Mademoiselle was not handsome, they said; but of a fine figure, and generally considered as having a very noble and attractive presence.

In character she was daring and wilful (said one set); original and independent (said another).

She was much indulged by her father, who had given her something of a man's education, and selected for her intimate friend a young lady below her in rank, one of the Bureaucracie, a Mademoiselle Necker, daughter of the Minister of Finance.

Mademoiselle de Crequy was thus introduced into all the free- thinking salons of Paris; among people who were always full of plans for subverting society.

'And did Clement affect such people ?' Madame de Crequy had asked with some anxiety.