504 THE WIFE OF LAFAYETTE. Iii June, 1778, thirteen months after leaving home, a French vessel brought to America the news of the French alliance, and to Mm that of the death of his Henriette, and the birth of his second daughter, Anastasie. There is nothing in their correspondence prettier than the man- ner in which he speaks to her of his wound. " Whilst endeavoring to rally the troops," he tells her, " the English honored me with a musket-ball, which slightly wounded me in the leg — but it is a trifle, my dearest love ; the ball touched neither bone nor nerve, and I have escaped with the obligation of lying on my back for some time." In October, 1778, about a year and a half after his departure, Madame de Lafayette enjoyed the transport of welcoming her husband home on a leave of absence. Once, during the spring of 1778, she was present at a party at a great house in Paris, which was attended by the aged Yoltaire, then within a few weeks of the close of his life. The old poet, recognizing her among the ladies, knelt at her feet, and complimented her upon the brilliant and wise conduct of her young husband in America. She received this act of homage with graceful modesty. When Lafayette again returned, at the end of the war, we can truly say he was the most shining person- age in France. At court the young couple were over- whelmed with flattering attentions, and the king promoted the marquis to the rank of field-marshal of the French army. During the next seven years, Madame de Lafay- ette was at the height of earthly felicity. Her two daughters, Anastasie and Virginie, and her son, George Washington, were affectionate and promising children, and there seemed nothing wanting to her lot that could render it happier or more distinguished. Then came the storm of the French Revolution. Both husband and wife were cast down before it. While he
