diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:21:21 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:21:21 -0700 |
| commit | 30a2d697e9feeb75abede89f722d6e9625c6ed39 (patch) | |
| tree | 9ac25f3a4097884bcefae1c2de8e2042770818b6 | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 3451.txt | 24222 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 3451.zip | bin | 0 -> 449854 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
5 files changed, 24238 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/3451.txt b/3451.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..26b5b1a --- /dev/null +++ b/3451.txt @@ -0,0 +1,24222 @@ +Project Gutenberg Etext Marie Antoinette And Her Son, by Muhlbach +#3 in our series by Louise Muhlbach + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. The words +are carefully chosen to provide users with the information they +need about what they can legally do with the texts. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**Etexts Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*These Etexts Prepared By Hundreds of Volunteers and Donations* + +Information on contacting Project Gutenberg to get Etexts, and +further information is included below. We need your donations. +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a 501(c)(3) +organization with EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541 + +As of 12/12/00 contributions are only being solicited from people in: +Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, +Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Montana, +Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, +Texas, Vermont, and Wyoming. + +As the requirements for other states are met, +additions to this list will be made and fund raising +will begin in the additional states. Please feel +free to ask to check the status of your state. + +International donations are accepted, +but we don't know ANYTHING about how +to make them tax-deductible, or +even if they CAN be made deductible, +and don't have the staff to handle it +even if there are ways. + +These donations should be made to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + + +Title: Marie Antoinette And Her Son + +Author: Louise Muhlbach + +Official Release Date: October, 2002 [Etext #3451] +[Yes, we are about one year ahead of schedule] +[The actual date this file first posted = 04/21/01] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Project Gutenberg Etext Marie Antoinette And Her Son, by Muhlbach +*******This file should be named 3451.txt or 3451.zip****** + +This etext was produced by Charles Franks and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + +Project Gutenberg Etexts are usually created from multiple editions, +all of which are in the Public Domain in the United States, unless a +copyright notice is included. Therefore, we usually do NOT keep any +of these books in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our books one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to send us error messages even years after +the official publication date. + +Please note: neither this list nor its contents are final till +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg Etexts is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our sites at: +https://gutenberg.org +http://promo.net/pg + + +Those of you who want to download any Etext before announcement +can surf to them as follows, and just download by date; this is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext02 +or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext02 + +Or /etext01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any etext selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. This +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If our value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour this year as we release fifty new Etext +files per month, or 500 more Etexts in 2000 for a total of 3000+ +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +should reach over 300 billion Etexts given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away One Trillion Etext +Files by December 31, 2001. [10,000 x 100,000,000 = 1 Trillion] +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +At our revised rates of production, we will reach only one-third +of that goal by the end of 2001, or about 3,333 Etexts unless we +manage to get some real funding. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +Presently, contributions are only being solicited from people in: +Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, +Kentucky, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Montana, +Nevada, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, +Texas, Vermont, and Wyoming. + +As the requirements for other states are met, +additions to this list will be made and fund raising +will begin in the additional states. + +These donations should be made to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, +EIN [Employee Identification Number] 64-6221541, +has been approved as a 501(c)(3) organization by the US Internal +Revenue Service (IRS). Donations are tax-deductible to the extent +permitted by law. As the requirements for other states are met, +additions to this list will be made and fund raising will begin in the +additional states. + +All donations should be made to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation. Mail to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Avenue +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 [USA] + + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information at: + +https://www.gutenberg.org/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +hart@pobox.com forwards to hart@prairienet.org and archive.org +if your mail bounces from archive.org, I will still see it, if +it bounces from prairienet.org, better resend later on. . . . + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +*** + + +Example command-line FTP session: + +ftp ftp.ibiblio.org +login: anonymous +password: your@login +cd pub/docs/books/gutenberg +cd etext90 through etext99 or etext00 through etext02, etc. +dir [to see files] +get or mget [to get files. . .set bin for zip files] +GET GUTINDEX.?? [to get a year's listing of books, e.g., GUTINDEX.99] +GET GUTINDEX.ALL [to get a listing of ALL books] + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this etext, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this etext if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS ETEXT +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +etext, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this etext by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this etext on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM ETEXTS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etexts, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this etext +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these etexts, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's etexts and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other etext medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this etext from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm etext) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this etext within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS ETEXT IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE ETEXT OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this etext, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the etext, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this etext electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + etext or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this etext in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The etext, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The etext may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the etext (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + etext in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the etext refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +**END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.08.01*END** +[Portions of this header are copyright (C) 2001 by Michael S. Hart +and may be reprinted only when these Etexts are free of all fees.] +[Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be used in any sales +of Project Gutenberg Etexts or other materials be they hardware or +software or any other related product without express permission.] + + + + + +This etext was produced by Charles Franks and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team. + + + + + +MARIE ANTOINETTE AND HER SON + +by Louise Muhlbach + + + + +BOOK I. + + +CHAPTER I. + +A HAPPY QUEEN. + + +It was the 13th of August, 1785. The queen, Marie Antoinette, had at +last yielded to the requests and protestations of her dear subjects. +She had left her fair Versailles and loved Trianon for one day, and +had gone to Paris, in order to exhibit herself and the young prince +whom she had borne to the king and the country on the 25th of March, +and to receive in the cathedral of Notre Dame the blessing of the +clergy and the good wishes of the Parisians. + +She had had an enthusiastic reception, this beautiful and much loved +queen, Marie Antoinette. She had driven into Paris in an open +carriage, in company with her three children, and every one who +recognized her had greeted her with a cheerful huzzah, and followed +her on the long road to Notre Dame, at whose door the prominent +clergy awaited her, the cardinal, Prince Louis de Rohan, at their +head, to introduce her to the house of the King of all kings. + +Marie Antoinette was alone; only the governess of the children, the +Duchess de Polignac, sat opposite her, upon the back seat of the +carriage, and by her side the Norman nurse, in her charming +variegated district costume, cradling in her arms Louis Charles, the +young Duke of Normandy. By her side, in the front part of the +carriage, sat her other two children--Therese, the princess royal, +the first-born daughter, and the dauphin Louis, the presumptive heir +of the much loved King Louis the Sixteenth. The good king had not +accompanied his spouse on this journey to Paris, which she undertook +in order to show to her dear, yet curious Parisians that she was +completely recovered, and that her children, the children of France, +were blossoming for the future like fair buds of hope and peace. + +"Go, my dear Antoinette," the king had said to his queen, in his +pleasant way and with his good natured smile--" go to Paris in order +to prepare a pleasure for my good people. Show them our children, +and receive from them their thanks for the happiness which you have +given to me and to them. I will not go with you, for I wish that you +should be the sole recipient of the enthusiasm of the people and +their joyful acclamations. I will not share your triumph, but I +shall experience it in double measure if you enjoy it alone. Go, +therefore, my beloved Antoinette, and rejoice in this happy hour." + +Marie Antoinette did go, and she did rejoice in the happiness of the +hour. "While riding through Paris, hundreds recognized her, hundreds +hailed her with loud acclamations. As she left the cathedral of +Notre Dame, in order to ascend into the carriage again with her +children and their governess, one would be tempted to think that the +whole square in front of the church had been changed into a dark, +tumultuous sea, which dashed its raging black waves into all the +streets debouching on the square, and was filling all Paris with its +roar, its swell, its thunder roll. Yes, all Paris was there, in +order to look upon Marie Antoinette, who, at this hour, was not the +queen, but the fair woman; the happy mother who, with the pride of +the mother of the Gracchi, desired no other protection and no other +companionship than that of her two sons; who, her hand resting upon +the shoulder of her daughter, needed no other maid of honor to +appear before the people in all the splendor and all the dignity of +the Queen of France and the true mother. + +Yes, all Paris was there in order to greet the queen, the woman, and +the mother, and out of thousands upon thousands of throats there +sounded forth the loud ringing shout, "Long live the queen! Long +live Marie Antoinette! Long live the fair mother and the fair +children of France!" + +Marie Antoinette felt herself deeply moved by these shouts. The +sight of the faces animated with joy, of the flashing eyes, and the +intoxicated peals of laughter, kindled her heart, drove the blood to +her cheeks, and made her countenance beam with joy, and her eyes +glisten with delight. She rose from her seat, and with a gesture of +inimitable grace took the youngest son from the arms of the nurse, +and lifted him high in the air, in order to display this last token +of her happiness and her motherly pride to the Parisians, who had +not yet seen the child. The little hat, which had been placed +sideways upon the high toupet of her powdered head, had dropped upon +her neck; the broad lace cuffs had fallen back from the arms which +lifted the child into the air, and allowed the whole arm to be seen +without any covering above the elbow. + +The eyes of the Parisians drank in this spectacle with perfect +rapture, and their shouting arose every moment like a burst of +fanaticism. + +"How beautiful she is!" resounded everywhere from the mass. "What a +wonderful arm! What a beautiful neck!" + +A deep flush mantled the face of Marie Antoinette. These words of +praise, which were a tribute to the beauty of the woman, awoke the +queen from the ecstasy into which the enthusiasm of her subjects had +transported her. She surrendered the child again to the arms of his +nurse, and sank down quickly like a frightened dove into the +cushions of the carriage, hastily drawing up at the same time the +lace mantle which had fallen from her shoulders and replacing her +hat upon her head. + +"Tell the coachman to drive on quickly," she said to the nurse; and +while the latter was communicating this order, Marie Antoinette +turned to her daughter. "Now, Therese," asked she, laughing, "is it +not a beautiful spectacle our people taking so much pleasure in +seeing us?" + +The little princess of seven years shook her proud little head with +a doubting, dark look. + +"Mamma," said she, "these people look very dirty and ugly. I do not +like them!" + +"Be still, my child, be still," whispered the queen, hastily, for +she feared lest the men who pressed the carriage so closely as +almost to touch its doors, might hear the unthinking words of the +little girl. + +Marie Antoinette had not deceived herself. A man in a blouse, who +had even laid his hand upon the carriage, and whose head almost +touched the princess, a man with a blazing, determined face, and +small, piercing black eyes, had heard the exclamation of the +princess, and threw upon her a malignant, threatening glance. + +"Madame loves us not, because we are ugly and dirty," he said; "but +we should, perhaps, look pretty and elegant too, if we could put on +finery to ride about in splendid carriages. But we have to work, and +we have to suffer, that we may be able to pay our taxes. For if we +did not do this, our king and his family would not be able to strut +around in this grand style. We are dirty, because we are working for +the king." + +"I beg you, sir," replied the queen, softly, "to forgive my +daughter; she is but a child, and does not know what she is saying. +She will learn from her parents, however, to love our good, hard- +working people, and to be thankful for their love, sir." + +"I am no 'sir,' " replied the man, gruffly; "I am the poor cobbler +Simon, nothing more." + +"Then I beg you, Master Simon, to accept from my daughter, as a +remembrance, this likeness of her father, and to drink to our good +health," said the queen, laying at the same time a louis-d'or in the +hand of her daughter, and hastily whispering to her, "Give it to +him." + +The princess hastened to execute the command of her mother, and laid +the glistening gold piece in the large, dirty hand which was +extended to her. But when she wanted to draw back her delicate +little hand, the large, bony fingers of the cobbler closed upon it +and held it fast. + +"What a little hand it is!" he said, with a deriding laugh; "I +wonder what would become of these fingers if they had to work!" + +"Mamma," cried the princess, anxiously, "order the man to let me go; +he hurts me." + +The cobbler laughed on, but dropped the hand of the princess. + +"Ah," cried he, scornfully, "it hurts a princess only to touch the +hand of a working man. It would be a great deal better to keep +entirely away from the working people, and never to come among us." + +"Drive forward quickly!" cried the queen to the coachman, with loud, +commanding voice. + +He urged on the horses, and the people who had hemmed in the +carriage closely, and listened breathlessly to the conversation of +the queen with the cobbler Simon, shrank timidly back before the +prancing steeds. + +The queen recovered her pleasant, merry smile, and bowed on all +sides while the carriage rolled swiftly forward. The people again +expressed their thanks with loud acclamations, and praised her +beauty and the beauty of her children. But Marie Antoinette was no +longer carried beyond herself by these words of praise, and did not +rise again from her seat. + +While the royal carriage was disappearing in the tumult and throng +of the multitude, Simon the cobbler stood watching it with his +mocking smile. He felt a hand upon his arm, and heard a voice asking +the scornful question: + +"Are you in love with this Austrian woman, Master Simon?" + +The cobbler quickly turned round to confront the questioner. He saw, +standing by his side, a little, remarkably crooked and dwarfed young +man, whose unnaturally large head was set upon narrow, depressed +shoulders, and whose whole appearance made such an impression upon +the cobbler that the latter laughed outright. + +"Not beautiful, am I?" asked the stranger, and he tried to join in +the laugh of the cobbler, but the result was a mere grimace, which +made his unnaturally large mouth, with its thick, colorless lips, +extend from one ear to the other, displaying two fearful rows of +long, greenish teeth. + +"Not beautiful at all, am I? Dreadfully ugly!" exclaimed the +stranger, as Simon's laughter mounted higher and higher. + +"You are somewhat remarkable, at least," replied the cobbler. "If I +did not hear you talk French, and see you standing up straight like +one of us, I should think you were the monstrous toad in the fable +that I read about a short time ago." + +"I am the monstrous toad of the fable," replied the stranger, +laughing. "I have merely disguised myself today as a man in order to +look at this Austrian woman with her young brood, and I take the +liberty of asking you once more, Have you fallen in love with her?" + +"No, indeed, I have not fallen in love with her," ejaculated the +cobbler. "God is my witness--" + +"And why should you call God to witness?" asked the other, quickly. +"Do you suppose it is so great a misfortune not to love this +Austrian?" + +"No, I certainly do not believe that," answered the other, +thoughtfully. "I suppose that it is, perhaps, no sin before God not +to love the queen, although it may he before man, and that it is not +the first time that, it has been atoned for by long and dreary +imprisonment. But I do love freedom, and therefore I shall take care +not to tell a stranger what I think." + +"You love freedom!" exclaimed the stranger. "Then give me your hand, +and accept my thanks for the word, my brother." + +"Your brother!" replied the cobbler, astounded. "I do not know you, +and yet you call yourself, without more formal introduction, my +brother." + +"You have said that you love freedom, and therefore I greet you as +my brother," replied the stranger. "All those who love freedom are +brothers, for they confess themselves children of the same gracious +and good mother who makes no difference between her children, but +loves them all with equal intensity and equal devotion, and it is +all the same to her whether this one of her sons is prince or count, +and that one workman or citizen. For our mother, Freedom, we are all +alike, we are all brethren." + +"That sounds very finely," said the cobbler, shaking his head. +"There is only one fault that I can find with it, it is not true. +For if we were all alike, and were all brothers, why should the king +ride round in his gilded chariot, while I, an old cobbler, sit on my +bench and have my face covered with sweat?" + +"The king is no son of Freedom!" exclaimed the stranger, with an +angry gesture. "The king is a son of Tyranny, and therefore he wants +to make his enemies, the sons of Freedom, to be his servants, his +slaves, and to bind our arms with fetters. But shall we always bear +this? Shall we not rise at last out of the dust into which we have +been trodden?" + +"Yes, certainly, if we can, then