The crisis of her husband's fate was not far distant. How the tragedy was led up to by the events of 1793, we do not know; but in February 1794 he was arrested on the charge of suborning witnesses in favour of the Marquise de Marboeuf. The Marquise had been accused of conspiring against the Republic in 1793;[31] one of the chief counts against her being that she had laid down certain arable land on her estate at Champs, near Meaux, in lucerne, sainfoin, and clover, with the object of producing a famine. The Marquise, by way of defence, printed a memorial of her case, stating, among other things, that she had not done what she was accused of doing, and further, that if she had, she had a perfect right to do what she liked with her own property. But it was evident that things were likely to go hard with the Marquise at her trial. The Comte de Feuillide then came upon the scene, and attempted to bribe Morel, one of the Secretaries of the Committee of Safety, to suppress incriminating documents, and even to bear witness in her favour. Morel drew the Count on, and then betrayed him. The Marquise, her agent and the Count were all condemned to death, and the Count suffered the penalty on February 22, 1794.[32] We cannot tell where Eliza was through this trying time. The tradition in the family is that she escaped through dangers and difficulties to England and found a refuge at Steventon; but we have no positive information of her having returned to France at all. It is quite possible that she was at Steventon, and if so, the horror-struck party must have felt as though they were brought very near to the guillotine. It was an event to make a lasting impression on a quick-witted and emotional girl of eighteen, and Eliza remained so closely linked with the family that the tragedy probably haunted Jane's memory for a long time to come. FOOTNOTES: [25] _The Letters of Warren Hastings to his Wife._ Introduced and annotated by Sydney C. Grier, p. 456 _et seq._ For articles by the same author on the Hancock family, see 'A Friend of Warren Hastings' in _Blackwood's Magazine_, April 1904, and 'A God-daughter of Warren Hastings' in _Temple Bar_, May 1905. [26] _Genuine Memoirs of Asiaticus_, by Philip Dormer Stanhope, London, 1784. [27] This did not prove to be the case. [28] This, and not 'de Feuillade,' is the correct spelling. [29] Beaumont Lodge, Old Windsor, where Warren Hastings was then living. [30] Henry Austen, and his elder brother, James. [31] In the _Memoir_ this action is by mistake attributed to the Count. [32] _National Archives_, Paris (de Feuillide), W. 328, dossier 541, and T. 738; (Marboeuf), W. 320, dossier 481. CHAPTER IV FAMILY LIFE 1779-1792