Marie Antoinette by Vigee Le Brun.
Marie Antoinette reigned not only by her grace, but by her goodness. She sent relief to the poor, to the wounded, to the victims of fires. She heard that the family of the Chevalier d’Assas, notwithstanding the historical devotion of the captain to the regiment of Auvergne, was living in the country in oblivion and obscurity. She immediately called the brother of the hero to the court and had a company of cavalry given to him. She obtained a new hearing of the case of Messieurs de Bellegarde and de Moustiers, who had been pursued by the spite of the Duc d’Aiguillon; and when their innocence had been established, and the two prisoners, set at liberty, came with their wives and children to thank their benefactress, she replied modestly that justice alone had been done, and that one should congratulate her only on the greatest happiness arising from her position,⸺ that of being able to lay before the king just claims.
The Life of Marie Antoinette; Translated from the French By Maxime de La Rocheterie · 1893, Chapter X, Pg. 119
Short Stories on Honor, Chivalry, and the World of Nobility—no. 826
