This bold reply seems to have completely disconcerted De Caylus. He
had already heard of the stranger's striking resemblance to the
Duchess de Penthièvre, and the assumption of this haughty tone to an
officer of his own rank staggered him. He set out for Fort Royal, but
changed his mind on the way, and returned to St. Pierre. The prince, on
the other hand, kept his appointment, and not finding the marquis,
proceeded to Fort St. Pierre, which he entered in triumph, attended by
seventeen or eighteen gentlemen. The governor caught a glimpse of him
as he passed through the streets, and exclaimed "that he was the very
image of his mother and sister," and in a panic quitted the town.
Nothing could have been more fortunate than his flight. The prince
assumed all the airs of royalty, and proceeded to establish a petty
court, appointing state officers to wait upon him. The Marquis
d'Eragny he created his grand equerry; Duval Ferrol and Laurent
'Dufont were his gentlemen-in-waiting; and the faithful Rhodez was
constituted his page. Regular audiences were granted to those who came
to pay their respects to him, or to present memorials or petitions,
and for a time Martinique rejoiced in the new glory which this
illustrious presence shed upon it.

It so happened that the Duc de Penthièvre was the owner of
considerable estates in the colony, which were under the care of a
steward named Lievain. This man, who seems to have been a simple soul,
no sooner heard of the arrival of his master's brother-in-law in the
island than he hastened to offer him not only his respects, but, what
was far better, the use of the cash which he held in trust for the
duke. He was, of course, received with peculiar graciousness, and
immediate advantage was taken of his timely offer. The prince was now
supplied with means adequately to support the royal state which he had
assumed, and the last lingering relics of suspicion were dissipated,