Encouraged by the attitude taken up by the British Government towards her project of inquiring minutely into the matter on the Continent, Lady Atkyns decided before leaving England to approach the Comte, hoping to secure not merely his approval, but also some material assistance. Had she not sacrificed a large portion of her own worldly goods for the benefit of his family? Thus reasoning, she did not conceive the possibility of a refusal. But _Monsieur_ could not regard as anything short of fantastic the supposition upon which her project was based--the supposition that his nephew still survived. To present this hypothesis either to him or to his brother the King was to put one’s self out of court at once. We can imagine how her application was received. She chose as her intermediary with the Prince the Baron de Suzannet, who had facilitated the purchase of the ships and equipages which were procured in readiness for the rescue of the Queen and the Dauphin. Having the _entrée_ to the Court, and being one of the most notable of the _émigrés_ in London, he consented to submit his friend’s request to _Monsieur_. Did he foresee the issue? Apparently not. Here is what he writes to her on August 19, 1797:-- “After the decision _M[onsieur]_ has come to, my dear lady, not to give his countenance to your affair until it has been taken up by others, and after speaking to him so often on the subject, I cannot carry the matter any further, and could not ask him for money. But I see no reason why you should not yourself write to him more or less what you have told me, viz. that you were about to return to France with the consent of the Government, that you ought to be provided with the same amount for returning as you have been for going, but that fifty louis is very scant provision for that--especially considering that you have had to hide yourself away here so long--and that you are afraid you will not have sufficient to enable you to remain long enough in Paris to get together all the particulars required by the Government, and to pay the messenger for bringing them here; and you might point out that you have acted throughout entirely in the interests of the Royal Family, that you do not regret the £1000[76] which your attachment has cost you, or regret them only because you no longer have the money to devote to the cause; and that if _M[onsieur]_ for his part could give you £50, it would free you from anxiety as to ways and means....