a king, checked his
purpose, and, having satisfied himself that he should know the speaker
again, he moved on. It was on the stroke of ten, the hour that he was
to relieve the soldier on guard, a duty which, in the etiquette of the
Garde du Corps, was always performed by the relief appearing at the
proper moment, without the usual military ceremony of a guard.

Alone at last, in that vast chamber where he had passed many an hour of
sentinel's watch, Gerald had time to compose his thoughts, and calm down
the passionate impulses that swayed him. He walked for above an hour his
weary round, stopping at times to gaze on the splendid tapestries which,
on the walls, represented certain incidents of the _AEneid_. The faint,
far-away sounds of the band, which performed during the supper of the
king, occasionally met his ear, and he could not help contrasting the
scene which they accompanied with the wild and terrible incidents then
going forward at Paris. His mind ever balanced and vacillated between
two opinions. Were they right who maintained the supremacy of the royal
cause, and the inviolability of that princely state whose splendours
were such a shock to misery! Or had the grievances of the people a real
ground--were there great wrongs to be redressed, cruel inequalities to
be at least compromised? How much had he listened to on either side?
What instincts and prejudices were urged for this! what strength of
argument enlisted to support that! And he himself, what a position
was his!--one of a corps whose very boast it was to reject all save of
ancient lineage! What could he adduce as his claim to high descent? If
they questioned him to-morrow, how should he reply? What meant his title
of Chevalier? might he not be arraigned as a pretender, a mere impostor
for assuming it? If the Count Dillon decided that he should challenge
Maurepas, might not his claim to gentle blood be litigated? And what a
history should he give if asked for the story of his life! From these
thoughts he rambled on to others, scarcely less depressing: the cause of
the king, of the very monarchy itself. Bold as the pretensions, high
as the language was of those about the court, the members of the royal
family exhibited the most intense anxiety. Within view of the palace
windows, in that same week, tumultuous assemblages had taken place,
and thousands of men passed in solemn procession to the place where the
'States General' had appointed for their meeting