502 THE WIFE OF LAFAYETTE. husband. Her father, a nobleman of great estate, soon followed her to the grave, and so this boy of fourteen inherited the estates of two important families. Madem- oiselle de Noallies had great rank and considerable wealth. It is perhaps safe to infer that she was not remarkable for beauty, because no one of her many eulogists claims it for her. Nearly all marriages among the nobility were then matters of bargain and interest, mutual love having little to do with them ; yet many marriages of that kind were very happy, and in all respects satisfactory. Lafay- ette's was one of these. The pair not only loved one another with ardent and sustained affection, but the mar- riage united the two families, and called into being numerous children and grandchildren. Imagine them married then, in April, 1774, the year in which the Continental Congress met at Philadelphia. The young husband — officer in a distinguished regi- ment — was not much at home during the first two years after his marriage ; a circumstance which was probably conducive to the happiness of both, for they were too young to be satisfied with a tranquil domestic life. One day in the summer of 1776 he returned suddenly and unexpectedly to Paris. His wife observed that some great matter possessed his mind. There is reason to believe that she was among the first to be made acquainted with his scheme of going to America and entering the service of Congress. A married girl of sixteen — the very age of romance — she sympathized at first with his pur- pose, and always kept his secret. Nine months of excite- ment followed, during which he went and came several times, often disappointed, always resolved ; until at length Madame de Lafayette received a letter from him, written on board the ship Victory, that was to convey him to America. This was in April, 1777, when already she held in her
