I know not a more painful position than that of the Duc and Duchesse de Guiche, at the present moment.  With highly cultivated minds and liberal opinions, possessing a knowledge of the world, and of the actual state of public opinion in France, they must be aware of the utter hopelessness of the cause in which they find themselves embarked, yet such is their chivalrous sentiments of honour, that they will sacrifice every thing rather than abandon those whose prosperity they have partaken, and thus incur all the penalty of the acts of a government whose policy they did not approve.  Had Charles the Tenth many such devoted adherents, he would not find himself deserted in his hour of need.

CHAPTER XXV.

I have but just returned from the Rue d’Anjou, and now that I find myself once more within the sanctuary of my home, I am surprised at my own courage in having ventured to pass through the streets, and alone, too, at such a moment.  I do not think I should have risked it, had I not known how much my excellent friend Madame C——­ stood in need of consolation, after having seen her grandchildren and great grandchildren driven from their late peaceful and happy dwelling, uncertain when she may behold them again, as they have determined on not forsaking the royal family.

I had ascended nearly to the top of the barricade at the entrance to the Rue Verte when a head and shoulders rose from the opposite side so suddenly as to alarm me not a little.  My trepidation was infinitely increased when I discovered that the individual to whom the said head and shoulders appertained, was in a state of extreme intoxication, and when with rolling eyes, flushed checks, and thick articulation he addressed me with a familiarity, yet good nature, that I would most willingly have dispensed with.

“Give me your hand, ma belle, fear nothing, I am one of the bons enfans of the revolution, take my arm and no one will molest you.  We, les braves des braves, wage no war against women; au contraire, we love the pretty creatures.  Here take my hand, and I will assist you over the barricades.”

Suiting his action to the word, he extended his hand towards me, and reaching forward lost his equilibrium and rolled over; at which moment, the proprietor of a wine shop at the corner of the Rue Verte came to my assistance, and leading me through his house, opened a door on the other side of the barricade, through which I hastily passed, he civilly offering to open the same door when I returned if I would knock at it.  And here, en passant, let me render justice to the politeness I have invariably experienced from all classes of men, and on all occasions, in France—­a politeness so general that I should be ungrateful if I did not record it.