“M. de La Fayette executed in April the scheme he had been forming for six months past, of going to serve the cause of independence in America. I loved him tenderly. On hearing the news of his departure, my father and all the family fell into a state of violent anger. My mother, dreading these emotions for me, on account of the state of health I was in, alarmed at the dangers her dearly beloved son had gone to seek so far, having herself, less than anybody in the world, the thirst of ambition and of worldly glory or a taste for enterprise, appreciated, nevertheless, M. de La Fayette’s conduct as it was appreciated two years later by the rest of the world. Totally casting aside all care with regard to the immense expense of such an enterprise, she found, from the first moment, in the manner in which it had been prepared, a motive for distinguishing it from what is termed _une folie de jeune homme_. His sorrow on leaving his wife and those who were dear to him convinced her that she need not fear for the happiness of my life save in proportion to her fears for his. It was she who gave me the cruel news of his departure, and, with that generous tenderness which was peculiar to her, she tried to comfort me by finding the means of serving M. de La Fayette. “At that time my mother’s youngest sister married M. de Ségur, one of M. de La Fayette’s friends. My mother devoted to her all the moments she could dispose of, but I was still the continual object of her solicitude. She saw how much good she did me by showing her affection for M. de La Fayette. Whenever M. de La Fayette’s touching letters reached us, I could see how thoroughly she believed in his tenderness for me. At the end of two months my dear Anastasie was born. It seemed as if I already foresaw what a gift God was bestowing on me; from the first moment of her birth I felt that in the midst of the greatest trials I was still capable of joy. My child received her grandmother’s blessing, and was carried by her to the baptismal font.