Here were a number of the wives and friends of the officers of the various armies.

Here were many of the French nobility, who had abandoned France upon the landing of Napoleon.

Here were numbers of people attracted by curiosity, or the desire of being present at the theater of great events, together with a crowd of simple pleasure-seekers; for Europe had for many years been closed to Englishmen, and as soon as peace had been proclaimed great numbers had crossed the Channel to visit Paris, and had traveled in Germany, Italy, and Switzerland.
The news of Napoleon's return to France had occasioned a great scare among the tourists.

A very few days sufficed for the desertion of Paris and other French towns, and so great was the crowd that the packet-boats between Calais and Dover were insufficient to carry them.
Many of the visitors to Paris instead of leaving for England made for Belgium, and were joined there by travelers hurrying back from Austria, Germany, and other parts of Europe; for none could say what course the events that would follow Napoleon's return from Elba might take.

At Brussels, however, they felt safe; the distance to England was short, and they could, if necessary, leave at any time.