The Man Who Died Twice

Leonard was a precise little person, with slightly prominent cheek-bones and a pointed and rather turned-up nose. The way in which Leonard became mixed up with the flight of the royal family and the drama of Varennes is rather obscure. When one reads the narratives of his contemporaries, it always seems that something is left unsaid…

As G. Lenotre describes it: “On the 20th June, 1791, at a quarter past one in the afternoon, Marie Antoinette, being on the point of sitting down to the table with the King, sent for Leonard, who lived in the Tuileries in his capacity of valet-de-chambre to her Majesty. He lost no time in presenting himself in the salon where the royal family were gathered. He saw the King chatting with Madame Elizabeth in an embrasure, and the Dauphin playing with his sister.”

The Queen, who was leaning against the chimney-piece, signed to the hairdresser to come near, and said in a low voice: “Leonard, can I count upon you?”

“Ah, Madame,” Leonard answered, “dispose of me as you will. I am entirely devoted to you!”

“Here is a letter,” the Queen said, who appeared much moved. “Take it to the Duc de Choiseul in the Rue d’Artois. Give it into no hands but his. Put on an overcoat and a round hat, to avoid being recognised. Obey him exactly as though he were myself, without pausing to think, and without the least opposition.”

At two o’clock, Leonard reached the house of Choiseul, dressed in white silk stockings, silk knee-breeches, a large riding-coat over everything, and a wide-brimmed hat that shaded his forehead and eyes. The Duke opened the letter, nodded slowly and then burnt the note in the flame of a taper, and led away the stupefied hairdresser. In the courtyard was standing a closed cabriolet, and Leonard, seeing that he was expected to enter it, drew back.

“I can’t go away,” he said.

“Oh, I only want to take you very quickly to a spot some leagues from Paris, to fulfil a special commission,” the Duke answered.

“But I have left my key in the door at the palace! My brother will not know what has become of me, and I have promised Madame de Laage to dress her hair. She is expecting me, and my cabriolet is waiting in the court of the Tuileries and oh my God… How can I arrange for all these things?”