He did not make me wait long for
the confirmation of my conjectures. With a sharp, cutting voice he
asked me what kind of a nephew of mine that was whom I was educating
at my palace in Vendee. General de Charette had given him
information through one of his emissaries sending him word that the
report was current in Vendee that this alleged nephew of mine was
the rescued King Louis XVII., whom I had helped release from the
Temple. He, General Charette, had believed it at first. He had
therefore (so the prince went on to say) visited my palace recently,
for the purpose of discovering the supposed young king. There he
convinced himself that the boy bore no resemblance to the little
Louis Charles--whom he had once seen at the Tuileries--and that he
certainly was not the son of Louis XVI."
"He told me only too truly that he would have his revenge,"
whispered the young prince.
"He has kept his oath, for he has loudly and publicly declared his
belief that Louis XVII. died in the Temple, and he has therefore
administered to his army an oath in favor of King Louis XVIII.--that
is, the Count de Provence. The count himself informed me of this,
and then added, threateningly, 'I advise, you, cousin, either to
acknowledge your young nephew, and treat him openly, or else put him
out of the way.
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