ent, head of the Post
Office, which place he filled on the return of the Bourbons; and when
the Emperor Napoleon arrived from Elba, he continued still to be thus
employed. Doubtless, on all occasions when opportunity presented
itself, he did all in his power to serve his great master; to whom,
indeed, he was allied by domestic ties, having married into the
Beauharnais family. When Louis the Eighteenth returned to Paris after
the battle of Waterloo, Lavalette and the unfortunate Marshal Ney were
singled out as traitors to the Bourbon cause, and tried, convicted, and
sentenced to death. The 26th of December was the day fixed for the
execution of Lavalette, a man of high respectability and of great
connections, whose only fault was fidelity to his chief. On the
evening of the 21st, Madame Lavalette, accompanied by her daughter and
her governess, Madame Dutoit, a lady of seventy years of age, presented
herself at the Conciergerie, to take a last farewell of her husband.
She arrived at the prison in a sedan chair. On this very day the
Procureur-general had given an order that no one should be admitted
without an order signed by himself; the greffier having, however, on
previous occasions been accustomed to receive Madame Lavalette with the
two ladies who now sought also to enter the cell, did not object to it;
so these three ladies proposed to take coffee with Lavalette. The under
gaoler was sent to a neighbouring cafe to obtain it, and during his
absence Lavalette exchanged dresses with his wife. He managed to pass
undetected out of the prison, accompanied by his daughter, and entered
the chair in which Madame Lavalette had arrived; which, owing to the
management of a faithful valet, had been placed so that no observation
could be made of the person entering it. The bearers found the chair
somewhat heavier than usual, but were ignorant of the change that had
taken place, and were glad to find, after proceeding a short distance,
that the individual within preferred walking home, and giving up the
sedan to the young lady. On the greffier entering the cell, he quickly
discovered the ruse, and gave the alarm; the under gaoler was
despatched to stop the chair, but he was too late.

Lavalette had formed a friendship with a young Englishman of the name
of Bruce; to whom he immediately had recourse, throwing himself upon
his generosity and kind feeling for protection, which was
unhesitatingly afforded. But as Bruce could do