we will," said Simon, with his +gruff laugh. "But here is the hitch, sir, we cannot do it. The king +has the power to hold us in his fetters; and this fine lady, Madame +Freedom, of whom you say that she is our mother, lets it come to +pass, notwithstanding that her sons are bound down in servitude and +abasement." + +"It must be for a season yet," answered the other, with loud, +rasping voice; "but the day of a rising is at hand, and shows with a +laughing face how those whom she will destroy are rushing swiftly +upon their own doom." + +"What nonsense is that you are talking?" asked the cobbler. "Those +who are going to be destroyed by Madame Liberty are working out +their own ruin?" + +"And yet they are doing it, Master Simon; they are digging their own +graves, only they do not see it, and do not know it; for the +divinity which means to destroy them has smitten them with +blindness. There is this queen, this Austrian woman. Do you not see +with your wise eyes how like a busy spider she is weaving her own +shroud?" + +"Now, that is certainly an error," said Simon; "the queen does not +work at all. She lets the people work for her." + +"I tell you, man, she does work, she is working at her own shroud, +and I think she has got a good bit of it ready. She has nice +friends, too, to help her in it, and to draw up the threads for this +royal spider, and so get ready what is needed for this shroud. +There, for example, is that fine Duke de Coigny. Do you know who +that Duke de Coigny is?" + +"No, indeed, I know nothing about it; I have nothing to do with the +court, and know nothing about the court rabble." + +"There you are right, they are a rabble," cried the other, laughing +in return. "I know it, for I am so unfortunate as not to be able to +say with you that I have nothing to do with the court. I have gone +into palaces, and I shall come out again, but I promise you that my +exit shall make more stir than my entrance. Now, I will tell you who +the Duke de Coigny is. He is one of the three chief paramours of the +queen, one of the great favorites of the Austrian sultana." + +"Well, now, that is jolly," cried the cobbler; "you are a comical +rogue, sir. So the queen has her paramours?" + +"Yes. You know that the Duke de Besenval, at the time that the +Austrian came as dauphiness to France, said to her: 'These hundred +thousand Parisians, madame, who have come out to meet you, are all +your lovers.' Now she takes this expression of Besenval in earnest, +and wants to make every Parisian a lover of hers. Only wait, only +wait, it will be your turn by and by. You will be able to press the +hand of this beautiful Austrian tenderly to your lips." + +"Well, I will let you know in advance, then," said Simon, savagely, +"that I will press it in such right good earnest, that it shall +always bear the marks of it. You were speaking just now of the three +chief paramours--what are the names of the other two?" + +"The second is your fine Lord de Adhemar; a fool, a rattle-head, a +booby; but he is handsome, and a jolly lover. Our queen likes +handsome men, and everybody knows that she is one of the laughing +kind, a merry fly, particularly since the carousals on the palace +terrace." + +"Carousals! What was that?" + +"Why, you poor innocent child, that is the name they give to those +nightly promenades that our handsome queen took a year ago in the +moonlight on the terrace at Versailles. Oh, that was a merry time! +The iron fences of the park were not closed, and the dear people had +a right to enter, and could walk near the queen in the moonlight, +and hear the fine music which was concealed behind the hedges. You +just ask the good-looking officer of the lancers, who sat one +evening on a bench between two handsome women, dressed in white, and +joked and laughed with them. He can tell you how Marie Antoinette +can laugh, and what fine nonsense her majesty could afford to +indulge in." [Footnote: See Madame de Campane. "Memoires," vol. i.] + +"I wish I knew him, and he would tell me about it," cried cobbler +Simon, striking his fists together. "I always like to hear something +bad about this Austrian woman, for I hate her and the whole court +crowd besides. What right have they to strut and swell, and put on +airs, while we have to work and suffer from morning till night? Why +is their life nothing but jollity, and ours nothing but misery? I +think I am of just as much consequence as the king, and my woman +would look just as nice as the queen, if she would put on fine +clothes and ride round in a gilded carriage. What puts them up and +puts us down?" + +"I tell you why. It is because we are ninnies and fools, and allow +them to laugh in their sleeves at us, and make divinities out of +themselves, before whom the people, or, as they call them, the +rabble, are to fall upon their knees. But patience, patience! There +will come a time when they will not laugh, nor compel the people to +fall upon their knees and beg for favor. But no favor shall be +granted to them. They shall meet their doom." + +"Ha! I wish the time were here," shouted the cobbler, laughing; "and +I hope I may be there when they meet their punishment." + +"Well, my friend, that only depends upon yourself," said the +stranger. "The time will come, and if you wish you can contribute +your share, that it may approach with more rapid steps." + +"What can I do? Tell me, for I am ready for every thing?" + +"You can help whet the knife, that it may cut the better," said the +stranger, with a horrible grimace. "Come, come, do not look at me so +astonished, brother. There are already a good number of knife- +sharpeners in the good city of Paris, and if you want to join their +company, come this evening to me, and I will make you acquainted +with some, and introduce you to our guild." + +"Where do you live, sir, and what is your name?" asked the cobbler, +with glowing curiosity. + +"I live in the stable of the Count d'Artois, and my name is Jean +Paul Marat." + +"In the stable!" cried the cobbler. "My faith, I had not supposed +you were a hostler or a coachman. It must be a funny sight, M. +Marat, to see you mounted upon a horse." + +"You think that such a big toad as I does not belong there exactly. +Well, there you are right, brother Simon. My real business is not at +all with the horses, but with the men in the stable. I am the horse- +doctor, brother Simon, horse-doctor of the Count d'Artois; and I can +assure you that I am a tolerably skilful doctor, for I have yoked +together many a hostler and jockey whom the stable-keepers of the +dear Artois have favored with a liberal dispensation of their lash. +So, come this evening to me, not only that I may introduce you to +good society, but come if you are sick. I will restore you, and it +shall cost you nothing. I cure my brothers of the people without any +pay, for it is not the right thing for brothers to take money one of +another. So, brother Simon, I shall look for you this evening at the +stable; but now I must leave you, for my sick folks are expecting +me. Just one more word. If you come about seven o'clock to visit me, +the old witch that keeps the door will certainly tell you that I am +not at home. I will, therefore, give you the pass-word, which will +allow you to go in. It is 'Liberty, Equality, Fraternity.' Good-by." + +He nodded to the cobbler with a fearful grimace, and strode away +quickly, in spite of not being able to lift his left foot over the +broad square of the Hotel de Ville. + +Master Simon looked after him at first with a derisive smile, and +this diminutive figure, with his great head, on which a high, black +felt hat just kept its position, seemed to amuse him excessively. +All at once a thought struck him, and, like an arrow impelled from +the bow, he dashed forward and ran after Jean Paul Marat. + +"Doctor Marat, Doctor Marat!" he shouted, breathless, from a +distance. + +Marat stood still and looked around with a malicious glance. + +"Well, what is it?" snarled he, "and who is calling my name so +loud?" + +"It is I, brother Marat," answered the cobbler, panting. "I have +been running after you because you have forgotten something." + +"What is it?" asked Marat, feeling in his pockets with his long +fingers." I have my handkerchief and the piece of black bread that +makes my breakfast. I have not forgotten anything." + +"Yes, Jean Paul Marat, you have forgotten something," answered +Master Simon. "You were going to tell me the names of the three +chief paramours of the queen, and you have given only two--the Duke +de Coigny and Lord Adhemar. You see I have a good memory, and retain +all that you told me. So give me the name of the third one, for I +will confess to you that I should like to have something to say +about this matter in my club this afternoon, and it will make quite +a sensation to come primed with this story about the Austrian +woman." + +"Well, I like that, I like that," said Marat, laughing so as to show +his mouth from one ear to the other. "Now, that is a fine thing to +have a club, where you can tell all these little stories about the +queen and the court, and it will be a real pleasure to me to tell +you any such matters as these to communicate to your club, for it is +always a good thing to have any thing that takes place at Versailles +and St. Cloud get talked over here at Paris among the dear good +people." + +"In St. Cloud?" asked the cobbler. "What is it that can happen +there? That is nothing at all but a tiresome, old-forgotten pleasure +palace of the king." + +"It is lively enough there now, depend upon it," replied Marat, with +his sardonic laugh. "King Louis the well beloved has given this +palace to his wife, in order that she may establish there a larger +harem than Trianon; that miserable, worthless little mouse-nest, +where virtue, honor, and worth get hectored to death, is not large +enough for her. Yes, yes, that fine, great palace of the French +kings, the noble St. Cloud, is now the heritage and possession of +this fine Austrian. And do you know what she has done? Close by the +railing which separates the park from St. Cloud, and near the +entrance, she has had a tablet put up, on which are written the +conditions on which the public are allowed to enter the park." + +"Well, that is nothing new," said the cobbler, impatiently." They +have such a board put up at all the royal gardens, and everywhere +the public is ordered, in the name of the king, not to do any +injury, and not to wander from the regular paths." + +"Well, that is just; it is ordered in the name of the king; but in +St. Cloud, it runs in the name of the queen. Yes, yes, there you may +see in great letters upon the board; 'In the name of the queen.' +[Footnote: "De par la reine" was the expression which was then in +the mouth of all France and stirred everybody's rage.] It is not +enough for us that a king sits upon our neck, and imposes his +commands upon us and binds us. We have now another ruler in France, +prescribing laws and writing herself sovereign. We have a new police +regulation in the name of the queen, a state within the state. Oh, +the spider is making a jolly mesh of it! In the Trianon she made the +beginning. There the police regulations have always been in the name +of the queen; and because the policy was successful there, it +extends its long finger still further, issues a new proclamation +against the people, appropriates to itself new domain, and proposes +to gradually encompass all France with its cords." + +"That is rascally, that is wrong," cried the cobbler, raising his +clinched fists in the air. + +"But that is not all, brother. The queen goes still further. Down to +the present time we have been accustomed to see the men who stoop to +be the mean servants of tyrants array themselves in the monkey- +jackets of the king's livery; but in St. Cloud, the Swiss guards at +the gates, the palace servants, in one word, the entire menial +corps, array themselves in the queen's livery; and if you are +walking in the park of St. Cloud, you are no longer in France and on +French soil, but in an Austrian province, where a foreigner can +establish her harem and make her laws, and yet a virtuous and noble +people does not rise in opposition to it." + +"It does not know anything about it, brother Marat," said Simon, +eagerly. "It knows very little about the vices and follies of the +queen." + +"Well, tell the people, then; report to them what I have told yon, +and make it your duty that it be talked over among other friends, +and made generally known." + +"Oh! that shall be, that shall certainly be," said Simon, cheerily," +but you have not given me the name of that third lover yet." + +"Oh! the third-that is Lord Besenval, the inspector general of the +Swiss guard, the chief general of the army, and the commander of the +Order of Louis. You see it is a great advantage for a man to be a +lover of the queen, for in that way he comes to a high position. +While King Louis the Fifteenth, that monster of vice, was living, +Besenval was only colonel of the Swiss guard, and all he could do +was once in a while to take part in the orgies at the Eoil de Boeuf. +But now the queen has raised him to a very high place. All St. Cloud +and Trianon form the Eoil de Boeuf, where Marie Antoinette +celebrates her orgies, and General Besenval is made one of the first +directors of the sports. Now you know every thing, do you not?" + +"Yes, Doctor Marat, now I have a general run of every thing, and I +thank you; but I hope that you will tell me more this evening, for +your stories are vastly entertaining." + +"Yes, indeed, I shall tell you plenty more of the same sort, for the +queen takes good care that we shall always have material for such +stories. Yet, unfortunately, I have no time now, for--" + +"I know, I know, you have got to visit your sick people," said +Simon, nodding confidentially to him. "I will not detain you any +longer. Good-by, my dear Doctor Marat. We shall meet this evening." + +He sprang quickly away, and soon disappeared round the next corner. +Marat looked after him with a wicked, triumphant expression in his +features. + +"So far good, so far good," muttered he, shaking his head with +choler. " In this way I have got to win over the soldiers and the +people to freedom. The cobbler will make an able and practicable +soldier, and with his nice little stories, he will win over a whole +company. Triumph on, you proud Bourbons; go on dreaming in your +gilded palaces, surrounded by your Swiss guards. Keep on believing +that you have the power in your hands, and that no one can take it +from you. The time will come when the people will disturb your fine +dream, and when the little, despised, ugly Marat, whom no one now +knows, and who creeps around in your stables like a poisonous rat, +shall confront you as a power before which you shall shrink away and +throw yourselves trembling into the dust. There shall go by no day +in which I and my friends shall not win soldiers for our side, and +the silly, simple fool, Marie Antoinette, makes it an easy thing for +us. Go on committing your childish pranks, which, when the time +shall threaten a little, will justify the most villanous deeds and +the most shameless acts, and I will keep the run of all the turns of +the times, and this fine young queen cannot desire that we should +look at the world with such simple eyes as she does. Yes, fair Queen +Marie Antoinette, thou hast thy Swiss guards, who fight for thee, +and thou must pay them; but I have only one soldier who takes ground +for me against thee, and whom I do not have to pay at all. My +soldier's name is Calumny. I tell thee, fair queen, with this ally I +can overcome all thy Swiss guards, and the whole horde of thy +armies. For, on the earth there is no army corps that is so strong +as Calumny. Hurrah! long life to thee, my sworn ally, Calumny!" + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +MADAME ADELAIDE. + + +Queen Marie Antoinette had returned, after her Paris ride, to her +own Versailles. She was silent the whole of the way, and the Duchess +de Polignac had sought in vain to cheer her friend with light and +pleasant talk, and drive away the clouds from her lofty brow. Marie +Antoinette had only responded by enforced smiles and half-words, and +then, settling back into the carriage, had gazed with dreamy looks +into the heavens, whose cheerful blue called out no reflection upon +the fair face of the queen. + +As they drew into the great court of the palace at Versailles, the +drum-beat of the Swiss guards, presenting arms, and the general stir +which followed the approach of the queen, appeared to awaken her +from her sorrowful thoughts, and she straightened herself up and +cast her glances about. They fell quite accidentally upon the child +which was in the arms of the nurse opposite, and which, with great +wide-open eyes, was looking up to the heavens, as its mother had +done before. + +In the intensity of her motherly love, the queen stretched out her +arms to the child and drew it to her heart, and pressed a burning +kiss upon its lips. + +"Ah! my child, my dear child," said she, softly, "you have to-day, +for the first time, made your entry into Paris, and heard the +acclamations of the people. May you, so long as you live, always be +the recipient of kindly greetings, and never again hear such words +as that dreadful man spoke to us to-day!" + +She pressed the little Duke of Normandy closely to her heart, and +quite forgot that she was all this while in the carriage; that near +the open portal the hostlers and lackeys were awaiting in a +respectful posture the dismounting of the queen; that the drums were +all the while beating, and that the guards were standing before the +gates in the fixed attitude of presenting arms. + +The Duchess de Polignac ventured to suggest in softly-spoken words +the necessity of dismounting, and the queen, with her little boy in +her arms, sprang lightly and spiritedly, without accepting the +assistance of the master of the grooms, out of the carriage, smiling +cheerily, greeting the assembled chamberlains as she passed by, +hurried into the palace and ran up the great marble staircase. The +Duchess de Polignac made haste to follow her, while the Princess +Therese and the dauphin were received by their dames of honor and +led into their respective apartments. The Norman nurse, shaking her +head, hurried after the queen, and the chamberlains and both the +maids of honor, shaking their heads, too, followed her into the +great ante-chamber. After riding out, the queen was in the habit of +dismissing them there, but to-day Marie Antoinette had gone into her +own suite of rooms without saying a word, and the door was already +closed. + +"What shall we do now?" asked both the maids of honor of the +cavaliers, and received only a shrug of the shoulders for reply. + +"We shall have to wait," at last said the Marchioness de Mailly. +"Perhaps her majesty will have the kindness to remember us and to +permit us to withdraw." + +"And if she should happen to forget it," answered the Princess de +Chimay, "we shall have to stand here the whole day, while the queen +in Trianon is amusing herself with the fantastic pastoral plays." + +"Yes, certainly, there is a country festival in Trianon to-day," +said the Prince de Castines, shrugging his shoulders, "and it might +easily happen that we should be forgotten, and, like the +unforgetable wife of Lot, have to stand here playing the ridiculous +part of pillars of salt." + +"No, there comes our deliverance," whispered the Marchioness de +Mailly, pointing to a carriage which just then came rolling across +the broad palace-square. "It was yesterday resolved in secret +council at the Count de Provence's, that Madame Adelaide should make +one more attempt to bring the queen to reason, and make her +understand what is becoming and what is unbecoming to a Queen of +France. Now look you, in accordance with this resolve, Madame +Adelaide is coming to Versailles to pay a visit to her distinguished +niece." + +Just then the carriage of the Princess Adelaide, daughter of Louis +the Fifteenth, and aunt of Louis the Sixteenth, drove through the +great gate into the guarded vestibule of the palace; two outriders +rode in advance, two lackeys stood on the stand behind the carriage, +and upon the step on each side, a page in richly-embroidered +garments. + +Before the middle portal, which could only be used by the royal +family, and which had never been desecrated by the entrance of one +who was "lowly-born," the carriage came to a standstill. The lackeys +hastened to open the gate, and a lady, advanced in years, gross in +form, with an irritable face well pitted with pock-marks, and +wearing no other expression than supercilious pride and a haughty +indifference, dismounted with some difficulty, leaning upon the +shoulder of her page, and toiled up the steps which conducted to the +great vestibule. + +The runner sprang before her up the great staircase covered with its +carpets, and with his long staff rapped on the door of the first +antechamber that led to the apartments of the queen. "Madame +Adelaide!" shouted he with a loud voice, and the lackey repeated it +in the same tone, quickly opening the door of the second +antechamber; and the word was taken up by the chamberlains, and +repeated and carried along where the queen was sitting. + +Marie Antoinette shrugged herself together a little at this +announcement, which interrupted her while engaged in charming +unrestrained conversation with the Duchess de Polignac, and a shadow +flitted across her lofty brow. + +With fiery quickness she flung her arms around the neck of her +friend, and pressed a kiss upon her lips. "Farewell, Julia; Madame +Adelaide is coming: that is just the same as irritation and +annoyance. She may not bear the least suspicion of this upon her +fine and dearly-loved face, and just because they are not there, I +must tell you, my dear friend, to leave me. But hold yourself in +readiness, after Madame Annoyance has left me, to ride with me to +Trianon. The queen must remain here half an hour still, but she will +be rewarded for it, for Marie Antoinette will afterward go with her +Julia to Trianon to spend a half day of pleasure with her husband +and friends." + +"And to impart to her friends an eternity of blissful +recollections," said the duchess, with a charming smile, pressing +the hand of the queen to her lips, and taking her leave with +inimitable grace, in order to pass out through the little side-door +which entered the corridor through a porcelain cabinet, intending +then to visit the rooms of the 'children of France.' + +At the same moment in which the lofty, dignified form of the duchess +disappeared through the side-door, both wings of the main entrance +were flung open, and the two maids of honor of the queen advanced to +the threshold, and made so deep a reverence that their immense +petticoats expanded like a kettle. Then they took a step backward, +made another reverence so profound that their heads, bearing +coiffures a foot and a half high, fell upon their breasts. + +"Madame Adelaide!" they both ejaculated as with one voice, slowly +straightening themselves up and taking their places at the sides of +the door. + +The princess now appeared upon the threshold; behind her, her maids +of honor and master of ceremonies, the grand-chamberlain, the pages, +and both masters of grooms, standing in the great antechambers. + +At the appearance of the maids of honor, Marie Antoinette had taken +her position in the middle of the chamber, and could not repress a +faint smile, as with erect head she noticed the confusion instant +upon the princess's imposing entrance. + +Madame Adelaide advanced some steps, for the queen did not change +her position nor hasten toward her as she had perhaps expected; her +irritated look increased still more, and she did not take a seat. + +"I come perhaps at an inconvenient season for your majesty," said +she, with a tart smile. "The queen perhaps was just upon the point +of going to Trianon, whither as I hear, the king has already +proceeded?" + +"Has your highness heard that?" asked the queen, smiling. "I wonder +what sharp ears Madame Adelaide always has to catch such a trifling +rumor, while my younger ones have never caught the least hint of the +important approach of the princess, and so I am equally surprised +and delighted at the unexpected appearance of my gracious and loving +aunt." + +Every one of these words, which were spoken so cheerily and with +such a pleasant smile, seemed to pierce the princess like the prick +of a needle, and caused her to press her lips together in just such +a way as if she wanted to check an outcry of pain or suppress some +hidden rage. Marie Antoinette, while speaking of the sharp ears +which madame always had, had hinted at the advanced age no less than +at the curiosity of the princess, and had brought her young and +unburdened ears into very advantageous contrast with them. + +"Would your majesty grant me the favor of an interview?" asked +Madame Adelaide, who did not possess the power of entering on a +contest with her exalted niece, with sharp yet graceful words. + +"I am prepared with all pleasure," answered the queen, cheerfully; +"and it depends entirely upon madame whether the audience shall be +private or public." + +"I beg for a half hour of entire privacy," said Madame Adelaide, +with choler. + +"A private audience, ladies!" called the queen to her maids of +honor, as motioning with her hand she dismissed them. Then she +directed her great brilliant eyes to the door of the antechamber. +"My lord grooms, in half an hour I should like to have my carriage +ready for Trianon." + +The maids of honor withdrew into the great antechamber, and closed +the doors behind them. + +The queen and Madame Adelaide were alone. + +"Let us sit, if it pleases you," said Marie Antoinette, motioning +the princess to an arm-chair, while she took her own place upon a +simple ottoman. "You have something to say to me, and I am entirely +ready to hear you." + +"Would to God, madame, that you would not only hear my words," said +Madame Adelaide, with a sigh, "but that you would take them to heart +as well!" + +"If they deserve it, I certainly shall," said the queen, smiling. + +"They certainly do deserve it," said the princess, "for what I aim +at in my words concerns the peace, the security, the honor of our +family. Madame, allow me first to disburden myself of something that +has been committed to me. My noble and pious sister, Madame Louise, +has given me this letter for your majesty, and in her name I ask our +royal niece to read the same at once and in my presence." + +She drew from the great reticule, which was attached to her arm by +its silken cords, a sealed letter, and handed it to the queen. + +But Marie Antoinette did not raise her hand to receive it, but shook +her head as if in refusal, and yet with so eager a motion that her +elaborate coiffure fairly trembled. + +"I beg your pardon, madame," said she, earnestly, "but I cannot +receive this letter from the prioress of the Carmelite convent at +St. Denis; for you well know that when Madame Louise sent me some +years ago, through your highness, a letter which I read, that I +never again will receive and read letters from the prioress. Have +the goodness, then, to take this back to the sender." + +"You know, madame, that this is an affront directed against a +princess of France!" was the emphatic reply. + +"I know, madame, that that letter which I then received from Madame +Louise was an affront directed by the princess against the Queen of +France, and I shall protect the majesty of my station from a similar +affront. Unquestionably this letter is similar in tone to that one. +That one contained charges which went so far as to involve open +condemnation, and contained proffers of counsel which meant little +less than calumny. [Footnote: Gondrecourt, "Histoire de Marie +Antoinette," p. 59.] And what would this be likely to contain +different, which your highness takes the trouble to bring to me?" + +"Well," cried Madame Adelaide, angrily, "its purport may be similar +to that of the former letter; for, unfortunately, the causes are the +same, and we may not wonder if the effects are also the same." + +"Ah! one can easily see that your highness knows the contents of the +letter," said Marie Antoinette, smiling, "and you will therefore +certainly pardon me for not reading it. It was unquestionably +written in the presence of your highness, in the pious cell of the +prioress. She gave over for a while her prayers for the repose of +the departed king, in order to busy herself a little with worldly +things, and to listen to the calumnies which Madame Adelaide, or the +Count de Provence, or the Cardinal de Kohan, or some other of the +enemies of my person, have sought to hurl against the Queen of +France." + +"Calumnies!" replied Madame Adelaide, with an angry flash in her +eyes. "Would to God, madame, that it were calumnies with which we +have to do, and that all these things which trouble and disturb us +were only malicious calumnies, and not sober facts!" + +"And will your highness not have the goodness to communicate these +facts to me?" said the queen, undisturbed, but smiling, and so only +increasing the anger of the princess. + +"These facts are of so varied kinds that it would be a difficult +thing to choose out any separate ones among them," cried she, with +fiery tone. "Every day, every hour of the life of your majesty, +brings new facts to light." + +"Oh!" said Marie Antoinette, "I had no idea that your highness had +such tender care for me." + +"And I had no idea, madame, that your frivolity went so far as +continually to wound the laws, the customs, and the hallowed order +of things. You do it--you do it, scorning every thing established +with the random wantonness of a child that plays with fire, and does +not know that the waves will flare up and consume it. Madame, I have +come here to warn you once more, and for the last time." + +"God be thanked, for the last time!" cried the queen, with a +charming glance of her eyes. + +"I conjure you, queen, for your own sake, for your husband's, for +your children's, change your course; take a new direction; leave the +path of danger on which you are hastening to irretrievable +destruction." + +The countenance of the queen, before so pleasant and animated, now +darkened. Her smile gave way to a deep earnestness; she raised her +head proudly and put on a royal bearing. + +"Madame," said she, "up to this time I have been inclined to meet +your biting philippics with the quiet indifference which innocence +gives, and to remain mindful of the reverence due to age, and not to +forget the harsh eyes with which the aged always look upon the deeds +of youth. But you compel me to take the matter more earnestly to +heart, for you join to my name that of my husband and my children, +and so you appeal to my heart of hearts. Now, then, tell me, madame, +what you have to bring against me." + +"Your boundless frivolity, your culpable short-sightedness, your +foolish pleasures, your extravagance, your love of finery, your +mixing with politics, your excessive jovialness, your +entertainments, your--" + +Marie Antoinette interrupted this series of charges with loud, merry +laughter, which more enraged the princess than the most stinging +words would have done. + +"Yes," she continued, "you are frivolous, for you suppose the life +of a queen is one clear summer's day, to be devoted to nothing but +singing and laughing. You are short-sighted, for you do not see that +the flowers of this summer's day in which you rejoice, only bloom +above an abyss into which you, with your wanton dancing, are about +to plunge. You indulge in foolish pleasures, instead of, as becomes +a Queen of France, passing your life in seclusion, in devout +meditation, in the exercise of beneficence, in pious deeds. You are +a spendthrift, for you give the income of France to your favorites, +to this Polignac family, which it has been reckoned receives alone a +twentieth part of the whole income of the state; to these gracious +lords and ladies of your so-called 'society,' supporting them in +their frivolity, allowing them to make golden gain out of you. You +are a lover of finery, not holding it beneath your dignity to spend +whole hours with a poor milliner; allowing a man to dress your hair, +and afterward to go into the toilet chambers of the Parisian dames, +that their hair may be dressed by the same hands which have arranged +the hair of a queen, and to imitate the coiffure which the Queen of +France wears. And what kind of a coiffure is that which, invented by +a queen, is baptized with a fantastic name, and carried through +Paris, France, and all Europe?" + +"But," said Marie Antoinette, with comical pathos, "these coiffures +have, some of them, horrid names. We have, for example, the 'hog's +bristles coiffure,' the 'flea-bite coiffure,' the 'dying dog,' the +'flame of love,' 'modesty's cap,' a--" + +"A queen's levee," interrupted the princess; "a love's nest of Marie +Antoinette. Yes, we have come to that pass that the fashions are +named after the queen, and all acquire a certain frivolous +character, so that all the men and all the honorable women of Paris +are in despair because the thoughts of their daughters, infected +with the millinery tastes of the queen and the court, shun all noble +thoughts, and only busy themselves with mere affairs of taste. I +have shown you, and you will not be able to deny it, madame, that +this decline in manners, which has been engendered by this love of +finery, proceeds from you, and from you alone; that not only your +love of finery is to blame, but also your coquetry, your joviality, +and these unheard-of indescribable orgies to which the Queen of +France surrenders herself, and to which she even allures her own +husband, the King of France, the oldest son of the Church." + +"What does your highness mean?" asked the queen. + +"Of what entertainments are you speaking?" + +"I am speaking of the entertainments which are celebrated in +Trianon, to the perversion of all usage and all good manners. Of +those orgies in which the queen transforms herself into a +shepherdess, and permits the ladies of her court, who ought to +appear before her with bended knee and with downcast eyes, to clothe +themselves like her, and to put on the same bearing as the queen's! +I speak of those orgies where the king, enchanted by the charms of +his wife, and allured by her coquetry, so far forgets his royal rank +as even to take part himself in this stupid frivolity, and to bear a +share in this trivial masquerading. And this queen, whose loud +laughter fills the groves of Trianon, and who sometimes finds her +pleasure in imitating the lowing of cows or the bleating of goats-- +this queen will afterward put on the bearing of a statesman, and +will, with those hands which have just got through arranging an +'allegorical head-dress,' dip into the machinery of state, +interrupting the arrangements of her entertainments to busy herself +with politics, to set aside old, cherished ministers, to bring her +friends and favorites into their places, and to make the king the +mere executor of her will." + +"Madame," said the queen, as glowing with anger and with eyes of +flame she rose from her seat--"madame, this is going too far, this +oversteps the bounds that every one, even the princesses of the +royal house, owe to their sovereign. I have allowed you to subject +to your biting criticism my outer life, my pleasures, and my dress, +but I do not allow you to take in hand my inner life--my relations +to my husband and my personal honor. You presume to speak of my +favorites. I demand of you to name them, and if you can show that +there is one man to whom I show any other favor than a gracious +queen may show to a servant, a subject whom she can honor and trust, +I desire that you would give his name to the king, and that a close +investigation be made into the case. I have friends; yes, thank +Heaven! I have friends who prize me highly, and who are every hour +prepared to give their life for their queen. I have true and +faithful servants; but no one will appear and give evidence that +Marie Antoinette has ever had an illicit lover. My only lover has +been the king, my husband, and I hope before God that he will always +remain so, so long as I live. But this is exactly what the noble +princesses my aunts, what the Count de Provence, and the whole party +of the old court, never will forgive me for. I have had the good +fortune to win the love of my husband. The king, despite all +calumnies and all intrigues, lowered his glance to the poor young +woman who stood solitary near him, and whom he had been taught to +prize lightly and to despise, and then he found that she was not so +simple, stupid, and ugly, as she had been painted. He began to take +some notice of her, and then, God be thanked, he overlooked the fact +that she was of Austrian blood, and that the policy of his +predecessor had urged her upon him; his heart warmed to her in love, +and Marie Antoinette received this love as a gracious gift of God, +as the happiness of her life. Yes, madame, I may say it with pride +and joy, the king loves me, he trusts me, and therefore his wife +stands nearer to him than even his exalted aunts, and I am the one +whom he most trusts and whom he selects to be his chief adviser. But +this is just the offence which will never be forgiven me: it has +fallen to my lot to take from my enemies and opponents their +influence over my husband. The time has gone by when Madame Adelaide +could gain an attentive ear when she came to the king, and in her +passionate rage charged me with unheard of crimes, which had no +basis excepting that in some little matters I had loosened the +ancient chains of etiquette; the time is past when Madame Louise +could presume to drive me with her flashing anger from her pious +cell and make me kneel in the dust; and when it was permitted to the +Count de la Morch to accuse the queen before the king of having +risen in time to behold the rising of the sun at Versailles, in +company with her whole court. The king loves me, and Madame Adelaide +is no longer the political counsellor of the king; the ministers +will no longer be appointed according to her dictate, and the great +questions of the cabinet are decided without appealing to her! I +know that this is a new offence which you lay to my charge, and that +by your calumniations and suspicions you make me suffer the penalty +for it. I know that the Count de Provence stoops to direct epigrams +and pamphlets against his sister-in-law, his sovereign, and through +the agency of his creatures to scatter them through Paris. I know +that in his saloons all the enemies of the queen are welcome, and +that charges against me are made without rebuke, and that there the +weapons are forged with which I am assailed. But take care lest some +day these weapons be turned against you! It is you who are +imperilling the kingdom, and undermining the throne, for you do not +hesitate setting before the people an example that nothing is sacred +to you; that the dignity of the throne no longer has an existence, +but that it may be denied with vile insinuations, and the most +poisonous arrows directed against those who wear the crown of St. +Louis on their head. But all you, the aunts, the brothers of the +king, and the whole swarm of their intimates and dependents, you are +all undermining the monarchy, for you forget that the foreigner, the +Austrian, as you call her--that she is Queen of France, your +sovereign, your lord, and that you are nothing better than her +subjects. You are criminals, you are high traitors!" + +"Madame," cried the Princess Adelaide, "Madame, what language is +this that--" + +"It is the language of a woman in reply to a calumniator, the +language of a queen to a rebellious subject. Madame, have the +goodness not to answer me again. You have come into the palace of +your sovereign to accuse her, and she has answered you as becomes +her station. Now we have nothing more to say to each other. You +requested a half-hour's private audience with me, and the time has +gone. Farewell, madame; my carriage stands ready, and I go to +Trianon. I shall, however, say nothing to the king respecting the +new attack which you have made upon me, and I promise you that I +shall forget it and forgive it." + +She nodded lightly, turned herself around, and, with lofty carriage +and proud self-possession, left the apartment. + +Princess Adelaide looked after her with an expression of the deepest +hate, and entirely forgetful of her lofty station, even raised her +hand threateningly in the direction of the door through which the +noble figure of the queen had just vanished. "I shall not forget nor +forgive," muttered she. "I shall have my revenge on this impudent +person who dares to threaten me and even to defy me, and who calls +herself my sovereign. This Austrian, a sovereign of the princess +royal of France! We will show her where are the limits of her power, +and where are the limits of France! She shall go back to Austria; we +want her not, this Austrian who dares to defy us." + +Proud and erect though the bearing was with which the queen left +Madame Adelaide, she had hardly entered her own room and closed the +door which separated her from her enemy, when she sank groaning upon +a seat, and a flood of tears streamed from her eyes. + +"Oh, Campan, Campan! what have I been compelled to hear?" cried she, +bitterly. "With what expressions have they ventured to address the +Queen of France!" Madame de Campan, the first lady-in-waiting on the +queen, who had just then entered the porcelain room, hastened to her +mistress, and, sinking upon her knees, pressed the fallen hand of +the queen to her lips. "Your majesty is weeping!" she whispered with +her mild, sympathetic voice. " Your majesty has given the princess +the satisfaction of knowing that she has succeeded in drawing tears +from the Queen of France, and