In  a  wardrobe  in  the  room  there  was  a  large  port-
folio containing  loose  writing  and  important  letters
of  friends.  Among  them  all  there  was  not  a  syllable
which  a  pure  heart  could  misinterpret  as  dangerous
to  the  State.  Still,  in  case  any  of  them  were  to  fall
into  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  they  might  be  per-
verted into  testimony  against  him.
Mrs.  Lavater  thought  of  this,  and  as  she  passed
toward  a  corner  of  the  room,  she  stood  for  a  moment
at  the  door  of  the  wardrobe,  and,  unperceived  by
any  one,  even  her  husband,  she  locked  the  door,  and
handed  the  key  to  a  servant-girl  who  was  standing
near  by.  In  this  way  the  very  existence  of  a  closet
was  not  observed,  for  it  was  made  in  the  wall,  and  it


270  Women  of  the  Reformed  Church.
would  not  have  been  very  easy  to  detect  it  without  a
knob  or  a  key  to  show  its  whereabouts.  As  already
intimated,  the  thoughtfulness  of  Mrs.  Lavater  prov-
ed, in  the  end,  very  well-timed,  for  it  was  afterward
found  that  among  the  papers  were  some  of  the  very
greatest  importance  to  Mr.  Lavater.
