IN SEARCH OF GLORY

The next morning the 18th battalion of 'chasseurs', in dress uniform,
with knapsacks on their backs and fully armed, awaited in the Gare de
Lyon the moment to board the train destined to transport them to the
coast.

At a trumpet-call this movement was executed in silence, and in perfect
order; and only after all the men were installed did the functionaries
who kept the crowd in order take their own places in the carriages,
leaving a throng of relatives and friends jostling one another upon the
quay.

Fanny Dorville and her friend the duenna tried in vain to reach the
compartment wherein Henri had his place, already in marching order; the
presence of the Duc and the Duchesse de Montgeron prevented the two women
from approaching him. Nevertheless, at the moment when the train began
to move slowly out of the station, an employee found the means to slip
into the hands of the Marquis a small packet containing the little fetich
which his mistress had kept for him. It was a medallion of the Holy
Virgin, which had been blessed at Notre-Dame des-Victoires, and it was
attached to a long gold chain.

Thirty-six hours later, on the evening of the 26th of June, the battalion
embarked aboard the Imperial, which, with steam up, was due to leave the
Toulon roadstead at daybreak. At the moment of getting under weigh, the
officer in charge of the luggage, who was the last to leave the shore,
brought several despatches aboard the ship, and handed to Lieutenant de
Prerolles a telegram, which had been received the evening before at the
quay.