reddening her beautiful eyes." + +"No, I will not give her this pleasure," said the queen, quickly +raising herself up and drying her eyes. "I will be merry, and why do +I weep? She sought to make me sick; she sought to wound me, but I +have given back the sickness, and the wounds which I have inflicted +upon her will not so soon heal." + +"Has your majesty inflicted anything upon the princess?" cried +Madame de Campan, in agitation. + +"Yes," answered Marie Antoinette, with triumphant joy. "I have +scourged her, I have wounded her, for I have distinctly intimated to +her that I am Queen of France, and she my subject. I have told her, +that when she dares direct her calumnies against the queen, she is +guilty of high-treason." + +"Oh!" exclaimed Madame de Campan, "the proud princess will never +pardon that. Your majesty has now become her irreconcilable enemy, +and she will leave no stone unturned to revenge herself upon you." + +"She may attempt to revenge herself upon me," cried the queen, whose +countenance began to brighten up once more. "I fear neither her nor +her whole set. All their arrows will fall powerless at my feet, for +the love of my husband and my pure conscience form the protection +which secures me. And what can these people accomplish against me? +They can slander me, that is all. But their calumnies will, in the +end, prove that it is lies they tell, and no one will give them +confidence more." + +"Ah! your majesty does not know the wickedness of the world," sighed +Campan, sadly. "Your majesty believes that the good are not +cowardly, and that the bad are not reckless. Your majesty does not +know that the bad have it in their power to corrupt public opinion; +and that then the good have not the courage to meet this corrupting +influence. But public opinion is a monster that brings the charge, +passes judgment, pronounces the sentence, and inflicts the +punishment in one person. Who thinks lightly of it, arrays against +himself an enemy stronger than a whole army, and less open to +entreaty than death." + +"Ah!" cried the queen, raising her head proudly, "I do not fear this +enemy. She shall not dare to attack me. She shall crouch and shrink +before my gaze as the lion does when confronted by the eye of a +virgin. I am pure and blameless. I pledged my troth to my husband +before he loved me, and how shall I now break it, when he does love +me, and is the father of my dear children? And now, enough of these +disagreeable things that want to cast their vileness upon us! And +the sun is shining so splendidly, and they are waiting for me in +Trianon! Come, Campan, come; the queen will take the form of a happy +wife." + +Marie Antoinette hastened before her lady-in-waiting, hurried into +her toilet-chamber in advance of her lady-in-waiting, who followed, +sighing and shaking her head, and endeavored with her own hands to +loosen the stiff corset of her robe, and to free herself from the +immense crinoline which imprisoned her noble form. + +"Off with these garments of state and royal robes," said Marie +Antoinette, gliding out of the stiff apparel, and standing in a +light, white undergarment, with bare shoulders and arms. "Give me a +white percale dress and a gauze mantle with it." + +"Will your majesty appear again in this simple costume?" asked +Madame de Campan, sighing. + +"Certainly, I will," cried she; "I am going to Trianon, to my much- +loved country-house. You must know, Campan, that the king has +promised to spend every afternoon of a whole week with me at +Trianon, and that there we are going to enjoy life, nature, and +solitude. So, for a whole week, the king will only be king in the +forenoon, and in the afternoon a respectable miller in the village +Trianon. Now, is not that a merry thought, Campan? And do you not +see that I cannot go to Trianon in any other than a light white +dress?" + +"Yes, your majesty, I understand; but I was only thinking that the +trades-people of Lyons had just presented a paper to your majesty, +in which they complain of the decadence of the silk manufacture, +explaining it on the ground that your majesty has a preference for +white clothing, and stating that all the ladies feel obliged to +follow the example of their queen, and lay their silk robes aside." + +"And do you know, too," asked Marie Antoinette, "that Madame +Adelaide has herself supported this ridiculous paper of the Lyonnese +merchants, giving out that I wear white percale because I want to do +my brother, the Emperor Joseph, a service, and so ordered these +white goods from the Netherlands? Ah, let us leave these follies of +the wicked and the stupid. They shall not prevent my wearing white +clothes and being happy in Trianon. Give me a white dress quickly, +Campan." + +"Pardon, your majesty, but I must; first summon the ladies of the +robing-room," answered Madame de Campan, turning to the door of the +sleeping-room. + +"Oh, why all this parade?" sighed the queen. "Can I never be free +from the fetters of all this ceremony? Could you not yourself, +Campan, put a simple dress upon me?" + +"Your majesty, I am only a poor, powerless being, and I fear +enmities. The ladies would never forgive me if I should encroach +upon their rights and separate them from the adored person of the +queen. It is their right, it is their duty to draw the robe upon the +person of your majesty, and to secure your shoes. I beg, therefore, +your gracious permission to allow the ladies to come in." + +"Well, do it then," sighed the queen. " Let me bear the fetters here +in Versailles until the last moment. I shall have my compensation in +Trianon. Be assured I shall have my compensation there." + +A quarter of an hour later the queen was arrayed in her changed +attire, and came out from the toilet-chamber. The stiff crinoline +had disappeared; the whalebone corset, with the long projecting +point, was cast aside; and the high coiffure, which Leonard had so +elaborately made up in the morning, was no more to be seen. A white +robe, decorated at the bottom with a simple volante, fell in broad +artistic folds over her noble figure, whose full proportions had +been concealed by the rigid state dress. A simple waist encircled +her bust, and was held together by a blue sash, which hung in long +ends at her left side. Broad cuffs, held together with simple, +narrow lace, fell down as far as the wrist, but through the thin +material could be seen the fair form of her beautiful arms; and the +white triangle of gauze which she had thrown over her naked neck, +did not entirely veil the graceful lines of her full shoulders and +her noble bust. Her hair, deprived of its unnatural disfigurement, +and almost entirely freed from powder, arched itself above her fine +forehead in a light toupet, and fell upon her shoulders in rich +brown locks, on which only a mere breath of powder had been blown. +On her arm the queen carried a great, round, straw hat, secured by +blue ribbons, and over her fair, white hands she had drawn gloves of +black netting. + +Thus, with beaming countenance, with blushing cheeks, and with +smiles curling around her full red lips; thus, all innocence, +merriment, and cheerfulness, Marie Antoinette entered the sitting- +room, where the Duchess de Polignac was waiting for her, in an +attire precisely like that of the queen. + +The latter flew to the duchess with the quickness of a young girl, +with the tenderness of a sister, and drew her arm within that of her +friend. + +"Come, Julia," said she, "let us leave the world and enter +paradise." + +"Ah, I am afraid of paradise," cried the duchess, with a merry +smile. "I have a horror of the serpent." + +"You shall find no serpents there, my Julia," said the queen, +drawing the arm of the duchess to herself. "Lean upon me, my friend, +and be persuaded that I will defend you against every serpent, and +every low, creeping thing." + +"Oh, I fear the serpent more for my adored queen than for myself. +What is there in me to harm? But your majesty is exposed on every +side to attack." + +"Oh, why, Julia," sighed the queen-" why do you ad-dress me with the +stiff, formal title of majesty when we are alone together? Why do +you not forget for a little etiquette when there is nobody by to +hear us?" + +"Your majesty," laughed the duchess, "we are in Versailles, and the +walls have ears." + +"It is true," cried the queen, with quickly restored merriment, " we +are here in Versailles; that is your exculpation. Come, let us +hasten to leave this proud, royal palace, and get away to the +society of beautiful Nature, where there are no walls to hear us, +but only God and Nature. Come, Julia." + +She drew the duchess quickly out through the side door, which led to +the little corridor, and thence to the adjacent staircase, and over +the small court to one of the minor gates of the palace, leading to +the park. The coupe of the queen was standing before this door, and +the master of the stole and the lackeys were awaiting the approach +of the queen. + +Marie Antoinette sprang like a gazelle into the carriage, and then +extended her hand to the duchess to assist her to ascend. "Forward, +forward!" cried the queen to the coachman, " and drive with all +haste, as if the horses had wings, for I long to fly. Forward! oh, +forward!" + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +TRIANON + + +Fly, ye steeds, fly! Bear the Queen of France away from the stiff, +proud Versailles; from the palaces of kings, where every thing +breathes of exaltation, greatness, and unapproachableness; bear her +to little, simple, pretty Trianon, to the dream of paradise, where +all is innocence, simplicity, and peace; where the queen may be a +woman, and a happy one, too, and where Marie Antoinette has the +right to banish etiquette, and live in accordance with her +inclinations, wishes, and humors. + +Yes, truly, the fiery steeds have transformed themselves into birds; +they cut the air, they scarcely touch the ground, and hardly can the +driver restrain them when they reach the fence which separates the +garden of Trianon from Versailles. + +Light as a gazelle, happy as a young girl that knows nothing of the +cares and burdens of life, Marie Antoinette sprang out of the +carriage before the chamberlain had time to open the gate with its +double wings, to let the queen pass in as a queen ought. Laughing, +she glided through the little side gate, which sufficed for the more +unpretending visitor of Trianon, and took the arm of her friend the +Duchess de Polignac, in order to turn with her into one of the side +alleys. But, before doing so, she turned to the chamberlain, who, +standing in a respectful attitude, was awaiting the commands of his +mistress. + +"Weber," said she to him, in the pleasant Austrian dialect, the +language of her early home" Weber, there is no need for you to +follow us. The day is yours. You are free, as I am too. Meanwhile, +if yon meet his majesty, tell him that I have gone to the small +palace, and that, if it pleases his majesty, he may await me in my +little village at the mill. + +"And now, come, my Julia," said she, turning to the duchess, and +drawing her forward with gentle violence, " now let us be merry and +happy. I am no longer a queen, God be thanked! I am neither more nor +less than anybody else. That is the reason I was so well pleased to +come through the small door just now. Through a narrow gate alone we +can enter paradise, and I am entering paradise now. Oh, do you not +see, my friend, that the trees, the flowers, the bushes, every thing +here is free from the dust of earth; that even the heaven has +another color, and looks down upon me brilliant and blue, like the +eye of God?" + +"It is just," answered the Duchess de Polignac, "because you are +seeing every thing with other eyes, your majesty." + +"Your majesty!" cried Marie Antoinette. "You love me no longer; your +heart is estranged from me, since you address me with this cold +title. In Versailles, you had a valid plea; but here, Julia, what +can you offer in justification? The flowers are not listeners, the +bushes have not ears, like the walls of Versailles, to spy out our +privacy." + +"I say nothing for my exculpation," answered the duchess, throwing +her arm with a playful movement around the neck of the queen, and +imprinting a kiss upon the lofty brow of Marie Antoinette. "I only +ask your pardon, and promise that I will be obedient and not disturb +my friend's dream of paradise all day long by an ill-timed word. Now +will you forgive me, Marie?" + +"With all my soul, Julia," answered the queen, nodding to her in a +friendly way. "And now, Julia, as we have a happy vacation day +before us, we will enjoy it like two young girls who are celebrating +the birthday of their grandmother after escaping from a boarding +school. Let us see which of us is the swiftest of foot. We will make +a wager on it. See, there gleams our little house out from the +shrubbery; let us see which of us gets there first." + +"Without stopping once in the run?" asked the duchess, amazed. + +"I make no conditions; I only say, let us see who gets there first. +If you win, Julia, I will give you the privilege of nominating a man +to have the first place in my Swiss guards, and you may select the +protege in whose behalf you were pleading yesterday. Come, let us +run. One!--" + +"No, Marie," interrupted the duchess. "Supposing that you are the +first, what shall I give you?" + +"A kiss--a hearty kiss--Julia. Now, forward! One, two, three!" + +And, speaking these words in merry accents, Marie Antoinette sprang +forward along the narrow walk. The round straw hat which covered her +head was tossed up on both sides; the blue ribbons fluttered in the +wind; the white dress puffed up; and the grand chamberlain of the +queen and Madame Adelaide would have been horrified if they could +have seen the queen flying along like a girl escaped from the +boarding-school. + +But she, she never thought of there being any thing improper in the +run; she looked forward to the goal with laughing glances, as the +white house emerged more and more from the verdure by which it was +surrounded, and then sideways at her friend, who had not been able +to gain a single step upon her. + +"Forward, forward!" shouted the queen; "I will and I must win, for +the prize is a kiss from my Julia." And with renewed speed the queen +dashed along. The lane opened and terminated in a square in front of +the palace. The queen stopped in her course, and turned round to see +her friend, who had been left far behind her. + +As soon as the duchess saw it she tried to quicken her steps, and +began to run again, but Marie Antoinette motioned with her hand, and +went rapidly back to meet her. + +"You shall not make any more effort, Julia," said she. "I have won, +and you cannot bring my victory into question." + +"And I do not wish to," answered the duchess, with a merry look of +defiance on her gentle features. "I really did not wish to win, for +it would have seemed as if I had to win what I want on the turn of a +merry game. You have done wrong, Marie Antoinette. You want me to +forget here in Trianon that you are the Queen of France. But you +yourself do not forget it. Only the queen can propose such a prize +as you have set, and only the queen can ask so insignificant a boon +on the other side. You have made it impossible for me to win, for +you know well that I am not selfish." + +"I know it, and that is just the reason why I love you so dearly, +Julia. I have done wrong," she went on to say with her gentle, sweet +voice. "I see it, and I beg your forgiveness. Give me now as a proof +that you do forgive me, give me the prize which I have won--a kiss, +Julia, a kiss." + +"Not here," answered the duchess. "O, no, not here, Marie. Do not +you see that the doors of the saloons are open, and that your +company are all assembled. They would all envy me; they would all be +jealous if they were to see the preference which you show for me." + +"Let them be jealous, let them envy you," cried the queen; "the +whole world shall know that Julia de Polignac is my best-loved +friend, that next to husband and children, I love no one so well as +her." + +With gentle violence the queen threw both her arms around the neck +of the duchess, and kissed her passionately. + +"Did you notice," said the Baron de Besenval to Lord Adhemar, with +whom he was playing a game of backgammon in the saloon, "did you +notice the tableau that the queen is presenting, taking for her +theme a group representing Friendship?" + +"I wish it were in my power to reproduce this wonderful group in +marble," answered Lord Adhemar, laughing. "It would be a companion +piece to Orestes and Pylades." + +"But which," asked the Duchess de Guemene, looking up from her +embroidery, "which would be the companion of Orestes, pursued of +Furies, surrounded by serpents?" + +"That is the queen," answered the Count de Vaudreuil, who was +sitting at the piano and practising a new piece of music. "The queen +is the womanly Orestes: the Furies are the three royal aunts; and +the serpents--pardon me, ladies--are, with the exception of +yourselves, most all the ladies of Paris." + +"You are malicious, count," cried Madame de Morsan, "and were we by +any chance not here, you would reckon us among the serpents." + +"If I should do so," said Count Vaudreuil, laughing, "I should only +wish to take the apple from you, in order to be driven out of +paradise with you. But still! the queen is coming." + +Yes, just then the queen entered the apartment. Her cheeks were +glowing red by reason of her run, her bosom heaved violently with +her hurried, agitated breathing. Her hat had fallen upon one side, +and the dark blond hair was thrown about in wild confusion. + +It was not the queen who entered the saloon, it was only Marie +Antoinette, the simple, young woman, greeting her friends with +brilliant glances and lively nods. It had been made a rule with her, +that when she entered, no one should rise, nor leave the embroidery, +or piano-playing, or any other occupation. + +The women remained at their work, Lords Besenval and Adhemar went on +playing their game of backgammon, and only the Count de Vaudreuil +rose from his place at the approach of the queen. + +"What have you been playing, count?" asked Marie Antoinette. "I beg +your pardon, if I leave your question unanswered," replied the +count, with a gentle inclination of the head. "Your majesty has such +a fine ear, that you must doubtless recognize the composer in the +music. It is an entirely new composition, and I have taken the +license of arranging it for four hands. If your majesty would +perhaps be inclined-" + +"Come," interrupted the queen, "let us try it at once." + +Quickly, and with feverish impatience, she drew her black netted +gloves from her delicate white hands, and at once took her place +next to the count, on the seat already prepared for her. + +"Will not the music be too difficult for me to play?" asked she, +timidly. + +"Nothing is too difficult for the Queen of France." + +"But there is a great deal that is too difficult for the dilettante, +Marie Antoinette," sighed the queen. "Meanwhile, we will begin and +try it." + +And with great facility and lightness of touch, the queen began to +play the base of the piece which had been arranged by the Count de +Vaudreuil for four hands. But the longer she played, the more the +laughter and the unrestrained gayety disappeared from the features +of the queen. Her noble countenance assumed an expression of deep +earnestness, her eye kindled with feeling, and the cheeks which +before had become purple-red with the exercise of playing, now paled +with deep inward emotion. + +All at once, in the very midst of the grand and impassioned strains, +Marie Antoinette stopped, and, under the strength of her feeling, +rose from her seat. + +"Only Gluck can have written this!" cried she. "This is the music, +the divine music of my exalted master, my great teacher, Chevalier +Gluck." + +"You are right; your majesty is a great musician," cried Lord +Vaudreuil, in amazement, "the ideal pupil of the genial maestro. +Yes, this music is Gluck's. It is the overture to his new opera of +'Alcestes,' which he sent me from Venice to submit to your majesty. +These tones shall speak for the master, and entreat for him the +protection of the queen." + +"You have not addressed the queen, but my own heart," said Marie +Antoinette, with gentle, deeply moved voice. "It was a greeting from +my home, a greeting from my teacher, who is at the same time the +greatest composer of Europe. Oh, I am proud of calling myself his +pupil. But Gluck needs no protection; it is much more we who need +the protection which he affords us in giving us the works of his +genius. I thank you, count," continued Marie Antoinette, turning to +Vaudreuil with a pleasant smile. + +"This is a great pleasure which you have prepared for me. But +knowing, as I now do, that this is Gluck's music, I do not dare to +play another note; for, to injure a note of his writing, seems to me +like treason against