I met him at the Tuileries when he went to pay his respects
to their Majesties before rejoining his army. I know not what had passed
between the King and himself at the levee, for I arrived just as he was
going, but I saw by his countenance that he had the gloomiest
forebodings. He drew me into a small anteroom and spoke to me with his
old familiarity and affection. Indeed, he is greatly changed, and I
could not help but be touched by the consternation and grief that
weighed upon him. He opened himself to me very freely and confessed that
'twas his opinion that the King was lost if brave and wise friends did
not immediately offer their services in his behalf. He knew of the
scheme in which I had been before engaged to assist the King, and he
besought me to renew those engagements and to prosecute them with the
utmost diligence. The King, he said, had let fall some expressions
indicating his confidence in myself, 'a confidence,' said Lafayette,
'which he did not hesitate to show he did not feel in me. The Queen is
even more distrustful of me than the King, so that I think their safety
lies in your hands.
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