The story goes that little d’Eon, taking advantage of his slender figure, his delicate beardless face, and his feminine voice, assumed the name, attire and habits of a young girl. In this manner the Chevalier Douglas introduced his niece, Mademoiselle Lia de Beaumont, to Count Woronzow, Vice-Chancellor of the Empire, and the avowed enemy of the Chancellor. Perceiving how useful this new ally might be to his policy, Woronzow undertook to obtain his admission at court as maid-of-honour to the Empress. D’Eon was not slow to ingratiate himself with Elizabeth, and then resolved to disclose his deception, and the hidden purpose of his journey, by delivering to the Czarina the King’s letters which he had brought with him, concealed in the binding of one of Montesquieu’s books. The romantic nature of the adventure amused and captivated the Empress, who, far from bearing him ill-will, was grateful to little d’Eon for his daring and for his message, and entrusted him with her reply to the King, which was entirely favourable to the renewal of friendly relations between the two courts. It was then that the Chevalier Douglas returned at the head of the official mission in which d’Eon participated—undisguised this time, in the capacity of secretary of embassy, a fact which joins tradition to history. This story is mentioned by most of the historians of the period in serious works, and even in the otherwise well-substantiated account which Gaillardet wrote, fifty years ago, to establish “the truth about the mysteries of the life of the Chevalier d’Eon.” Like all traditions, it is an amalgam composed of much fiction and a substratum of truth, and, like most, it is grounded on evidence and even on a few documents which make it look genuine. Nevertheless, the objection still holds good that it is wildly improbable; and this is the chief argument put forward by the Duc de Broglie, and, after him, by M. Albert Vandal, in favour of its rejection as an ingenious and romantic concoction. But that is not all; even the examination of authentic documents, far from throwing light on this minor historical point, tends to increase its obscurity. There have been discovered among d’Eon’s private papers the originals of several letters which he received from Tercier, when he was preparing to leave France for Russia. These letters show that he took his departure in the beginning of June, 1756, and seem to prove that this was his first journey, being sent to St. Petersburg on that occasion—but on that occasion only—to assist Douglas in bringing about the alliance of the two courts, and the realisation of the Prince de Conti’s secret ambition.