the crown. I will practise this piece, and then +some day we will play it to the whole court. And now, my honored +guests, if it pleases you, we go to meet the king. Gentlemen, let +each one choose his lady, for we do not want to go in state +procession, but by different paths." + +All the gentlemen present rushed toward the queen, each desirous to +have the honor of waiting upon her. Marie Antoinette thanked them +all with a pleasant smile, and took the arm of the eldest gentleman +there, the Baron de Besenval. + +"Come, baron," said she, "I know a new path, which none of these +gentry have learned, and I am sure that we shall be the first to +reach the place where the king is." + +Resting on the arm of the baron, she left the saloon, and passed out +of the door opposite, upon the little terrace leading to the well- +shaded park. + +"We will go through the English garden. I have had them open a path +through the thicket, which will lead us directly to our goal; while +the others will all have to go through the Italian garden, and so +make a circuit. But look, my lord, somebody is coming there--who is +it?" + +And the queen pointed to the tall, slim figure of a man who was just +then striding along the terrace. + +"Madame," answered the baron, "it is the Duke de Fronac." + +"Alas!" murmured Marie Antoinette, "he is coming to lay new burdens +upon us, and to put us in the way of meeting more disagreeable +things." + +"Would it be your wish that I should dismiss him? Do you give me +power to tell him that you extend no audience to him here?" + +"Oh! do not do so," sighed Marie Antoinette. "He, too, is one of my +enemies, and we must proceed much more tenderly with our dear +enemies than with our friends." + +Just then the Duke de Fronac ascended the last terrace, and +approached the queen with repeated bows, which she reciprocated with +an earnest look and a gentle inclination of the head. + +"Well, duke, is it I with whom the chief manager of the royal +theatres wishes to speak?" + +"Madame," answered the duke, "I am come to beg an audience of your +majesty." + +"You have it; and it is, as you see, a very imposing audience, for +we stand in the throne room of God, and the canopy of Heaven arches +over us. Now say, duke, what brings you to me?" + +"Your majesty, I am come to file an accusation!" + +"And of course against me?" asked the queen, with a haughty smile. +The duke pretended not to hear the question, and went on: "I am come +to bring a charge and to claim my rights. His majesty has had the +grace to appoint me manager-in-chief of all the royal theatres, and +to give me their supreme control." + +"Well, what has that to do with me?" asked the queen in her coldest +way. " You have then your duties assigned you, to he rightfully +fulfilled, and to keep your theatres in order, as if they were +troops under your care." + +"But, your majesty, there is a theatre which seeks to free itself +from my direction. And by virtue of my office and my trust I must +stringently urge you that this new theatre royal be delivered into +my charge." + +"I do not understand you," said the queen, coolly. "Of what new +theatre are you speaking, and where is it?" + +"Your majesty, it is here in Trianon. Here operettas, comedies, and +vaudevilles are played. The stage is furnished as all stages are; it +is a permanent stage, and I can therefore ask that it be given over +into my charge, for, I repeat it again, the king has appointed me +director of all the collective theatres royal." + +"But, duke," answered the queen with a somewhat more pliant tone, +"you forget one thing, and that is, that the theatre in Trianon does +not belong to the theatres of his majesty. It is my stage, and +Trianon is my realm. Have you not read on the placards, which are at +the entrance of Trianon, that it is the queen who gives laws here? +Do you not know that the king has given me this bit of ground that I +may enjoy my freedom here, and have a place where the Queen of +France may have a will of her own?" + +"Your majesty," answered the duke with an expression of the +profoundest deference, "I beg your pardon. I did not suppose that +there was a place in France where the king is not the lord +paramount, and where his commands are not imperative." + +"You see, then, that you are mistaken. Here in Trianon I am king, +and my commands are binding." + +"That does not prevent, your majesty, the commands of the king +having equal force," replied the duke, with vehemence. "And even if +the Queen of France disowns these laws, yet others do not dare take +the risk of following the example of the queen. For they remain, +wherever they are, the subjects of the king. So even here in Trianon +I am still the obedient subject of his majesty, and his commands and +my duties are bound to be respected by me." + +"My lord duke," cried the queen with fresh impatience, "you are free +never to come to Trianon. I give you my full permission to that end, +and thus you will be relieved from the possibility of ever coming +into collision with your ever-delicate conscience and the commands +of the king." + +"But, your majesty, there is a theatre in Trianon!" + +"Not this indefinite phrase, duke; there is a theatre in Trianon, +but I the queen, the princess of the royal family, and the guests I +invite, support a theatre in Trianon. Let me say this once for all: +you cannot have the direction where we are the actors. Besides, I +have had occasion several times to give you my views respecting +Trianon. I have no court here. I live here as a private person. I am +here but a land owner, and the pleasures and enjoyments which I +provide here for myself and my friends shall never be supervised by +any one but myself alone." [Footnote: The very words of the queen.-- +See Goncourt, "Histoire de Marie Antoinette"] + +"Your majesty," said the duke, with a cold smile, "it is no single +person that supervises you; it is public opinion, and I think that +this will speak on my side." + +The duke bowed, and, without waiting for a sign from the queen to +withdraw, he turned around and began to descend the terrace. + +"He is a shameless man!" muttered the queen, with pale cheeks and +flashing eyes, as she followed him with her looks. + +"He is ambitious," whispered Besenval; "he implores your majesty in +this way, and risks his life and his office, in the hope of being +received into the court society." + +"No, no," answered Marie Antoinette, eagerly; "there is nothing in +me that attracts him. The king's aunts have set him against me, and +this is a new way which their tender care has conjured up to +irritate me, and make me sick. + +Yet let us leave this, baron. Let us forget this folly, and only +remember that we are in Trianon. See, we are now entering my dear +English garden. Oh, look around you, baron, and then tell me is it +not beautiful here, and have I not reason to be proud of what I have +called here into being?" + +While thus speaking, the queen advanced with eager, flying steps to +the exquisite beds of flowers which beautifully variegated the +surface of the English garden. + +It was in very truth the creation of the queen, this English garden, +and it formed a striking contrast to the solemn, stately hedges, the +straight alleys, the regular flower beds, the carefully walled pools +and brooks, which were habitual in the gardens of Versailles and +Trianon. In the English garden every thing was cosy and natural. The +waters foamed here, and there they gathered themselves together and +stood still; here and there were plants which grew just where the +wind had scattered the seed. Hundreds of the finest trees--willows, +American oaks, acacias, firs--threw their shade abroad, and wrought +a rich diversity in the colors of the foliage. The soil here rose +into gentle hillocks, and there sank in depressions and natural +gorges. All things seemed without order or system, and where art had +done its work, there seemed to be the mere hand of free, unfettered +Nature. + +The farther the queen advanced with her companion into the garden, +the more glowing became her countenance, and the more her eyes +beamed with their accustomed fire. + +"Is it not beautiful here?" asked she, of the baron, who was walking +silently by her side. + +"It is beautiful wherever your majesty is," answered he, with an +almost too tender tone. But the queen did not notice it. Her heart +was filled with an artless joy; she listened with suspended breath +to the trilling song of the birds, warbling their glad hymns of +praise out from the thickets of verdure. How could she have any +thought of the idle suggestions of the voice of the baron, who had +been chosen as her companion because of his forty-five years, and of +his hair being tinged with gray? + +"It seems to me, baron," she said, with a charming laugh, while +looking at a bird which, its song just ended, soared from the bushes +to the heavens--" it seems to me as if Nature wanted to send me a +greeting, and deputed this bird to bring it to me. Ah," she went on +to say, with quickly clouded brow, "it is really needful that I +should at times hear the friendly notes and the sweet melodies of +such a genuine welcome. I have suffered a great deal today, baron, +and the welcome of this bird of Trianon was the balm of many a wound +that I have received since yesterday." + +"Your majesty was in Paris?" asked Besenval, hesitatingly, and with +a searching glance of his cunning, dark eyes, directed to the sad +countenance of Marie Antoinette. + +"I was in Paris," answered she, with a flush of joy; "and the good +Parisians welcomed the wife of the king and the mother of the +children of France with a storm of enthusiasm." + +"No, madame," replied the baron, reddening, "they welcomed with a +storm of enthusiasm the most beautiful lady of France, the adored +queen, the mother of all poor and suffering ones." + +"And yet there was a dissonant note which mingled with all these +jubilee tones," said the queen, thoughtfully. "While all were +shouting, there came one voice which sounded to my ear like the song +of the bird of misfortune. Believe me, Besenval, every thing is not +as it ought to be. There is something in the air which fills me with +anxiety and fear. I cannot drive it away; I feel that the sword of +Damocles is hanging over my head, and that my hands are too weak to +remove it." + +"A woe to the traitors who have dared to raise the sword of Damocles +over the head of the queen!" cried the baron, furiously. + +"Woe to them, but woe to me too!" replied the queen, with gentle +sadness. "I have this morning had a stormy interview with Madame +Adelaide. It appears that my enemies have concocted a new way of +attacking me, and Madame Adelaide was the herald to announce the +beginning of the tournament." + +"Did she venture to bring any accusations against your majesty?" +asked Besenval. The queen replying in the affirmative with a nod, he +went on. "But what can they say? Whence do they draw the poisoned +arrows to wound the noblest and truest of hearts?" + +"They draw them from their jealousy, from their hatred against the +house of Austria, from the rage with which they look upon the manner +in which the king has bestowed his love. 'What can they say?' They +make out of little things monstrous crimes. They let a pebble grow +into a great rock, with which they strive to smite me down. Oh, my +friend, I have suffered a great deal to-day, and, in order to tell +you this, I chose you as my companion. I dare not complain before +the king," Marie Antoinette went on, while two tears rolled slowly +down her cheeks, "for I will not be the means of opening a breach in +the family, and the king would cause them to feel his wrath who have +drawn tears from the eyes of his wife. But you are my friend, +Besenval, and I confide in your friendship and in your honor. Now, +tell me, you who know the world, and who are my senior in experience +of life, tell me whether I do wrong to live as I do. Are the king's +aunts right in charging it upon me as a crime, that I take part in +the simple joys of life, that I take delight in my youth and am +happy? Is the Count de Provence right in charging me, as with a +crime, that I am the chief counsellor of the king, and that I +venture to give him my views regarding political matters? Am I +really condemned to stand at an unapproachable distance from the +people and the court, like a beautiful statue? Is it denied to me to +have feeling, to love and to hate, like everybody else? Is the Queen +of France nothing but the sacrificial lamb which the dumb idol +etiquette carries in its leaden arms, and crushes by slowly pressing +it to itself? Tell me, Besenval; speak to me like an honorable and +upright man, and remember that God is above us and hears our words!" + +"May God be my witness," said Besenval, solemnly. "Nothing lies +nearer my heart than that your majesty hear me. For my life, my +happiness, and my misery, all lie wrapped up in the heart of your +majesty. No, I answer--no; the aunts of the king, the old +princesses, look with the basilisk eye of envy from a false point. +They have lived at the court of their father; they have seen Vice +put on the trappings of Virtue; they have seen Shamelessness array +itself in the garments of Innocence, and they no longer retain their +faith in Virtue or Innocence. The purity of the queen appears to +them to be a studied coquetry, her unconstrained cheerfulness to be +culpable frivolity. No, the Count de Provence is not right in +bringing the charge against the king that it is wrong in him to love +his wife with the intensity and self surrender with which a citizen +loves the wife whom he has himself selected. He is not right in +alleging it as an accusation against you, that you are the +counsellor of the king, and that you seek to control political +action. Your whole offence lies in the fact that your political +views are different from his, and that, through the influence which +you have gained over the heart of the king, his aunts are driven +into the background. Your majesty is an Austrian, a friend of the +Duke de Choiseul. That is your whole offence. Now you would not be +less blameworthy in the eyes of these enemies were you to live in +exact conformity with the etiquette books of the Queen of France, +covered with the dust of a hundred years. Your majesty would +therefore do yourself and the whole court an injury were you to +allow your youth, your beauty, and your innocence, to be subjected +to these old laws. It were folly to condemn yourself to ennui and +solitude. Does not the Queen of France enjoy a right which the +meanest of her subjects possesses, of collecting her own chosen +friends around her and taking her pleasure with them. We live, I +know, in an age of reckless acts; but may there not be some +recklessness in dealing with the follies of etiquette? They bring it +as a charge against your majesty that you adjure the great court +circles, and the stiff set with which the royal family of France +used to martyr itself. They say that by giving up ceremony you are +undermining the respect which the people ought to cherish toward +royalty. But would it not be laughable to think that the obedience +of the people depends upon the number of the hours which a royal +family may spend in the society of tedious and wearisome courtiers? +No, my queen, do not listen to the hiss of the hostile serpents +which surround you. Go, courageously, your own way--the way of +innocence, guilelessness, and love." + +"I thank you--oh, I thank you!" cried Marie Antoinette. "You have +lifted heavy doubts from my heart and strengthened my courage. I +thank you!" + +And, with beaming eyes and a sweet smile, she extended both her +hands to the baron. + +He pressed them tightly within his own, and, sinking upon his knee, +drew the royal hands with a glow to his lips. + +"Oh, my queen, my mistress!" he cried, passionately, "behold at your +feet your most faithful servant, your most devoted slave. Receive +from me the oath of my eternal devotion and love. You have honored +me with your confidence, you have called me your friend. But my soul +and my heart glow for another name. Speak the word, Marie +Antoinette, the word--" + +The queen drew back, and the paleness of death spread over her +cheeks. She had at the outset listened with amazement, then with +horror and indignation, to the insolent words of the baron, and +gradually her gentle features assumed a fierce and disdainful +expression. + +"My lord," she said, with the noble dignity of a queen, "I told you +before that God is above us, and hears our words. You have spoken, +wantonly, and God has heard you. To Him I leave the punishment of +your wantonness. Stand up, my lord! the king shall know nothing of +an insult which would have brought you into ignominy with him +forever. But if you ever, by a glance or a gesture, recall this both +wanton and ridiculous scene, the king shall hear all from me!" + +And while the queen pointed, with a proud and dignified gesture, to +the place which was their goal, she said, with commanding tone: + +"Go before, my lord; I will follow you alone." The Baron de +Besenval, the experienced courtier, the practised man of the world, +was undergoing what was new to him; he felt himself perplexed, +ashamed, and no longer master of his words. He had risen from his +knees, and, after making a stiff obeisance to the queen, he turned +and went with a swift step and crestfallen look along the path which +the queen had indicated. + +Marie Antoinette followed him with her eyes so long as he remained +in sight, then looked with a long, sad glance around her. + +"And so I am alone again," she whispered, "and poorer by one +illusion more. Ah, and is it then true that there is no friendship +for me; must every friend be an envier or else a lover? Even this +man, whom I honored with my confidence, toward whom I cherished the +feeling of a pupil toward a teacher, even this man has dared to +insult me! Ah, must my heart encounter a new wonder every day, and +must my happiness be purchased with so many pains?" + +And with a deep cry of pain the queen drew her hands to her face, +and wept bitterly. All around was still. Only here and there were +heard the songs of the birds in the bushes, light and dreamy; while +the trees, swayed by the wind, gently whispered, as if they wanted +to quiet the grief of the queen, and dry up those tears which fell +upon the flowers. + +All at once, after a short pause, the queen let her hands fall +again, and raised her head with proud and defiant energy. + +"Away with tears!" she said. "What would my friends say were they to +see me? What buzzing and whispering would there be, were they to see +that the gentle queen, the always happy and careless Marie +Antoinette, had shed tears? Oh, my God!" she cried, raising her +large eyes to heaven, "I have today paid interest enough for my +happiness; preserve for me at least the capital, and I will +cheerfully pay the world the highest rates, such as only a miserly +usurer can desire." + +And with a proud spirit, and a lofty carriage, the queen strode +forward along the path. The bushes began to let the light through, +and the queen emerged from the English garden into the small plain, +in whose midst Marie Antoinette had erected her Arcadia, her dream +of paradise. The queen stood still, and with a countenance which +quickly kindled with joy, and with eyes which beamed with pleasure, +looked at the lovely view which had been called into being by the +skill of her architect, Hubert Robert. + +And the queen might well rejoice in this creation, this poetic idyl, +which arose out of the splendor of palaces like a violet in the +sand, and among the variegated tropical flowers which adorn the +table of a king. Closely adjoining each other were little houses +like those in which peasants live, the peasant women being the proud +ladies of the royal court. A little brook babbled behind the houses, +and turned with its foaming torrent the white wheel of the mill +which was at the extremity of the village. Near the mill, farther +on, stood entirely alone a little peasant's house, especially +tasteful and elegant. It was surrounded by flower beds, vineyards, +and laurel paths. The roof was covered with straw; the little panes +were held by leads to the sashes. It was the home of Marie +Antoinette. The queen herself made the drawings, and wrought out the +plan. It was her choice that it should be small, simple, and modest; +that it should have not the slightest appearance of newness, and +that rents and fissures should be represented on the wall by +artificial contrivances, so as to give the house an old look, and an +appearance of having been injured. She had little thought how +speedily time could demolish the simple pastimes of a queen. Close +by stood a still smaller house, known as the milk room. It was close +to the brook. And when Marie Antoinette, with her peasant women, had +milked the cows, they bore the milk through the village in white +buckets, with silver handles, to the milk room, where