ke you better
pleased to leave Paris just now. Never mind,--stormy times are coming;
you 'll have enough on your hands presently. And let me advise you to
make the most of your time at Versailles; for if I 'm not mistaken, you
'll see much more of camps than courts for some time to come."

The rest of that day left me but little time for reflection; but in such
short intervals as I could snatch from duty, one thought ever rose to
my mind: Can this be De Beauvais's doing? has he had any share, in my
present destination,--and with what object? "Well," said I to myself at
last, "these are but foolish fears after all, and may be causeless ones.
If I but follow the straight path of my duty, what need I care if the
whole world intrigued and plotted around me? And after all, was it not
most likely that we should never see each other again?"

The day was just breaking when we left Paris; the bright beams of a May
morning's sun were flickering and playing in the rippling river that ran
cold and gray beneath. The tall towers of the Tuileries threw their
long shadows across the Place Carrousel, where a dragoon regiment was
encamped. They were already astir, and some of the men were standing
around the fountains with their horses, and others were looking
after the saddles and accoutrements in preparation for the march; a
half-expiring fire here and there marked where some little party had
been sitting together, while the jars and flasks about bespoke a merry
evening. A trumpeter sat, statue-like, on his white horse his trumpet
resting on his knee,--surveying the whole scene, and as if deferring to
the last the wakeful summons that should rouse some of his yet sleeping
comrades: I could see thus much as we passed. Our road led along the
quay towards the Place Louis the Fifteenth, where an infantry battalion
with four guns was picketed. The men were breakfasting and preparing for
the route. They were part of the grande armee under orders for Boulogne.

We soon traversed the Champs Elysees, and entered the open country. For
some miles it was merely a succession of large cornfields, and here
and there a small vineyard, that met the eye on either side: but as we
proceeded farther, we were girt in by rich orchards in full blossom,
the whole air loaded with perfume; neat cottages peeped from the woody
enclosures, the trellised walls covered with honeysuckles and wild
roses; the surface, too, was undulating, and waved in every imaginable