[1] These documents, taken by M. Gaston Maugras from the papers of the Minister for Foreign Affairs (France, 319), have been published under the title of L’Idylle d’une “Gouverneur,” la Comtesse de Genlis et le Duc de Chartres. (Paris, Librairie Plon, 1904.)

[2] This was extremely amusing to my lively companions, who could not understand such an occupation.

[3] This decision, given on December 17, 1822, was deposited, with the letter, with MaÎtre A. Chelli, notary at Florence.

[4] These letters, which bore the Florence postmark, have always inspired me with very unpleasant suspicions as to the lawyer Chiappini.

[5] This, the 24th day of June, 1824, sitting in the name of our Lord, Pope Leo XII, the Sovereign Pontiff, happily reigning, in the first year of his Pontificate; declaration xii, at Faenza.

The period of ten days, in which to appeal, having elapsed since the notification of the judgment given by this Ecclesiastical Tribunal of Faenza, on the 24th of May last, in the lawsuit between her Excellency Lady Maria Newborough, Baronne de Sternberg, and M. le Comte Charles Bandini, of this town, acting as legal representative of the Comte Louis and Madame N. de Joinville, and to all such other absent person or persons who may have, or may suppose they have, any interest in the case; also to the Signore Dottore Tomaso Chiappini, living in Florence, in the State of Tuscany, without any one having appealed against it; I, the undersigned, by virtue of the faculties given me by the aforesaid judgment, have proceeded to the carrying out of that judgment, by means of the rectification of the birth certificate produced in the course of the trial, the terms of which are as follows:

[6] His wife.

[7] The Princess Marie-AdelaÏde de Bourbon-PenthiÈvre, who in 1769 married the Duc de Chartres, afterwards the Duke of Orleans, and surnamed EgalitÉ, had, on the 10th of October, 1771, brought into the world a dead girl; and in 1773, though four years married, she had not yet the happiness of being a mother.

It was on the 6th of October of this last year that it is said she gave birth to Louis Philippe, the present duke, successively called Duc de Valois, de Chartres and d’OrlÉans. On the 3rd of July, 1775, Madame de Chartres gave birth to a second Prince, to whom was given the name of Antoine-Philippe, Duc de Montpensier, who died in England on the 18th of May, 1807.

In the month of August, 1777, she experienced the joys of a double maternity by the birth of girl-twins, of whom one died of the measles when she was four years and a half old; the other, first called Mademoiselle de Chartres, is now known under the title of Mademoiselle d’OrlÉans.

Finally, on October 7th, 1779, she once more became a mother by the birth of another Prince, who was named Louis-Charles, Comte de Beaujolais, and died at Malta in 1808.

[8] The Gazetta de Genova of March 2, 1825.

[9] A man of the highest worth, to whom I owe the inestimable obligation of having, under circumstances I cannot mention, preserved for me the liberty and the life of my third son.

[10] The old Count George of that name, having defeated the law in his own country, took refuge in France with the abundant fruits of his vast depredations. Mr. William Stacpoole pursued him, and the mere sight of the French Courts of Justice brought about the famous transaction that made Cooper cry victory; he having taken the modest precaution to get previously from Mr. William the promise of a trifling gratuity of 800,000 francs as a reward for the trouble he was going to take in engaging an advocate to plead against Count George.

[11] Needless to say that they were in a pitiable state, and nearly useless.

[12] It is known that in 1782, the Duc de Chartres took them out of the hands of a man to entrust them to this notorious woman, and that this unprecedented innovation, which was in great part the cause of the subsequent differences between the Duke and his wife, was the occasion of many lampoons and satires. See the Vie Politique de Louis-Philippe d’OrlÉans, and other works.

[13] On the supposition that she had been the young Chiappini’s foster-mother, it would be easy to understand why the eldest of her pupils constantly called her “mother,” and why she herself spoke of him in so maternal a fashion. See the Journal of that Prince and several other works.

[14] See Cooper-Driver’s “Answer to Madame la Baronne’s Statement,” etc.

[15] It would be truer to say “for the immense trouble he had given me.”

[16] If by the title of Duc d’OrlÉans our correspondent means him who alone bore it at that time—that is to say Louis-Philippe, who did not die till 1785, we quite agree with him; but, in that case, we will ask him to take notice that that is by no means the person suspected of having made the exchange. If, on the other hand, he has heard speak of Louis-Philippe-Joseph, son of the former, then Duc de Chartres, and since so well known under the name of d’OrlÉans-EgalitÉ, the sequel of our story must surely make him realize that the truth he has traced to its source is not quite so true a truth as he seems to believe. Let him read to the end.

[17] Those of the sham Duc de Normandie and the sham Baron de Saint-Clair.

[18] The first steward and the second lawyer of the Duke of Orleans.

[19] Alas! probability is not always proved true!

[20] Conjuration de L.-P.-J.; Vie politique du mÊme; Vie du Duc de Chartres, and many other works.

[21] Every one knows of the sad fate of the unfortunate Prince de Lamballe.

[22] See Explication de l’Énigme, and other works.

[23] See Conjurations de L.-P.-J.; La Gazette de France, and other works.

[24] “It is reported,” says the Gazette de Leyde (article on Paris, July 23, 1773), “that M. le Duc de Chartres, under the name of the Comte de Joinville, is about to make a three weeks’ visit to Holland.”