it was poured +out into pretty, white pans standing on tables of white marble. On +the other side of the road was the house of the chief magistrate of +the village, and close by lived the schoolmaster. + +Marie Antoinette had had a care for everything. There were bins to +preserve the new crops in, and before the hay scaffoldings were +ladders leading up to the fragrant hay. "Ah, the world is +beautiful," said Marie Antoinette, surveying her creation with a +cheerful look. "I will enjoy the pleasant hours, and be happy here." + +She walked rapidly forward, casting friendly glances up to the +houses to see whether the peasants had not hid them-selves within, +and were waiting for her. But all was still, and not one of the +inhabitants peeped out from a single window. All at once the +stillness was broken by a loud clattering sound. The white wheel of +the mill began to turn, and at the door appeared the corpulent form +of the miller in his white garments, with his smiling, meal powdered +face, and with the white cap upon his head. + +The queen uttered an exclamation of delight, and ran with quick +steps toward the mill. But before she could reach it, the door of +the official's house opposite opened, and the mayor, in his black +costume, and with the broad white ribbon around his neck; the +Spanish cane, with a gold knob, in his hand, and wearing his black, +three-cornered hat, issued from the dwelling. He advanced directly +to Marie Antoinette, and resting his hands upon his sides and +assuming a threatening mien, placed himself in front of her. + +"We are very much dissatisfied with you, for you neglect your duties +of hospitality in a most unbecoming manner. We must have you give +your testimony why you have come so late, for the flowers are all +hanging their heads, the nightingales will not sing any more, and +the lambs in the meadow will not touch the sweetest grass. Every +thing is parching and dying because you are not here, and with +desire to see you." + +"That is not true," cried another merry voice; the window of the +school house opened with a rattle, and the jolly young schoolmaster +looked out and threatened with his rod the grave mayor. + +"How can you say, sir, that every thing is going to ruin? Am I not +here to keep the whole together? Since the unwise people stopped +learning, I have become the schoolmaster of the dear kine, and am +giving them lessons in the art of making life agreeable. I am the +dancing master of the goats, and have opened a ballet school for the +kids." + +Marie Antoinette laughed aloud. "Mister schoolmaster," said she, "I +am very desirous to have a taste of your skill, and I desire you to +give a ballet display this afternoon upon the great meadow. So far +as you are concerned, Mr. Mayor," she said, with a laughing nod, "I +desire you to exercise a little forbearance, and to pardon some +things in me for my youth's sake." + +"As if my dear sister-in-law now needed any looking after!" cried +the mayor, with an emphatic tone. + +"Ah, my Lord de Provence," said the queen, smiling, "you are falling +out of your part, and forgetting two things. The first, that I am +not the queen here; and the second, that here in Trianon all +flatteries are forbidden." + +"It lies in you, whether the truth should appear as flattery," +answered the Count de Provence, slightly bowing. + +"That is an answer worthy of a scholar," cried the schoolmaster, +Count d'Artois. "Brother, you do not know the A B C of gallantry. +You must go to school to me." + +"I do not doubt, brother Charles, that in this thing I could learn +very much of you," said the Count de Provence, smiling. "Meanwhile, +I am not sure that my wife would be satisfied with the instruction." + +"Some time we will ask her about it," said the queen. "Good-by, my +brothers, I must first greet my dear miller." + +She rushed forward, sprang with a flying step up the little wooden +stairway, and threw both her arms around the neck of the miller, +who, laughingly, pressed her to his heart, and drew her within the +mill. + +"I thank you, Louis!" cried the queen, bending forward and pressing +the hand of her husband to her lips. "What a pleasant surprise you +have prepared for me; and how good it is in you to meet me here in +my pleasant plantation!" + +"Did you not say but lately that you wanted this masquerade?" asked +the king, with a pleasant smile. "Did not you yourself assign the +parts, and appoint me to be the miller, the Count de Provence to be +mayor, and the whimsical Artois to be schoolmaster de par la reine, +as it runs here in Trianon, and do you wonder now that we, as it +becomes the obedient, follow our queen's commands, and undertake the +charge which she intrusts to us?" "Oh, Louis, how good you are!" +said the queen, with tears in her eyes. "I know indeed how little +pleasure you, so far as you yourself are concerned, find in these +foolish sports and idle acts, and yet you sacrifice your own wishes +and take part in our games." "That is because I love you!" said the +king with simplicity, and a smile of pleasure beautified his broad, +good natured face. "Yes, Marie, I love you tenderly, and it gives me +joy to contribute to your happiness." + +The queen gently laid her arm around Louis's neck, and let her head +fall upon his shoulder. "Do you still know, Louis," asked she, "do +you still know what you said to me when you gave Trianon to me?" + +"Well," said the king, shaking his head slowly. "You said to me, +'You love flowers. I will present to you a whole bouquet. I give you +Little Trianon.' [Footnote: The very words of the king.--See +"Memoire de Marquis de Crequy," vol. iv.] My dear sire! you have +given me not only a bouquet of flowers, but a bouquet of pleasant +hours, of happy years, for which I thank you, and you alone." + +"And may this bouquet never wither, Marie!" said the king, laying +his hand as if in blessing on the head of his wife, and raising his +good, blue eyes with a pious and prayerful look. "But, my good +woman," said he then, after a little pause, "you quite let me forget +the part I have to play, and the mill wheel is standing still again, +since the miller is not there. It is, besides, in wretched order, +and it is full needful that I practise my art of black smith here a +little, and put better screws and springs in the machine. But +listen! what kind of song is that without?" + +"Those are the peasants greeting us with their singing," said the +queen, smiling. "Come, Mr. Miller, let us show ourselves to them." + +She drew the king out upon the small staircase. Directly at the foot +of it stood the king's two brothers, the Counts de Provence and +Artois, as chief official and schoolmaster, and behind them the +duchesses and princesses, dukes and counts, arrayed as peasants. In +united chorus they greeted the mistress and the miller: + +"Oil peut-on etre mieux, Qu'au seiu de sa famille?" + +The queen smiled, and yet tears glittered in her eyes, tears of joy. + +Those were happy hours which the royal pair spent that day in +Trianon--hours of such bright sunshine that Marie Antoinette quite +forgot the sad clouds of the morning, and gave herself undisturbed +to the enjoyment of this simple, country life. They sat down to a +country dinner--a slight, simple repast, brought together from the +resources of the hen-coop, the mill, and the milk-room. Then the +whole company went out to lie down in the luxuriant grass which grew +on the border of the little grove, and looked at the cows grazing +before them on the meadow, and with stately dignity pursuing the +serious occupation of chewing the cud. But as peasants have +something else to do than to live and enjoy, their mistress, Marie +Antoinette, soon left her resting-place to set her people a good +example in working. The spinning-wheel was brought and set upon a +low stool; Marie Antoinette began to spin. How quickly the wheel +began to turn, as if it were the wheel of fortune--to-day bringing +joy, and to-morrow calamity! + +The evening has not yet come, and the wheel of fortune is yet +turning, yet calamity is there. + +Marie Antoinette does not yet know it; her eye still beams with joy, +a happy smile still plays upon her rosy lips. She is sitting now +with her company by the lake, with the hook in her hand, and looking +with laughing face and fixed attention at the rod, and crying aloud +as often as she catches a fish. For these fishes are to serve as +supper for the company, and the queen has ceremoniously invited her +husband to an evening meal, which she herself will serve and +prepare. The queen smiles still and is happy; her spinning-wheel is +silent, but the wheel of fate is moving still. + +The king is no longer there. He has withdrawn into the mill to rest +himself. + +And yet there he is not alone. Who ventures to disturb him? It must +be something very serious. For it is well known that the king very +seldom goes to Trianon, and that when he is there he wishes to be +entirely free from business. + +And yet he is disturbed today; yet the premier, Baron de Breteuil, +is come to seek the miller of Little Trianon, and to beseech him +even there to be the king again. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE QUEEN'S NECKLACE. + + +Directly after a page, arrayed in the attire of a miller's boy, had +announced the Baron de Breteuil, the king with drew into his chamber +and resumed his own proper clothing. He drew on the long, gray coat, +the short trousers of black velvet, the long, gold embroidered +waistcoat of gray satin; and over this the bright, thin ribbon of +the Order of Louis-the attire in which the king was accustomed to +present himself on gala-days. + +With troubled, disturbed countenance, he then entered the little +apartment where his chief minister, the Baron de Breteuil, was +awaiting him. + +"Tell me quickly," ejaculated the king, "do you bring bad news? Has +any thing unexpected occurred?" + +"Sire," answered the minister, respectfully, "something unexpected +at all events, but whether something bad will be learned after +further investigation." + +"Investigation!" cried the king. "Then do you speak of a crime?" + +"Yes, sire, of a crime-the crime of a base deception, and, as it +seems, of a defalcation involving immense sums and objects of great +value." + +"Ah," said the king, with a sigh of relief, "then the trouble is +only one of money." + +"No, sire, it is one which concerns the honor of the queen." + +Louis arose, while a burning flush of indignation passed over his +face. + +"Will they venture again to assail the honor of the queen?" he +asked. + +"Yes, sire," answered Breteuil, with his invincible calmness--"yes, +sire, they will venture to do so. And at this time it is so infernal +and deeply-laid a plan that it will be difficult to get at the +truth. Will your majesty allow me to unfold the details of the +matter somewhat fully?" + +"Speak, baron, speak," said the king, eagerly, taking his seat upon +a wooden stool, and motioning to the minister to do the same. + +"Sire," answered the premier, with a bow, "I will venture to sit, +because I am in fact a little exhausted with my quick run hither." + +"And is the matter so pressing?" muttered the king, drawing out his +tobacco-box, and in his impatience rolling it between his fingers. + +"Yes, very pressing," answered Breteuil, taking his seat. "Does your +majesty remember the beautiful necklace which the court jeweller, +Bohmer, some time since had the honor to offer to your majesty?" + +"Certainly, I remember it," answered the king, quickly nodding. "The +queen showed herself on that occasion just as unselfish and +magnanimous as she always is. It was told me that her majesty had +very much admired the necklace which Bohmer had showed to her, and +yet had declined to purchase it, because it seemed to her too dear. +I wanted to buy it and have the pleasure of offering it to the +queen, but she decisively refused it." + +"We well remember the beautiful answer which her majesty gave to her +husband," said Breteuil, gently bowing. "All Paris repeated with +delight the words which her majesty uttered: 'Sir, we have more +diamonds than ships. Buy a ship with this money!'" [Footnote: +"Correspondence Secrete de la Cour de Louis XVI."] + +"You have a good memory," said the king, "for it is five years since +this happened. Bohmer has twice made the attempt since then to sell +this costly necklace to me, but I have dismissed him, and at last +forbidden him to allude to the matter again." + +"I believe that he has, meanwhile, ventured to trouble the queen +several times about the necklace. It appears that he had almost +persuaded himself that your majesty would purchase it. Years ago he +caused stones to be selected through all Europe, wishing to make a +necklace of diamonds which should be alike large, heavy, and +brilliant. The queen refusing to give him his price of two million +francs, he offered it at last for one million eight hundred +thousand." + +"I have heard of that," said the king. "Her majesty was at last +weary of the trouble, and gave command that the court jeweller, +Bohmer, should not be admitted." + +"Every time, therefore, that he came to Versailles he was refused +admittance. He then had recourse to writing, and two weeks ago her +majesty received from him a begging letter, in which he said that he +should be very happy if, through his instrumentality, the queen +could possess the finest diamonds in Europe, and imploring her +majesty not to forget her court jeweller. The queen read this +letter, laughing, to her lady-in-waiting, Madame de Campan, and said +it seemed as if the necklace had deprived the good Bohmer of his +reason. But not wishing to pay any further attention to his letter +or to answer it, she burned the paper in a candle which was +accidentally standing on her table." + +"Good Heaven! How do you know these details?" asked the king, in +amazement. + +"Sire, I have learned them from Madame de Campan herself, as I was +compelled to speak with her about the necklace." + +"But what is it about this necklace? What has the queen to do with +that?" asked the king, wiping with a lace handkerchief the sweat +which stood in great drops upon his lofty forehead. + +"Sire, the court jeweller, Bohmer, asserts that he sold the necklace +of brilliants to the queen, and now desires to be paid." + +"The queen is right," exclaimed the king, "the man is out of his +head. If he did sell the necklace to the queen, there must have been +witnesses present to confirm it, and the keepers of her majesty's +purse would certainly know about it." + +"Sire, Bohmer asserts that the queen caused it to be bought of him +in secret, through a third hand, and that this confidential +messenger was empowered to pay down thirty thousand francs, and to +promise two hundred thousand more." + +"What is the name of this confidential messenger? What do they call +him?" + +"Sire," answered the Baron de Breteuil, solemnly--"sire, it is the +cardinal and grand almoner of your majesty, Prince Louis de Rohan." + +The king uttered a loud cry, and sprang quickly from his seat. + +"Rohan?" asked he. "And do they dare to bring this man whom the +queen hates, whom she scorns, into relations with her? Ha, Breteuil! +you can go; the story is too foolishly put together for any one to +believe it." + +"Your majesty, Bohmer has, in the mean while, believed it, and has +delivered the necklace to the cardinal, and received the queen's +promise to pay, written with her own hand." + +"Who says that? How do you know all the details?" + +"Sire, I know it by a paper of Bohmer's, who wrote to me after +trying in vain several times to see me. The letter was a tolerably +confused one, and I did not understand it. But as he stated in it +that the queen's lady-in-waiting advised him to apply to me as the +minister of the royal house, I considered it best to speak with +Madame de Campan. What I learned of her is so important that I +begged her to accompany me to Trianon, and to repeat her statement +before your majesty." + +"Is Campan then in Trianon?" asked the king. + +"Yes, sire; and on our arrival we learned that Bohmer had just been +there, and was most anxious to speak to the queen. He had been +denied admission as always, and had gone away weeping and scolding." + +"Come," said the king, "let us go to Trianon; I want to speak with +Campan." + +And with quick, rapid steps the king, followed by the minister +Breteuil, left the mill, and shunning the main road in order not to +be seen by the queen, struck into the little side-path that led +thither behind the houses. + +"Campan," said the king, hastily entering the little toilet-room of +the queen, where the lady-in-waiting was--"Campan, the minister has +just been telling me a singular and incredible history. Yet repeat +to me your last conversation with Bohmer." + +"Sire," replied Madame de Campan, bowing low, "does your majesty +command that I speak before the queen knows of the matter?" + +"Ah," said the king, turning to the minister, "you see I am right. +The queen knows nothing of this, else she would certainly have +spoken to me about it. Thank God, the queen withholds no secrets +from me! I thank you for your question, Campan. It is better that +the queen be present at our interview. I will send for her to come +here." And the king hastened to the door, opened it, and called, +"Are any of the queen's servants here?" + +The voice of the king was so loud and violent that the chamberlain, +Weber, who was in the little outer antechamber, heard it, and at +once rushed in. + +"Weber," cried the king to him, "hasten at once to Little Trianon. +Beg the queen, in my name, to have the goodness to come to the +palace within a quarter of an hour, to consult about a weighty +matter that allows no delay. But take care that the queen be not +alarmed, and that she do not suspect that sad news has come +regarding her family. Hasten, Weber! And now, baron," continued the +king, closing the door, "now you shall be convinced by your own eyes +and ears that the queen will be as amazed and as little acquainted +with all these things as I myself. I wish, therefore, that you would +be present at the interview which I shall have with my wife and +Campan, without the queen's knowing that you are near. You will be +convinced at once in this way of the impudent and shameless +deception that they have dared to play. Where does that door lead +to, Campan?" asked the king, pointing to the white, gold-bordered +door, at whose side two curtains of white satin, wrought with roses, +were secured. + +"Sire, it leads to the small reception room." + +"Will the queen pass that way when she comes?" + +"No, your majesty, she is accustomed to take the same way which your +majesty took, through the antechamber." + +"Good. Then, baron, go into the little saloon. Leave the door open, +and do you, Campan, loosen the curtains and let them fall over the +door, that the minister may hear without being seen." + +A quarter of an hour had scarcely elapsed when the queen entered the +toilet-chamber, with glowing cheeks, and under visible excitement. +The king went hastily to her, took her hand and pressed it to his +lips. + +"Forgiveness, Marie, that I have disturbed you in the midst of your +pleasures." + +"Tell me, quickly," cried the queen, impatiently. "What is it? Is it +a great misfortune?" + +"No, Marie, but a great annoyance, which is so far a misfortune in +that the name of your majesty is involved in a disagreeable and +absurd plot. The court jeweller, Bohmer, asserts that he has sold a +necklace to your majesty for one million eight hundred thousand +francs." + +"But the man is crazy," cried the queen. "Is that all your majesty +had to say to me?" + +"I beg that Campan will repeat the conversation which she had +yesterday with Bohmer." + +And the king beckoned with his hand to the lady-in-waiting, who, at +the entrance of the queen, had modestly taken her seat at the back +part of the room. + +"How!" cried the queen, amazed, now first perceiving Campan. "What +do you here? What does all this mean?" + +"Your majesty, I came to Trianon to inform you about the +conversation which I had yesterday with Bohmer. When I arrived I +found he had just been here." + +"And what did he want?" cried the queen. "Did you not tell me, +Campan, that he no longer possesses this unfortunate necklace, with +which he has been making a martyr of me for years? Did you not tell +me that he had sold it to the Grand Sultan, to go to +Constantinople?" + +"I repeated to your majesty what Bohmer said to me. Meanwhile I beg +now your gracious permission to repeat my to-day's interview with +Bohmer. Directly after your majesty had gone to Trianon with the +Duchess de Polignac, the court jeweller Bohmer was announced. He +came with visible disquiet and perplexity, and asked me whether your +majesty had left no commission for him. I answered him that the +queen had not done so, that in one word she had no commission for +him, and that she was tired of his eternal pestering. ' But,' said +Bohmer, 'I must have an answer to the letter that I sent to her, and +to whom must I apply?' 