384.]
"See, Elizabeth," said the queen, unfolding the little things, each
one of which was carefully wrapped in paper--"see, there is his
wedding-ring. There on the inside are the four letters, 'M. A. A.
A., 19th April, 1770.' The day of our marriage!--a day of joy for
Austria as well as for France! Then--but I will not think of it. Let
me look further. Here is the seal! The cornelian engraved on two
sides. Here on one side the French arms; as you turn the stone, the
portrait of our son the Dauphin of France, with his helmet on his
head. Oh! my son, my poor dear child, will your loved head ever bear
any other ornament than a martyr's crown; will God grant you to wear
the helmet of the warrior, and to battle for your rights and your
throne? How pleased my husband was when on his birthday I brought
him this seal! how tenderly his looks rested upon the portrait of
his son, his successor! and now--oh, now! King Louis XVI. cruelly,
shamefully murdered, and he who ought to be the King of France,
Louis XVII., is nothing but a poor, imprisoned child--a king without
a crown, without hope, without a future!"
"No, no, Antoinette," whispered Elizabeth, who had kneeled before
the queen and had tenderly put her arms around her--" no,
Antoinette, do not say that your son has no hope and no future.
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