Amidst the confusion of so dangerous and complicated a flight, the queen
and her guide crossed the Pont Royal and entered the Rue de Bac, but
instantly perceiving their error, with hasty and faltering steps they
retraced their road. The king and his son, obliged to traverse the
darkest and least frequented streets to arrive at the rendezvous, were
delayed half an hour, which seemed to his wife and sister an age. At
last they arrived, sprang into the coach, the Count de Fersen seized the
reins and drove the royal family to Bondy, the first stage between Paris
and Châlons: there they found, ready harnessed for the journey, a berlin
and a small travelling carriage; the queen's women and one of the
disguised body-guard got into the smaller carriage, whilst the king,
the queen, and the Dauphin, Madame Royale, Madame Elizabeth, and the
Marquise de Tourville took their places in the berlin; one of the
body-guard sat on the box, and the other behind, the Count de Fersen
kissed the hands of the king and queen, and returned to Paris, from
whence he went, the same night to Brussels by another road, in order to
rejoin the royal family at a later period. At the same hour Monsieur the
king's brother, Count de Provence, left the Luxembourg palace, and
arrived safely at Brussels.


X.

The king's carriage rolled on the road to Châlons, and relays of eight
horses were ordered at each post-house: this number of horses, the
remarkable size and build of the berlin, the number of travellers who
occupied the interior, the three body guards, whose livery formed a
strange contrast to their physiognomy and martial appearance, the
Bourbonian features of Louis XVI. seated in a corner of the carriage,
and which was totally out of character with the _rôle_ of valet de