'To nobody,' I answered. 'Her majesty has +burned your letter without reading it.' 'Ah! madame,' cried he, +'that is impossible. The queen knows that she owes me money.' " + +"I owe him money!" cried the queen, horrified. "How can the +miserable man dare to assert such a thing?" + +"That I said to him, your majesty, but he answered, with complete +self possession, that your majesty owed him a million and some five +hundred thousand francs, and when I asked him in complete amazement +for what articles your majesty owed him such a monstrous sum, he +answered, 'For my necklace.'" + +"This miserable necklace again!" exclaimed the queen. "It seems as +if the man made it only to make a martyr of me with it. Year after +year I hear perpetually about this necklace, and it has been quite +in vain that, with all my care and good-will, I have sought to drive +from him this fixed idea that I must buy it. He is so far gone in +his illusion as to assert that I have bought it." + +"Madame, this man is not insane," said the king, seriously. "Listen +further. Go on, Campan." + +"I laughed," continued Madame de Campan, "and asked him how he could +assert such a thing, when he told me only a few months ago that he +had sold the necklace to the Sultan. Then he replied that the queen +had ordered him to give this answer to every one that asked about +the necklace. Then he told me further, that your majesty had +secretly bought the necklace, and through the instrumentality of the +Lord Cardinal de Rohan." + +"Through Rohan?" cried the queen, rising. "Through the man whom I +hate and despise? And is there a man in France who can believe this, +and who does not know that the cardinal is the one who stands the +lowest in my favor!" + +"I said to Mr. Bohmer--I said to him that he was deceived, that the +queen would never make a confidant of Cardinal Rohan, and he made me +this very answer: 'You deceive yourself, madame. The cardinal stands +so high in favor, and maintains such confidential relations with her +majesty, that she had sent, through his hands, thirty thousand +francs as a first payment. The queen took this money in the presence +of the cardinal, from the little secretary of Sevres porcelain, +which stands near to the chimney in her boudoir.' 'And did the +cardinal really say that?' I asked; and when he reaffirmed it, I +told him that he was deceived. He now began to be very much +troubled, and said, 'Good Heaven! what if you are right, what if I +am deceived! There has already a suspicion come to me; the cardinal +promised me that on Whit-sunday the queen would wear the collar, and +she did not do so; so this determined me to write to her.' When now, +full of anxiety, he asked what advice I could give him, I at once +bade him go to Lord Breteuil and tell him all. He promised to do so, +and went. But I hastened to come hither to tell your majesty the +whole story, but when I arrived I found the unhappy jeweller already +here, and he only went away after I gave him my promise to speak to- +day with your majesty." + +The queen had at the outset listened with speechless amazement, and +as Campan approached the close of her communication, her eyes opened +wider and wider. She had stood as rigid as a statue. But now all at +once life and animation took possession of this statue; a glowing +purple-red diffused itself over her cheeks, and directing her eyes, +which blazed with wonderful fire, to the king, she said, with a loud +and commanding voice, "Sire, you have heard this story. Your wife is +accused, and the queen is even charged with having a secret +understanding with Cardinal Rohan. I desire an investigation--a +rigid, strict investigation. Call at once, Lord Breteuil, that we +may take counsel with him. But I insist upon having this done." + +"And your will is law, madame," said the king, directing an +affectionate glance at the excited face of the queen. "Come out, +Breteuil!" + +And as between the curtains appeared the serious, sad face of the +minister, the king turned to his wife and said: "I wished that he +might be a secret witness of this interview, and survey the position +which you should take in this matter." + +"Oh, sire!" exclaimed Marie Antoinette, extending her hand to him, +"so you did not for an instant doubt my innocence?" + +"No, truly, not a moment," answered the king, with a smile. "But now +come, madame, we will consider with Breteuil what is to be done, and +then we will summon the Abbe de Viermont, that he may take part in +our deliberations." + +On the next day, the 15th of August, a brilliant, select company was +assembled in the saloons of Versailles. It was a great holiday, +Ascension-day, and the king and the queen, with the entire court, +intended to be present at the mass, which the cardinal and the grand +almoner would celebrate in the chapel. + +The entire brilliant court was assembled; the cardinal arrayed in +his suitable apparel, and wearing all the tokens of his rank, had +entered the great reception room, and only awaited the arrival of +the royal pair, to lead them into the church. The fine and much +admired face of the cardinal wore today a beaming expression, and +his great black eyes were continually directed, while he was talking +with the Duke de Conti and the Count d'Artois, toward the door +through which the royal couple would enter. All at once the portal +opened, a royal page stepped in and glanced searchingly around; and +seeing the towering figure of the cardinal in the middle of the +hall, he at once advanced through the glittering company, and +approached the cardinal. "Monseigneur," he whispered to him, "his +majesty is awaiting your eminence's immediate appearance in the +cabinet." + +The cardinal broke off abruptly his conversation with Lord Conti, +hurried through the hall and entered the cabinet. + +No one was there except the king and queen, and in the background of +the apartment, in the recess formed by a window, the premier, Baron +Breteuil, the old and irreconcilable enemy of the proud cardinal, +who in this hour would have his reward for his year long and +ignominious treatment of the prince. + +The cardinal had entered with a confident, dignified bearing; but +the cold look of the king and the flaming eye of the queen appeared +to confuse him a little, and his proud eye sank to the ground. + +"You have been buying diamonds of Bohmer?" asked the king, +brusquely. + +"Yes, sire," answered the cardinal. + +"What have you done with them? Answer me, I command you." + +"Sire," said the cardinal, after a pause, "I supposed that they were +given to the queen." + +"Who intrusted you with this commission?" + +"Sire, a lady named Countess Lamotte-Valois. She gave me a letter +from her majesty, and I believed that I should be doing the queen a +favor if I should undertake the care of the commission which the +queen had the grace to intrust to me." + +"I!" cried the queen, with an expression of intense scorn, "should I +intrust you with a commission in my behalf? I, who for eight years +have never deigned to bestow a word upon you? And I should employ +such a person as you, a beggar of places?" + +"I see plainly," cried the cardinal, "I see plainly that some one +has deceived you grievously about me. I will pay for the necklace. +The earnest wish to please your majesty has blinded your eyes +regarding me. I have planned no deception, and am now bitterly +undeceived. But I will pay for the necklace." + +"And you suppose that that ends all!" said the queen, with a burst +of anger. "You think that, with a pitiful paying for the brilliants, +you can atone for the disgrace which you have brought upon your +queen? No, no, sir; I desire a rigid investigation. I insist upon it +that all who have taken part in this ignominious deception be +brought to a relentless investigation. Give me the proofs that you +have been deceived, and that you are not much rather the deceiver." + +"Ah, madame," cried the cardinal, with a look at once so full of +reproach and confidence, that the queen fairly shook with anger. +"Here are the proofs of my innocence," continued he, drawing a small +portfolio from his pocket, and taking from it a folded paper. "There +is the letter of the queen to the Countess Lamotte, in which her +majesty empowered me to purchase the diamonds." + +The king took the paper, looked over it hastily, read the signature, +and gave it, with a suspicious shrug of the shoulders, to his wife. + +The queen seized the letter with the wild fury of a tigress, which +has at last found its prey, and with breathless haste ran over the +paper. Then she broke out into loud, scornful laughter, and, +pointing to the letter, she looked at the cardinal with glances of +flame. + +"That is not my handwriting, that is not my signature!" cried she, +furiously. "How are you--sir, a prince and grand almoner of France-- +how are you so ignorant, so foolish, as to believe that I could +subscribe myself 'Marie Antoinette of France?' Everybody knows that +queens write only their baptismal names as signatures, and you alone +have not known that?" + +"I see into it," muttered the cardinal, pale under the look of the +queen, and so weak that he had to rest upon the table for support, +"I see into it; I have been dreadfully deceived." + +The king took a paper from his table and gave it to the cardinal. +"Do you confess that you wrote this letter to Bohmer, in which you +send him thirty thousand francs in behalf of the queen, in part +payment for the necklace?" + +"Yes, sire, I confess it," answered the cardinal, with a low voice, +which seemed to contradict what he uttered. + +"He confesses it," cried the queen, gnashing her teeth, and making +up her little hand into a clinched fist. "He has held me fit for +such infamy--me, his queen!" + +"You assert that you bought the jewels for the queen. Did you +deliver them in person?" + +"No, sire, the Countess Lamotte did that." + +"In your name, cardinal?" + +"Yes, in my name, sire, and she gave at the same time a receipt to +the queen for one hundred and fifty thousand francs, which I lent +the queen toward the purchase." + +"And what reward did you have from the queen?" + +The cardinal hesitated; then, as he felt the angry, cold, and +contemning look of the queen resting upon him, the red blood mounted +into his face, and with a withering glance at Marie Antoinette, he +said: + +"You wish, madame, that I should speak the whole truth! Sire, the +queen rewarded me for this little work of love in a manner worthy of +a queen. She granted me an appointment in the park of Versailles." + +At this new and fearful charge, the queen cried aloud, and, +springing forward like a tigress, she seized the arm of her husband +and shook it. + +"Sire," said she, "listen to this high traitor, bringing infamy upon +a queen! Will you bear it? Can his purple protect the villain?" + +"No, it cannot, and it shall not!" cried the king. "Breteuil, do +your duty. And you, cardinal, who venture to accuse your queen, to +scandalize the good name of the wife of your king, go." + +"Sire," stammered the cardinal, "sire, I--" + +"Not a word," interrupted the king, raising his hand and pointing +toward the door, "out, I say, out with you!" + +The cardinal staggered to the door, and entered the hall filled with +a glittering throng, who were still whispering, laughing, and +walking to and fro. + +But hardly had he advanced a few steps, when behind him, upon the +threshold of the royal cabinet, appeared the minister Breteuil. + +"Lieutenant," cried Breteuil, with a loud voice, turning to the +officer in command of the guard, "lieutenant, in the name of the +king, arrest the Cardinal de Rohan, and take him under escort to the +Bastile." + +A general cry of horror followed these words, which rolled like a +crashing thunder-clap through the careless, coquetting, and +unsuspecting company. Then followed a breathless silence. + +All eyes were directed to the cardinal, who, pale as death, and yet +maintaining his noble carriage, walked along at ease. + +At this point a young officer, pale like the cardinal, like all in +fact, approached the great ecclesiastic, and gently took his arm. + +"Cardinal," said he, with sorrowful tone, "in the name of the king, +I arrest your eminence. I am ordered, monseigneur, to conduct you to +the Bastile." + +"Come, then, my son," answered the cardinal, quickly, making his way +slowly through the throng, which respectfully opened to let him +pass--" come, since the king commands it, let us go to the Bastile." + +He passed on to the door. But when the officer had opened it, he +turned round once more to the hall. Standing erect, with all the +exalted dignity of his station and his person, he gave the amazed +company his blessing. + +Then the door closed behind him, and with pale faces the lords and +ladies of the court dispersed to convey the horrible tidings to +Versailles and Paris, that the king had caused the cardinal, the +grand almoner of France, to be arrested in his official robes, and +that it was the will of the queen. + +And the farther the tidings rolled the more the report enlarged, +like an avalanche of calumnies. + +In the evening, Marat thundered in his club: "Woe, woe to the +Austrian! She borrowed money of the Cardinal de Rohan to buy jewels +for herself, jewels while the people hungered. Now, when the +cardinal wants his money, the queen denies having received the +money, and lets the head of the Church be dragged to the Bastile. + +"Woe, woe to the Austrian!" + +"Woe, woe to the Austrian!" muttered brother Simon, who sat near the +platform on which Marat was. "We shall not forget it that she buys +her jewels for millions of francs, while we have not a sou to buy +bread with. Woe to the Austrian!" + +And all the men of the club raised their fists and muttered with +him, "Woe to the Austrian!" + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +ENEMIES AND FRIENDS. + + +All Paris was in an uproar and in motion in all the streets; the +people assembled in immense masses at all the squares, and listened +with abated breath to the speakers who had taken their stand amid +the groups, and who were confirming the astonished hearers +respecting the great news of the day. + +"The Lord Cardinal de Rohan, the grand almoner of the king," cried a +Franciscan monk, who had taken his station upon a curbstone, at the +corner of the Tuileries and the great Place de Carrousel--"Cardinal +de Rohan has in a despotic manner been deprived of his rights and +his freedom. As a dignitary of the Church, he is not under the +ordinary jurisdiction, and only the Pope is the rightful lord of a +cardinal; only before the Holy Father can an accusation be brought +against a servant of the Church. For it has been the law of the +Church for centuries that it alone has the power to punish and +accuse its servants, and no one has ever attempted to challenge that +power. But do you know what has taken place? Cardinal de Rohan has +been withdrawn from the jurisdiction of his rightful judges; he has +been denied an ecclesiastical tribunal, and he is to be tried before +Parliament as if he were an ordinary servant of the king; secular +judges are going to sit in judgment upon this great church +dignitary, and to charge him with a crime, when no crime has been +committed! For what has he done, the grand almoner of France, +cardinal, and cousin of the king? A lady, whom he believed to be in +the queen's confidence, had told him that the queen wanted to +procure a set of jewels, which she was unfortunately not able to +buy, because her coffers, as a natural result of her well-known +extravagance, were empty. The lady indicated to the lord cardinal +that the queen would be delighted if he would advance a sum +sufficient to buy the jewels with, and in his name she would cause +the costly fabric to be purchased. The cardinal, all the while a +devoted and true servant of the king, hastened to gratify the desire +of the queen. He took this course with wise precaution, in order +that the queen, whose violence is well known, should not apply to +any other member of the court, and still further compromise the +royal honor. And say yourselves, my noble friends, was it not much +better that it should be the lord cardinal who should lend money to +the queen, than Lord Lauzun, Count Coigny, or the musical Count +Vaudreuil, the special favorite of the queen? Was it not better for +him to make this sacrifice and do the queen this great favor?" + +"Certainly it was better," cried the mob. "The lord cardinal is a +noble man. Long live Cardinal de Rohan!" + +"Perish the Austrian, perish the jewelled queen!" cried the cobbler +Simon, who was standing amid the crowd, and a hundred voices +muttered after him, "Perish the Austrian!" + +"Listen, my dear people of Paris, you good natured lambs, whose wool +is plucked off that the Austrian woman may have a softer bed," cried +a shrieking voice; "hear what has occurred to-day. I can tell you +accurately, for I have just come from Parliament, and a good friend +of mine has copied for me the address with which the king is going +to open the session today." + +"Read it to us," cried the crowd. "Keep quiet there! keep still +there! We want to hear the address. Read it to us." + +"I will do it gladly, but you will not be able to understand me," +shrieked the voice. "I am only little in comparison with you, as +every one is little who opposes himself to the highest majesty of +the earth, the people." + +"Hear that," cried one of those who stood nearest to those a little +farther away " hear that, he calls us majesties! He seems to be an +excellent gentleman, and he does not look down upon us." + +"Did you ever hear of a wise man looking down upon the prince royal, +who is young, fair, and strong?" asked the barking voice. + +"He is right, we cannot understand him," cried those who stood +farthest away, pressing forward. "What did he say? He must repeat +his words. Lift him up so that we all may hear him." + +A broad shouldered, gigantic citizen, in good clothing, and with an +open, spirited countenance, and a bold, defiant bearing, pressed +through the crowd to the neighborhood of the speaker. + +"Come, little man," cried he, "I will raise you up on my shoulder, +and, but see, it is our friend Marat, the little man, but the great +doctor!" + +"And you truly, you are my friend Santerre, the great man and the +greatest of doctors. For the beer which you get from his brewery is +a better medicine for the people than all my electuaries can be. And +you, my worthy friend of the hop-pole, will you condescend to take +the ugly monkey Marat on your shoulders, that he may tell the people +the great news of the day?" + +Instead of answering, the brewer Santerre seized the little crooked +man by both arms, swung him up with giant strength, and set him on +his shoulders. + +The people, delighted with the dexterity and strength of the +herculean man, broke into a loud cheer, and applauded the brewer, +whom all knew, and who was a popular personage in the city. But +Marat, too, the horse-doctor of the Count d'Artois, as he called +himself derisively, the doctor of poverty and misfortune, as his +flatterers termed him--Marat, too, was known to many in the throng, +and after Santerre had been applauded, they saluted Marat with a +loud vivat, and with boisterous clapping of hands. + +He turned his distorted, ugly visage toward the Tuileries, whose +massive proportions towered up above the lofty trees of the gardens, +and with a threatening gesture shook his fist at the royal palace. + +"Have you heard it, you proud gods of the earth? Have you heard the +sacred thunder mutterings of majesty? Are you not startled from the +sleep of your vice, and compelled to fall upon your knees and pray, +as poor sinners do before their judgment? But no. You do not see and +you do not hear. Your ears are deaf and your hearts are sealed! +Behind the lofty walls of Versailles, which a most vicious king +erected for his menus plaisirs, there you indulge in your lusts, and +shut out the voice of truth, which would speak to you here in Paris +from the hallowed lips of the people." + +"Long live Marat!" cried the cobbler Simon, who, drawn by the +shouting, had left the Franciscan, and joined the throng in whose +midst stood Santerre, with Marat on his shoulders. "Long live the +great friend of the people! Long live Marat!" + +"Long live Marat!" cried and muttered the people. "Marat heals the +people when the gentry have made them sick, and taken the very +marrow from their bones. Marat is no 'gentleman.' Marat does not +look down upon the people!" + +"My friends, I repeat to you what I said before," shrieked Marat. +"Did you ever hear of a wise man looking down upon the crown prince, +and thinking more of the king, who is old, unnerved by his vices, +and blase! You, the people, you are the crown prince of France, and +if you, at last, in your righteous and noble indignation, tread the +tyrant under your feet, then the young prince, the people, will rule +over France, and the beautiful words