t, was received with all cordiality, had the honour of an
interview with the royal duke, who, at all times affable, was now in
peculiar good-humour, and who led me into a long detail of such public
opinions as might be gathered from my intercourse with the garrison.
At the close of our interview he gave me a note, which was to be
forwarded to the adjutant-general. I made my bow, and retired.

All in the camp was festivity. A great achievement had been
accomplished, and the barriers of France were broken down. But in the
midst of national triumph, I felt a depression which rendered me
wholly incapable of sharing it. The wounds of the spirit are not to be
healed like those of the frame; and with the recollection of the noble
creature whom I had lost, bitterness mingled in every sound, and
sight, and exultation. My first request would have been for leave of
absence, that I might follow her, if she were still in France, or in
the world. But the bustle at headquarters told me that some movement
was about to take place; and, under those circumstances, to ask for
leave was impossible. Still I continued making every imaginable
enquiry, dispatching letters, and seeing postmasters, to obtain
intelligence of the route which Clotilde had taken. After tracing her
for the first few leagues, all tidings were lost; and I had only to
trust to that hope which was a part of my sanguine nature, and which
was sustained by a kind of consciousness that a being so superior
could not be flung away in the chances which visit the multitude.

While I was thus pondering and perplexed, I was summoned to attend one
of the principal officers of his royal highness's staff. "We are
sending despatches of some importance to London," said he, "and it is
the wish of the commander-in-chief that you should take them. I have
the pleasure to tell you, that he feels an interest in you from the
opportunities which you have had of distinguishing yourself in the
campaign, and that he has appointed you an extra aide-de-camp. Your
service begins soon," added my informant with a smile, "for you must
set off to-night. The despatch mentioning the capitulation of the
fortress was, of course, sent off at once; but as the commission, in
those cases, is given by routine, it is desirable to have some one in
London capable of explaining the 'explanation,' or perhaps taking the
place of the 'honourable,' or 'right honourable' personage who has
been made the official bearer of