In later life the elder D'Orbigny seems to have fallen on evil times. He appeared as a debtor to Lieutenant Audubon's estate, and the cordial relations that had long existed between the two families were broken; this is shown only too plainly by the following sharp letter[109] written by Gabriel du Puigaudeau and addressed to the doctor, on August 3, 1819, when the family had become reduced in means:
Gabriel du Puigaudeau to Charles M. d'Orbigny
Your letter of the twenty-fifth of January reached me in due time. I am grieved to see that you are annoyed because I addressed you through the voice of the mayor of the town in which you live, since I had not the honor of knowing the mayor any more than the enmity which may exist between you; I was in duty bound to find out where you were; I heard it said that Esnaudes was your home and I wrote you more than a year ago; when I received no reply, the supposition was that I must have been misinformed. I wrote to the mayor of Esnaudes and he had the kindness to reply that you were practicing in his commune. I am writing to you under this cover, persuaded that my last will not have the same fate as my first, which surely had not reached you.
As to the claim that Madame Audubon has upon you, the different credits which you mention are assuredly more than enough to pay the amount, but with forfeitures; unfortunately there are many creditors who do nothing but this; Madame Audubon gets nothing, and finds herself in straightened circumstances, although her hands are full of notes. You say that your creditors can claim only thirty-five hundred francs. I have certain knowledge to the contrary, since already the mortgages on your house reach nearly three thousand francs, while Madame Audubon is your creditor in the sum of at least sixteen hundred francs. I wish in business to be frank, and to have others so with me. You say that you owe rather those who have supplied you with food; you are unwilling then to recall that the sums that the late Mr. Audubon lent you repeatedly were for the same purpose. You tell us to be patient, and who have been more patient than we for the past four years? You speak of reduction of interest; indeed it is impossible that you should have thought of this, or that we should be content with what you should be so good as to give us, and that when you deem it convenient, without our being able to file a protest. I leave you to reflect on what we must think of this matter, and I beg you to see in my manner of writing to you the interpretation that I have given to what you write yourself.
Madame Audubon does not think that she should exact at once the capital in addition to the interest, but she charges me to say to you that, having a right at least to the interest accrued, she begs you to have that money paid to her with the least possible delay.
The following letter concerning D'Orbigny's affairs was also written by Gabriel du Puigaudeau to J. Cornet of Esnaudes, on June 26, 1819:
Gabriel du Puigaudeau to J. Cornet
Your honored [letter] of the sixteenth was duly received. It is impossible to be more grateful to you than I am for the information that you have been kind enough to give me about Mlle. Bouffard[110] as well as about M. Delouche. I will use it to my profit. As to the question that you put to me concerning M. d'Orbigny, I have the honor to tell you that he has lived in the commune of Vue in this department, and was highly esteemed and regretted when he left to come here. He lived here fifteen years without any one having cause to reproach him in any way. He has always been very well regarded and received by the best society here, and he carried from Vue the regrets of all. He left us to take part in a manufactory of soda, established at Noismoutiers, in the department of La Vendée.
I have had no news of him since. As to his pecuniary resources, I know him to have but one. His wife had a house, at Paimbœuf in this department, which was sold three years ago to satisfy the holders of mortgages. This is all that I can tell you about them; he owes my mother-in-law about fifteen hundred francs (money received at different times from my late father-in-law), for which we have his notes, but God only knows when we shall be paid.
As early as the autumn of 1805, if not before, plans were laid for getting young Audubon again safely out of France, for fear, no doubt, that the remorseless conscription officers of Napoleon would send him to the war if he remained. At that time Lieutenant Audubon and his wife issued jointly to their son and to Ferdinand Rozier a power of attorney for the conduct of their business affairs in America. Parts only of this punctilious document, which was written in French, have been preserved,[111] and these through the translation of a "notary public and sworn interpreter of foreign languages for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, resident in Philadelphia." The names of the grantors, who signed this letter on October 21, 1805, were attested under the signature and seal of the mayor of Couëron; this official upon the same day declared that, in conformity with the rigorous requirements of the laws of the State of Pennsylvania, since "no other act, not even a notarial instrument, can in any manner supply the same," he had examined Anne Moynet Audubon apart, when she admitted that she perfectly understood the nature of the act, which she had "signed, sealed, and delivered of her own free will and accord, without being compelled thereto by her husband, either by threats, or by any other means of compulsion whatsoever." The mayor's signature was authenticated three days later by the subprefect of Savenay, and the formality was finally closed by the attestation of his signature by the prefect, on the 27th of November.