At the moment that the day began to dawn, she heard afar the
gallop of a horse that drew near, passed the bridge, ascended the
avenue, reached the Chateau, and in response to the challenge of
the guard, she distinguished the words: "An urgent message for
Madame the Governess." It was a letter from the new King. Madame
de Gontaut trembled as she opened it. Charles X. announced to her,
in sad words, that Louis XVIII. was no more, and directed her to
made ready for the arrival of the royal family. "Lodge me where
you and the governor shall see fit. We shall probably pass three
or four days at Saint Cloud. Communicate my letter to the Marshal.
I have not strength to write another word."
"The day was beginning to break," we read in the unpublished
Memoirs of the Governess of the Children of France. "I went to the
bed of Monseigneur. He was awakened. He was not surprised, and
said nothing, and allowed himself to be dressed. Not so with
Mademoiselle. I told her gently of the misfortune that had come
upon her family. I was agitated. She questioned me, asking where
was bon-papa. I told her that he was still in Paris, but was
coming to Saint Cloud; then I added: 'Your bon-papa, Mademoiselle,
is King, since the King is no more.' She reflected, then,
repeating the word: 'King! Oh! that indeed is the worst of the
story.' I was astonished, and wished her to explain her idea; she
simply repeated it.
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