To my great regret I cannot entertain you here, for my
family are too well known for me to suddenly acknowledge a
legitimate nephew of your age, and the Count de Lille would be the
last to believe it. I confess that it has cost me a great deal of
disquiet and anxious thought to find a secure asylum for you."
"And do you think you have found one at last?" asked Louis Charles,
indifferently.
"Yes, I believe so, or rather, I know that I have found one. You
must be taken to a place which no one can suspect as that where you
would be likely to be."
"And what place is this?"
"It is called Mayence."
The boy, who had sat with downcast eyes, perhaps in order not to let
some tears be seen, looked quickly up, and the greatest astonishment
was depicted in his expressive features.
"Mayence?" he asked. "Is not that a fortress on the Rhine which the
troops of the French republic have taken possession of?"
"Yes; and the commandant of Mayence, the head of the troops, is
General Kleber, one of the bravest and noblest soldiers of the
French republic."
"And you, you want to send me to this General Kleber? Ah, my prince,
that would be thrusting me, for the purpose of rescuing me from
persecution, into the very crater of the volcano."
"It is not so bad as you suppose, my young friend.
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