While insisting on the passport, I inwardly reproached myself for perhaps somewhat abusing the Governor's perfect straightforwardness; for he might be held more guilty for allowing me to go to Bohemia than he would have been had he yielded to the Duchesse de Berry. My sole dread was lest some sly-boots of the Italian Police should put obstacles in the way of the _visa._ When the Deputy of Padua came to me, I found that he had a secretarial mien, a clerkly bearing, a prefect's air, like a man brought up in the French civil service. This bureaucratic capacity made me tremble. As soon as he had assured me that he had been a commissary in the Army of the Allies in the Department of the Bouches-du-Rhône, my hope revived: I attacked my enemy by taking straight aim at his self-respect I declared that the discipline of the troops stationed in Provence had been remarked upon. I knew nothing about it, but the Deputy, replying with an overflow of admiration, hastened to finish my business: I had no sooner obtained my _visa_ than I ceased to care. PADUA, 20 _September_ 1833. The Duchesse de Berry returned from the Catajo at nine o'clock in the evening: she appeared very much excited; as for me, the more peaceful I had been before, the more eager I now was for the fray: we were being attacked, we must needs defend ourselves. I proposed to H.R.H., half in jest, to take her in disguise to Prague and, between the "two of us," carry off Henry V. It was a question only of knowing where we should deposit our plunder. Italy would not do, because of the weakness of her Princes; the great absolute monarchies must be discarded for a thousand reasons. There remained Holland and England: I preferred the former because she had not only a constitutional government, but a clever King. We postponed these extreme measures; we decided on the most reasonable, which laid the burden of the affair on my shoulders. I was to set out alone with a letter from Madame: I was to ask for the declaration of majority; on receiving the reply of the great kinsmen, I was to send a messenger to H.R.H., who would await my dispatch at Trieste. Madame added to her letter for the old King a note for Henry: I was to give it to the young Prince only according to circumstances. The superscription of the note was by itself a protest against the mental reservations of Prague. Here are the letter and the note: "FERRARA, 19 _September_ 1833. "MY DEAR FATHER, "At a moment so decisive as the present for Henry's future, allow me to address you with all confidence. I have not relied upon my own judgment in so important a matter; I wished, on the contrary, in this grave circumstance, to consult the men who had shown me the most attachment and devotion. M. de Chateaubriand was naturally at the head of these.