DUCHESS OF ORLEANS. 53 



and the son of the apothecary must be about his age. 

 He had gone to try his fortune in America ; it is evi- 

 dently he who fears to make himself known, having been 

 found with all his riches in a vessel on its way to France. 

 The report spread, became more consistent, and reached 

 the ears of a sister of the apothecary established at Rosas. 

 She runs to me, believes she recognizes me, and falls on 

 my neck. I protest against the identity. " Well played ! " 

 said she to me ; " the case is serious, as you have been 

 found in a vessel coming to France ; persist in your de- 

 nial ; circumstances may perhaps take a more favourable 

 turn, and I shall profit by them to insure your deliver- 

 ance. In the mean time, my dear nephew, I will let you 

 want for nothing." And truly every morning M. Berthe- 

 mie and I received a comfortable repast. 



The church having become necessary to the garrison 

 to serve as a magazine, we were moved on the 25th of 

 September, 1808, to a Trinity fort, called the Bouton de 

 Rosas, a citadel situated on a little mountain at the en- 

 trance of the roads, and we were deposited deep under 

 ground, where the light of day did not penetrate on any 

 side. We did not long remain in this infected place, 

 not because they had pity upon us, but because it offered 

 shelter for a part of the garrison attacked by the French. 

 They made us descend by night to the edge of the sea, 

 and then transported us on the 17th of October to the 

 port of Palainos. We were shut up in a hulk ; we en- 

 joyed, however, a certain degree of liberty ; they allowed 

 us to go on land, and to parade our miseries and our rags 

 in the town. It was there that I made the acquaintance 

 of the dowager Duchess of Orleans, mother of Louis Phil- 

 ippe. She had left the town of Figueras, where she re- 

 sided, because, she told me, thirty -two bombs sent from 



