On this evening my guests were more numerous and brilliant than
usual, for no person entertaining the least suspicion of the king's
danger, all vied with each other in evincing, by their presence,
the desire they felt of expressing their regard for me. My
friends, acquaintances, people whom I scarcely knew at all, were
collected together in my drawing-rooms; this large assemblage of
joyous and cheerful faces, drove away for a moment all the gloom
which had bung over me. I even forgot the morning's visitor, and
if the health of the king were at all alluded to, it was only
. It seemed a generally understood thing not to
believe him seriously ill; in fact, to deny all possibility of
such a thing being the case. Thus all went on as usual, scandal,
slander, epigrams, , all the lively nonsense
usually circulated upon such occasions, went round, and were
laughed at and admired according to the tastes of those to whom
they were addressed.
Could a stranger have seen us, so careless, thoughtless, and gay,
he would have been far from suspecting that we were upon the eve
of a catastrophe which must change the whole face of affairs in
France. For my own part, my spirits rose to a height with the
giddy crowd around me, and in levity and folly, I really believe
I exceeded them.
At a late hour my rooms were at length forsaken, and I retired
to my chamber where, having dismissed my other attendants, I
remained alone (as was frequently my custom) with my faithful
Henriette, whom I caused to exchange my evening dress for a dark
robe, which I covered with a large Spanish mantle I had never
before worn, and thus equipped, I waited the arrival of comte
Jean.
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