exiled twice already. I will not bear it again: I stay in France!"

I heard no more, for it was schooltime, and we had to get into the
carriage; but those words and that first impression remain graven on my
memory.

That day at school was just like any other, but the next, the 27th, as
we came back from the College Henri IV, it was easy to see that there
was a great stir in Paris Deligny's swimming school, at the corner of
the Quai d'Orsay, where we went after school, according to custom, to
take our bath, was full of young men discussing and holding forth, and
relating incidents, true or not, which had occurred during the day. The
Place Louis XV., now the Place de la Concorde, was occupied by the
troops. There was a regiment of Foot Guards, a battalion of the Swiss
Guard, the Lancers of the Guard, the Artillery of the Military School--
magnificent troops all of them, the finest I have seen in any country,
and of which the English Foot Guards alone in these days give any idea.
Officers inspired in the highest possible degree with esprit de corps
and chivalrous devotion, old non-commissioned officers, many of whom had
seen the wars of the Empire, commanding seasoned soldiers, young in
years but old in discipline and instruction, and all proud of the
splendid uniform they wore--such was the Royal Guard. And what shall I
say of the superb Swiss battalions, acknowledged by ancient tradition to
be the finest infantry in the world? These splendid troops, which might
have rendered such great service to France on the battlefield were to
disappear within two days. Upon them too I had looked my last. Close to
the Porte Maillot we met the Duchesse de Berri, riding amongst a
numerous group of equerries. We exchanged friendly greetings. No doubt
her instinct as a woman and a mother led her to try to keep in touch
with passing events.