The Colonel was not aware if Her Majesty said an open carriage or a shut one.
“I felt something,” she added, “pass over my forehead which hurt me.”
“And as this was evident,” continued the officer, “I could but give credit to Her Majesty’s words. Moreover, Her Highness the Infanta Doña Maria Josefa added: ‘There is no doubt of the fact, for I myself saw the men.’”
Then Her Majesty told the witness he was to inform the Ministers of what had happened. This he did, leaving a message at the door of the Secretary of State, and sending a halberdier to inform the Minister of War.
It is not necessary to give further particulars of the long trial of the accused. He was, as we know, first condemned to be beaten to death, and being saved from this dreadful fate by the able defence of Perez Hernandez, he was in November, 1847, condemned to twenty years’ imprisonment. But on July 23, 1849, the Queen showed her generous spirit by commuting the sentence to four years’ exile from Madrid and all the royal resorts, as Her Majesty nobly gave full benefit to the representation of the murderous lawyer’s madness, or the influence exercised by others.
In the rapid and unexpected flight of the French Royal Family from the Palace of the Tuileries, Princess Clementina, wife of the Duke of Saxony, and the Duchess of Montpensier, were separated from the King and Queen. When the Duke of Montpensier accompanied his father to the carriages waiting for them in the Place de la Concorde, he thought he would have no difficulty in returning to fetch his wife, who had been confined for some days in her apartments on account of her interesting condition of health. But the crowds which had collected meanwhile in the gardens made it impossible for the Prince to return to the palace. He had fortunately left the Princess in the care of some of his suite and Monsieur Julio de Lasteyrie, who was distinguished for his loyalty and popularity. So the Duke mounted his horse and followed his father.
Directly Monsieur Lasteyrie saw that the palace was invaded, he gave his arm to the Duchess of Montpensier, and in the confusion of the moment they passed unnoticed from the gates and mingled with the crowd. Monsieur de Lasteyrie hoped to arrive in time to put the Princesses into the royal carriages, which, however, started off at a gallop just as they arrived within sight of them.
So Lasteyrie escorted the royal ladies to the house of his mother. In a few minutes Princess Clementina left the timely refuge, and continued her way to the Trianon, where she met her father; whilst the Duchess of Montpensier remained for the night under the protection of Madame de Lasteyrie.
There she heard from her husband at Dreux that she was to join him at the Castle of Eu, whither the King was going.
But the monarch found it impossible to get to this haven, so when the young Princess arrived there the following day she found the place deserted. Hearing an alarming rumour that a party of workmen were coming to pillage the Palace of Eu, as they had ransacked the one at Neuilly, the Duchess quietly left the place, and repaired to the house of Monsieur Estancelin, a diplomat of the Bavarian Embassy. Under the escort of this gentleman and that of General Thierry she started off for Brussels. On passing through Abbeville, the sight of the carriage attracted attention, and the people cried: “There are royal fugitives in that coach!” Monsieur Estancelin put his head out of the window, and, as his name was known in the district, he declared that the lady was his wife, and he was going abroad with her. To put the people off the scent, he then gave orders to the postilion to drive to the house of a friend of his, well known for his republican opinions. Arrived at the house, Estancelin whispered in the ear of his friend the name and rank of the lady under his escort.