He then frequented the salon of Madame de Genlis, former mistress of the Duke of Orléans, where Talleyrand, David and young deputies like Lameth and Barnave met. The prince's children attend these receptions. The little provincial, dazzled at being admitted into such society, courts the beautiful Pamela, whom the Duke probably had in the past from his affair with Madame de Genlis. The duke who loves Pamela wants to make a donation to her. As she has not reached her majority, she must be provided with a guardian. She chooses Barère who becomes a familiar. “He took pleasure,” he said of the Duke of Orléans, “in chatting with me… Under the appearance of lightness and witticism, he expressed strong thoughts and just opinions… If he could have overcome his natural indecision and his political t.