FOOTNOTES:
[28] Room in which the records were kept.
[29] Six hundred pounds sterling.
[30] He published in 1770 a small 12mo. vol. entitled Method of Diverting Oneself with a Pack of Cards, and in 1784 a fresh edition called Method of Diverting Oneself with a Pack of Chequered Cards.
[31] Professor of History at the Abbaye-aux-Bois.
[32] First dancer at the Opera.
[33] The leader of the ballet at the Opera.
[34] The Duchesse de la Vallière was the daughter of the Maréchal de Noailles. At fifty years of age she was still marvellously beautiful. On seeing her Madame d’Houdetot improvised the following stanza:
“La nature prudente et sage,
Force le temps à respecter,
Les charmes de ce beau visage,
Qu’elle ne saurait répéter.”
Nature prudent and wise, Forces time to respect, The charms of that lovely face, Which she is powerless to repeat.
Madame de la Vallière’s sister was the Comtesse de Toulouse.
[35] Mademoiselle (Louise-Adelaide de Bourbon-Condé), born on the 5th of October 1757, was the daughter of Louis-Joseph de Bourbon, Prince de Condé, and of Charlotte-Godefriede-Elizabeth de Rohan-Soubise. She became Abbess of Remiremont in 1786.
[36] Louise-Marie-Thérèse-Bathilde d’Orléans, sister-in-law of Mademoiselle, was the daughter of the Duc Louis-Philippe d’Orléans and of Louise-Henrietta de Bourbon-Condé. She married, 14th April 1770, Louis-Henri-Joseph, Duc de Bourbon-Condé, born 14th April 1756, and brother to the above-mentioned Mademoiselle. The Duchesse de Bourbon was mother of the unfortunate Duc d’Enghien, shot under the first Empire. Her husband, passionately in love with her, obtained permission to marry her at fifteen years of age, but they were separated after the ceremony. Furious at this, the young prince carried her off.
[37] M. and Madame de la Vaupalière were very agreeable; she had much native grace and simplicity, and her affable and equal character made her generally beloved. M. de la Vaupalière was, unfortunately, a gambler, and nothing could cure him of this passion. At that time a small sort of case was invented, of a novel and convenient shape, for holding slips and counters. Madame de la Vaupalière had one made, of the richest and most beautiful workmanship, which she sent to her husband. On one side was her portrait and on the other that of her children, with these words: “Songez à nous” (think of us).
[38] The hotel du Châtelet, which was just finished, was situated in the Rue de Grenelle, Faubourg Saint Germain, near the city gates. It was a magnificent building, and the interior arrangements and richness of the apartments corresponded with the beauty of the exterior.
The Marquise, afterwards Duchesse du Châtelet, was the daughter-in-law of the celebrated Emilie of Voltaire.
[39] The Duchesse de Mortemart resided with her sons at their beautiful house of the Rue Saint Guillaume, her daughter being educated at the Abbaye-aux-Bois. The mansion still exists, and bears the number 14 of the Rue Saint Guillaume.
[40] Daughter of M. de Chaponay, who had been implicated in Lally’s trial, and was his aide-de-camp. M. de Chaponay was severely censured by the Court of Parliament. When summoned by name and declared infamous, he had the courage to refuse to kneel, and replied: “I see nothing infamous except your judgment!” The Court deliberated as to whether he should be imprisoned for making such a bold answer, but they dared not do so.
[41] Great-niece of the Cardinal de la Roche Aymon, Grand Almoner to the King.
[42] We have found in the records of the Council, at Geneva, an account of the arrival of the Princesse de Montmorency and her daughter; the authorisation given them “to harness their horses at night in order to send for the doctor or apothecary,” and various other details, which confirm Hélène’s narrative.
[43] Prince de Lambesc, grand equerry of France, son of the Comte de Brionne, of the house of Lorraine, and of the Comtesse de Brionne, born Rohan-Rochefort. He was colonel of the regiment called “De Lorraine.”
When, on the 12th July 1789, the populace, uttering seditious cries, and carrying the busts of Necker and of the Duc d’Orléans round the Place Vendôme, was dispersed by the Prince’s dragoons, they fled into the Tuilerie gardens; but the Prince, sword in hand, pursued them and forced them to leave. He died at Vienna in 1825.
[44] The Val d’Ajonc was a valley situated in Lorraine, and at this period was inhabited by a family who enjoyed a wonderful reputation as bone-setters. They took the name of the valley they inhabited. It is said that they were so hated by the surgeons that they had always to be accompanied and protected by armed force.
[45] We have been unable to discover the name of this doctor. In all probability he was simply a bone-setter, or rubber, from the hills of Vuache, such as still exist in Savoy, and who are often consulted at Geneva.
[46] The Princesse de Montmorency, beside herself with grief, left suddenly, and on her return to the Château de Sénozan, wrote to the “Magnificent Council” of Geneva to thank them for the funeral honours accorded to her daughter:—
“Gentlemen—M. des Chênes has arrived and informed me of the many courtesies the Magnificent Council have shown him, as my representative, and the honours they have bestowed on my daughter. If anything could alleviate my grief, it would be the manner in which they have taken part in my affliction. Your attentions during her illness had already greatly touched me, but all that you have done under these circumstances has engraved in my heart the most vivid and sincere gratitude.
“Receive, gentlemen, I pray, my best assurances thereof, and be fully persuaded of the perfect and inviolable attachment with which I have the honour to be, sirs, your very humble and obedient servant,
Montmorency.”
(Geneva, Records of the Magnificent Council, February 1775.)
[47] Sixteen hundred pounds.