of the ditch. This wretched
commissary fancied that this was an occasion to take compassion on
me, and without getting out of his carriage himself, he sent his
servant to find me a glass of water. I cannot express how angry I
felt with myself for the weakness of my nerves; the compassion of
this man was a last insult, which I would at least have wished to
spare myself. He set off again at the same time that I did, and I
made my entry, along with him, into the court yard of the castle of
Lanzut. Prince Henry, not in the least suspecting any thing of the
kind, came to meet me with the most amiable gaiety; he was at first
frightened at the paleness of my looks, but when I told him, which I
did immediately, what sort of guest I had brought with me, from that
moment his coolness, firmness, and friendship for me did not belie
themselves for a moment. But can one conceive a state of things in
which a commissary of police should plant himself at the table of a
great nobleman like prince Henry, or rather at that of any person
whatever, without his consent?

(Note of the Editor)
* To explain how strong and well-founded was the anguish which my
mother experienced at this point of her journey, I ought to mention
that the attention of the Austrian police was not then confined to
her only. The description of M. Rocca had been sent all along the
road, with an order to arrest him in quality of his being a French
officer; and although he had resigned his commission, and his wounds
had incapacitated him from continuing his military service, there is
no doubt, that if he had been delivered up to France, the forfeiture
of his life would have been the consequence. He had therefore
travelled alone, and under a borrowed name, and it was at Lanzut
that he had given my mother the rendezvous. Having arrived there
before her, and not in the least suspecting that she would be
escorted by a commissary of police, he came out to meet her, full of
joy and confidence. The danger to which he was thus, insensibly,
exposing himself, transfixed my mother with terror, and she had
barely time to give him a signal to return back; and had it not been
for the generous presence of mind of a Polish gentleman, who
supplied M. Rocca with the means of escaping, he would infallibly
have been recognized and arrested by the commissary. Ignorant of
what might be the fate of her manuscript, under what circumstances,
public or private, she might ever publish it, my moth