Princeton University Library
32101 068789377





- Charlotte
Anne Elizabeth
Moberly
AN ADVENTURE
MACMILLAN AND CO., LIMITED
ST. MARTIN'S STREET, LONDON
1911


GLASGOW: PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS
BY KOBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO. LTD.


LOT
a3210 100 LLLS
PREFACE
It is a great venture to speak openly of a
personal experience, and we only do so for
the following reasons. First, we prefer that
our story, which is known in part to some,
should be wholly known as told by ourselves.
Secondly, we have collected so much evidence
on the subject, that it is possible now to
consider it as a whole. Thirdly, conditions
are changing at Versailles, and in a short
time facts which were unknown, and circum-
stances which were unusual, may soon become
commonplaces, and will lose their force as
evidence that some curious psychological con-
ditions must have been present, either in
ourselves, or in the place.
It is not our business to explain or to
understand—nor do we pretend to understand
—what happened to put us into communica-
tion with so many true facts, which, nine
SW)
6487
1766037
.646


PREFACE
years ago, no one could have told us of in
their entirety. But, in order that others may
be able to judge fairly of all the circum-
stances, we have tried to record exactly what
happened as simply and fully as possible.
ELIZABETH MORISON.
FRANCES LAMONT.
PUBLISHERS' NOTE
S reason
The ladies whose Adventure is described in
these pages have for various reasons preferred
not to disclose their real names, but the
signatures appended to the Preface are the
only fictitious words in the book. The Pub-
lishers guarantee that the Authors have put
down what happened to them as faithfully and
accurately as was in their power.


CONTENTS
CHAPTER
PAGE
I. THREE VISITS TO THE PETIT TRIANON
II. RESULTS OF RESEARCH
.
.
.
.
41
III. ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
SWERS TO
.
.
.
.
Ιοο
IV. A RÊVERIE .
ERIE
.
.
.
.
.
.
I 21


CHAPTER I
VISITS TO THE PETIT TRIANON
Miss Morison's Account of the First Visit
to the Petit Trianon
August, 1901
AFTER some days of sight-seeing in Paris, to
which we were almost strangers, on an August
afternoon, 1901, Miss Lamont and I went to
Versailles. We had very hazy ideas as to
where it was or what there was to be seen.
Both of us thought it might prove to be a dull
expedition. We went by train, and walked
through the rooms and galleries of the Palace
with interest, though we constantly regretted
our inability through ignorance to feel properly
the charm of the place. My knowledge of
French history was limited to the very little I
had learnt in the schoolroom, historical novels,


AN ADVENTURE
and the first volume of Justin M'Carthy's
French Revolution. Over thirty years before
my brother had written a prize poem on Marie
Antoinette, for whom at the time I had felt
much enthusiasm. But the German occupation
was chiefly in our minds, and Miss Lamont
and I thought and spoke of it several times.
We sat down in the Salle des Glaces, where
a very sweet air was blowing in at the open
windows over the flower-beds below, and find-
ing that there was time to spare, I suggested
our going to the Petit Trianon. My sole
knowledge of it was from a magazine article
read as a girl, from which I received a general
impression that it was a farmhouse where the
Queen had amused herself.
Looking in Baedeker's map we saw the sort
of direction and that there were two Trianons,
and set off. By not asking the way we went
an unnecessarily long way round, -by the great
flights of steps from the fountains and down the
central avenue as far as the head of the long
pond. The weather had been very hot all the
week, but on this day the sky was a little
overcast and the sun shaded. There was a
lively wind blowing, the woods were looking


THE PETIT TRIANON
beyond it. Everything suddenly looked un-
natural, therefore unpleasant; even the trees
behind the building seemed to have become
flat and lifeless, like a wood worked in tapestry.
There were no effects of light and shade, and
no wind stirred the trees. It was all intensely
still.
The man sitting close to the kiosk (who had
on a cloak and a large shady hat) turned his
head and looked at us. That was the culmina-
tion of my peculiar sensations, and I felt a
moment of genuine alarm. The man's face
was most repulsive,—its expression odious.
His complexion was very dark and rough. I
said to Miss Lamont, “Which is our way?”
but thought “nothing will induce me to go to
the left.” It was a great relief at that moment
to hear someone running up to us in breath-
less haste. Connecting the sound with the
gardeners, I turned and ascertained that there
was no one on the paths, either to the side or
behind; but at almost the same moment I
suddenly perceived another man quite close
to us, behind and rather to the left hand,
who had, apparently, just come either over or
through the rock (or whatever it was) that


6
AN ADVENTURE
bz
shut out the view at the junction of the paths.
The suddenness of his appearance was some-
thing of a shock.
The second man was distinctly a gentleman;
he was tall, with large dark eyes, and had
crisp, curling black hair under the same large
sombrero hat. He was handsome, and the
effect of the hair was to make him look like
an old picture. His face was glowing red as
through great exertion,—as though he had
come a long way. At first I thought he was
sunburnt, but a second look satisfied me that
the colour was from heat, not sunburning. He
had on a dark cloak wrapped across him like
a scarf, one end flying out in his prodigious
hurry. He looked greatly excited as he
called out to us, “Mesdames, Mesdames," or
(“Madame” pronounced more as the other),
"il ne faut (pronounced fout) pas passer par
là.” He then waved his arm, and said with
great animation, "par ici ... cherchez la
maison."1
I was so surprised at his eagerness that I
looked up at him again, and to this he re-
sponded with a little backward movement and
1 The man said a great deal more which we could not catch.


THE PETIT TRIANON
a most peculiar smile. Though I could not
follow all he said, it was clear that he was
determined that we should go to the right and
not to the left. As this fell in with my own
wish, I went instantly towards a little bridge
on the right, and turning my head to join Miss
Lamont in thanking him, found, to my surprise,
that he was not there, but the running began
again and from the sound it was close beside
w
us.
Silently we passed over the small rustic
bridge which crossed a tiny ravine. So close
to us when on the bridge that we could have
touched it with our right hands, a thread-like
cascade fell from a height down a green
pretty bank, where ferns grew between stones.
Where the little trickle of water went to I
did not see, but it gave me the impression
that we were near other water, though I saw
none.
Beyond the little bridge our pathway led
under trees; it skirted a narrow meadow of
long grass, bounded on the further side by
trees, and very much overshadowed by trees
growing in it. This gave the whole place a
sombre look suggestive of dampness, and


AN ADVENTURE
Own
са
shut out the view of the house until we
were close to it. The house was a square,
solidly-built small country house ; – quite
different from what I expected. The long
windows looking north into the English
garden (where we were) were shuttered.
There was a terrace round the north and
west sides of the house, and on the rough
grass which grew quite up to the terrace and
with her back to it, a lady was sitting, holding
out a paper as though to look at it at arm's
length. I supposed her to be sketching, and
to have brought her own camp-stool. It
seemed as though she must be making a
study of trees, for they grew close in front of
her, and there seemed to be nothing else to
sketch. She saw us, and when we passed
close by on her left hand, she turned and
looked full at us. It was not a young face,
and (though rather pretty) it did not attract
me. She had on a shady white hat perched
on a good deal of fair hair that Aluffed round
her forehead. Her light summer dress was
arranged on her shoulders in handkerchief
fashion, and there was a little line of either
green or gold near the edge of the handker-
ea


THE PETIT TRIANON
chief, which showed me that it was over, not
tucked into, her bodice, which was cut low.
Her dress was long-waisted, with a good deal
of fullness in the skirt, which seemed to be
short. I thought she was a tourist, but that
her dress was old-fashioned and rather
unusual (though people were wearing fichu
bodices that sựmmer). I looked straight at
her ; but some indescribable feeling made me
turn away annoyed at her being there.
We went up the steps on to the terrace,
my impression being that they led up
direct from the English garden; but I was
beginning to feel as though we were walking
in a dream,—the stillness and oppressiveness
were so unnatural. Again I saw the lady,
this time from behind, and noticed that her
fichu was pale green. It was rather a relief
to me that Miss Lamont did not propose to
ask her whether we could enter the house
from that side.
We crossed the terrace to the south-west
corner and looked over into the cour d'honneur ;
and then turned back, and seeing that one
of the long windows overlooking the French
garden was unshuttered, we were going towards


THE PETIT TRIANON
II
Versailles, where we had tea?; but we were
neither of us inclined to talk, and did not
mention any of the events of the afternoon.
After tea we walked back to the station, looking
on the way for the Tennis Court.
On the way back to Paris the setting sun at
last burst out from under the clouds, bathing
the distant Versailles woods in glowing light,
-Valerien standing out in front a mass of
deep purple. Again and again the thought
returned, —Was Marie Antoinette really much
at Trianon, and did she see it for the last time
long before the fatal drive to Paris accom-
panied by the mob?
For a whole week we never alluded to that
afternoon, nor did I think about it until I
began writing a descriptive letter of our ex-
peditions of the week before. As the scenes
came back one by one, the same sensation of
dreamy unnatural oppression came over me
so strongly that I stopped writing, and said to
Miss Lamont, “Do you think that the Petit
Trianon is haunted?” Her answer was prompt,
1 I remember that on account of the wind I put on my coat.


THE PETIT TRIANON 13
Three months later Miss Lamont came to stay
with me, and on Sunday, November roth, 1901,
we returned to the subject, and I said, “If we
had known that a lady was sitting so near us
sketching it would have made all the difference,
for we should have asked the way." She
replied that she had seen no lady. I reminded
her of the person sitting under the terrace; but
Miss Lamont declared that there was no one
there. I exclaimed that it was impossible that
she should not have seen the individual ; for we
were walking side by side and went straight up
to her, passed her and looked down upon her
from the terrace. It was inconceivable to us
both that she should not have seen the lady,
but the fact was clear that Miss Lamont had
not done so, though we had both been rather
on the lookout for someone who would reassure
us as to whether we were trespassing or
not.
Finding that we had a new element of
mystery, and doubting how far we had seen
any of the same things, we resolved to write
down independent accounts of our expedition
to Trianon, read up its history, and make
every enquiry about the place. Miss Lamont


14 AN ADVENTURE
returned to her school the same evening, and
two days later I received from her a very
interesting letter, giving the result of her first
enquiries.
E. M.
November, 1901.


16 AN ADVENTURE
orance
practically for the first time with her. We
decided to go to Versailles one day, though
rather reluctantly, as we felt it was diverging
from our plan to go there too soon. I did not
know what to expect, as my ignorance of the
place and its significance was extreme. So we
looked up general directions in Baedeker, and
trusted to finding our way at the time.
After spending some time in the Palace, we
went down by the terrace and struck to the
right to find the Petit Trianon. We walked
for some distance down a wooded alley, and
then came upon the buildings of the Grand
Trianon, before which we did not delay. We
went on in the direction of the Petit Trianon,
but just before reaching what we knew after-
wards to be the main entrance I saw a gate
leading to a path cut deep below the level of
the ground above, and as the way was open
and had the look of an entrance that was used,
I said : "Shall we try this path ? it must lead
to the house,” and we followed it. To our
right we saw some farm-buildings looking
empty and deserted; implements (among others
a plough) were lying about; we looked in, but
saw no one. The impression was saddening,


THE PETIT TRIANON
17
but it was not until we reached the crest of the
rising ground where there was a garden that
I began to feel as if we had lost our way, and
as if something were wrong. There were two
men there in official dress (greenish in colour),
with something in their hands; it might have
been a staff. A wheelbarrow and some other
gardening tools were near them. They told us,
in answer to my enquiry, to go straight on.
I remember repeating my question, because
they answered in a seemingly casual and
mechanical way, but only got the same answer
in the same manner. As we were standing
there I saw to the right of us a detached
solidly-built cottage, with stone steps at the
door. A woman and a girl were standing at
the doorway, and I particularly noticed their
unusual dress; both wore white kerchiefs tucked
into the bodice, and the girl's dress, though she
looked 13 or 14 only, was down to her ankles.
The woman was passing a jug to the girl, who
wore a close white cap.
i The woman was standing on the steps, bending slightly
forward, holding a jug in her hand. The girl was looking up
at her from below with her hands raised, but nothing in them.
She might have been just going to take the jug or have just
given it up. Her light-brown hair escaped from under her
B


18
AN ADVENTURE
ere
Following the directions of the two men we
walked on: but the path pointed out to us
seemed to lead away from where we imagined
the Petit Trianon to be; and there was a
feeling of depression and loneliness about the
place. I began to feel as if I were walking in
my sleep; the heavy dreaminess was oppressive.
At last we came upon a path crossing ours, and
saw in front of us a building consisting of some
columns roofed in, and set back in the trees.
Seated on the steps was a man with a heavy
black cloak round his shoulders, and wearing a
slouch hat. At that moment the eerie feeling
which had begun in the garden culminated in a
definite impression of something uncanny and
fear-inspiring. The man slowly turned his face,
which was marked by smallpox : his com-
plexion was very dark. The expression was
very evil and yet unseeing, and though I did
not feel that he was looking particularly at us, I
felt a repugnance to going past him. But I did
not wish to show the feeling, which I thought
was meaningless, and we talked about the
cap. I remember that both seemed to pause for an instant, as
in a tableau vivant; but we passed on, and I did not see the
end.


