“Nevertheless, some days afterwards, calmer feelings having prevailed around her, my mother thought it might be useful for her to go to Brioude, the chief town of the district. There she received from many people proofs of the most lively interest; but she refused the marks of sympathy proffered by several _aristocrates_ ladies, declaring she would take as an insult any token of esteem which could not be shared with my father, and which would tend to separate her cause from his. “By a decree of the ‘district,’ the seals were affixed on the house. My mother herself had caused this measure to be taken, so as to command respect from the _brigands_, who were every day expected. The word _émigré_ was not inscribed in the official report, and the respect shown by the two commissaries led her to hope that she had nothing to dread, at least on the part of the administration. She therefore yielded to the earnest entreaties of her daughters, and allowed them to return to Chavaniac. We found her in possession of two letters from my father, written after his departure from France. These letters cheered her greatly. Although she flattered herself that he would soon be released, she was nevertheless much agitated by the news of his arrest. “On the 10th of September, 1792, at eight o’clock in the morning, the house was invested by a party of armed men. A commissary presented my mother with an order from the Committee of Public Safety, giving directions for her to be sent to Paris with her children. This order was enclosed in a letter from M. Roland, charging him with the execution of this decree. At that very moment my sister entered the room. She had managed to escape from our governess so as to take away all means of hiding her and separating her from my mother. “My mother did not show the least alarm. She wished to put herself as soon as possible under the protection of those authorities who could give her effectual aid. She had the horses harnessed immediately, and while the preparations for departure were being made, her writing-desk was opened, and my father’s letters seized. “‘You will see in them, sir,’ said my mother to the commissary, ‘that if there had been tribunals in France, M. de La Fayette would have submitted to them, certain as he was that not an action of his life could criminate him in the eyes of real patriots.’ “‘Nowadays, madam,’ he answered, ‘public opinion is the only tribunal.’ “During that time the soldiers were exploring the house. One of them, on seeing the old family pictures, said to the housekeeper, who was nearly blind from old age:— “‘Who are these? some grand _aristocrates_, no doubt?’ “‘Good people who are no more,’ she answered. ‘If they were still alive, things would not be going on as badly as they are now.’