"I confess," I said, "it has never been my fate to have been placed in just such a situation, and I thank you, _de tout mon coeur_, for your assistance. You certainly saved my life, for I doubt if I could have lived another moment in that room." "Perhaps more than your life, Madame; more than you imagine, at any rate." As he put us in the carriage, he looked puzzled when he saw _le mari_ I had said was waiting for me; but a smile of comprehension swept over his face as he met my guilty glance. He apparently understood my reasons. On reaching home, tired, exhausted, and oh! so hungry, we found Mr. Washburn. He and Mr. Moulton had been very anxious about me, picturing to themselves all sorts of horrors, and when I told them what really had happened they felt that their anxieties had not been far from the truth. Mr. Washburn laughed at the subterfuges I had used and the lie I had told. They examined my passport as a great curiosity, and noticed it had _Valable pour un an_. Mr. Washburn said, "Evidently they intend this sort of thing to go on forever." _23d of April._ Mrs. Moulton has decided to leave for Dinard, and starts the day after to- morrow. We have been assured that the train would make connections as far at least as Rennes; beyond that no one could tell whether they went regularly or not. Mrs. Moulton had procured a red _billet de circulation_ with a date, a white one without a date, Mr. Washburn's card, and different passes. She was certainly well prepared for any emergency. As there was only one day train, she was obliged to take that (it left al seven o'clock A.M.). A desire to see some of her friends before her departure spurred Mrs. Moulton to invite them to dinner. Our friends are now so few and far between that it is not difficult to know whom to choose or where to find them. The result was a miscellaneous company, as you will see: Mr. Washburn, Auber, Massenet, Beaumont, and Delsarte. Our family consisted of Mr. and Mrs. Moulton, Henry, Mademoiselle Wissembourg, and myself. Mrs. Moulton asked Henry to bring with him some green peas from Petit Val to eke out the chef's meager menu. With the aid of a friendly officer, Henry managed to pick a "whole bushel" (he always exaggerates), which, with his toilet articles, completely filled his large _sac de voyage_. Besides this, he had a portmanteau with his evening attire, and a package which Count Arco wished to send to Paris. Count Arco ordered out the "ancient and honorable relic" of our landau (the same I had used on the famous 18th of March) and the artillery horses, with their heavy dragoons, in order to deposit Henry and his bags at the pontoon bridge, where a man was found to take them as far as the station.