The Journal historique et politique des ÉvÉnements des diffÉrentes cours de l’Europe (Article, France, Aug. 6, 1773), thus announces the carrying out of this plan: “Monsigneur the Duc de Chartres, having taken leave of the King and Royal Family, travelled to Metz, and from there to Thionville, from which place it is believed that Prince will go to Luxembourg and to the Austrian Netherlands, where he will travel under the name of the Comte de Joinville.” We should like to know what the learned Laurentie could now plead in contradiction!

[25] See later, The Time and the Place.

[26] See the deposition of the Cavaliere Don Gaspar Perelli, son of the Governor of that town. Chapter III, Part II.

[27] Conjuration de L.-P.-J., bk. I. It was this mask which, having sullied the natural whiteness of his skin, gave him his dark and brownish complexion.

[28] See Conjuration de L.-P.-J., bk. I; Vie Politique, p. 6; Vie du Duc de Chartres, p. 25, etc.

[29] See the Journal of her life, and other works.

[30] AglaÉ d’Este, daughter of the Duke of Modena.

[31] First with the Princess Mathilde d’Este, his sister-in-law, and then with la belle Forcalquier. See Vie du Duc de PenthiÈvre, by MaÎtre GuÉnara, vol. i, pp. 45 and 114.

[32] See Chapter V, Part II.

[33] MÉmoires de Mme. de Genlis, vol. iii, p. 14.

[34] MÉmoires de Mme. de Genlis.

[35] Ibid. See also the Gazette de France and other works. As to the title of Comtesse de Joinville, the following letter, sent on May 15, 1776, by M. Roger de Jouscolombe, will be a sufficient explanation—

[36] The Duke of Modena was the maternal grandfather of Mme. la Duchesse de Chartres.

[37] MÉmoires secrets ou Journal d’un observateur, etc., 29th July, 1771.

[38] Journal historique, vol. iv, and others.

[39] Journal historique, May 24. See Chapter XII, Part II.

[40] MÉmoires secrets ou Journal d’un observateur, etc., June 21 and 28, and July 15, 1773.

[41] A town in Seine-InfÉrieure, where are the mineral waters the Princess went to drink after her marriage.

[42] He who is now called the Duke of Orleans.

[43] See the MÉmoires de la Genlis, vol. iii; the Journal of Delille, and other works.

[44] MÉmoires de la Genlis, vol. iii, p. 14.

[45] Nouvelles historiques, vol. ii, p. 311.

[46] First Part, Chapter X.

[47] See her correspondence with her husband, and the various lives of this last.

[48] The name by which he usually called his dear Comtesse de Genlis.

[49] Journal of the present Duke, March 25, 1791.

[50] Ibid.

[51] On almost every page of that memorial wherein he painted his own picture so well, with his religious and political opinions, there are such lively exclamations as, “Fine day! beautiful day! Splendid day spent at Belle-Chasse!” It was there la Genlis lived.

[52] This refers to the eldest.

[53] He was the husband of la Genlis!

[54] It is to be noted that when Orleans had finished speaking, a deputy called out to him, “You wretch! it will not be your first sacrifice of your family!” (Conjuration de L.-P.-J.).

[55] La Genlis herself says in set terms that, “in looks he is very different from his brothers,” and the comparison she makes is very far from being in favour of the first (MÉmoires, vol. iii, pp. 150, 164, and following).

[56] See First Part, Chapter VI.

[57] See Chapter VII, Part II.

[58] Perhaps the many trips the Duke made during the summer of 1773, and on which he would take no more than two or three confidential followers (see Gazette de Leyde, August 6th, article, “Paris”), may have had for end nothing but to ensure the success of his infernal project. And perhaps the child may have been deposited in one of those northern places the Prince so often visited.

[59] See Chapter XII, Part II.

[60] See Chapter I, Part I.

[61] MÉmoires secrets ou Journal d’un observateur, June 16th, 1773.

[62] See Chapter II, Part II.

[63] See pages 123, 124, Part I.

[64] Chapter II, Part II.

[65] See Chapter XII, Part II, and MÉmoires de la Genlis, vol. iii.

[66] Journal de Delille, Part I, Chapter VII, and MÉmoires secrets, March 18th, 1876.

[67] See Chapter I, Part I.

[68] See the schedule drawn up at the period of the Revolution.

[69] Newspapers were very rare then, and the populace did not read them. Besides, the Italian papers said little about the Princess’s journey; and it was only the Gazette de France that wrote about it at any length.

[70] See Chapter VI, Part II.

[71] See Chapter III, Part II.

[72] See Chapter XII, Part II.

[73] Ibid.

[74] We read in the Muratore that when it was seen that she had brought forth a dead child, a living one was hastily procured, and shown for a time to the Duchess, so as to spare her a sudden and dangerous grief.

[75] See Chapter II, Part II.

[76] See Journal de Delille, Part I, Chapter IV.

[77] Ibid., Chapter V.

[78] Ibid., Chapter VII.

[79] Explication de l’Énigme, Part I, Book I.

[80] This is what she wrote to him on the subject of la Genlis herself: “Once more, mon cher ami, don’t let us discuss my opinion of Mme. de Sillery. When I parted from her you did not attempt to justify her; you only said that you had essential reasons for keeping to her; and at least I rejoiced at the idea of making a sacrifice for you that you would feel” (See Correspondance de L.-P.-J., p. 184).

Surely we may suppose that the important secret had something to do with these essential reasons.

[81] What, in fact, meant the many secret and ill-managed intrigues, the many spies; the many watchers of my doings; why the pains taken to seize books that were but now to be met with at every step? Why carry out these seizures not only in the provinces of this kingdom, but even in foreign countries—Germany, England, Switzerland, etc.?