rior to
that of a king. This daughter was named, in the grand fashion of the
French nobility, Marie-Adrienne-Francoise de Noailles. In her family
she was called simply Adrienne.

Adrienne de Noailles was not old enough to give promise of the
greatness of character of which she later showed herself possessed;
but, as it proved, Lafayette found that in her he had a companion who
was indeed to be his good genius. She became the object of the
unwavering devotion of his whole life; and she responded with an
affection that was without limit; she gave a quick and perfect
understanding to all his projects and his ideals; she followed his
career with an utterly unselfish zeal; and when heavy sorrows came,
her courage and her cleverness were Lafayette's resource. Her name
should appear among those of the world's heroines.

At the time of the proposed alliance, Lafayette was fourteen; the
suggested fiancee was scarcely twelve. Her mother, the Duchess d'Ayen,
a woman of great efficiency and of lofty character, knew that the
Marquis de Lafayette was almost alone in the world, with no one to
guide him in his further education or to lend aid in advancing his
career. Moreover, she held that to have so large a fortune was rather
a disadvantage than otherwise, since it might be a help or a
hindrance, according to the wisdom of the owner, and she rightly saw
that the allurements of the Paris of 1770 to an unprotected youth of
fortune would be almost irresistible. She therefore refused to allow a
daughter of hers to accept the proposal. For several months she
withheld her consent, but at last she relented, on consideration that
the young people should wait for two years before the marriage should
take place. This admirable mother, who had carefully educated and
trained her daughters, now took the further education of Lafayette
into her care; she soon became very fond of him and cherished him as
tenderly as if he had been her own son.

The marriage took place in Paris on the 11th of April, 1774. It was an
affair of great splendor. There were many grand banquets; there were
visits of ceremony, with new and elaborate toilettes for each visit;
there were numberless beautiful presents, the families represented and
their many connections vying with each other in the richness and
fineness of their gifts. Diamonds and jewels in settings of quaint
design were among them, and besides all these there were the ancestral
jewels of Julie de la Rivie