My readers will recollect that letter, wherein he says to the old king, that he had been brought to Paris by force; that he did not know what they wanted him to do, but that if he accepted power it would only be in the best interests of THE HOUSE. Only he did not specify what House. Did he mean in the interest of the House of Orléans or of the House of Bourbon? Re-read the sentence and you will see he reserves his choice.
Charles X. replied to this letter by a declaration couched as follows:—
"The king, desirous of putting a stop to the troubles that exist in the capital and in another part of France, relying especially on the sincere attachment of his cousin the Duc d'Orléans, appoints him Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom. The king, having seen fit to withdraw the Ordinances of 25 July, approves the assembling of the Chambers on 3 August, and he hopes they will be able to re-establish tranquillity in France. The king will await at Rambouillet the return of the person charged to bear this declaration to Paris. If any attempt is made upon the lives of the king and his family or upon his liberty, he will defend himself to the last.
"Drawn up at Rambouillet, I August 1830.
"(Signed) CHARLES"
The courier left Rambouillet at six in the morning, and reached Paris at half-past eight. The Duc d'Orléans received the despatch at a quarter to nine. M. Dupin was already with him. It is well known how early M. Dupin could be the day, or day but one, after revolutions had taken place; moreover, thanks to the Caricature, the impressions of the shoes of this famous lawyer, printed along the route to Neuilly, both going and returning, and vice versâ, acquired a celebrity that afterwards became proverbial. M. Dupin, then, was with the Duc d'Orléans when he received the letter from Charles X. The Duc d'Orléans read it and passed it on to him. M. Dupin, remember, was head of the prince's Privy Council. M. Dupin read the proclamation in his turn, and advised that they should break openly and even brutally with the Older Branch.
"Diable!" said the prince, "such a letter as you suggest my writing will be anything but easy to draw up!"
"Shall I draw it up, your Highness?" asked M. Dupin.
"Yes, certainly. Try ... we will see."
M. Dupin wrote a letter as rough as himself. The Duc d'Orléans read it, approved, re-copied, signed, put it in an envelope and was going to seal it when, all at once, he said—
"Good gracious! I was going to send off a letter of such importance as this without showing it to the duchess.... Wait a moment, Monsieur Dupin, I will soon come back."
The letter must have been brutal indeed, for M. Dupin has himself confessed that it was; he was by nature rough and the plane of education had not effaced this roughness. He continued to argue with King Louis-Philippe in just the same fashion as he had done when he was Prince of Orléans. Once, during a political discussion, he forgot himself so far as to say to the king—