PREFACE IT may be objected that the two parts of this volume only adhere through the individuality of Caroline; but having provided her with French kindred, it was tempting to make her the connecting link, especially as those who care to do so may trace her pedigree in the Chaplet of Pearls and Stray Pearls. Both sets of adventures have a foundation. The defiance of the French fleet actually took place, and the head-dress, so proudly worn, is minutely described in the memoirs of the court of Louis XVI., and may be found in Lady Jackson's history; but I fear it was a wife and not a maiden who thus audaciously manifested her patriotism. The second story is not in print, but it was told to me by Monsieur Guizot five-and-twenty years ago, of the reluctant nun appealing to |