"My friend--my young friend--there, there ... calm yourself!" Then, turning round-- "Is there no doctor at hand to bleed this young man?" he asked. Lothon heard the suggestion. "To bleed me?" he exclaimed. "Oh! no, no! Since we have again lost liberty, my blood shall not flow by the lance of a doctor ... but by the bayonets of the Royal Guard, under the bullets of the Swiss.... Leave me the blood in my veins, general; so long as the Bourbons remain in France, both Older and Younger Branches, I shall have need of it! Come, Charras. Come!" He rushed from the room, leaving La Fayette thoughtful and troubled. Perhaps the words that had just fallen on the general's ear corresponded to the voice of his conscience; perhaps he had already reproached himself in the same way that Lothon had just done. "I should like to be alone," he said. And, before the door was closed, they could see him bury that fine and noble head between his hands, that head upon which the children of the Republic had just invoked the anathemas of posterity. [1] As none of the above conversation has yet been reported entirely, I appeal to history and to the memories of persons who were present at the interview. As to the words spoken by Godefroy Cavaignac and the king's reply, I can certify their authenticity, as I wrote them down at the time, from Godefroy's own dictation, and he was quite incapable of untruthfulness. [2] _Romeo and Juliet._ CHAPTER II Letter of Charles X. to the Duc d'Orléans--A conjuring trick--Return of the Duc de Chartres to the Palais-Royal--Bourbons and Valois--Abdication of Charles X.--Preparations for the expedition of Rambouillet--An idea of Harel--The scene-shifters of the Odéon--Nineteen persons in one fiacre--Distribution of arms at the Palais-Royal--Colonel Jacqueminot Meanwhile the Duc d'Orléans hid his grave preoccupation of mind beneath his affable manner that morning when he came up to me and told me I had produced my best drama. He had just received the answer to the letter which he had sent to Charles X. by the Duc de Mortemart. My readers will recollect that letter, wherein he says to the old king, that _he had been brought to Paris by force; that he did not know what they wanted him to do, but that if he accepted power it would only be in the best interests of_ THE HOUSE. Only he did not specify _what House._ Did he mean in the interest of the _House of Orléans_ or of the _House of Bourbon_? Re-read the sentence and you will see he reserves his choice. Charles X. replied to this letter by a declaration couched as follows:--