uniform of the Swedish Guard. But Lewis would not allow him to
remain, and underrated the value of such an escort. Fersen took the
north road, and reached Belgium without difficulty. In the following
winter he was again at the Tuileries. As a political adviser he was
unfortunate, for he was one of those concerned in the Brunswick
proclamation which cost the king his crown.

The travellers pursued their way without molestation to Chalons, and
there, as they were about to meet their faithful soldiery, they
fancied that the danger was over. In reality the mischief was already
done, and by their own fault their fate was sealed. As they were sure
to be pursued, safety depended on celerity. The point of peril was
Varennes, for a good horseman at full speed might ride 146 miles in
less than thirteen hours, and would arrive there about nine at night,
if he started at the first alarm. It was calculated that the royal
family, at 7-1/2 miles an hour, would reach Varennes between 8 and 9.
The margin was so narrow that there was no time to lose. The king
thought it sufficient to reach Bouille's outposts before he could be
overtaken, and they would be met a stage beyond Chalons. To secure the
meeting it was necessary to keep time. The hours were exactly
determined; and as the agreement was not observed, the troopers were
useless. Before Chalons four hours had been lost--not by accident, as
the royalist legend tells, for Valory the outrider testifies that it
took but a few minutes to repair. Bouille knew the ignoble cause of
his own ruin and of so much sorrow, but never revealed it. When he
came to England he misled questioners, and he exacted an oath from his
son that he would keep the miserable secret for half a century. The
younger Bouille was true to his word. In 1841 he confided to a friend
that the story whispered at the time was true, and that the king
stopped a couple of hours at Etoges, over an early dinner at the house
of Chanilly, an officer of his household, whose name appears in his
will. When people saw what came of it, there was a generous conspiracy
of concealment, which bewildered posterity, until Bouille's tale was
told.

At Pont de Somme-Vesle, 8 or 9 miles beyond Chalons, Choiseul was in
command. His men had been badly received at St. Menehould, and their
presence perturbed the country people. Nobody believed the pretence
that so many horsemen were required to protect the passage of
treasure, and they began to s