THE PETIT TRIANON
19
al
best way to turn, and decided to go to the
right
Suddenly we heard a man running behind us:
he shouted, “Mesdames, mesdames,” and when
I turned he said in an accent that seemed to
me unusual that our way lay in another direc-
tion. “Il ne faut (pronounced fout) pas passer
par là.” He then made a gesture, adding “par
ici . . . cherchez la maison.” Though we
were surprised to be addressed, we were glad
of the direction, and I thanked him. The man
ran off with a curious smile on his face: the
running ceased as abruptly as it had begun, not
far from where we stood. I remember that the
man was young-looking, with a florid complexion
and rather long dark hair. I do not remember
the dress, except that the material was dark and
heavy, and that the man wore buckled shoes.
We walked on, crossing a small bridge
that went across a green bank, high on our
right hand and shelving down below as to a
very small overshadowed pool of water glim-
mering some way off. A tiny stream descended
from above us, so small as to seem to lose itself
before reaching the little pool. We then fol-
lowed a narrow path till almost immediately we


20
AN ADVENTURE
came upon the English garden front of the
Petit Trianon. The place was deserted; but
as we approached the terrace I remember
drawing my skirt away with a feeling as though
someone were near and I had to make room,
and then wondering why I did it. While we
were on the terrace a boy came out of the door
of a second building which opened on it, and I
still have the sound in my ears of his slamming
it behind him. He directed us to go round to
the other entrance, and seeing us hesitate, with
the peculiar smile of suppressed mockery,
offered to show us the way. We passed
through the French garden, part of which was
walled in by trees. The feeling of dreariness
was very strong there, and continued till we
actually reached the front entrance to the Petit
Trianon and looked round the room in the
wake of a French wedding party. Afterwards
we drove back to the Rue des Réservoirs.
The impression returned to me at intervals
during the week that followed, but I did not
speak of it until Miss Morison asked me if I
thought the Petit Trianon was haunted, and I
said Yes. Then, too, the inconsistency of the
dress and behaviour of the man with an August


22
AN ADVENTURE
home was in Paris came into my room, and
I asked her, just on the chance, if she knew
any story about the haunting of the Petit
Trianon. (I had not mentioned our story to
her before, nor indeed to anyone.) She said
directly that she remembered hearing from
friends at Versailles that on a certain day in
August Marie Antoinette is regularly seen
sitting outside the garden front at the Petit
Trianon, with a light flapping hat and a pink
dress. More than this, that the place, especi-
ally the farm, the garden, and the path by the
water, are peopled with those who used to be
with her there; in fact that all the occupations
and amusements reproduce themselves there
for a day and a night. I then told her our
story, and when I quoted the words that the
man spoke to us, and imitated as well as I
could his accent, she immediately said that it
was the Austrian pronunciation of French. I
had privately thought that he spoke old
French. Immediately afterwards I wrote and
told this to Miss Morison..
F. L.
November, 1901.
By old I mean old or unusual forms, perhaps surviving in
provincial French.


THE PETIT TRIANON
23
On receiving Miss Lamont's letter I turned
to my diary to see on what Saturday in August
it was that we had visited Versailles, and
looked up the history to find out to what
event she alluded. On August 1oth, 1792,
the Tuileries was sacked. The royal family
escaped in the early morning to the Hall of
the Assembly, where they were penned up for
many hours hearing themselves deposed, and
within sound of the massacre of their servants
and of the Swiss guards at the Tuileries.
From the Hall the King and Queen were
taken to the Temple.
We wondered whether we had inadvertently
entered within an act of the Queen's memory
when alive, and whether this explained our
curious sensation of being completely shut in
and oppressed. What more likely, we thought,
than that during those hours in the Hall of
the Assembly, or in the Conciergerie, she had
gone back in such vivid memory to other
Augusts spent at Trianon that some impress of


24
AN ADVENTURE
it was imparted to the place? Some pictures
which were shown to me proved that the out-
door dress of the gentlemen at Court had been
a large hat and cloak, and that the ladies wore
long-waisted bodices, with full gathered short
skirts, fichus, and hats.
I told the story to my brother, and we
heartily agreed that, as a rule, such stories
made no impression at all upon us, because
we always believed that, if only the persons
involved would take the trouble to investigate
them thoroughly and honestly for themselves,
they could be quite naturally explained. We
agreed that such a story as ours had very little
value without more proof of reality than it had,
but that as there were one or two interesting
points in it, it would be best to sift the matter
quietly, lest others should make more of them
than they deserved. He suggested lightly and
in fun that perhaps we had seen the Queen as
she thought of herself, and that it would be
interesting to know whether the dress described
was the one she had on at the time of her
rêverie, or whether it was one she recollected
having worn at an earlier date. My brother
also enquired whether we were quite sure that


THE PETIT TRIANON 25
the last man we had seen (who came out of the
side building), as well as the wedding party,
were all real persons. I assured him with
great amusement that we had not the smallest
doubt as to the reality of them all.
As Miss Lamont was going to Paris for the
Christmas holidays, I wrote and asked her to
take any opportunity she might have to see the
place again, and to make a plan of the paths
and the buildings; for the guide books spoke
of the Temple de l'Amour and the Belvédère,
and I thought one of them might prove to be
our kiosk.
E. M.


THE PETIT TRIANON 27
the old feeling returned in full force; it was
as if I had crossed a line and was suddenly
in a circle of influence. To the left I saw a
tract of park-like ground, the trees bare and
very scanty. I noticed a cart being filled with
sticks by two labourers, and thought I could go
to them for directions if I lost my way. The
men wore tunics and capes with pointed hoods
of bright colours, a sort of terra-cotta red and
deep blue.1 I turned aside for an instant-not
more-to look at the Hameau, and when I
looked back men and cart were completely out
of sight, and this surprised me, as I could see a
long way in every direction. And though I
had seen the men in the act of loading the cart
with sticks, I could not see any trace of them
on the ground either at the time or afterwards.
I did not, however, dwell upon any part of the
incident, but went on to the Hameau. The
houses were all built near a sheet of water, and
the old oppressive feeling of the last year was
noticeable, especially under the balcony of the
Maison de la Reine, and near a window in
what I afterwards found to be the Laiterie.
1 One man wore red, the other blue ; the colours were not
mixed.


28
AN ADVENTURE
I really felt a great reluctance to go near the
window or look in, and when I did so I found
it shuttered inside.
Coming away from the Hameau I at last
reached a building, which I knew from my plan
to be the smaller Orangerie; then, meaning to
go to the Belvédère, I turned back by mistake
into the park and found myself in a wood, so
thick that though I had turned towards the
Hameau I could not see it. Before I entered
I looked across an open space towards a belt of
trees to the left of the Hameau some way off,
and noticed a man, cloaked like those we had
seen before, slip swiftly through the line of
trees. The smoothness of his movement
attracted my attention.
I was puzzling my way among the maze of
paths in the wood when I heard a rustling
behind me which made me wonder why people
in silk dresses came out on such a wet day ;
and I said to myself, "just like French people."
I turned sharply round to see who they were,
but saw no one, and then, all in a moment, I
had the same feeling as by the terrace in the
summer, only in a much greater degree; it was
as though I were closed in by a group of people


THE PETIT TRIANON
29
who already filled the path, coming from behind
and passing me. At one moment there seemed
really no room for me. I heard some women's
voices talking French, and caught the words
“Monsieur et Madame" said close to my ear.
The crowd got scarce and drifted away, and
then faint music as of a band, not far off, was
audible. It was playing very light music with
a good deal of repetition in it. Both voices
and music were diminished in tone, as in a
phonograph, unnaturally. The pitch of the
band was lower than usual. The sounds were
intermittent, and once more I felt the swish
of a dress close by me.
I looked at the map which I had with me,
but whenever I settled which path to take I felt
impelled to go by another. After turning back-
wards and forwards many times I at last found
myself back at the Orangerie, and was over-
taken by a gardener. I asked him where I
should find the Queen's grotto, that had been
11 thought this gardener did not look like a Frenchman ; he
had more the air of an Englishman. He had hair on his face,
a grizzled beard, was large and loosely made. His height was
very uncommon, and he seemed to be of immense strength.
His arms were long and very muscular. I noticed that even
through the sleeves of his jersey.


THE PETIT TRIANON 31
Laiterie, and for that reason it was shuttered.
A second tradition they mentioned interested
me very much. It was that on October 5th,
1789—which was the last day on which Marie
Antoinette went to Trianon-she was sitting
there in her grotto, and saw a page running
towards her, bringing the letter from the minis-
ter at the palace to say that the mob from Paris
would be at the gates in an hour's time. The
story went on that she impulsively proposed
walking straight back to the palace by the
short cut through the trees. He would not
allow it: but begged her to go to the "maison"
to wait whilst he fetched the carriage by which
she was generally conveyed back through the
park, and that he ran off to order it.
F. L.
January, 1902.


