"May my son," she wrote, "never forget the last words of his father!
I repeat them to him here expressly: 'May he never seek to avenge
our death!' And now I have to speak of a matter which surely grieves
my heart, I know what trouble this child must have occasioned you.
Forgive him, my dear sister; think how young he is, and how easy it
is to induce a child to say what people want to have him say, and
what he does not understand. The day will come, I hope, when he
shall better comprehend the high value of your goodness and
tenderness to both of my children." [Footnote: Beauchesne, "Louis
XVII., sa Vie, son Agonie," etc., vol. i. ., p. 150, facsimile of
Marie Antoinette's letter.]*
At the same hour when Marie Antoinette was writing this, there was a
dispute between Simon and his wife, who had been ordered by the
Convention to watch that night, in order that the enraged
legitimists might not make an effort to abduct the son of the queen.
They were contending whether the execution would really occur the
next day. Simon, in a jubilant tone, declared his conviction that it
would, while his wife doubted. "She is still handsome," she said,
gloomily, "she knows how to talk well, and she will be able to move
her judges, for her judges are men."
"But Justice is a woman, and she is unshakable," cried Simon
emphatically, and as his wife continued to contradict, Simon
proposed a bet.
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