T was then at Bath. I was introduced at Madame du Barri’s ; 
and I found her house so agreeable that I scarcely passed a day 
without going thither. . . . . One night, when Madame 
du Barri had a large company, I observed that she seemed very 
uneasy ; I asked her the reason of it, and she complained of 
having a head-ache. The Viscount did not appear. I inquired 
after him ; it was said he was indisposed and Count de Rice was 
keeping him company. She went twenty times out of the room 
under pretence of taking the air, and at last did not return, 
leaving Mademoiselle de Tournou to do the honours of the house. 
The next day, at nine in the morning, I was told that the 
Viscount du Barri had fought with Count de Rice ; that he had 
been killed in the rencontre, and that the Count was dangerously 
wounded. The situation of the Viscountess at once presented 
itself to my mind in all its perplexity. Deprived, in a moment, 
of her husband and of her friends (for Mr. Toole had been one of 
the seconds) ; young, a foreigner, without experience, without a 
knowledge of the language of the country, and surrounded with 
foreign servants ; everything concurred to increase her distress, 
I ran to her house to offer her my services, and asked to speak to 
her valet-de-chambre. His mistress as yet knew nothing of the 
matter ; the two friends had gone out at two o’clock in the 
morning in spite of her efforts and tears. Under pretence of 
going down with her into the dining-room, they had hastily got 
into the street ; she ran after them calling out as loud as she 
could ; they ran faster still, and the darkness soon concealed them 
from her sight. Let anyone imagine this charming young woman 
alone, at two o’clock in the morning wandering about Bath, 
without a guide and abandoned to despair. Her valet-de-chambre, 
who was looking for her, found her leaning against a wall almost 
senseless, and brought her back to her house. . . . Persons 
were sent everywhere without being able to hear anything of the 
Viscount du Barri or the Count de Rice. 
. The servants had heard the general report of the duel, but 
