72 LA MARQUISE DE CREQUY. 



title of Marquis, which the parliament obliged him to lay down. I have al- 

 ready told you the last Marechal de Crequy was a great bear. One day, 

 during a battle, a young officer brought him a letter, the writing and signa- 

 ture of which were perfectly illegible. * What in the name of the devil ! who 

 scrawled this? ' said the Marshal, with an oath. ' The Marquis de Montesson, 

 Marshal/ replied the officer, with a self-sufficient air ; ' my father and your 

 friend.' ' Mons. de Montesson, is neither^a Marquis, your father, nor my 

 friend,' retorted the Marshal. 



THIRD EXTRACT, 1801. 



" The Bishop of Evreux told me that Talleyrand was advising every body 

 to rally round the republican government, and to solicit audience of the first 

 consul, for the purpose of obtaining restitution of the confiscated woods. I 

 told him that Talleyrand would do better by restoring to us the Hotel de 

 Crequey, Rue d'Anjou, where my son formerly lived, and which this benevo- 

 lent churchman had nationally acquired by virtue of the laws of the republic, 

 and, owing to the emigration of my daughter-in-law ; for he lived there 

 then, and it was long afterwards that he sold this delightful abode to an 

 Englishman of the name of Crawford. Baron de Breteuil was my nearest 

 relation and next heir he advised me to write to Buonaparte, and I at last 

 overcame my repugnance. It is impossible to imagine the efforts which this 

 step cost me. 



"Two days afterwards, Colonel , (I do not recollect his name,) aid- 

 de-camp to the first consul, was announced, and I saw enter my apartments 

 a tall young man, who made me three very low bows, and who told me, in 

 the most respectful manner, that the first consul wished to see me, and that 

 he would expect me on the following day at two o'clock. I was utterly con- 

 founded. I answered that I was very old and infirm, but that I would do my 

 best, and I immediately sent off for the Baron de Breteuil, to advise with 

 him on this 'guet-a-pens.' The Baron was of opinion that I ought not to 

 decline the invitation of the chief of the republic, seing that he was restor- 

 ing the woods that had been confiscated. He added that he had also sent for 

 Mde de Coislin, whom he had very well treated, and the Princess de Gue- 

 menee, whom he had styled 'Your Highness/ and towards whom he had 

 acted still more generously by restoring to her the forest of L'Orierit. You 

 must know that these ladies took great care to keep their visits a secret, and 

 there was nothing to hinder us from acting with the same discretion. I con- 

 fess that I was seized with a great curiosity, and it was at last arranged that 

 I should 'repair to the audience of General Buonaparte, but that it should 

 be mentioned to no one, not even to Mdes de Malignon and Montmo- 

 rency. 



" It was on the 10th November the consul had just been installed in 

 the Tuilleries, ' ce pauvre chateau ' appeared to me dreadfully ill clad. I 

 was carried there in a sedan, like Mascarille in Moliere's play; or, if you 

 prefer it, like the Countess Saint Florentine, to the Queen Maria Leczeno- 

 ka's, and I got out at the door of the last saloon. I must tell you, that 

 from the want of a dress, such as was formerly or is now worn on such 

 occasions, I was dressed in my usual costume. The Citoyennc Crequy was 

 announced, and I found myself tete a tete with the hero of Arcola and the 

 lord of the Pyramids. He looked at me for the space of one or two minutes, 

 with an air of profound meditation, which presently assumed one of mock- 

 commiseration. At last he said to me with an expression almost filial, ' I 

 have long desired to see you, Madame la Mareschalle/ adding with an air capa- 

 ble et passablcment impertinent,' ' I have wished to see you, you are a hun- 

 dred years old.' 'Not quite, General; but very nearly so.* 'What is 

 your real age ?" I felt an inclination to laugh at such an interrogation, and 

 especially on account of his active and imperative manner. ' Sir,' I replied 



