“Then he and the Queen on that same evening must escape disguised—­she is a good actress, Ned, and did not play Beaumarchais’s comedies at the little Trianon for nothing; the King will have more trouble—­to Courbevoie, where a detachment of the Swiss Guard will be found to escort their Majesties to Compiegne.  We must make sure of Bachman, who is, I think, of the King’s cause, and must have his promise to detail his Guard at Courbevoie and hold them in readiness.  His troops will be strengthened by a regiment under Marbois, which will push on from Compiegne to meet them.  Should all go well and his Majesty’s request be granted, you must instantly send an aide-de-camp to intercept Marbois and turn him back to Compiegne.  Though I do not doubt Bachman’s loyalty, ’tis well to be on the safe side, so that thou, Ned, and Favernay, and other of the King’s friends must be at Courbevoie to aid his Majesty’s flight and see that no treachery is done.  We must trust Beaufort to accompany the King to the Assembly and stay beside their Majesties to see that our plans do not miscarry within the palace.  And now what dost thou think of the great enterprise?”

“I think it cannot fail of success, if their Majesties will but do their part, and that they will at last appreciate the Marquis de Lafayette at his true value,” says Calvert, warmly.

“I think I shall get small credit in that quarter,” replies Lafayette, smiling a little sarcastically.  “Nor do I feel that I deserve much.  ’Tis to thee and to Mr. Morris that the King’s gratitude is due, and if Louis XVI is saved from his enemies it will be by the courage and generosity of two American gentlemen,” he says, very nobly. “’Twas Mr. Morris’s shrewd wit which first set the enterprise afoot, and ’tis thy coolness and bravery which has carried it so far on its way to success.  I could not have moved hand or foot in the matter without you two.”

After fixing upon the 9th of August as the day on which his Majesty should repair to the Assembly to make his request, and arranging some further details of communication between the army at Compiegne and the troops at Courbevoie, Calvert, in spite of his fatigue (he had ridden for two days and the better part of two nights), set out at once for Paris, where he arrived on the morning of the 5th.

As he feared, he found the city in a state of the greatest agitation.  The different sections of Paris had demanded the dethronement of the King, and the temper of the people was so hostile toward their ruler that his Majesty’s friends were of the opinion that their plan to save him must be put to the test instantly or all would be lost.  Mr. Calvert met those gentlemen (there were five in all besides Calvert—­Monciel, Bremond, Beaufort, Favernay, and d’Angremont) at Monsieur de Monciel’s, together with Mr. Morris, who, although he obeyed the letter of the law he had laid down for himself, could not, to save his life, refrain from being a spectator,