And royalty in its gilded saloon, what has become of it? How fares it with the poor Louis and his devoted family? That flight from the Rue de l’Échelle in the darkness of the night of the 20th June 1791, when the lady shaded in broad gypsy-hat, tapped, from sheer playfulness, with her badine—‘light little magic rod such as the Beautiful then wore—the wheel of Lafayette’s carriage as it rolled past’; this goes unrecorded, as also the incident in the village of Sainte-Menehould, when Post-master Drouet recognises a familiar face in the lady with the slouched gypsy-hat and the ‘Grosse-Tête’ in round hat and peruke. ‘Quick, Sieur Guillaume, Clerk of the Directoire, bring me a new Assignat! Drouet compares the Paper-money Picture with the Gross Head in round hat there: by Day and Night! you might say this one was an attempted engraving of the other.’[141] And so event succeeds event—over the final tragedy of the 21st January 1793, no less than over the more piteous scene of October 16, the fan discreetly draws a veil. [Illustration: Napoleon shows his troops the channel, 1803. Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.] Several fans have for their subject the Testament du Louis XVI., and give medallion portraits of the king and various members of his family, with the symbol of immortality; the inscription, ‘Testament De Louis Seize, Né Le 23 Aoust 1754. Mort le Lundi 21 Janvier 1793.’ On the sides or reverse of the fans, the will written out at length. In ‘Le Songe,’ a female figure is represented asleep; on a tomb in the centre of the fan, a figure of Louis appears when the fan is placed against the light; the representation being veiled or concealed by means of a thin piece of paper pasted over it. Mourning-fans were common with the more loyal portion of the community; these also consisted of concealed portraits of Louis and his family, and are usually decorated with black gauze and spangles; the inscription, ‘Vive le Roi!’ A favourite device was a pansy or heart’s-ease (‘that’s for thoughts’), with the portraits appearing on the principal petal, upon the fan being held against the light. These obtained later, when popular opinion, becoming tired of the Revolution and its consequences, was again veering round in the direction of Royalty.