32
AN ADVENTURE
1902-4.
DURING the next two years very little occurred
to throw light on the story. The person
living in Versailles to whom we had been
directed as having related the tradition of the
Queen's being at Trianon on October 5th,
1789, was unable to remember anything at all
about it. The photographs of the Belvédère
made it clear that it was not identical with
the kiosk. On the many occasions on which
Miss Lamont went to the Trianon she could
never again find the places,—not even the
wood in which she had been. She assured
me that the place was entirely different;
the distances were much less than we had
imagined ; and the ground was so bare that
the house and the Hameau were in full view
of one another; and that there was nothing
unnatural about the trees.
Miss Lamont brought back from Paris La
Reine Marie Antoinette, by M. de Nolhac,
and Le Petit Trianon, by Desjardins. We
was


THE PETIT TRIANON 33
noted that M. de Nolhac related the traditional
story of the Queen's visit, and that the
Comte de Vaudreuil, who betrayed the Queen
by inviting her to the fatal acting of the
“ Barbier de Séville” in her own theatre at
Trianon, was a Creole and marked by small-
pox (pages 61, 212). Turning over the pages
of Desjardins I found Wertmüller's portrait of
the Queen, and exclaimed that it was the
first of all the pictures I had seen which at
all brought back the face of the lady. Some
weeks later I found this passage: “Ce tab-
leau fut assez mal accueilli des critiques
contemporains qui le trouvèrent froid, sans
majesté, sans grace. Pour la posterité, au
contraire, il a le plus grand mérite; celui de
la ressemblance. Au dire de Madame Campan,
il n'existe de bon portrait de la reine que cette
toile de Wertmüller et celle que Madame
Lebrun peignit en 1787" (page 282).
In January, 1904, Miss Lamont went to the
Comédie Française to see the “Barbier de
Séville," and noticed that the Alguazils standing
round were dressed exactly like our garden
officials, but had red stockings added. This
was interesting, as the Comédie Française
с


THE PETIT TRIANON
35
On Monday, July 4th, 1904, Miss Lamont
and I went to the Trianon, this being my
second visit. We were accompanied by
Mademoiselle — who had not heard our
story. On the Saturday of the same week
(July 9th) we went again unaccompanied.
Both days were brilliant and hot. On both
occasions the dust, glare, trams, and comers
and goers, were entirely different from the
quietness and solitude of our visit in 1901.
We went up the lane as at the first time
and turned to the right on reaching the
building, which we had now learnt to call
the logement des corps de gardes. From this
point everything was changed. The old wall
facing us had gates, but they were closed,
and the one through which we had seen the
drive passing through a grove of trees seemed
to have been closed for a very long time.
We came directly to the gardener's house,
which was quite different in appearance from
the cottage described by Miss Lamont in 1901,
10V


36
AN ADVENTURE
vas
in front of which she saw the woman and
the girl. Beyond the gardener's house was
a parterre with flower-beds, and a smooth
lawn of many years' careful tendance. It did
not seem to be the place where we had met
the garden officials.
We spent a long time looking for the old
paths. Not only was there no trace of them,
but the distances were contracted, and all was
on a smaller scale than I recollected. The
kiosk was gone ; so was the ravine and the
little cascade which had fallen from a height
above our heads, and the little bridge over
the ravine was, of course, gone too. The
large bridge with the rocher over it, crossing
one side of the lake at the foot of the
Belvédère, had no resemblance to it. The trees
were quite natural, and seemed to have been a
good deal cleared out, making that part of the
garden much less wooded and picturesque.
The English garden in front of the house
was not shaded by many trees; and we
could see the house and the hameau from
almost every point. Instead of a much
shaded rough meadow continuing up to the
wall of the terrace, there is now a broad


38
AN ADVENTURE
One thing struck me greatly-people went
wherever they liked, and no one would think
of interfering to show the way, or to prevent
anyone from going in any direction. We
searched the place at our pleasure.
We went to the Hameau, following the path
taken by Miss Lamont on January 2, 1902.
We tried to find the thick wood in which
she had lost her way, but there was nothing
like it, and such paths as there are now are
perfectly visible from one another, even in
summer. We asked a gardener sweeping one
of the paths whether that part of the grounds
had ever been a thick wood. He said he
believed that it had been, but could give us
no date beyond the fact that it was before
his time—more than twenty years ago.
On our return to Versailles, we went into
a bookseller's shop and asked if he had any
maps or views of the Petit Trianon as it
had been in old days. He showed us a
picture (which he would not part with) of
the Jeu de Bague. We saw at once that
the central building had some likeness to the
kiosk, but the surrounding part was not like,
and its position was unsuitable for our


40
AN ADVENTURE
details of the search are recorded in a book
which, to us, goes by the name of the
Green Book. It contains the original papers
written in 1901, the history of the gradual
accumulation of information, correspondence
with one another and also with others on
the subject, the accounts written by one or
two friends who have helped us at different
times, also pictures, maps, and lists of books
consulted, and the account of curious incidents
which took place during the search.
E. M.
F. L.


RESULTS OF RESEARCH
43
Reservoir
Gardener's
House
Ruelle
Porte du jardinier
Enclosure
Galc
Logement
Avenue


44
AN ADVENTURE
The Guards
The second event was our meeting with two
dignified, thoughtful-looking officials, dressed in
long green coats and three-cornered hats, hold-
ing something in their hands which Miss Lamont
wrote of in 1901 as possibly being staves. In
response to our enquiry for the Petit Trianon
they coldly directed us forward.
There are no officials so dressed at Trianon
now. At present they wear black, with tri-
colour rosettes in their hats ; in summer they
have white trousers.
In 1904 we were told by fully-informed
persons at Versailles that it was "impossible”
that we should have seen such uniforms,
“unless they were worn by masqueraders,” for
green was a royal livery, and no one wore it
now at Trianon.
Supposing them to have been masqueraders,
the dress may have been that of gardes de la
porte. The ceremonial overdress of the gardes
de la porte, as was that of part of the gardes du
corps (gardes de la Manche), was green, with
gold and silver embroidery and red stockings :


RESULTS OF RESEARCH 45
they carried halberds. But the officers had
galon instead of embroidery, and no red stock-
ings : they carried an ebony cane with an ivory
ball.2
The livery of the Comte d'Artois, who was
colonel-général of the gardes Suisses was green ;
and those of the gardes du corps and Suisses
who were in his service had green uniforms.3
There is evidence of a much quieter dress
without even galon, called the “ petite livrée,”
which was probably green, as it was worn by
the Suisses, piqueurs, gardes de la porte, and
the garçons jardiniers. The traditional dress
of those royal servants who filled the minor
parts in the Royal Theatre at Versailles is still
to be seen at the acting of the Barbier de
Séville in the Comédie Française, which is
the descendant of the Royal Theatre. This
dress (except for the added red stockings) is
the same as the one we saw in 1901.
In 1908 we learned that the porte du jar-
dinier at the Petit Trianon was always guarded
1 Picture of a Garde de la Porte du Roi Louis XV., dite de la
Manche, d'après une gravure de Chevilet. R. Jacquemin.
2 Souvenirs d'un Page, le comte D'Hezecques, pp. 130-134. (He
says that their underdress was blue.)
3 Ibid., p. 137.
4 Arch. Nat. O', 1883.


RESULTS OF RESEARCH 47
covered such a cottage (more than one) within
the gates which were not far from the place
where she had seen the plough. These cottages
were not in the right position for our experi-
ence in 1901, but the type was the same.
In 1907 we discovered from the map of 1783
that there was a building, not now in existence,
placed against the wall (outside) of the gar-
dener's yard between the ruelle and the porte
du jardinier; if our original route lay through
this yard to the English garden, this building
would be exactly in the right place for Miss
Lamont's cottage.
In September, 1910, we saw from marks on
this wall that a building might have stood
here; for the cornice of the wall is broken
into, and there seems to be a perpendicular
line from it to the ground visible through
the plaster. A photograph shows this.
If the girl seen should be the “Marion” of
Madame Julie Lavergne's story (first read in
1906), she would have been 14 years old in
1789, and her mother was then alive. Her
father's house would have been near the reser-
voir and not within the locked gates of any
enclosure, for she let herself out at night by
e


48
AN ADVENTURE
an open window. All this would suit the
position of the building in the map.
The Kiosk
On our entrance into the English garden in
1901, we found our path crossed by another,
beyond which, in front of us but rather to the
left hand, stood a small circular building having
pillars and a low surrounding wall. It was on
rough uneven ground, and was overshadowed
by trees.
Repeated searches during seven years by
ourselves and others have failed to discover
this building.
In September, 1908, Miss Lamont found in
the archives a paper (without signature or date)
giving the estimate for a “ruine” having seven
Ionic columns, walls, and a dome roof. (A
“ruine " seems only to mean a copy of an older
building.) If the walls of this building were
low it would correspond in appearance with
our recollection of the kiosk. This “ruine”
is said to have formed a “naissance de la
rivière,” suggesting its position above the small
1 Légendes de Trianon, Madame Julie Lavergne, pp. 89, 96.


RESULTS OF RESEARCH 51
Though we were assured in 1908 by a very
good authority, that no gentleman now living
at Versailles would wear a large cloak either in
winter or summer, there might be nothing sur-
prising in what we saw if the kiosk could be
found. But considering that it is gone, it is
historically interesting that we discovered in
1904 that there is one man in the story of
Trianon who exactly suits the description.
Most of the intimate accounts of the period
say that the Comte de Vaudreuil was a Creole
and marked by smallpox. He was at one time
one of the Queen's innermost circle of friends,
but acted an enemy's part in persuading her to
gain the King's permission for the acting of the
politically dangerous play of Le Mariage de
Figaro. The King had long refused to allow
it, saying that it would cause the Bastille to be
taken. The earlier version of the same play,
Le Barbier de Séville,2 was last acted at
12.
i La Reine Marie Antoinette, De Nolhac, pp. 61, 212.
2 Le Barbier de Séville, by Beaumarchais, was first played in
1775; it was re-written and made politically scandalous as Le
Mariage de Figaro in 1781. This version was played in
Vaudreuil's private theatre at Gennevilliers and at the Odéon,
1783, and for the first time in Paris, by permission, April 27th,
1784.


52
AN ADVENTURE
Trianon (August 19th, 1785), just at the begin-
ning of the diamond necklace episode, when
Vaudreuil took the part of Almaviva and was
dressed for it in a large dark cloak and Spanish
hat.
In 1908 we found out from Madame Éloffe's
Journal (the Queen's modiste) that in 1789 the
broad-brimmed hat had entirely displaced the
three-cornered hat, and was generally fashion-
able ; also that swords were no longer generally
worn."
Vandreuil left the court of France amongst
the first party of emigrés after the taking of the
Bastille, July, 1789.
The Running Man
Though we were surprised when the second
man, also dressed in a large cloak and hat, ran
up to us and with extreme earnestness directed us
to go to the right rather than to the left, yet we
merely thought his manner very French; and
as he said in the course of a rather long unin-
telligible sentence “cherchez la maison,” we
imagined that he understood that we were
1 Modes et Usages, De Reiset, p. 479, vol. i.


54
AN ADVENTURE
van
looking for the house, and followed his direc-
tion. We noticed that he stood in front of a
rock and seemed to come “either over, round,
or through it."
The following year (1902), we learned that
there was a tradition that on October 5th, 1789,
a messenger was sent to Trianon to warn the
Queen of the approach of the mob from Paris :
that she wished to walk back to the Palace by
the most direct route, but the messenger begged
her to wait at the house whilst he fetched the
carriage, as it was safer to drive back as usual
by the broad roads of the park.
A local tradition affirming this has been
embodied by Madame Julie Lavergne in a
volume entitled (unfortunately for historical
purposes) Légendes de Trianon. This particu-
lar scene in the story, called “La Dernière
Rose,” interested us greatly, for it seemed to
come from an eye-witness and recalled many of
the points of our vision. The Queen, it is said,
had been walking with and talking to Marion
(the daughter of an under-gardener) before
going to her favourite grotto. After remaining
there some time, and on growing alarmed at
her own sad thoughts, the Queen called to


RESULTS OF RESEARCH 55
as
Marion and was surprised to see, instead of the
girl, a “garçon de la Chambre” suddenly appear,
trembling in all his limbs. After reading the
letter brought to her from the Minister at
the Palace, the Queen desired him to order
the carriage and to let Madame de Tourzel
know. The messenger bowed (as our man
had done), and once out of sight, ran off at
full speed. The Queen followed him to the
house."
Enquiries through the publisher, in 1907, as
to Madame Lavergne's sources of information,
elicited the fact that her informant as to every
detail of that scene had been Marion herself.
This Marion, the Légendes tell us, afterwards
married M. Charpentier, an under-gardener,
known in 1789 by the name of " Jean de
l'Eau,” on account of his bringing water daily
from Ville d'Avray for the Queen's table.
He afterwards became jardinier en chef, being
appointed in 1805 by Napoleon in succession to
Antoine Richard.2
The name “Charpantier” appears in 1786
amongst the “ouvriers terrassiers," who clear
* Légendes de Trianon, p. 75.
* La Belle Jardinière, Lavergne, pp. 91, 97.


