in the act of removing this badge, of
which only a few days previously he had been so proud, when the
duchesse, seeing him so employed, remarked aloud, that "after having so
often solicited permission to place the royal arms over his door, he
ought to have had the courage to defend them." The populace, enraged at
this reproof, hissed and yelled; but seeing that she remained unmoved,
the greater number cheered her, exclaiming "that young woman is as
courageous as she is beautiful; let us shew her that we know how lo
value courage, and protect her to her home," They placed themselves
around her, and with every mark of respect, escorted her, to the gate
of her dwelling.

A person among the crowd who witnessed this incident, told me that
never had he seen the Duchesse de Guiche look so dazzlingly beautiful,
as when she was reproving the tradesman--her tall and majestic figure
elevated even above its usual height by the indignation she experienced
at the insult offered to the royal family, to whom in these their days
of trial, she is even more chivalrously devoted than when they reigned
with undisputed sway, and thousands of those who now desert, professed
to worship them.

Before the duchesse regained her abode, she encountered several
skirmishing parlies in the streets who were absolutely fighting, and
probably owed her safety lo the protection afforded her by those whom
her courage had won to be her champions.

The intelligence reached us two hours ago, that the populace had
attacked the hotel of the Duc de Guiche, and placed two pieces of
cannon before the gate. My terror may more easily be imagined than
described, for the duchesse and her youngest children are in the house,
and the duc is with the royal family. I hardly knew whether to be
thankful or sorry, that her brother Count Alfred d'Orsay was not at
home when this news reached us, for he would certainly have proceeded
to her house, and would probably have, by his presence and
interference, rendered her danger still greater.

Fearful of compromising the safety of her children, the duchesse left
the hotel by another gate, opening into the Rue de Montaigne, and is, I
trust, ere this, safe on her route to St.-Germain, where her
father-in-law, the Duc de Gramont, has a residence.

How like a troubled dream all this appears! Would that it were but a
dream, and that those whom I so much love, were not exposed to pay
dearly for their fidelity to a sovereign, whose m