, "But 'dis donc'
the name of the Queen, to mamma; 'dis donc' what her name was."

Shortly after the arrival of the King and his family at Paris the Duchesse
de Luynes came, in pursuance of the advice of a committee of the
Constitutional Assembly, to propose to the Queen a temporary retirement
from France, in order to leave the constitution to perfect itself, so that
the patriots should not accuse her of influencing the King to oppose it.
The Duchess knew how far the schemes of the conspirers extended, and her
attachment to the Queen was the principal cause of the advice she gave
her. The Queen perfectly comprehended the Duchesse de Luynes's motive;
but replied that she would never leave either the King or her son; that if
she thought herself alone obnoxious to public hatred she would instantly
offer her life as a sacrifice;--but that it was the throne which was aimed
at, and that, in abandoning the King, she should be merely committing an
act of cowardice, since she saw no other advantage in it than that of
saving her own life.

One evening, in the month of November, 1790, I returned home rather late;
I there found the Prince de Poix; he told me he came to request me to
assist him in regaining his peace of mind; that at the commencement of the
sittings of the National Assembly he had suffered himself to be seduced
into the hope of a better order of things; that he blushed for his error,
and that he abhorred plans which had already produced such fatal results;
that he broke with the reformers for the rest of his life; that he had
given in his resignation as a deputy of the National Assembly; and,
finally, that he was anxious that the Queen should not sleep in ignorance
of his sentiments. I undertook his commission, and acquitted myself of it
in the best way I could; but I was totally unsuccessful. The Prince de
Poix remained at Court; he there suffered many mortifications, never
ceasing to serve the King in the most dangerous commissions with that zeal
for which his house has always been distinguished.

When the King, the Queen, and the children were suitably established at
the Tuileries, as well as Madame Elisabeth and the Princesse de Lamballe,
the Queen resumed her usual habits; she employed her mornings in
superintending the education of Madame, who received all her lessons in
her presence, and she herself began to work large pieces of tapestry. Her
mind was too much occupied with passing events and surrounding