“He went to his desk and took from a drawer a cross of jeweled gold on a long necklace of silver—­a gift from the King—­and put it over my head so that the cross shone upon my breast.

“‘That is for the faith of our people,’ he declared.  ’The guests will assemble on the grounds of the Count late in the afternoon.  You will ride among them on a white horse.  A beautiful maiden in a white robe held at the waist with a golden girdle will receive you.  She will be Human Liberty.  You will dismount and kneel and kiss her hand.  Then the Prime Minister of France will give to each a blessing and to you a sword and a purse.  You will hold them up and say: 

“’"For these things I promise you the friendship of my people and their prosperity.”

“’You will kiss the sword and hang it beside your own and pass the purse to me and then I shall have something to say.’

“So it was all done, but with thrilling details, of which no suspicion had come to me.  I had not dreamed, for instance, that the King and Queen would be present and that the enthusiasm would be so great.  You will be able to judge of my surprise when, riding my white horse through the cheering crowd, throwing flowers in my way, I came suddenly upon Margaret Hare in the white robe of Human Liberty.  Now facing me after these years of trial, her spirit was equal to her part.  She was like unto the angel I had seen in my dreams.  The noble look of her face thrilled me.  It was not so easy to maintain the calm dignity of Washington in that moment.  I wanted to lift her in my arms and hold her there, as you may well believe, but, alas, I was Washington!  I dismounted and fell upon one knee before her and kissed her hand not too fervently, I would have you know, in spite of my temptation.  She stood erect, although tears were streaming down her cheeks and her dear hand trembled when it rested on my brow and she could only whisper the words: 

“‘May the God of your fathers aid and keep you.’

“The undercurrent of restrained emotion in this little scene went out to that crowd, which represented the wealth, beauty and chivalry of France.  I suppose that some of them thought it a bit of good acting.  These people love the drama as no others love it.  I suspect that many of the friends of Franklin knew that she who was Liberty was indeed my long lost love.  A deep silence fell upon them and then arose a wild shout of approval that seemed to come out of the very heart of France and to be warm with its noble ardor.  Every one in this beautiful land—­even the King and Queen and their kin—­are thinking of Liberty and have begun to long for her blessing.  That, perhaps, is why the scene had so impressed them.

“But we were to find in this little drama a climax wholly unexpected by either of us and of an importance to our country which I try in vain to estimate.  When the Prime Minister handed the purse to Franklin he bade him open it.  This the latter did, finding therein letters of credit for the three million livres granted, of which we were in sore need.  With it was the news that a ship would be leaving Boulogne in the morning and that relays on the way had been provided for his messenger.  The invention of our beloved diplomat was equal to the demand of the moment and so he announced: