Combe, threw open to them Egyptian
Hall in as magnificent an entertainment as the times could furnish.
Immediately following this brilliant scene, the Duke of Clarence,
subsequently William IV., invited them to a dinner-party, which in
many respects surpassed all which had preceded it in splendor. All
these people who thus feted them were combining their energies to
overthrow revolutionary principles in France, and to reinstate the
Bourbons.

At this time the British Cabinet was preparing an armed force for the
invasion of France by a descent on the southern coast. The report was
circulated that the three Orleans princes were to assume the white
cockade and accompany this military expedition against their native
country. At the same time, the Bourbon princes renewed their
solicitations to the Orleans princes to range themselves, with arms
in their hands, under the standard of emigration. But the great
victory of Marengo just then took place, which threw into the power
of the First Consul all of upper Italy, and compelled the utterly
discomfited Austrians to withdraw from the British alliance. It was a
dark hour for the Royalist cause in France.

The exiled princes, who found but little in the festivities of London
to alleviate their world-weariness, or to cheer them in the peculiar
embarrassments and trials of their position, after several minor
adventures, withdrew to their retreat in Twickenham, where they
endeavored to seclude themselves from observation and from all
participation in public affairs.

The Duke of Orleans devoted himself to the study of English
institutions, visiting the prominent establishments of learning and
of industry. The irreproachable character of this virtuous prince,
his high intellectual culture, dignified bearing, amiable
disposition, and persistent refusal to involve himself in any
intrigues, secured for him general admiration. Months of
tranquillity, almost of happiness, glided away. But sorrow is the
doom of man. The Duke of Orleans had not yet drained the cup which
was prepared for his lips.

The health of the Duke of Montpensier had been for some time rapidly
failing. His constitution and that of his brother, Count Beaujolais,
had been quite undermined by the hardships they had endured during
their imprisonment. All the remedies which the best medical advice
could administer proved unavailing. It soon became manifest that
death was approaching by slow but resistless strides. The