THREE:

THREE:She was, however, first sent to her mother��s family in Austria, where she was received, of course, with great affection, but kept as much as possible from seeing even the French emigr��s, of whom there were so many in Austria. The Austrian plan was to marry her to one of the archdukes, her cousins, and then claim for her the succession to Burgundy, Franche Comt��, and Bretagne; to all of which she would, in fact, have had a strong claim if France could have been dismembered; as these provinces all went in the female line, and had thus been united to the kingdom of France.On the night fixed upon the party, consisting of the Queen, the Comtes and Comtesses de Provence and d��Artois and some ladies and gentlemen of their households, started at three in the morning for Meudon, where a banquet was prepared, after which they went out on the terraces to see the sun rise. It was a lovely night, lamps were scattered about the gardens, guards were posted everywhere, the Queen��s ladies followed her closely. There was a splendid sun rise and all passed off well; but a few days afterwards came out an infamous libel called ��l��Aurore,�� containing accusations and statements so atrocious that the King, taking it to the Queen, said��