56
AN ADVENTURE
up sticks and leaves, plant flowers, and
rake. 1
In 1783, “ Mariamne” received wages for
picking up leaves in the Trianon grounds ; 2
this is quite possible, as children are said to
have been used for that work, and the absence
of surname suggests that she was the daughter
of one of the gardeners.
The marriage certificate of Alexandre Char-
pentier, in 1823, gives his father's name as
Louis Toussaint Charpentier, and his mother's
name as Marie Anne Lemaignan. The mar-
riage certificate of these persons (from which
we should have learnt their age) is said to have
been destroyed. 3
In the wages book the names of two
“Lemonguin” (elder and younger) appear; also
“ Magny,” but not, so far as has been discovered,
Lemaignan. If this Marie Anne Charpentier
was 21 years old at her son's birth (November,
1796), she would have been eight years old
in 1783, and 14 in 1789. This would suit
1 Arch. Nat. O!, 1878. 2 Arch. Nat. O!, 1877.
3 Letter enclosing marriage certificate (copy from the Archives
Municipales, Versailles).
4 Arch. Nat. O', 1876, 1877.


RESULTS OF RESEARCH 57
the “Mariamne ” of the Archives, Madame
Lavergne's story, and the girl seen by Miss
Lamont.
Two more points show the faithfulness of
“Marion's” account of that scene. Madame
Lavergne (quoting her) says that "pale rays of
autumn sunshine lighted up the faded flowers.”
It must, therefore, have been fairly fine; and in
the wages book it appears that on October 5th,
1789, all the gardeners were at work in the
grounds, and it is stated that on wet days they
worked under cover, sometimes clearing out the
passages of the house. Secondly, she says
that the Queen sat at the entrance of her
grotto, where fallen leaves choked the course
of the “ruisseau.” From entries of payment
it appears that the streams were cleared of
dead leaves on October ist, 2nd, and 3rd, 1789,
but not on the 4th or 5th, or ever again. It
is exactly a point which Marion would have
noticed.
Madame Lavergne lived at Versailles from
1838 till her marriage in 1844, at which time
Marion would have been 69; and as we believe
that Alexandre Charpentier was head gardener
*16. O', 1879.
2 16. O', 1879.


58
AN ADVENTURE
at the Petit Trianon for over fifty years, his
mother would have been easily accessible to
Madame Lavergne during her repeated visits
to Trianon, even after her marriage. Her
father, M. Georges Ozanneaux, was a personal
friend of Louis Philippe, and was constantly
about in the royal palaces.'
It is necessary to speak of the grotto; for
Madame Campan says that the Queen " était
assise dans sa grotte . . . lorsqu'elle reçut un
mot d'écrit . . . qui la suppliait de rentrer à
Versailles.” 2 Madame Lavergne says “Marion
se dirigea vers le parterre des rosiers, et la
Reine alla s'asseoir à l'entrée de sa grotte
favorite, auprès de la petite source. Les feuilles
jaunies tombées des arbres couvraient la terre
et obstruaient le cours du ruisseau. ... Le
murmure de la petite cascade qui arrose
l'intérieur de la grotte, retentissait seul dans
le bosquet. ... Effrayée d'être seule, elle
appela Marion ; mais, au lieu de la jeune fille,
un garçon de la Chambre ... parut, une lettre
à la main.” 3 The Queen cannot, therefore,
1 La vie de Madame Lavergne.
2 Quoted in Les Palais de Trianon, M. de Lescure, p. 148.
3 Légendes de Trianon, Madame Julie Lavergne, p. 75.


RESULTS OF RESEARCH 59
have been many steps away from the grotto,
at one end or the other, when the messenger
came to her.
In 1908 we asked to be shown this grotto,
and we were taken to one on the further side
of the Belvédère, near the hill called l'Escargot,
which was formed in 1781. We felt sure that
this could not have been either of the two
grottos spoken of in the archives.
In 1777 the end of one grotto is mentioned
as being near the porte d'entrée, "à la cloison
de la porte d'entrée du jardin au bout du grotte
trois pottereaux et deux traverses.” 1
In 1777 there was a "projet d'un pont et
chutte en rocher, avec parapet.” This was
probably a bridge (the Vergelay bridge ?) over
the principal river where it issued from the
larger lake. The river was made at this time. 2
In June, 1780, a new “petite rivière ” was
planned to receive the water drained from the
“ravin de la grotte,” and to conduct it into the
larger lake. For this purpose a new grotto was
made of a “forme ovale, ornée en glaçon,”
through which the “petite rivière ” was to run.
A “ravin du petit pont” was also planned. 3
1 Arch. Nat. O', 1875. 216. 31b.
ds


RESULTS OF RESEARCH 61
In 1781 a "montagne” was made “en face du
jardin français–en face de la comédie.” 1
In March and April, 1781, a hill called
“l'Escargot " was piled up?_beyond the Bel-
védère—and, presumably, a third and very
small grotto was made. The creation of the
Escargot hill would have made the “ravin” on
the north side of the Belvédère, which is still
visible, and leads to the greater lake.
There are several reasons why we think that
the Queen's grotto (the second made) was on
the theatre side of the Belvédère.
1. D’Hezecques' description of it in 1789
shows that, though a “ruisseau" passed through
it, persons could go freely out at both ends ; 3
whereas when water was passing down through
the upper entrance of the “escargot" grotto,
no one could have used it at the same time :
there is only room for the water.
2. He speaks of the “prairie” being visible
from “une crevasse, qui s'ouvrait à la tête du
lit”; this would have been possible from a
grotto on the theatre side, but not on the other,
as the “escargot" hill would have been in the
way.
116.
216.
Souvenirs d'un Page, p. 244.


AN ADVENTURE
Porte d'entrée
..:
TOIMINTAMM
Escargot Hi
Yard
Petite Porte
Gardener's
Grotto
iš
Small
Lake
Ivédère
AGI.
Rocher
E Bridge
...
...
.
E Poulaillers
Larger Lake
.
Dueen's Grot
nin
0.000000000
Vergelay
Bridge
ON
Petite rivière
hea
nagne
1000L0001
French Garden


RESULTS OF RESEARCH 63
La VC
3. D’Hezecques describes a staircase which
“conduisait au sommet de la roche,” enabling
persons to leave hurriedly. There is something
like an ancient rock staircase attached to the
back of the large rock, giving the name to the
Rocher bridge.
4. He says that the grotto was very dark on
first entering, and L'Espinasse's picture of the
Belvédère in 1783 shows the opening to a
cavern on its southern side close to the Rocher
bridge, which could be truly described as
"venant du coté de la grotte." Could the
rock out of which the cavernous mouth was
cut have been lifted over the long bridge at
some later time? for in L'Espinasse's picture
there is no such rock over the bridge as there
is now, and the cavern has disappeared.
5. The map of 1783 represents (according to
Desjardins) “le projet de Mique complêtement
exécuté.” In it the figure (5) (indicating the
grotto) occurs both at the “escargot” and also
on the theatre side of the Belvédère.
In September, 1910, Miss Lamont was asked
whether she had seen a map of the place
recently placed in the front hall of the Petit
1 Desjardins, picture, p. 196.
OV


64 AN ADVENTURE
Trianon, and she said No. On going there
she found the map, which had not been there
at any of her former visits, and saw that the
grottos were put, as far as she could judge,
just where we had long ago, through elaborate
personal research, decided must be their real
position. She could only make this out by
standing on the table amongst the books and
photographs, the map being hung too high to
be easily seen.
Several further points of interest have
emerged in connection with the running
man.
1. In April, 1908, we learned that our being
directed at all in the grounds was unusual, for
since September, 1870, they have been thrown
open until dark. The difficulty now experi-
enced is to find a guide.
2. He spoke of the “maison.” In 1907 we
found out that the Queen was in the habit of
calling the Petit Trianon “ma maison de
Trianon," to distinguish it from the Palace and
the Chateau. Louis XVI. had presented it to
Marie Antoinette on his accession.
1 Desjardins, pp. 103, 73.


66
AN ADVENTURE
in which the consonants are strengthened and
the diphthongs broadened.
In the autumn of 1909 we read the Baron
de Frénilly's Souvenirs, in which it is stated that
wigs were universally worn by gentlemen in
French society up till 1787. After that date
powdered hair became the general usage; the
first person (M. de Valence) who ventured to
appear with unpowdered hair did so, apparently,
in 1788, after which it became a mark of
extreme fashion.
The same was the case with buckled shoes.
Gold, silver, stones, and rosettes had been
required for a gentleman's dress ornaments;
but after the commercial treaty with England
in 1786, steel was used for everything.
Buckled shoes are expressly mentioned as
being very fashionable in 1789, and there was,
at that time, a rage for steel ornaments.2
was
Bridge over Little Cascade
Following the man's direction, we turned to
the right and walked over a small rustic bridge
which crossed a tiny waterfall coming from
* Souvenirs du Baron de Frénilly, p. 80. 2 Ib. p. 80.


RESULTS OF RESEARCH 67
je
above us, on our right hand, and flowing in
front of a little rocky cliff with ferns growing in
the crevices. The water seemed to have formed
a steep narrow little ravine, which shelved away
below us to a little glimmering pool
Neither bridge, nor cascade, nor ravine can
be found, or anything suggesting them. In
1905 the person in charge at the house assured
Miss Lamont that there never had been more
than one cascade, meaning the rush of water
under the Rocher bridge. The Rocher bridge
is certainly not the one we crossed, which was
high above the level of the lakes.
In 1907 we bought Souvenirs d'un Page by
the Comte D'Hezecques. He says: “En face
du chateau, une pelouse . . . se terminait par
une roche ombragée de pins, de thuyas, de
mélèzes, et surmontée d'un pont rustique,
comme on en rencontre dans les montagnes de
la Suisse et les précipices du Valais. Cette
perspective agreste et sauvage rendait plus
douce celle ... de la troisième façade du
chateau.
He also speaks of water passing through the
moss-lined grotto, which, according to our idea,
1 Souvenirs d'un Page, p. 242.


RESULTS OF RESEARCH
position of our little cascade, small bridge, and
glimmering pool.
In April, 1908, an old MS. map was found
amongst such archive papers as relate to the
grottos, showing a small bridge in the right
position relatively to the lakes, the Rocher
bridge, and the place where we believe the
Queen's grotto to have been.
Isolated Rock
In 1908 we found a mass of rocks standing
in the dry bed of the small lake. On one rock
covered with ivy were two full-grown pine
trees. It seems unlikely that the trees should
have originally been in the small circular basin
of water.
D’Hezecques says that thuya and pine trees
were planted high up over the grotto to give it
the appearance of a Swiss mountain. The
grotto was destroyed about 1792, and it is
possible that some of the rocks covering it were
displaced and allowed to slip into the lake
below, and that the present pine trees may
have been seedlings at the time, for we are
1 Souvenirs d'un Page, p. 242.


72
AN ADVENTURE
n
was
1901 had given it the look of an orchard. So
much was this the case that the lady sitting
under the north terrace was thought to be
making a study of tree stems; for she was
looking into trees, and she held a large paper
in her hand, and, as we passed, held it out at
arm's length.
At present there are trees on each side of
the pelouse, and one growing near the site of
the old Jeu de Bague, but none growing in
front of the house, and it all looks drier,
brighter, and less confined than in 1901.
We have found two interesting mentions of
this pelouse.
Before the new theatre was built in 1779,
the old comédie stood on it for three years.
When the comédie was moved it gave place to
a “pelouse parsemée d'arbres.”i
The Lady
Nothing unusual marked the lady sitting on
a low seat on the grass immediately under the
north terrace. I remember recognising that
1 Desjardins, pp. 107, 120; Arch. Nat. O, 1875, 1877 ;
Terrade, Le Théâtre de la Reine, p. 23.


