"  It,  was  in  the  June  of  the  year  1794 —
I  shall  not  easily  forget  the  date — that  we
were  all  assembled  as  usual  at  'LeLuc. '
Our  party  was  reinforced  by  some  three  or
four  new  visitors,  among  whom  was  a  little
girl  of  about  twelve  years  old,  Annette  de
Noailles,  the  prettiest  creature  I  ever  be-
held. Every  land  has  its  own  trait  of  birth
distinctly  marked. I  don't  know  whether
you  have  observed  that  the  brow  and  the
forehead  are  more  indicative  of  class  m
Frenchmen  than  any  other  portion  of  the
face  ;  hers  was  perfect,  and,  though  a  mere
child,  conveyed  an  impression  of  tempered
decision  and  mildness  that  was  most  fasci-
nating ;  the  character  of  her  features  was
thoughtful,  and,  were  it  not  for  a  certain
vivacity  in  the  eyes,  would  have  been  even


sad. Forgive  me,  if  I  dwell — when  I  need
not — on  these  traits  :  she  is  no  more. Her
father  carried  her  with  him  in  his  exile,
and  your  lowering  skies  and  gloomy  air  soon
laid  her  low. Annette  was  the  child  of
royalist  parents. both  her  father  and
mother  had  occupied  places  in  the  royal
household  ;  and  she  was  accustomed  from
her  earliest  infancy  to  hear  the  praise  of
the  Bourbons  from  lips  which  trembled
when  they  spoke. Poor  child  !  how  well
do  I  remember  her  little  prayer  for  the
martyred  saint — for  so  they  styled  the  mur-
dered king — which  she  never  missed  saying
each  morning,  when  the  mas?  was  over  in
the  chapel  of  the  chateau. It  is  a  curious
fact,  tlrat  the  girls  of  a  family  were  fre-
quently attached  to  the  fortunes  of  the
Bourbons,  while  the  boys  declared  for  the
revolution  ;  and  these  differences  penetra-
ted into  the  very  core,  and  sapped  the  hap-
piness of  many  whose  affection  had  stood
the  test  of  every  misfortune,  save  the  up-
rooting torrent  of  anarchy  that  poured  in
with  the  revolution. These  party  differ-
ences entered  into  all  the  little  quarrels  of
the  school-room  and  the  nursery  ;  and  the
taunting  epithets  of  either  side  were  used
in  angry  passion  by  .those  who  neither
guessed  nor  could  understand  their  mean-
ing. 