m4 
) 
BLANCHE DE BEAULIEU. 251 
steed so as to use all the expedition he knew was necessary ; but he 
was quickly re-assured by seeing her vault into the saddle with all 
the ease and grace of the most accomplished horseman. She smiled 
faintly on observing his surprise, and said “ You wouid not be as- 
tonished, did you know all the circumstances which have made 
every manly exercise familiar to me.” “At some future period I 
will hear them, said Marceau ; “our object must now be to gain 
Chollet as quickly as possible: so give your steed the rein, and fol- 
low me.” He spurred his horse into a gallop, and in half an hour 
they entered the town. Proceeding to the Hotel de Sans-Culottes, 
he engaged two rooms, and, conducting his charge to one of them, 
recemmended her to lie down in the clothes she then wore, and en- 
deavour to gain a little of the repose she so much needed, after the 
horrors of the past night. Youth is a period in which misery ap- 
pears so foreign to existence that it seems almost impossible to be- 
come familiarized with it. Thus, Blanche, notwithstanding the 
deserted state in which she found herself, could still look forward 
with hope to the future. The soft voice and elegant figure of the 
republican general had already made an impression on her young 
heart. ‘The idea of death—of the scaffold—never once entered her 
mind, for Marceau had said “ I will save you.” 
The General quickly laid his plans: one only method of saving 
Blanche appeared practicable, which was to convey ber himself to 
Nantes, where his family then lived. For three years he had not 
seen either his mother or sisters, and now, finding himself within a 
few miles of their residence, he determined to wait immediately on 
the general-in-chief, to acquaint him with the success of his late 
expedition, and at the same time solicit him for leave of absence. 
This he obtained without difficulty ; and in a few hours he and his 
young charge set out on their journey. No sooner did he find him- 
self alone with Blanche, thau he claimed her promise of detailing 
to him the events of her past life ; for he already felt a lively inte- 
rest in the young stranger so unexpectedly thrown upon him for 
succour. With a touching simplicity she related the following cir- 
cumstances. Having lost her mother when very young, she had 
become the sole companion of her father, the Marquis de Beaulieu ; 
and was accustomed, from her earliest years, to share with him the 
chace, and all the manly sports of the age. After the insurrection 
of La Vendée broke out, she was thus enabled to show her devotion 
to her fond parent, by following him in the disguise she wore when 
Marceau found her. Perceiving how deeply the young General 
was interested in the recital, she went on to relate all the fatigues 
