plied: "I am well, and live only
to serve you." June 29, she wrote him another letter in which she
said: "Do not write to me; it would endanger us; and, above all, do not
return here under any pretext; all would be lost if you should make
your appearance. They never lose sight of us by night or day; which is
a matter of indifference to me. Be tranquil; nothing will happen to
me. The Assembly desires to treat us with gentleness. Adieu. I shall
not be able to write to you again."

Marie Antoinette was in error when she supposed she would not write
again. She was in error, likewise, when she imagined that Fersen, in
spite of all dangers and difficulties, would not find means to see her
again. Their correspondence was not interrupted. After the acceptance
of the Constitution, Marie Antoinette wrote to him: "Can you understand
my position and the part I am continually obliged to play? Sometimes I
do not understand myself, and am obliged to consider whether it is
really I who am speaking; but what is to be done? It is all necessary,
and be sure our position would be still worse than it is if I had not
at once assumed this attitude; we at least gain time by it, and that is
all that is required. I keep up better than could be expected, seeing
that I go out so little and endure constantly such immense fatigue of
mind. What with the persons whom I must see, my {17} writing, and the
time I spend with my children, I have not a moment to myself. The last
occupation, which is not the least, gives me my sole happiness. When I
am very sad, I take my little boy in my arms, embrace him with my whole
heart, and for a moment am consoled."

Fersen, touched and pitying, was constantly thinking of that fatal
palace of the Tuileries where the Queen was so much to be
compassionated. An invincible attraction drew him thither. There, he
thought, was the post of devotion and of honor. November 26, he wrote:
"Tell me whether there is any possibility of going to see you entirely
alone, without a servant, in case I receive the order to do so from the
King (Gustavus III.); he has already spoken to me of his desire to
bring this about." Of all the sovereigns who interested themselves in
the fate of Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette, Gustavus was the most
active, brave, and resolute; he was also the only one in whom Marie
Antoinette placed absolute confidence. She expected less from her own
brother, the Emperor Leopold, and it was to