The exception was Lord Robert Fitz-Gerald, who was still acting as the British Charge'd'Affaires pending the appointment of a new Ambassador. They had met several times at the far more brilliant receptions of a similar nature held at Versailles, and Lord Robert knew from Mr. Hailes of Roger's secret activities. Roger was responsible only to Mr. Pitt, and his connection with the Embassy was limited to using it as a post-office and a bank; but, as a matter of courtesy, he thought it proper to inform Lord Robert where he had actually been; and, having done so in a low voice, he added that he would be making a full report of his journey direct to the Prime Minister.
At the entry of the Sovereigns a human lane was formed and the usual procedure gone through. Roger had placed himself in a position where the Queen could hardly fail to see him, and, on doing so, she gave a faint start, then a little nod of recognition; but she did not beckon him towards her. For the better part of an hour the King and Queen talked to various people each for a few moments, then they withdrew.
The company did not disperse at once, as these bi-weekly receptions of the Corps Diplomatiquewere a good opportunity for the representatives of the foreign Powers to exchange news and conduct informal business; so Roger was able to remain among them inconspicuously while waiting to be sent for, as he felt sure he would be in due course.
Presently a fair woman, some five or six years older than the Queen, paused near him. As he took in her large gentle eyes and air of tender melancholy, she gave him a faint smile. He was somewhat surprised, as, although he recalled having seen her at the Tuileriesbefore his departure for Naples, he did not know her; but he at once returned her smile and made her a bow.
She sank in a curtsy and, as she rose from it, murmured: "Monsieur. J’ai suis la Princess de Lamballe."
Her whispered introduction at once recalled to Roger all he had heard about her. She was said to be not overburdened with brains, but very pious and extremely charitable. She had married the only son of the immensely rich Due de Penthievre, so was the sister-in-law of the Due d'Orleans, but, unlike him, she was wholly attached to the Queen. After only a year of marriage her husband died, so she had devoted herself to good works on her father-in-law's estates; but on coming to Court for the wedding celebrations of Madame Marie Antoinette, the young Dauphine had taken a great fancy to her, begged her to remain and made her Superintendent of her Household.
For some six years she had remained the Queen's closest friend; until the latter began to frequent the gayer company of Madame de Polignac. Then, for the ten years that followed, the Princess had again given most of her time to improving the conditions of the peasants on her father-in-law's estates, so that she had become known throughout the Province as "the good angel". During the terrible events that had taken place at Versailles early in October she had been at Rambouillet; but, immediately on hearing of them, she had courageously driven through the night to Paris, arrived at the Tuilerieson the morning of the 8th, and at once resumed her old place as the Queen's first lady and confidante.
For a few minutes Roger exchanged the type of banalities with her that might have passed between two acquaintances who had not met for a few weeks; then she dropped her handkerchief. As he picked it up he felt the stiffness of a piece of paper in its folds. Guessing it to be a note for him, he swiftly palmed the paper before handing the handkerchief back to her. After a few more airy exchanges she left him; then he strolled out of the room, and as soon as he could find a corridor in which he would be unobserved, read the note. It ran:
My apartments are above these. Please go to them. Show this note to my maid and she will let you in. Wait there until I conjoin you.
Unhurriedly, so as not to attract attention, he followed the directions he had been given. In the ante-room he found an elderly maid busy with some mending. At sight of the note she led him through to a salon, and asked him to take a seat by the fire.
After about ten minutes the Princess de Lamballe came in, and locked the door of the ante-chamber behind her. With no more than a smile in response to Roger's bow, she walked across the salon to a door at its far end, and disappeared through it. Wondering what these mystifications portended, Roger sat down again. He had not long to wait for an answer. Within two minutes the door opened and the Princess came out, but this time she was preceded by the Queen. Evidently the two sets of apartments were connected by a secret staircase in the thickness of the wall, and the Queen was now coming up to Madame de Lamballe's rooms whenever she wanted to prevent it becoming known that she was giving anyone a private audience.
Roger thought her looking somewhat better than when he had last spoken to her; but she had aged a lot in the past few months, and he noticed a slight nervous twitching of her hands as she asked him about his mission.
With a cheerful smile he at once assured her that it had been successful and presented the letter he had brought her from her sister; so he felt a natural disappointment when she said, with a sad shake of her head:
"Alas, Monsieur, I fear you have had your long journey to no purpose. At first the King was in favour of my idea, but he has since decided against it, and he now feels that it would be both impolitic and wrong to send the Dauphin from us."
Roger was silent for a moment, then he said: "Forgive me, Madame, but His Majesty has frequently been known to change his mind on other matters; is there not a possibility that he will do so on this?"
"I fear not," she replied unhappily. "Since your departure we have enjoyed a reasonable tranquillity. How long it will last it is impossible to say; but His Majesty fears that the moment it became known that we had smuggled the Dauphin out of the country another outbreak of violence would result."
" Tis a risk, Madame, but one that I should have thought well worth taking," put in the Princess. "Further outbreaks may occur in any case, and if you take this chance you would at least have the satisfaction of knowing His Highness to be safe; whereas, if you do not send him away now it may prove impossible to do so later."
"Oh, dear Lamballe, how I agree!" exclaimed the Queen. " 'Tis my worse nightmare that a time may come when we shall be still more closely guarded,.and those furies breaking in again will do my son a violence. But His Majesty has ruled that even our child is no longer our own to do with as we will. Like everything else I once thought was ours, he maintains that we hold the Dauphin in trust for the Nation, and that to send him away would be to wrong the people. If there be reason in that, then my mother's heart makes me blind to it; yet the King has so many cares that, even in this, I could not bring myself to argue with him."
Roger would have liked to suggest to the Queen that the best thing she could do was to box her stupid husband's ears, and tell him. that when it came to the safety of her son she would not stand for any more of his pathetic day-dreaming; but, since such sound comment was impossible, he remained silent until she asked him how he had found Queen Caroline.
For some twenty minutes he gave her the news from Naples, then she took a paper from her pocket and, handing it to him, said:
"This, Mr. Brook, is to cover the expenses of your journey. And, believe me, because it can have no sequel, I am none the less grateful to you for undertaking it. For what little it is worth in these sad times you may always count upon my friendship."