I was much attached to you when you were a captain of dragoons. The new form you have assumed has never prejudiced you in my estimation, and although it forces me to respect you all the more, it does not deprive me of the pleasure of loving you, and I hasten to assure you of both these sentiments. The same feeling of kindly credulity, the same affectionate expressions are found in the letters of all d’Eon’s old brother officers, and bear witness to the pleasant impression he had made on them. The case, though extraordinary, had seemed to them credible; moreover, it was not without a precedent, as the Baron de Castille hastened to inform the Chevalière in the following letter: Madame de Laubespin will tell you of the girl-dragoon of the regiment of Belzunce, who has again been to see me this morning. He is most anxious to be introduced to you, and I am convinced that you will find him interesting. He is twenty-seven years old, is nearly five foot five, and has a pleasant face and a beautiful, well-dressed head of hair. He is a junior officer at the Invalides, and wears the insignia of a veteran. The Duc d’Aiguillon gave him the two crossed swords when he was discovered upon receiving a sword-thrust in his hip. He was presented by the Prince de Beauvau to the late King, when hunting at Fontainebleau, and he asked him many questions. It seems, too, that the adventure of the famous Chevalière had turned the heads of several ladies. Among his papers d’Eon left a whole bundle of letters written to him by “young women of exceptional height,” desirous “of changing their sex as far as appearance was concerned,” in order to be able to enlist and serve in the army. The bundle also included the epistles addressed to him by a few madmen, disturbed, as often happens, by the revelation of a curious personality. This odd collection, together with notes from his friends, his old comrades, and even strangers who wrote to him directly after his return, leaves no doubt whatever as to the astonishment which the affair excited, and the amazing credulity with which it was generally accepted.