A Cyclopaedia of Female Biography/Lafayette, Madame
LAFAYETTE, MADAME.
Belonged to the noble family of Noailles, and was married, when quite young, to General Lafayette. When, in 1793, he was imprisoned at Olmutz by the Austrians, she was confined in Paris, and only saved from the guillotine by the death of Robespierre. The first use she made of her freedom was to proceed to Vienna, where, through the compassion of Prince de Rossenberg, she succeeded in obtaining an audience of the emperor. She pleaded earnestly for the release of her husband on the grounds of common justice and humanity, and urged her strong desire to see him restored to his family. The emperor said it was out of his power to grant her request, but he was willing that she and her two daughters, (then about twelve and fifteen years of age,) should enliven the prisoner by taking up their abode with him. This indulgence was gratefully accepted, and the long-separated friends were restored to each other.
Madame Lafayette was deeply affected at the emaciated figure and pale countenance of her husband. She found him suffering under annoyances much worse than she had feared.
She wished to write to the emperor; but this was refused. She made applications for redress in other quarters, but received no answer, except, "Madame Lafayette has submitted to share the captivity of her husband. It is her own choice."
At length, her health, already impaired by sixteen months imprisonment in Paris, began to give way. She solicited permission to go to Vienna, to breathe pure air, and consult a physician. During two months she received no reply; but, at last, she was informed that the emperor permitted her to go out, upon condition that she never returned to the prison.
Being desired to signify her choice in writing, she wrote as follows:—
"I consider it a duty to my family and friends to desire the assistance necessary for my health; but they well know it cannot be accepted by me at the price attached to it. I cannot forget that while we were on the point of perishing, myself by the tyranny of Robespierre, and my husband by the physical and moral sufferings of captivity, I was not permitted to obtain any intelligence of him, nor to acquaint him that his children and myself were yet alive; and I shall not expose myself to the horrors of another separation. Whatever then may be the state of my health, and the inconveniences of this abode for my daughters, we will gratefully avail ourselves of his Imperial Majesty's generosity. In permitting us to partake this captivity in all its circumstances."
After this, Madame Lafayette, fearful of being separated from her husband, refrained from making any complaint; although the air of the prison was so fœtid, that the soldiers, who brought food, covered their faces when they opened the door.
She remained with him till he was set at freedom, after four years' captivity, by the Intervention of Bonaparte. Madame Lafayette's health suffered so much from the close confinement, that she died soon after her release. In 1807.