“It has killed me. I can see your anguish from here, and it doubles my own. My anger consumes me. I have not even the relief of tears; I cannot shed one. I abjure for ever the name of Frenchman. I wish I could forget their language. I am in despair; I know not what I do, or say, or write. O God! What barbarity, what horror, what evils are with us, and what miseries are still to come! I dare not go to you. Adieu, brave, unhappy lady!”[51] Many tears must have fallen on that treasured sheet. And still, to this day, traced by Lady Atkyns’ hand, one can read on it these words: “_Written after the murder of the Queen of France._” Were all her efforts, then, irremediably wasted? She refused to believe it. And at that moment two fresh actors appeared on the scene, whose help she could utilize. From the friendship of one, the Chevalier de Frotté (who came to London just then), she could confidently hope for devoted aid. The other, a stranger to her until then, and only recently landed from the Continent, was destined to become one of the principal actors in the game that was now to be played. FOOTNOTES: [29] Albert Sorel, _L’Europe et la Revolution Française_, vol. ii. p. 382. [30] Forneron, _Histoire Générale des Émigrés_, Paris, 1884, vol. ii. p. 50. [31] Abbé de Lubersac, _Journal historique et réligieux, de l’émigration et déportation du clergé de France en Angleterre_, dedicated to His Majesty the King of England, London, 1802, 8vo, p. 12. (The author styles himself: Vicar-General of Narbonne, Abbé of Noirlac and Royal Prior of St.-Martin de Brivé, French _émigré_.) [32] Count d’Haussonville, _Souvenirs et Mélanges_, Paris, 1878, 8vo. [33] Gauthier de Brecy, _Mémoires véridiques et ingenus de la vie privée, morale et politique d’un homme de bien_, written by himself in the eighty-first year of his age, Paris, 1834, 8vo, p. 286. [34] Sorel, _L’Europe et la Révolution Française_, vol. iii. pp. 288, 289. [35] On October 21, 1765, at Gonnord, Maine-et-Loire, _Canton_ of Touarcé, _arrondissement_ of Angers. [36] Letter from Peltier to Lady Atkyns, dated from London, November 15, 1792.--_Unpublished Papers of Lady Atkyns._ [37] “In case of our not being able to find M. Goguelat, I have my eye upon a very useful man whom I have known for many years, and who was, indeed, a collaborator in some of my political works--he is the Baron d’Auerweck, a Transylvanian nobleman, a Royalist like ourselves, of firm character, and very clever.”--Letter from Peltier, Dec. 3, 1792. [38] In two autobiographical memoirs, one written at Hamburg, June, 1796, and annexed to a despatch from the French Minister there, Reinhard (_Archives of the Foreign Office_, Hamburg, v. 109, folio 367). The other was written at Paris, July 25, 1807 (_National Archives_, F. 6445). Both naturally aim at presenting the author in the most favourable light.