74
AN ADVENTURE
unpleasant, and the other so unaccountably and
infectiously excited,-made a deep impression.
The legend that we heard the following
winter of the Queen having been occasionally
seen sitting in front of the house in the English
garden, is of course incapable of proof; but
three things were to us full of interest.
I. In 1902 I saw Wertmüller's picture of
the Queen, which alone of all the many por-
traits shown me in any way brought back the
face I had seen; for the face was more square
and the nose shorter. A few weeks later we
read that Madame Campan considered it almost
the only picture of her that was really like,
though other people thought that it did not do
her justice.
II. In April, 1908, we learned that there was
only one time during the Queen's tenure of
the Petit Trianon when she could have seen
strangers in her gardens, from which, in earlier
days, the Court was entirely excluded, and to
which even the King only came by invitation.
For four months, after May, 1789, when the
Court was carried off to Paris, the public
streamed in as it liked. So many came to see
the place that had been too much talked about,


RESULTS OF RESEARCH 75
that the King and Queen had gone that sum-
mer to Marly for a little rest and quiet. That
was the time when D’Hezecques, with one
of the deputies, walked round and saw the
grotto and the little bridge. At the time
the Trianon officials must have learnt to treat
strangers with cold politeness, but probably
resenting the necessity. This exactly accounts
for the manner of the guards at the porte du
jardinier; they made no difficulty, and told us
that we should find the house by going that
way, but in quite an unusual manner for
Frenchmen. It was mechanical and disen-
gaged.
III. In the summer of 1908 we read the Jour-
nal of Madame Éloffe (the Queen's modiste).
She says that during the year 1789 the Queen
was extremely economical, and had very few
dresses made. Madame Éloffe repaired several
light, washing, short skirts, and made, in July
and September, two green silk bodices, besides
many large white fichus. This agrees exactly
with the dress seen in 1901. The skirt was not
of a fresh white, but was light coloured, slightly
yellowish. The white fichu in front seemed to
have an edge of green or gold, just as it would


76
AN ADVENTURE
have appeared if the white muslin, or gauze,
was over green. The colour would have shown
more clearly at the back, but in front, where
the white folds accumulated, the green would
have been less prominent. The straight edge
in front and the frill behind had often puzzled
me, but in Madame Eloffe's illustrations of the
fashions at that time there are instances of the
same thing. There is in the book a coloured
picture of the green silk bodice, with all the
measurements to enable her to fit the Queen
perfectly.1
mea
CM
en
Jeu de Bague
As we approached the terrace at the north-
west corner of the house, we had some barrier
on our right hand entirely blocking the view, so
that we could see nothing but the meadow on
our left hand, and the house with its terrace in
front.
At present the pathway which curves towards
the house, and is very likely the old one, has a
large bare space on the right hand with one
beautiful old tree growing on the edge of it;
1 Modes et Usages, De Reiset, vol. i. pp. 479, 404, 423, 365, 369.


RESULTS OF RESEARCH 77
and from some way off one can easily see across
it to the chapel beyond the French garden. A
long piece of wall extends westward from the
terrace, round which one has to go into the
French garden in order to find the staircase;
whilst the whole length of wall, including part
of the north terrace, is hidden by a large old
spreading bush, completely covering the place
where the lady sat.
Originally, we could not see the steps whilst
on the path, but after we had passed the barrier
on our right hand we found them at once with-
out going round any wall.
The map of 1783 shows us that the Jeu de
Bague (put up in 1776) once stood on what is
now bare space. It was a circular building
surrounded by a wooden gallery, masked by
trees. This would have completely shut out
the view, and the path was probably curved on
its account.
In 1907, we learnt that the Queen had a
passage made under the terrace from the house
to the Jeu de Bague; and in 1908 we dis-
covered the old walled-up doorway leading into
the English garden behind the bush. The
ground seems to have been a good deal raised


80 AN ADVENTURE
us very quickly along a level. His manner was
jaunty and imperious, and he told us that the
only way to the house was by the cour d'hon-
neur. It was difficult to hear what he said.
We thought at once that we were trespassing
and looked for some way down from the terrace,
upon which he constituted himself our guide,
and with an inquisitive, amused expression,
went with us a little way down the French
garden, and showed us out into the avenue by
a broad road.
There is much to say about this incident.
1. The man evidently did not mean us to
stand on the terrace so near to the house, and
forced us to move away. He was the second
person that afternoon who had excitedly insisted
on our going one way rather than another ; but
now we know that since 1870 the gardens and
terraces have been made public until dark, and
people walk about freely. No one has ever
stopped us since, nor can we hear of anyone
else who has been guided as we were.
II. In 1905 we found that the building out
of which the man came was the old chapel,
which is in a ruinous condition.
In 1906, Miss Lamont had leave to go into the


82
AN ADVENTURE
East

English
Garden
House
Cour d'honneur
South
North
(Terrace Steps
Steps Terrace
Jeu
de
bague
N.W.
West
Plain
Chapel
Courtyard
French Garden
Pied
Chapel
a Storeys
Terrace
Landing Gallery
orte du Perron de la
Chapelle
1783
Cour de la'cuisine
Porte de la Bouche
Cour des cuisines
Avenue


84
AN ADVENTURE
ledge, and smiled at the idea as he looked at
the blocked-up old doors.
In August, 1907, two other friends went to
the chapel and entirely confirmed all that had
been said about its ruined condition and the
impossibility of the great door having been
opened in 1901. Their guide told them that
the big door had been Marie Antoinette's
private entrance. The gallery was still stand-
ing and had two chairs on it of gilt and old red
velvet; but when they asked whether it was
possible to enter it, the guide laughed and
pointed to the staircase. There was no other
entrance, he said, and the stairs had been in
that condition for the last ten years. They
thought from the look of the stairs that they
had probably been so for much longer.
In September, 1910, a fifth friend went to
the chapel and bore witness to the impossibility
of the doors having been used in 1901, and was
told that the staircase had finally broken down
fifteen years before.
III. From Desjardins' book we learned that
the Queen's concierge had been Bonnefoy du
Plan. He had rooms between the chapel and
the cour d'honneur and kept his stores in a loft


RESULTS OF RESEARCH 85
over the chapel, reached by the now broken-
down old staircase. The window of this attic
still looks over the French garden, and from it,
in old days, he would have seen anyone
approaching the house from that side. The
name of the suisse (the porter) in charge of
the porte du perron de la chapelle in 1789
was Lagrange. His rooms were immediately
behind the chapel, looking into the avenue. 1
He could easily have been sent through the
chapel to interview strangers on the terrace.
IV. We did not lose sight of the man when
he came to us. As it is now he must have
gone quite out of sight, down one flight of
steps outside the chapel door, and (after pass-
ing under a high wall) have reached the terrace
(where we were standing) by a second set of
steps. The present wall of the chapel court-
yard is so high as to hide half the door, and a
large chestnut tree in the courtyard hides it
from the part of the terrace on which we
were,—even in winter.
In April, 1907, we discovered that a con-
tinuous ground-floor passage from the kitchens
once passed the chapel door to the house.
1 Desjardins', Le Petit Trianon, pp. 188, 189.


RESULTS OF RESEARCH 89
C
fully. On the garden side, not at all far from
the chapel, the jamb of an old opening still
projects from the building, covered with ivy ;
and the stones on the ground are laid, for a
space of about twelve paces, the other way
from the stones on either side, evidently to
make a carriage road. A large rectangular
stone was lying on the ground which might
either have been a step, or part of the second
jamb. On the avenue side marks of an open-
ing of some sort can be traced through the
plaster with which Louis Philippe finished the
buildings after restoring and also altering them.
The opening would have included two present
windows not far from the porte de la bouche, as
the signs of it are visible on both sides of the
opening, and the space between is from twelve
to twenty paces.
Within the kitchen court the buildings have
been so altered and plastered over that no
traces of change could be found.
All the points corresponded with the recollec-
tion of the roadway through which we had
passed in 1901.
Ud


RESULTS OF RESEARCH 91
The entry in the wages book showed that
up to 1783, from time to time “une voiture à
cheval, et un conducteur,” were hired for pick-
ing up branches and sticks in the parks: but
on October 4th, 1789, a cart with two horses
(almost certainly requiring two men) was hired
for three days for the purpose.?
In August, 1908, a former gardener, who had
been at Trianon long enough to remember both
the Charpentiers, father and son, laughed at the
idea of such a dress being worn now at Trianon,
as it belonged to the “ancien régime." He
assured us that carts of the present day in
France had scarcely altered at all in type, and
that the two now in use at Trianon (which we
found in a shed at the ferme) were of the old
pattern.
eau
The Wood
Miss Lamont then went from the Hameau
towards the small Orangerie. Whilst on the
ascending path she saw, on looking back, a
man passing in front of, or in, a distant
plantation on his way to the Hameau. He
1 Ibid. O!, 1879.


92
AN ADVENTURE
was dressed in the cloak and hat we had
seen the previous summer.
She then descended to the low ground in
front of the Belvédère and crossed one of
the bridges over the principal river (not the
Rocher bridge, but possibly the Vergelay
bridge). After going forward a little she
turned, meaning to go back to the Hameau,
and recrossed either the same bridge, or the
next one which is very near the Vergelay.
She immediately found herself in a wood of
very tall trees, with such high, thick under-
growth that (even though it was winter) she
could not see through it. Well-kept paths
opened at intervals right and left at different
angles, and they gave the impression of being
so arranged as to lead round and round.
She had the feeling of being in the midst of
crowds passing and repassing her, and heard
voices and sounds of dresses. On looking
back she found the view as completely blocked
as it was in front and to the sides. After
vainly pursuing the confusing paths for some
time, she found herself close to the hill leading
to the Orangerie.
In 1904 and in 1908 we tried to find this


RESULTS OF RESEARCH 93
wood, without results. There are open planta-
tions, but they have no undergrowths concealing
paths from one another, even in summer.
Several people have gone independently to
look for the wood, but have not found it.
In 1905 Miss Lamont was told by the chief
authority that in this direction trees had been
thinned and not replaced.
The entries in the archives indicate that
there must have been woods near by in
which paths were cut for the Queen ; it is
also likely that the older woods, such as
Les Onze Arpents, are not referred to; for
when these plantations were made thousands
of lower shrubs were bought to be placed
under the trees, which were paid for by the
King. In the gardeners' wages book, the
gathering up and occasional burnings of
undergrowths in a wood (apparently in this
part of the garden) are alluded to.2
In Mique's map (1783) the wood with its
diverging paths can be plainly seen. It is
approached by the two bridges over the
river, and stretches towards the hill on
which the Orangerie stands.
1 Arch. Nat. Oʻ, 1876. ? Ibid. O?, 1877.


