“I thank you for your frankness, but now is precisely the moment to serve your cause; the more people are discouraged, the greater utility will result from my departure. Until now you have only seen my ardor in your cause, but that may not prove at present wholly useless. If you cannot furnish me with a vessel, I will purchase one and freight it at my own expense, to convey your despatches and my person to the shores of America.” With unflagging labor La Fayette now occupied himself in carrying out his promised plan. From his own estates he raised the money necessary for the expedition, and prepared to purchase and equip a vessel. King Louis, owing to the recent reverses in America, began to distrust the expediency of an open alliance. La Fayette, being suspected of favoring the American cause, was constantly watched by French and English spies. To escape the knowledge of his family and the royal surveillance, the ship was purchased through La Fayette’s friend, Mr. Duboismartin, who warmly sympathized with his liberal principles. In the midst of these preparations La Fayette was sent by the French government on a diplomatic mission to London. Lest he should excite suspicion by refusal, La Fayette departed for England with his associate, the Prince de Poix. On reaching London, it was a significant fact that before La Fayette paid his respects to the British court, he sought an interview with Bancroft, _the American_. La Fayette was received at the English court with every mark of distinguished honor, but court flatteries were little now to his taste. He was yearning to return to Paris, to continue his preparations for his chivalrous project. “At the end of three weeks,” he writes, “when it became necessary for me to return home, while refusing to accompany my uncle, the ambassador, to court, I confided to him my strong desire to take a trip to Paris. He suggested that he should say that I was ill during my absence. I should not have made use of this stratagem myself, but did not object to his doing so.” Hastening back to Paris, he continued his secret preparations. Without making known his return to any of his friends, with the exception of those interested in his plans, La Fayette set out for Bordeaux, where a ship was being equipped for him. But information regarding his mysterious manœuvres was now communicated to the court of Versailles, and led to an order for his arrest. La Fayette, being warned, departed to Passage, a Spanish port, intending to embark for America from there. He now openly avowed his intentions, and declared that nothing should induce him to relinquish his plans. [Illustration: MARIE ANTOINETTE.]