A Heroine of Conjugal Lover, Madame de La Fayette [pp. 781-794]

A Heroine of Conjugal Love.
young companion began an existence
full, at the same time, of anguish and
delirious joy, of grief and devotion.
The family of Noailles had strongly
adopted philosophical ideas, and will ingly followed the liberal views of the
eighteenth century. The generous en thusiasm, however, which led M. de
La Fayette to devote himself to the ser vice of the American people vindicat ing their independence, was at first
severely disapproved of and consider ed madness by the Duke d'Ayen and
the Marshal de Noailles. The mar quis was nineteen; he had been
married three years, was already a
father, and soon expected a second
child. Madame de La Fayette and
the Duchess d'Ayen alone under stood the motives that determined
the departure of M. de La Fayette;
the former studied in every way to
conceal the torture of her heart, pre ferring to be considered insensible,
or too much of a child, to giving the
appearance, by showing her grief, of
wrong to the object of her worship.
Meanwhile, the great struggle, of
which the new world was the theatre,
and in which aristocratic England
found herself at war with the principal democracy of modern society,
held all Europe in suspense. The
greatest interest was felt in France
for the success of the Americans.
While the French government,
though understanding how matters
stood, hesitated, nevertheless, to take
an open part in the quarrel, public
opinion declared itself still more favorably for the United States; the
various incidents of the war were
greedily sought after, each success
of the insurgents excited enthusiasm,
and soon all hearts beat in unison
with that of Madamie de La Fayette,
for the success of the young hero
who had so actively contributed to
such glorious results.
We must transport ourselves to
VOL. vII. —50
this time, recall its events, watch the
fever of public opinion, to understand
what must have been, after two years'
absence, the first return of M. de La
Fayette, and the intoxication of joy
his wife experienced. He was not
long in setting out again for the new
world, and did not return from there
finally until 1 782, after the brilliant
campaign of which his valor assured
the success, and which terminated by
the surrender of Lord Cornwallis.
His return was unexpected, a sur prise for the court as well as the city:
the memoirs and memories of the
Count de Segur furnished curious
testimony to support what we have
said. We read:
"All who lived in that day will still re member the enthusiasm occasioned by the
return of M. de La Fayette, an enthusiasm of
which the queen herself partook. They
were celebrating, at the Hotel de Ville, a
brilliant fite on the occasion of the birth of
an heir to the throne. The news came of
the arrival of the conqueror of Cornwallis.
Madame de La Fayette, who assisted at the
fete, received a special mark of favor; the
queen placed her in her own carriage, and
drove to the Hotel de Noailles, where the
marquis, her husband, had just alighted."*
The excess of sentiment of Madame de La Fayette for her husband
at this time, was such that she suffered intensely in his presence. She
endeavored to conceal her passion
for him, and trembled lest she might
seem importunate, and weary him.
Some years after, she confessed to
M. de La Fayette this passionate attraction for him which she had so resisted; "but," she added gently,
"you need not be dissatisfied with
what is left."
We, who have only known M. de
La Fayette soured and old, and do
not feel well disposed toward him,
because, under the restoration, he
shadowed his glory as liberator of
*Tome i. p. I8o.
785