94
AN ADVENTURE
The Music
Whilst in the wood Miss Lamont heard
sounds of a band of violins drifting past
her from the direction of the house. The
sounds were very soft and intermittent, and
were lower in pitch than bands of to-day.
She could afterwards write down from
memory about twelve bars, but without all
the inner harmonies.
She ascertained immediately afterwards that
no band had been playing out of doors that
afternoon at Versailles. It was a cold, wet
winter's afternoon.
In March, 1907, the twelve bars were
shown to a musical expert, who said (without
having heard the story) that the bars could
hardly belong to one another, but that the
idiom dated from about 1780. He found a
grammatical mistake in one bar. After
hearing the story, he said that bands in the
eighteenth century were lower in pitch than
they are now. He suggested the name of
Sacchini.
In March, 1908, Miss Lamont and a friend


RESULTS OF RESEARCH 97
and very freely, in inversions and
variations, in other places. The
character of the accompaniment was
reminding.
Thirds and sixths constantly occur
in Monsigny's music.
Grétry. The same phrases were used and
the ascending passage was found.
Also, hidden consecutive fifths.
Pergolesi.
“ Largo and Andante in D.” Similar
phrases were used.
The Tall Gardener
Miss Lamont then went along the upper path,
and when between the Escargot hill and the
Belvédère, she met a very tall gardener of
apparently great strength, with long muscular
arms. She thought that with his long hair and
grizzled, untidy beard and general appearance,
he had the look of an Englishman rather than
a Frenchman.
He was dressed in a rough knitted jersey,
and a small dark blue round cap was set at
the back of his head. She enquired where


ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS TOI
101
misleading ; because they mostly deal with
conditions of physical excitement, and study of
the abnormal and diseased, including problems
of disintegrated personality which present such
close analogy to those of insanity. We have
the deepest distrust in, and distaste for, stories
of abnormal appearances and conditions. We
find narratives of revenants unconvincing, and
studiously avoid (as utterly lowering) all
spiritualistic methods of communication with
the dead. We have never had the curiosity, or
the desire, to help in the investigations of
psychical phenomena.
3. We belong to no new schools of thought :
we are the daughters of English clergymen,
and heartily hold and teach the faith of our
fathers.
4. We are quite certain that neither of us
exerted any conscious influence over the other ;
for though we saw much in common, yet each
had independent vision. We should think it
wrong either to exercise, or to submit to, in-
fluence of that nature. We are independent
people and accustomed to stand on our own
feet.
5. Our condition at the time was one of


102
AN ADVENTURE
perfect health and enjoyment of a holiday in
the midst of very hard work.
6. We were entirely ignorant of the history
and traditions of the place, and continued our
conversation about other things after every
interruption. We did not even know that we
were in the grounds of the Petit Trianon until
we saw the house.
7. At the time Miss Lamont thought that
there was something unusual about the place
and was puzzled ; the same idea returned to her
occasionally during the following week. Miss
Morison put her feeling of oppression down to
some physical fatigue in herself, and so said
nothing; for we did not know one another very
well at that time, were in the relation of hostess
and guest, and neither of us thought of enlarg-
ing on uncomfortable sensations. After some
days, when Miss Morison was writing an
account of the expedition, she thought it over
with care, and realised that her sensations had
not been caused by fatigue, but had produced
fatigue. She became convinced that the op-
pression had been due to some unusual cause in
the place itself, and instantly turned to Miss
Lamont and said so. Miss Lamont agreed.


ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS 103
ma
We then discussed the man by the kiosk and
the running man, but said that there was much
besides which had caused dreamy depression.
Miss Morison returned to her letter and wrote
down: “We both think that the Petit Trianon
is haunted.”
When we met next (three months later) we
talked it over again, and finding that Miss
Lamont had not seen the lady, and that Miss
Morison had not seen the plough, cottage,
woman, or girl, we resolved to write separate
accounts of our visit in order to find the dis-
crepancies, but with no idea of making ex-
haustive histories. These papers are still in
existence. Miss Lamont, in her story, used the
words “uncanny” and “eerie” to describe her
feelings, but they did not mean that she had the
least idea at the time that any of the people
encountered were unreal or ghostly; this was
still more true of the scenery.
8. During the next three years, Miss Lamont
repeatedly took parties of girls over the Trianon,
and she reported that the place was changed ;
but Miss Morison could not believe it, and even
made maps to remind her what their old route
had been. After Miss Morison had paid a


104
AN ADVENTURE
second visit to Trianon in July, 1904, and had
found out for herself that the place was entirely
changed, it was resolved to undertake a personal
research into the matter, and to say no more
until we had discovered for ourselves whether
our vivid recollections of the people and
the place tallied with any ancient reality or
not.
Up to that time we had told the story freely,
with the result that we have constantly traced
it inaccurately reported in histories, sometimes
purporting to have come from other sources,
and even in newspapers and small periodicals.
After research had begun to yield interesting
results, we were obliged to be silent, find-
ing that publicity prevented our getting at
evidence.
We are very busy people, and have refused
to let the incident take a prominent place in our
time, interests, or fancy, though from the first
we agreed to lose no given opportunity of
elucidation. The evidence has, therefore, come
slowly ; but the manner in which it has come
has often been a source of surprise. If a helpful
person came in our way, we showed the whole
thing: if we were casually asked if certain


ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS 105
reports were true, we confirmed them (when we
could), but said nothing further. We were
anxious to wait until we had exhausted every
possible means of satisfying ourselves as to the
exact amount of interest attaching to the story;
and it was several years before we had to
believe that we had seen the place as it had
been a hundred years before, and as it had not
been, in several important particulars, since
1835. The research had been undertaken with
the idea of disproving the suggestion that any-
thing unusual had happened, for we were
resolved not to deceive ourselves or anyone
else, if personal industry could prevent it.
9. In the course of the last four or five
years, Miss Lamont has searched for evidence
bearing on the story (either by word or pic-
ture) in the Archives nationales, in the library,
museum, Mairie, and Archives departmentales
at Versailles : also in the libraries Nationale,
Hôtel de Ville, and in the Musée Carnavalet,
and in the Conservatoire de Musique at Paris.
She has poked about in French book and
print shops, and must have seen a large
number of the originals of the published plans,
illustrations, and accounts of the place. We


106
AN ADVENTURE
believe that there is not likely to be any
striking documentary evidence other than we
have dealt with.
10. The historical interest of the story seems
to depend on the truth of the tradition that
the Queen went to Trianon on October 5th,
1789. We can find no negative evidence of
this, but extremely little which is both affir-
mative and trustworthy. Madame Campan's
short statement remains the basis of other
people's longer and more detailed narratives.
General La Fayette's full account of the day
was burned by his wife during the Terror.
Count Fersen's memoirs were also partly de-
stroyed. The Abbé Bossuet had Madame de
Tourzel's careful history of that day burned ;
but in the published memoirs she says that
she was in residence that day at Versailles, as
Gouvernante des enfants de France; she does
not mention having gone to Trianon, as im-
plied by Marion's story, but it is still possible.
Most French historians now adopt Madame
Campan's statement, but in the words of one
of them) “with some doubts.” It is worth
mentioning that many later historians insert
the fact (though it is not recorded by Madame


ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS 107
Campan) that "the Queen was accompanied
by a single valet.” Is this a tradition ?
1. We do not believe in anniversaries in
the usual sense. We have tested both our
days (August 1oth and January 2nd), going,
as far as possible, under the same circum-
stances, without any result at the Petit Trianon.
Yet it is possible that if we entered into an act
of memory, it may well have been first made on
the terrible roth of August, 1792, though the
memory itself was occupied (in the central place)
with the events of October 5th, 1789. The dress
of the messenger was more suitable for October
than August. At the same time Vaudreuil
left France the previous summer and cannot
have sat in the Trianon woods after the taking
of the Bastille, July 14th, 1789.
There is an incoherence about both the large
and small incidents which seems to require
combination within a single mind, and the only
mind to which they could all have been present
would have been that of the Queen. Our
theory of 1901, that we had entered within
the working of the Queen's memory when she
was still alive, is now enlarged. We think
that the two first visits to Trianon (August
was
nov
anon


108
AN ADVENTURE
10th, 1901, and January 2nd, 1902) were part
of one and the same experience; that quite
mechanically we must have seen it as it ap-
peared to her more than a hundred years ago,
and have heard sounds familiar, and even some-
thing of words spoken, to her then.
Having been for two most trying years con-
fined to Paris, and (excepting for a visit to
St. Cloud) through two hot summers, and being
in the midst of the tumultuous horrors of the
great tenth of August, she may, as the day
wore on, and she grew more used to her miser-
able position in the Hall of the Assembly-
where she sat for eighteen hours—have fancied
(in memory) the grounds at Trianon more
spacious than they really were; and have seen
the trees, as one sees trees in recollection, like
a picture without life, depth, or movement.
In rêverie her mind may have wandered from
the familiar sight of the two Bersys at the gate,
to the little vision of two men gathering up
garden rubbish into a cart (which we know
happened on October 5th, 1789, as well as one
day during the last winter she spent at Ver-
sailles), and which-without any reason-had
remained in her mind. She may have thought


ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS 109
vas
of the place as it was during that year of the
meeting of the States-General when the
grounds were, for the first time, thrown com-
pletely open to the public, and intruding
strangers could be seen there. Or she may
have gone back to the earlier years and the
pleasant afternoons when the band played on
the pelouse in front of the house, and to the
excitement of acting in the little theatre with
her special friends, perhaps letting herself
realise the unkindness of the pressure put upon
her by Vaudreuil to have the acting of the
Mariage de Figaro authorised.
How naturally the thought of him would
have formed one picture in her mind with the
memory of the last scene, when she was
hurriedly summoned from Trianon, never to
return! For she may very likely have sup-
posed all that she was suffering to have been
more exclusively the result of her own former
mistakes than could have been just, and have
been going over them in her mind.
On our return to Paris on the day of the
original visit to Trianon, when undoubtedly her
image was uppermost in our thoughts, and the
recollection of her terrible end was hardly to


110
AN ADVENTURE
be endured, the recurring consolation to Miss
Morison was, “She has forgiven it all now,
and knows the true meaning of the French
Revolution on both its good and bad sides, and
also the exact proportion of her own part in it.”
But the act of memory which had so strangely
and mechanically clung to the place, with
which we had, perhaps, been associated in
the grounds, was incoherent and pictorial. It
was oppressive to us because it represented a
more limited view of those times than after a
hundred years we have learnt to take of them,
and was far more limited than any thought the
Queen can have about them now.
12. Our answer to the suggestion that we
were in a state of suspended consciousness is
that our conversation and sense of the quiet
continuity of things remained unbroken, and,
in spite of oppression, believed ourselves to
be particularly wide awake and on the
alert. When we were first asked whether
the man from the side building was real
or not, we laughed at the idea of any un-
reality; all was so quietly natural that we
are still uncertain whether the tall gardener
belonged to another century or not. It has


114 AN ADVENTURE
from leaves after October 4th, 1789, and that
“Mariamne” is only mentioned as having been
paid for work in the grounds in 1783, as one of
several children so occupied.
If masqueraders were posing as guards at the
porte du jardinier, the cinematograph idea does
not explain the reappearance of the old cottage
close by, in its former position as placed in
Mique's map of 1783. If the part of the Queen
was being acted, what of the orchard of trees
we saw her looking into, not now in existence;
also, what is the account of the barrier at our
right hand screening off the present view and
exactly answering to the old enclosure of the
Jeu de Bague?
The cinematograph does not explain the man
who opened the great door of the chapel, easily
banging it behind him as he came out ; for in
1907 the people living in the place believed that
it had not been opened since the days of Louis
XVI., and the keeper of the key knew that
even the door of the landing had not been
opened for fifteen years. How was the wall
lowered, which now largely hides the great
door from the terrace, and inakes it necessary
to go down one flight of steps and up another,


116
AN ADVENTURE
of anything so considerable would have been in
the catalogue.
Even should it be proved that a cinemato-
graph had been taken that very day, it would
not be a possible explanation to us. The
groups we saw were small and isolated from
one another. There was the deepest silence
everywhere, and no sunshine ; whilst the light
was the worst possible for a picture, for the
sky was overcast. And though whilst we
stood there an indefinable air of strangeness
dropped over everything, including the tall
forest trees, it was not of a kind that could be
accounted for by fictitious scenery. The people
moved and spoke as usual, but their words were
extraordinarily difficult to catch.
In September, 1910, the question of such
representation was settled by an enquiry of the
authorities. No leave to take cinematographs
had been granted in August, 1901. The fête
had been on June 27th, and the photographs of
it had been taken sufficiently near the time to
be published in the July number of Versailles
Illustré. Not one of the pictures in this number
is in the least like what. we saw either in the
matter of subjects, costumes, or places. The


