Excerpt from Helene Sainte Maur: Secrets of a Boudoir It was twelve o'clock on the morning of November 10, 1788. Two hours before this the fog, which had enveloped the English coast at sunrise, had fairly lifted from Dover to Folkstone, affording from either point a faint view of the ancient citadel of Boulogne, France. At Dover the destinies of six persons were being determined; at Boulogne the first act in the drama of their lives was in preparation. At two o'clock precisely, wind and tide permitting, the only packet lying at the Dover wharf was to leave for Calais. It was a French boat, and on a pennant floating from its white flagstaff appeared the legend. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.