ablished. The love which was borne him
by all, with the exception of those who meditated his ruin, still reigned
in the hearts of the French in the departments; but if I may judge from
those whom I had an opportunity of seeing, it was totally impossible to
enlighten them; they were as much attached to the King as to the
constitution, and to the constitution as to the King; and it was
impossible to separate the one from the other in their hearts and minds.

The Court returned to St. Cloud after the federation. A wretch, named
Rotondo, made his way into the palace with the intention of assassinating
the Queen. It is known that he penetrated to the inner gardens: the rain
prevented her Majesty from going out that day. M. de La Fayette, who was
aware of this plot, gave all the sentinels the strictest orders, and a
description of the monster was distributed throughout the palace by order
of the General. I do not know how he was saved from punishment. The
police belonging to the King discovered that there was likewise a scheme
on foot for poisoning the Queen. She spoke to me, as well as to her head
physician, M. Vicq-d'Azyr, about it, without the slightest emotion, but
both he and I consulted what precautions it would be proper to take. He
relied much upon the Queen's temperance; yet he recommended me always to
have a bottle of oil of sweet almonds within reach, and to renew it
occasionally, that oil and milk being, as is known, the most certain
antidotes to the divellication of corrosive poisons.

The Queen had a habit which rendered M. Vicq-d'Azyr particularly uneasy:
there was always some pounded sugar upon the table in her Majesty's
bedchamber; and she frequently, without calling anybody, put spoonfuls of
it into a glass of water when she wished to drink. It was agreed that I
should get a considerable quantity of sugar powdered; that I should always
have some papers of it in my bag, and that three or four times a day, when
alone in the Queen's room, I should substitute it for that in her
sugar-basin. We knew that the Queen would have prevented all such
precautions, but we were not aware of her reason. One day she caught me
alone making this exchange, and told me, she supposed it was agreed on
between myself and M. Vicq-d'Azyr, but that I gave myself very unnecessary
trouble. "Remember," added she, "that not a grain of poison will be put
in use against me. The Brinvilliers do not belong to this century: this
ag