The Chevalier was recalled, and yet expressly forbidden to appear at Court! There was apprehension lest he should bring to light the iniquities of which he was the victim! He was greatly moved at the contents of this letter, for even the despatch he had received some days previously, through the hands of a secret courier, had scarcely prepared him for so overwhelming a blow. _To the Chevalier D’Eon, my Minister Plenipotentiary, London._ ‘Versailles, October 4, 1763. ‘You have served me as usefully in the guise of a female as in the dress you now wear. Reassume it immediately, and withdraw into the city. I warn you that the King has this day signed, not with his hand, but with the stamp, the order to compel you to return to France; but I command you to remain in England, with all your papers, until such time as you receive further instructions from me. You are not in safety at your residence, and here you will find powerful enemies.[124] ‘LOUIS.’ ‘I have frequently heard the Chevalier D’Eon repeat to my father,’ says Madame Campan, ‘the contents of this letter, in which Louis XV. thus separated his individuality from the person of the King of France. The Chevalier or Chevalière had kept all the King’s letters ...’[125] yet the Duke de Broglie refuses to acknowledge its authenticity, and labours to prove that it is an imposture.[126] [Sidenote: FORSAKEN?] No sooner had the Chevalier read de Praslin’s letter than it fell from his hands. He began to suspect, for the first time, the evils that menaced him. What was he to hope from the strength of character of a monarch who deserted him when he had done nothing but obey his commands, and whose only exhibition of courage consisted in signing away his downfall with the stamp instead of with the sign-manual. Unable to adopt and digest the idea that the King would submit himself to the will of others, and sacrifice one who was dear to him and whom he supported in secret, the Chevalier concluded that the affixing of a stamped signature could only have been an act of momentary weakness, a concession to temporary necessities, and he felt that he should be the more surely justified, from having been so unjustly condemned. Reflections such as these gave him courage and hope; he resumed his habitual gaiety, his usual indifference, and resolved upon adhering to all the King’s instructions, whatever the damaging situations in which they might place him. He did not, however, resign himself to this sort of humiliation without a struggle, being specially sensitive on points of honour and self-esteem, feelings to which he was prone, and which were readily excited within him.... He awaited his enemies with resignation, having made up his mind to yield, step by step, inch by inch, and make them pay dearly for a triumph he some day hoped to avenge.[127]