III. THE ODYSSEY OF A BRETON MAGISTRATE 69 IV. THE MYSTERY OF THE TEMPLE 94 V. THE MYSTERY OF THE TEMPLE (_continued_) 125 VI. THE FRIENDS OF LADY ATKYNS 139 VII. THE “LITTLE BARON” 166 VIII. AFTER THE STORM 206 EPILOGUE 229 APPENDIX 235 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS MADAME CHARLOTTE ATKYNS _Frontispiece_ (_After a miniature in the possession of Count Lair._) TO FACE PAGE CHARLOTTE WALPOLE, IN “THE CAMP” 12 (_After an engraving in the British Museum._) JEAN-GABRIEL PELTIER, 1765-1825 44 (_After an engraving in the British Museum._) MARIE-PIERRE-LOUIS, COUNT DE FROTTÉ, 1766-1800 140 (_After a portrait belonging to the Marquis de Frotté._) A FRIEND OF MARIE-ANTOINETTE (LADY ATKYNS) CHAPTER I THE CHEVALIER DE FROTTÉ At dawn, on April 7, 1790, a singular disturbance was going on in the streets of Lille. In the northern districts, not far from the citadel, troops of soldiers stood all along the avenues, filled the squares, ransacked the courtyards of the houses. Shots went off every instant, and the extraordinary thing was that this fusillade from the soldiers was directed against other soldiers. In the midst of the smoke, the deafening noise, and the cries of the awakened townsfolk, were to be seen the blue uniforms, with sky-blue facings, of the Regiment of the Crown, one of the four quartered in the garrison.[2] Every horseman who appeared was greeted with successive volleys; evidently the combat was to the death between the light cavalry of Normandy, who charged upon the pavements or fought on foot with their muskets, and the grenadiers of the Crown and of the Royal-Vaisseaux. Moreover, there was no order in this street-fight. The officers on both sides were absent, and if by any chance some _had_ been present, the excitement and anger visible upon the assailants’ faces were a proof that their intervention would have been useless.