118 AN ADVENTURE
as we had first talked about are constantly being
repeated to us; some with the little additions
we can recognise as our own early surmises ;
generally with the omission of points we did
not know to be interesting until later; and
often with all the muddles arising from the
attempt to shorten a long story, with a few
unauthorised additions and explanations thrown
in. These stories are told to us as being the
property of persons we have never heard of.
We have constantly enquired on what authority
they rest, and, if there is any at all, we have
not infrequently been able to discover the track
they have followed from us back to us again.
17. We do not think that deception explains
it. If we were deceived in one, two, or three
points, could we have been in all ? For out of
them we have been able to reconstruct the story
of Trianon in many tiny details, the truth of
which we have had to discover for ourselves.
18. We are constantly asked why we, of all
people, should have had such an adventure?
We are equally puzzled; and have come to
think that it may not be so unusual as it seems.
We can imagine that people, even if they sus-
pected anything unusual (which they might


CHAPTER IV
A RÊVERIE
A Possible Historical Clue
To find the causes of the universal movement,
which for convenience we call the French
Revolution, one should be a trained historian,
philosopher, and theologian, and be able to
pass in review and justly estimate the aspirations
for political consolidation, greater individual
responsibility, and the revolt against Papal
tyranny over consciences, as they had been
working in all European countries for many
centuries. To find the causes for the particular
form which this universal development took in
France, it would be necessary to weigh the
moral, social, and political (including the fiscal)
tendencies of earlier generations. This would
be manifestly impossible in a paper dealing
with the revolution in France as it may have


122 AN ADVENTURE
On
appeared to a single mind, on one special
day, at a time of great mental excitement.
There can be no doubt that Marie Antoinette
was the innocent victim of a world-wide up-
heaval in the moments when men were first
consciously developing it, and we can well
believe that to herself the reasons for such
reversals of older thoughts seemed inscrutable ;
whilst she would have vainly sought, in reflecting
over her own mistakes, for grounds sufficient
to justify the enormous misfortunes which
overwhelmed her personally.
The tenth of August, 1792, was a marked
day in the history of the French Revolution.
The tide of French democratic reaction against
the ever-increasing selfishness of privilege, and
the inability of the rulers to sympathise with
the growing desire for greater freedom and less
personal government, had been gathering force
with constantly increasing momentum; and on
this day Louis XVI. virtually relinquished all
independence as Head of the State by sur-
rendering himself, for the sake of the safety of
his family and to save France from the crime
of massacring its King, into the doubtful care
of the Legislative Assembly.


A RÊVERIE
123
That Assembly grew out of the States-
General which had been convened by the
King, May 5th, 1789, at one of the critical
moments when the dissatisfaction of the nation
with its financial conditions produced keen
anxiety to the Court; and it had (on another
epoch-making day of that unrestful period)
refused, on June 23rd, 1789, to be dissolved by
mandate of the King. From that moment the
National Assembly had become the centre of
the reforming party in France. Louis XVI.,
as King, did not seem to stand in the way of
the wishes of the nation as expressed by the
Assembly. He appeared to be willing to
forego more of his prerogatives than was
compatible with the existence of monarchy as
understood in France; but, it was believed, the
Queen was of a different opinion and desirous
of upholding the ancient monarchical idea as a
practical force, which at that time, in spite of
the King's amiability and absence of policy,
could not be otherwise than hostile to the still
vague, but unbounded, aspirations of the
democratic party. “Madame Veto” had that
influence over the King due to a strong
personality and her position as a much loved


124
AN ADVENTURE
Tas
aso
wife ; upon her, therefore, fell the wrath of the
nation. It was instinctively recognised that
as a wife and mother she had every reason to
desire the continuance of things as they were,
and the people quickly interpreted every act
of vacillation on the King's part to the Queen's
active enmity to the rising forces of democracy.
It was on August 10th, 1792, that the Legis-
lative Assembly was made to realise another
function belonging to it beyond that of fighting
the prerogatives of the King and of the aris-
tocracy. In such a restless age, and in such a
country as France, it was impossible to suppose
that the outspoken longings of philosophers,
poets, and statesmen for freedom, should not
stir up the hope of freedom from all authority
and restraint whatever in the lowest stratum
of society. The lengths to which the mob in
Paris could go had, during the last three years,
shown itself on isolated occasions, but with
increasing frequency and savagery. Both mob
and Assembly were animated by the same
desire, viz. to make monarchy in France abso-
lutely helpless to withstand their will. The
Assembly was trying to bring it about with
some appearance of constitutional decency,
some


A RÊVERIE
125
without apparently perceiving that unless the
King was allowed to banish himself, a dis-
crowned monarch without any raison d'être
whatever in the country inevitably meant his
ultimate, and perhaps speedy, disappearance
by death. The mob saw its policy more
clearly, and was ready to get rid of him and
the Queen by instant murder.
Thus, on the morning of August roth, the
Legislative Assembly had the double part to
play of continuing its assault on privilege whilst
protecting the royal family from destruction.
When, at some moment between 7 and 9
a.m., Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette entered
the Manège in which the Council met, there
was, at first, some attempt at restrained cour-
tesy showing itself in the grave assurance of
protection in reply to the King's request, and
also in half an hour's doubt as to where he
should sit down. But the Assembly was entirely
aware of its victory in this act of unconditional
surrender on the part of the King, and would
allow no royal guards of any description to
enter. There was a short alarm lest it should
have to defend itself against the cannon of the
insurgents, the sound of firing approaching


128
AN ADVENTURE
sistent with republicanism and, though worsted
in it, the events of the last three years probably
justified it in her own mind.
She inherited a belief in a strong rule, bene-
ficent as her own kindly nature required, but
one that could fight its battles and make full
use of such opportunities as hereditary kingship
possessed. Again and again she had felt that the
King's action was worse than nothing. Marie
Antoinette would have sternly punished the
crime of killing the King's officials ;? she would
have upheld the sovereign office as long as
there were those who prized it. The country
could never have reached the present point
of rebellion if the taking of the Bastille, for
instance, had not been condoned and the murders
and outrages connected with it had not been
allowed to pass without adequate punishment
Why were the troops dismissed so soon after,
and the nobles allowed to emigrate? It may
have been right for the monarch to urge upon
some of them the danger in which they stood
i De Launay; governor of the Bastille, July 14, 1789.
Flescelles ; prévôt des marchands,
Foulon ; ministre,
} July 4, 1789.
Berthier; intendant de l'Ile de France, .


130 AN ADVENTURE
and cold blooded carnage were then and there
destroying the last stronghold! The tiny loge,
only 10 feet square, so painfully hot and full of
comers and goers, seemed to the despairing
Queen empty of all who should have been
there to represent the monarchical principle.
The presence of the Prince de Poix and the
Duc de la Rochefoucauld and a few others,
who were endangering their lives by being
with them, only emphasised the forlornness of
the royal condition.
Looking from her dismal corner in the loge
at the King, who sat with impassive mien
facing the assembly, what waves of painful
emotion must have swept across her brain !
The King could not see things from her point
of view, but he had loved and spoilt her. He
had been faithful to her, as no French monarch
for many generations had been loyal to his
wife. He was devoted to her and to their
children; had paid her debts again and again ;?
1 In 1783 the Queen's wardrobe cost 199,000 livres ; in 1784
it cost 217,000 livres ; in 1785 it cost 252,000. One dress only
worn once cost 6000 livres, not counting the material. La Reine
Marie Antoinette, De Nolhac, pp. 36, 63.
In 1777 the Queen's personal debts amounted to 487,000
livres, which the King paid out of his own purse. All this was


A RÊVERIE
131
had ennobled and enriched her friends; his
patience and magnanimity were saintly; but
how often had she raged against his theory
that the King's duty was to set an example
of lofty forbearance and forgiveness of every ,
injury even when done to him as representing
the law, justice, and power of the whole French
peoples. She had instinctively felt that had
she been in the King's place she would have
found her way through the past crises without
either descending from her throne or doing
wrong to the most Christian charity. She
knew that she was kind-hearted, and had
always loved to be the benefactress of others :
yes, she too could forgive royally when for-
giveness was due from her in her own person,
but not when it required injustice to others.
But Marie Antoinette was too clear-sighted
to impute all the blame of this downfall to the
King's mistakes. No double his feeble idea
had been to behave as though the democrats
only were the nation, forgetting the contrary
view of those who had either banished them-
selves or who were perforce silent unless he
changed after the birth of her first child, and the Queen, from
that time, cut down every possible expense.


134
AN ADVENTURE
of her son was secure. She had long accustomed
herself to the thought of being assassinated,
but there was no fear of a judicial murder ; no
government of France would sink to such a
point of wickedness and unwisdom in the face
of a united Europe. They would be con-
demned to more years of miserable bondage,
but they would be together ; friends would
rally; circumstances would clear themselves.
The Queen had it in her still to do and dare
everything if there were any hope of surmount-
ing the present crisis.
If she might only act! But no, the Queen's
heart sank again as the numbing sense of help-
lessness came over her, remembering that she
would not be allowed to act. It was always the
King who had the last word. She might plan,
but he, with all his love and confidence in her,
invariably thwarted every attempt requiring
some spirit of defiance. He had ruined the
Varennes scheme by letting himself be re-
cognised at critical moments. Why did he
review the guards that morning, and make it
Even in the Conciergerie the Queen seems to have dis-
believed in the likelihood of a formal condemnation to death.
Marie Antoinette, Lenotre, pp. 247, 270.


136 AN ADVENTURE
MOV
Exhausted by horror and disappointment,
what strength remained to the Queen must
have spent itself in thoughts for her little
son, who with touching obedience was trying
to be “ bien sage avec ces vilains hommes."! If
she was personally helpless to save his crown,
surely the Kings of Europe would see to it.
Again hope revived at the thought of a
successful war already beginning. The false
moves of the last years perhaps only meant
at the worst, that though she and the King
had to die at the hands of an enraged but
defeated France, the boy would escape. With
victorious armies surrounding Paris, there
would be those within who would then be
roused to get the lad into the protection of
friends. Surely God would help him then!
But what if everything should fail?
Fatality had overtaken every reasonable
hope since this terrible revolution had begun.
There were forces of mysterious and terrific
magnitude, which seemed to her to be
bearing away everything that had been stable
hitherto. Her ignorance of what constituted
these forces increased their terror for her.
1 La Rocheterie, p. 438.


A RÊVERIE
137
During the two hours when the deputies
separately repeated the words of the oath to
maintain liberty, equality, or die, the Queen in
utter weariness tried to penetrate the mystery
of that fatality which seemed to overtake
royalty in France, and herself in particular.
Perhaps for a moment she realised that had
she seriously studied history some light might
have come as to the meaning of this crushing
movement. The volumes of Hume's History
of England, which in early days had been
carelessly listened to, conveyed little to her
inattentive mind.1 She did not know even
the history of France intelligently enough to
be able to guess whether the enveloping
force owed its strength to anything which
could have been foreseen. Was there anyone
who could have foreseen this trend of events,
when it was only last year that the Con-
stitution had been applauded to the skies as
the consummation of political wisdom? 2
Was the penury of the country and the
starving condition of the poor at the bottom of
1 La Reine Marie Antoinette, De Nolhac, p. 184.
? Almanack Historique de la Revolution Française pour
l'année 1792, par M. J. P. Rabaut (contemporain).


