In June they fled to Normandy and the city of Rouen; where Victorine's mother had a sister. However, the August and September massacres in Paris soon inspired the family to leave that place and hide in the old Abbey of Saint-Ouen nearby where they began a life of seclusion. There, while Victorine's mother nursed her fragile health and her father, wearing a carmagnole (a short jacket worn by French revolutionaries), went out to learn the latest news, she and her brother spent the time reading, drawing and enjoying the calm of the countryside. Still, the tranquility there could not dispel the fear that, at any moment, revolutionary violence would find them. In April 1794, when those of noble birth were banned from staying in Paris and in maritime cities, the Chastenay family took refuge in Châtillon-sur-Seine, in the Burgundy region. But there, they learned that their pending residence certificate had not been received on time so Victorine's father was denounced as an enemy of the Revolution. With his son, he tried to escape enforcers by going to Switzerland through the woods. When the authorities discovered that her father had already fled, they put Victorine in jail in retaliation and confined her dying mother to a hospital. Nineteen days later, her father was arrested and transferred on 14 July 1794 to the infamous prison, the Conciergerie, in Paris, where many French nobles were being held and many executed. With the arrest of her father, Victorine was released; she began a fervent letter writing campaign. When her father finally went to trial, he was acquitted thanks to the efforts of the Revolutionary lawyer, Pierre François Réal, who had argued in his favor. By this time Réal had become the object of Victorine's affection, as she explained in her memoir."In 1800, I saw myself the object of a burning passion; whoever experienced it had from me all rights. Réal had been my father's defender in revolutionary court, savior of my brother's fortune and that of all my new family [that of her sister-in-law], I owed him everything, and my tender and deep friendship returned everything that my heart was allowed to experience." According to Buck, Chastenay was "an accomplished musician, botanist and historian." Her translations to French from English included Oliver Goldsmith's "The Deserted Village", (1770) and Ann Radcliffe's "Mysteries of Udolpho" (1794).