portfolio with all the papers he was most interested in preserving, and
entrust it to me. She entreated hi
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