A RÊVERIE
145
maz
V
mazy wood beyond the Vergelay bridge follow-
ing in thought the sound of the light operatic
music, so often played on bright afternoons,
which drifted past her as she made her way
along the wood paths. Well-known bars of
Monsigny's music mingled with reminiscences
of Sacchini's and Grétry's operas. Was it
not on an August day, twelve years ago,
that she first acted herself in the charming
little newly-built theatre? It was in a play
of Sedaine (Le Roi et le Fermier) for which
Monsigny had written music, especially for
the Trianon; and with pain it was remembered
that the plot of the play was the favourite one
at Trianon, viz. the superiority of the farmer's
condition over that of the King. Vaudreuil
had acted the part of the farmer lover to
her Jenny. The Queen's thoughts flew to
another, and the last, acting, so immediately
followed by the frightful episode of the diamond
necklace when outrage first touched her and
personal popularity was finally lost. Under
pressure from the Comte de Vaudreuil she had
1 August ist, 1780. 2 August 19th, 1785.
3 Cardinal Rohan had been arrested four days before, on
August 15th, 1785.


A RÊVERIE
147
imprinted on her memory. She had wandered
up the lane past the logement des corps de gardes,
and had noticed on the ground near the lodge
gates the old plough,—a reminiscence of Louis
XVI.'s boyhood. Coming towards the porte
du jardinier, she had seen Rodolphe and Fidel
Bersy? in the long green coats of the petite
livrée of the gardes. They were directing some
strangers. These guards were special friends
of hers. Had she not paid all expenses out of
her own purse when Rodolphe's children had
been ill with smallpox ?4 Whilst passing them
she had noticed Marie Anne Lemaignan 5
. Histoire de Marie Antoinette, Rocheterie, pages 289, 290.
Vol. i.
2 The brothers Bersy with Bréval were generally selected for
guarding the porte du jardinier whenever the Queen was at
Trianon, Arch. Nat. O', 1880. They had the title of garçons
jardiniers de la Chambre, O1, 1878.
3 Probably green, as it was worn by the Suisses, piqueurs,
gardes des portes, garçons jardiniers, and such royal servants
as filled the minor parts at the royal theatre at Versailles,
Arch. Nat. O', 1883. The traditional dress is still to be seen
at the Comédie Française, which is the descendant of the old
Royal Theatre. The Comte d'Artois was captain of the guards
(including the gardes des portes) in 1789, and his livery was
green.
* In 1785, Arch. Nat. O1, 1883.
5 The names “Lemonguin” and “Magny” are to be found in
the old lists of under-gardeners at Trianon, Arch. Nat. O?,
K 2


148
AN ADVENTURE
S000 m2
standing near her mother on the steps of
their cottage outside the enclosure. The
Queen calculated that the girl, who had then
been fourteen years old, must now be a young
woman of seventeen, and with her promise of
beauty 4 would soon marry: probably, she
thought, to young Charpentier, who was
1876, 1877. “Mariamne" is mentioned among the children
paid for picking up dead leaves in the grounds, 1783, Arch.
Nat. O1, 1877.
1 Marion's mother died shortly before 1793, Légendes de
Trianon, Lavergne.
? In Mique's map of 1783 there is a building outside the wall
between the ruelle and the porte de jardinier.
3 If Marianne was 21 at her son's birth in 1796 she would
have been 8 in 1783, and 14 in 1789.
4 In 1793 “Marion” (daughter of an under-gardener) was
chosen by the Versailles Republican Club to personate the
local Goddess of Reason. Horrified at the prospect, the night
before the installation on the altar of the Versailles Notre
Dame, she so completely disfigured her face with scratches
from a thorn branch that she never completely lost the marks
(Legéndes de Trianon, Mdme Julie Lavergne, pp. 91-97).
6 In 1786 “Charpantier" is mentioned as an ouvrier terrassier,
having to clear up sticks and leaves, plant flowers, and rake
(Arch. Nat. O', 1878).
Charpentier seems to have been the " Jean de l'eau," so
called from his daily duty of fetching water from Ville d'Avray
for the Queen's table. He even tried to get it to her when
she was in the Conciergerie, August, 1792. He was afterwards
wounded at Marengo and became a captain, and in 1805 was
appointed by Napoleon jardinier en chef at the Petit Trianon,
and married Marion (Légendes de Trianon, p. 97).


A RÊVERIE
149
re
already, she knew, attached to the girl. The
Queen's intimacy with her servants at Trianon
had been a never-failing happiness, and she
thought with infinite tenderness of the troubles
their loyal sympathy for her must be causing
them now.
Passing through the gardeners' enclosure
and the porte d'entrée she had come into the
English garden. Advancing a few steps, she
had suddenly caught sight of Vaudreuil sitting
by the small circular “ruine,”ı dressed, she
remembered, in the slouch hat and large cloak
which had become fashionable since he had
The marriage certificate of Alexandre Charpentier, in 1823
(at that time chef d'atelier aux Pepinières Royales de Trianon,
and, later, for many years jardinier en chef at Trianon), shows
that he was the son of Louis Toussaint Charpentier, pension-
naire, and Marie Anne Lemaignan (Mairie de Versailles).
1“ Dec. 5, 1780. Commencé par ordre de M. Mique le model
de la partie de la grotte ... du coté des montagnes ... là
dessus une petite ruine d'architecture, l'avoir penté, planté, et
gazonné."
“Detail estimatif d'une ruine formant la naissance d'une
rivière, savoir-Fouille de terre-maçonnerie ... le massif
et le rigolle des fondations ... pierre dure . . . colonnes avec
les murs au derrière ...7 colonnes . ..7 chapiteaux ...
partie de la voute ... le parement des murs ... le fossite
pour l'architecture . . . Recapitulation ...7 chapiteaux lon-
iques, antique ... 5 membres . . . 5 rosaces . . . 9358 livres"
(Arch. Nat. O', 1878).
The Temple de l'Amour is more than once called a “ruine,"


A RÊVERIE
153
she had noticed that the little stream issuing
from the grotto had not been cleared, but was
choked with dead autumn leaves. This un-
usual and forlorn sight had remained in her
mind. Here she had sat for a time looking at
the place now deserted by all who had formerly
been with her there, and, as was inevitable at
that time of political anxiety, became engrossed
in mournful anticipations of further troubles.?
They had pressed more than she could bear,
and feeling a sudden desire to speak to some-
one she had entered the moss-lined grotto.3
The streams were cleared of dead leaves on Oct. 1, 2, 3, but
not on the 4th or 5th or after that date (O, 1877).
2 Memoirs of Marie Antoinette, by Madame Campan, p. 201.
Légendes de Trianon, by Madame Julie Lavergne, p. 75.
3 In the time of Marie Antoinette there were at least three
grottos at Trianon, of which only one remains intact, and that
possibly the last created; it may have been formed along with
the Escargot hill, raised in 1781 (Arch. Nat. O', 1877).
The oldest grotto is mentioned in 1777 as ending at the porte
d'entrée (O', 1875). Issuing from the side of this first grotto was
a “naissance de rivière,” which fed (perhaps by pipes) the
small circular lake, whose waters passed under the Rocher
bridge, through the great lake to the stream which meandered
through the grounds. A small "ruine” having seven columns, a
dome roof, and walls, stood above the spring “formant la
naissance de la rivière" (O', 1878, Desjardins, p. 90).
Such waters as drained naturally through the first grotto seem
to have collected in a little pool at the lower end. In June,
1780, a new “petite rivière,” intended to carry these stagnant
2)


A RÊVERIE
155
the elevated rocks, she called to Marie
Anne Lemaignan, whose father's cottage was
not far off. Fancying that she heard the
girl running to her, the Queen had turned
and was surprised to see, instead of the girl,
a garcon de la Chambre, who, in a state of great
agitation, handed her a letter from M. de
Saint Priest, a minister at the Palace. Her
memory recalled the look of that man, also
in the fashionable Spanish hat and cloak,
flying over one of the upright rocks placed
near the path by her orders. He had been
so anxious that she should wait at the
house whilst he fetched the carriage that she
relinquished her first thought of hurrying
back by the woods, and she turned instead
to go to the little bridge which crossed the
tiny waterfall. How fond she was of that
little rustic bridge, which she had had placed
high up on rocks, hiding the Theatre and
* Légendes de Trianon, Madame Julie Lavergne, p. 76.
2 (Rocks placed) “Pièce donnant au bord du lac de l'ancien
jardin cote des rochers ... au long du chemin de l'emplace-
ment de la Ruine sur la conduitte en bois à la zième Source du
Ravin" (O', 1882).
In 1788 “Pièce au dessus du Rocher du Ravin et . . . passage
des voiture sur le pont de bois . . . Pièce à droite en face du
Rocher du Ravin."


A RÊVERIE
157
who now came in as they liked passed her by
and even went up on to the terrace behind
her by the staircase at her left hand. The
Queen knew that her concierge (Bonnefoy Du
Plan) 2 was informed that she was there, and
would certainly, on seeing them from his attic
window over the chapel, send someone to ask
them to go further from the house. It might
not have been wise, but her old servants had
done all they dared to protect her privacy. She
had before now, when wandering about alone,
heard the coldness and unconcern with which
the Bersy brothers had directed strangers in
the grounds. Just as she had expected, a
moment later, the Queen had heard the slam of
the chapel doors and had thought that Lagranget
would probably conduct them into the avenue
by the passage of the porte de la ménagerie,
1 After May, 1789, the grounds were thrown open (Des-
jardins, p. 345).
2 Le Petit Trianon, Desjardins, pp. 188, 189.
3 The great door of the chapel, which led into the royal
gallery, opened upon a terrace then joined to the western terrace
of the house.
* The name of the Suisse (in 1789) in charge of the porte du
perron de la Chapelle was Lagrange. His rooms were behind
the chapel (Desjardins, p. 189).


160 AN ADVENTURE
were terrible to look at. It was they who
enacted the horrid scene of beheading the two
murdered guards (Varicourt and Deshuttes)
under the royal windows in the Cour de
Marbre; and until they marched off to Paris
carrying with them the two decapitated heads
on spikes, it was impossible to come to any
terms with the mob. But after their departure,
by Lafayette's wish (which at that time amounted
to command), first the King and then the Queen
had ventured on to the balcony, and had been
greeted with some warmth.
And now, three years later, they had not the
1“Parmi eux se trouvoient des hommes de figure étrange,
ce qui sembloient y avoir été appelés ; car le peuple de Paris
a sa physionomie, et ceux qui le connoissent savent bien dis-
tinguer les étrangers qui s'y confondent. Ces bandes farouches
avoient précedé la garde nationale, dont il faut bien la distin-
guer ; elles causèrent tout le désordre du lendemain. ... Au
dehors, les brigands s'étoient emparés de deux gardes du
corps ; ils leur coupèrent la tête, malgré les efforts de ceux
des gardes nationaux qui arrivoient. ... Enfin cette bande de
scélérats reprit la route de Paris, emportant en signe de victoire
les deux têtes des gardes des corps. Avec eux disparut toute
l'horreur des scènes sanglantes du matin. Alors le caractère
national se montra dans toute sa candeur. Les soldats parisiens
et les gardes du roi s'embrassent.”—Almanach Historique de
la Revolution Française, M. J. P. Rabaut, pp. 151.153.
This was written in 1791, and Rabaut was guillotined later
"comme Girondin."


162 AN ADVENTURE
elders it was neither to rest nor to sleep, for
they were still within sound of the fierce mob
outside as well as of the distant hum of the all-
powerful Assembly about to decree their final
destiny.
Three more weary days and nights spent in
much the same manner were forced upon the
unhappy family before they were conducted to
the Temple, and into what proved to be for
the majority of them the valley of the shadow
of death.
E. M.
November, 1908.
GLASGOW: PRINTED AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS BY ROBERT MACLEHOSE AND CO. LTD.



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