of the Bible will be fulfilled: +'There shall be one fold and one shepherd.' I have taken this +improvised throne on the shoulders of a noble citizen only to tell +you of an impropriety which the Queen of France has committed, and +of the new usurpation with which she treads our laws under her feet, +not tired out with opera-house balls and promenades by night. I will +read you the address which the king sent to Parliament to-day, and +with which the hearing of Cardinal de Rohan's case is to begin. Will +the people hear it?" + +"Yes, we will hear it," was the cry from all sides. "Read us the +address." + +Marat drew a dirty piece of paper from his pocket, and began to read +with a loud, barking voice: + +"Louis, by the grace of God, King of France and Navarre, to our dear +and faithful counsellors, members of the court of our Parliament, +greeting: + +"It has come to our knowledge that parties named Bohmer and Bassenge +have, without the knowledge of the queen, our much-loved consort and +spouse, sold a diamond necklace, valued at one million six hundred +thousand francs, to Cardinal de Rohan, who stated to them that he +was acting in the matter under the queen's instructions. Papers were +laid before them which they considered as approved and subscribed by +the queen. After the said Bohmer and Bassenge had delivered the said +necklace to the said cardinal, and had not received the first +payment, they applied to the queen herself. We have beheld, not +without righteous indignation, the eminent name, which in many ways +is so dear to us, lightly spoken of, and denied the respect which is +due to the royal majesty. We have thought that it pertains to the +jurisdiction of our court to give a hearing to the said cardinal, +and in view of the declaration which he has made before us, that he +was deceived by a woman named Lamotte-Valois, we have held it +necessary to secure his person, as well as that of Madame Valois, in +order to bring all the parties to light who have been the +instigators or abettors of such a plot. It is our will, therefore, +that that matter come before the high court of Parliament, and that +it be duly tried and judgment given." + +"There you have this fine message," cried Marat; "there you have the +web of his, which this Austrian woman has woven around us. For it is +she who has sent this message to Parliament. You know well that we +have no longer a King of France, but that all France is only the +Trianon of the Austrian. It stands on all our houses, written over +all the doors of government buildings, 'De par la reine!' The +Austrian woman is the Queen of France, and the good-natured king +only writes what she dictates to him. She says in this paper that +these precautions have been taken in order that she may learn who +are the persons who have joined in the attack upon her distinguished +and much-loved person. Who, then, is the abettor of Madame Valois? +Who has received the diamonds from the cardinal, through the +instrumentality of Madame Valois? I assert, it is the queen who has +done it. She received the jewels, and now she denies the whole +story. And now this woman Lamotte-Valois must draw the hot chestnuts +out from the ashes. You know this; so it always is! Kings may go +unpunished, they always have a bete de souffrance, which has to bear +their burdens. But now that a cardinal, the grand almoner of France, +is compelled to become the bete de souffrance for this Austrian +woman, must show you, my friends, that her arrogance has reached its +highest point. She has trodden modesty and morals under foot, and +now she will tread the Church under foot also." + +"Be still!" was the cry on all sides. "The carbineers and gendarmes +are coming. Be still, Marat, be still! You must not be arrested. We +do not want all our friends to be taken to the Bastile." + +And really just at that instant, at the entrance of the street that +led to the square on the side of the Tuileries, appeared a division +of carbineers, advancing at great speed. + +Marat jumped with the speed of a cat down from the huge form of the +brewer. The crowd opened and made way for him, and before the +carbineers had approached, Marat had disappeared. + +With this day began the investigations respecting the necklace which +Messrs. Bohmer and Bassenge had wanted to sell the queen through the +agency of Cardinal Bohan. The latter was still a prisoner in the +Bastile. He was treated with all the respect due to his rank. He had +a whole suite of apartments assigned to him; he was allowed to +retain the service of both his chamberlains, and at times was +permitted to see and converse with his relatives, although, it is +true, in the presence of the governor of the Bastile. But Foulon was +a very pious Catholic, and kept a respectful distance from the lord +cardinal, who never failed on such occasions to give him his +blessing. In the many hearings which the cardinal had to undergo, +the president of the committee of investigation treated him with +extreme consideration, and if the cardinal felt himself wearied, the +sitting was postponed till another day. Moreover, at these hearings +the defender of the cardinal could take part, in order to summon +those witnesses or accused persons who could contribute to the +release of the cardinal, and show that he had been the victim of a +deeply-laid plot, and had committed no other wrong than that of +being too zealous in the service of the queen. + +News spread abroad of numerous arrests occurring in Paris. It had +been known from the royal decree that the Countess Lamotte-Valois +had likewise been arrested and imprisoned in the Bastile; but people +were anxious to learn decisively whether Count Cagliostro, the +wonder-doctor, had been seized. The story ran that a young woman in +Brussels, who had been involved in the affair, and who had an +extraordinary resemblance to the Queen Marie Antoinette, had been +arrested, and brought to Paris for confinement in the Bastile. + +All Paris, all France watched this contest with eager interest, +which, after many months, was still far from a conclusion, and +respecting which so much could be said. + +The friends of the queen asserted that her majesty was completely +innocent; that she had never spoken to the Countess Lamotte-Valois, +and only once through her chamberlain. Weber had never sent her any +assistance. But these friends of the queen were not numerous, and +their number diminished every day. + +The king had seen the necessity of making great reductions in the +cost of maintaining his establishment, and in the government of the +realm. France had had during the last years poor harvests. The +people were suffering from a want of the bare necessities of life. +The taxes could not be collected. A reform must be introduced, and +those who before had rejoiced in a superfluity of royal gifts had to +be contented with a diminution of them. + +It had been the queen who allowed the tokens of royal favor to pour +upon her friends, her companions in Trianon, like a golden rain. She +had at the outset done this out of a hearty love for them. It was so +sweet to cause those to rejoice whom she loved; so pleasant to see +that charming smile upon the countenance of the Duchess de Polignac- +-that smile which only appeared when she had succeeded in making +others happy. For herself the duchess never asked a favor; her royal +friend could only, after a long struggle and threatening her with +her displeasure, induce her to take the gifts which were offered out +of a really loving heart. + +But behind the Duchess Diana stood her brother and sister-in-law, +the Duke and Duchess de Polignac, who were ambitious, proud, and +avaricious; behind the Duchess Diana stood the three favorites of +the royal society in Trianon --Lords Vaudreuil, Besenval, D'Adhemar- +-who desired embassies, ministerial posts, orders, and other tokens +of honor. + +Diana de Polignac was the channel through whom all these addressed +themselves to the queen; she was the loved friend who asked whether +the queen could not grant their demands. Louis granted all the +requests to the queen, and Marie Antoinette then went to her loved +friend Diana, in order to gratify her wishes, to receive a kiss, and +to be rewarded with a smile. + +The great noble families saw with envy and displeasure this +supremacy of the Polignacs and the favorites of Trianon. They +withdrew from the court; gave the "Queen of Trianon" over to her +special friends and their citizen pleasures and sports, which, as +they asserted, were not becoming to the great nobility. They gave +the king over to his wife who ruled through him, and who, in turn, +was governed by the Polignacs and the other favorites. To them and +to their friends belonged all places, all honors; to them all +applied who wanted to gain any thing for the court, and even they +who wanted to get justice done them. Around the royal pair there was +nothing but intrigues, cabals, envy, and hostility. Every one wanted +to be first in the favor of the queen, in order to gain influence +and consideration; every one wanted to cast suspicion on the one who +was next to him, in order to supplant him in the favor of Marie +Antoinette. + +The fair days of fortune and peace, of which the queen dreamed in +her charming country home, thinking that her realizations were met +when the sun had scarcely risen upon them, were gone. Trianon was +still there, and the happy peasant-girl of Trianon had been +unchanged in heart; but those to whom she had given her heart, those +who had joined in her harmless amusement in her village there, were +changed! They had cast aside the idyllic masks with which the good- +natured and confiding queen had deceived herself. They were no +longer friends, no longer devoted servants; they were mere place- +hunters, intriguers, flatterers, not acting out of love, but out of +selfishness. + +Yet the queen would not believe this; she continued to be the tender +friend of her friends, trusted them, depended upon their love, was +happy in their neighborhood, and let herself be led by them just as +the king let himself be led by her. + +They set ministers aside, appointed new ones, placed their favorites +in places of power, and drove their opponents into obscurity. + +But there came a day when the queen began to see that she was not +the ruler but the ruled,--when she saw that she was not acting out +her own will, but was tyrannized over by those who had been made +powerful through her favor. + +"I have been compelled to take part in political affairs," said she, +"because the king, in his noble, good-humored way, has too little +confidence in himself, and, out of his self-distrust, lets himself +be controlled by the opinions of others. And so it is best that I +should be his first confidante, and that he should take me to be his +chief adviser, for his interests are mine, and these children are +mine, and surely no one can speak more truly and honestly to the +King of France than his queen, his wife, the mother of his children! +And so if the king is not perfectly independent, and feels himself +too weak to stand alone, and independently to exert power, he ought +to rest on me; I will bear a part in his government, his business, +that at any rate they who control be not my opponents, my enemies!" + +For a while she yielded to her friends and favorites who wanted to +stand in the same relation to the queen that she did to the king-- +she yielded, not like Louis, from weakness, but from the very power +of her love for them. + +She yielded at the time when Diana de Polignac, urged by her +brother-in-law, Polignac, and by Lord Besenval, conjured the queen +to nominate Lord Calonne to be general comptroller of the finances. +She yielded, and Calonne, the flatterer, the courtier of Polignac, +received the important appointment, although Marie Antoinette +experienced twinges of conscience for it, and did not trust the man +whom she herself advanced to this high place. Public opinion, +meanwhile, gave out that Lord Calonne was a favorite of the queen; +and, while she bore him no special favor, and considered his +appointment as a misfortune to France, she who herself promoted him +became the object of public indignation. + +Meanwhile the nomination of Lord Calonne was to be productive of +real good. It gave rise to the publication of a host of libels and +pamphlets which discussed the financial condition of France, and, in +biting and scornful words, in the language of sadness and despair, +developed the need and the misfortune of the land. The king gave the +chief minister of police strict injunctions to send him all these +ephemeral publications. He wanted to read them all, wanted to find +the kernel of wheat which each contained, and, from his enemies, who +assuredly would not flatter, he wanted to learn how to be a good +king. And the first of his cares he saw to be a frugal king, and to +limit his household expenses. + +This time he acted independently; he asked no one's counsel, not +even the queen's. As his own unconstrained act, he ordered a +diminution of the court luxury, and a limitation of the great +pensions which were paid to favorites. The great stable of the king +must be reduced, the chief directorship of the post bureau must be +abolished, the high salary of the governess of the royal children as +well as that of the maid of honor of Madame Elizabeth, sister of the +king, must be reduced. + +And who were the ones affected by this? Chiefly the Polignac family. +The Duke de Polignac was director of the royal mews, and next to him +the Duke de Coigny. The Duke de Polignac was also chief director of +the post department. His wife, Diana de Polignac, was also maid of +honor to Madame Elizabeth, and Julia de Polignac was governess of +the children of Prance. + +They would not believe it; they held it impossible that so unheard- +of a thing should happen, that their income should be reduced. The +whole circle of intimate friends resorted to Trianon, to have an +interview with the queen, to receive from her the assurance that she +would not tolerate such a robbing of her friends, and that she would +induce the king to take back his commands. + +The queen, however, for the first time, made a stand against her +friends. + +"It is the will of the king," said she, "and I am too happy that the +king has a will, to dare opposing it. May the king reign! It is his +duty and his right, as it is the duty and right of all his subjects +to conform to his wish and be subject to his will." + +"But," cried Lord Besenval, "it is horrible to live in a country +where one is not sure but he may lose tomorrow what he holds to-day; +down to this time that has always been the Turkish fashion." +[Footnote: His very words. See Goncourt's "Histoire de Marie +Antoinette," p. 181.] + +The queen trembled and raised her great eyes with a look full of +astonishment and pain to Besenval, then to the other friends; she +read upon all faces alienation and unkindly feeling. The mask of +devoted courtiers and true servants had for the first time fallen +from their faces, and Marie Antoinette discovered these all at once +wholly estranged and unknown countenances; eyes without the beam of +friendship, lips without the smile of devotion. + +The queen sought to put her hand to her heart. It seemed to her as +if she had been wounded with a dagger. She felt as if she must cry +aloud with pain and grief. But she commanded herself and only gave +utterance to a faint sigh. + +"You are not the only ones who will lose, my friends," said she, +gently. "The king is a loser, too; for if he gives up the great +stables, he sacrifices to the common good his horses, his equipages, +and, above all, his true servants. We must all learn to put up with +limitations and a reduction of outlay. But we can still remain good +friends, and here in Trianon pass many pleasant days with one +another in harmless gayety and happy contentment. Come, my friends, +let us forget these cares and these constraints; let us, despite all +these things, be merry and glad. Duke de Coigny, you have been for a +week my debtor in billiards, to-day you must make it up. Come, my +friends, let us go into the billiard-room." + +And the queen, who had found her gayety again, went laughing in +advance of her friends into the next apartment, where the billiard- +table stood. She took up her cue, and, brandishing it like a +sceptre, cried, "Now, my friends, away with care--" + +She ceased, for as she looked around her she saw that her friends +had not obeyed her call. Only the Duke de Coigny, whom she had +specially summoned, had followed the queen into the billiard-room. + +A flash of anger shot from the eyes of the queen. + +"How!" cried she, aloud, "did my companions not hear that I +commanded them to follow me hither?" + +"Your majesty," answered the Duke de Coigny, peevishly, "the ladies +and gentlemen have probably recalled the fact that your majesty once +made it a rule here in Trianon that every one should do as he +pleases, and your majesty sees that they hold more strictly to the +laws than others do." + +"My lord," sighed the queen, "do you bring reproaches against me +too? Are you also discontented?" + +"And why should I be contented, your majesty?" asked the duke, with +choler. "I am deprived of a post which hitherto has been held for +life, and does your majesty desire that I should be contented? No, I +am not contented. No, I do as the others do. I am full of anger and +pain to see that nothing is secure more, that nothing is stable +more, that one can rely upon nothing more--not even upon the word of +kings." + +"My lord duke," cried Marie Antoinette, with flashing anger, "you go +too far, you forget that you are speaking to your queen." + +"Madame," cried he, still louder, "here in Trianon there is no +queen, there are no subjects! You yourself have said it, and I at +least will hold to your words, even if you yourself do not. Let us +play billiards, madame. I am at your service." + +And while the Duke de Coigny said this, he seized with an angry +movement the billiard-cue of the queen. It was a present which Marie +Antoinette had received from her brother, the Emperor Joseph. It was +made of a single rhinoceros skin, and was adorned with golden knobs. +The king had a great regard for it, and no one before had ever +ventured to use it excepting her alone. + +"Give it to me, Coigny," said she, earnestly. "You deceive yourself, +that is not your billiard-cue, that is mine." + +"Madame," cried he, angrily, "what is mine is taken from me, and why +should I not take what is not mine? It seems as if this were the +latest fashion, to do what one pleases with the property of others; +I shall hasten to have a share in this fashion, even were it only to +show that I have learned something from your majesty. Let us begin." + +Trembling with anger and excitement, he took two balls, laid them in +the middle of the table, and gave the stroke. But it was so +passionately given, and in such rage, that the cue glided by the +balls and struck so strongly against the raised rim of the table +that it broke. + +The queen uttered an exclamation of indignation, and, raising the +hand, pointed with a commanding gesture to the door. + +"My Lord Duke de Coigny," said she, proudly, "I release you from the +duty of ever coming again to Trianon. You are dismissed." + +The duke, trembling with anger, muttering a few unintelligible +words, made a slight, careless obeisance to the queen, and left the +billiard-hall with a quick step.[Footnote: This scene is historical. +See "Memoires de Madame de Campan," vol. ii.] + +Marie Antoinette looked after him with a long and pained look. Then, +with a deep sigh, she took up the bits of the broken cue and went +into her little porcelain cabinet, in order to gain rest and self- +command in solitude and stillness. + +Reaching that place, and now sure that no one could observe her, +Marie Antoinette sank with a deep sigh into an arm-chair, and the +long-restrained tears started from her eyes. + +"Oh," sighed she, sadly, "they will destroy every thing I have, +every thing--my confidence, my spirit, my heart itself. They will +leave me nothing but pain and misfortune, and not one of them whom I +till now have held to be my friends, will share it with me." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +THE TRIAL. + + +For a whole year the preparation for the trial had lasted, and to- +day, the 31st of August, 1786, the matter would be decided. The +friends and relatives of the cardinal had had time to manipulate not +only public opinion, but also to win over the judges, the members of +Parliament, to the cause of the cardinal, and to prejudice them +against the queen. All the enemies of Marie Antoinette, the +legitimists even, who saw their old rights of nobility encroached +upon by the preference given to the Polignacs and other families +which had sprung from obscurity; the party of the royal princes and +princesses, whom Marie Antoinette had always offended, first because +she was an Austrian, and later because she had allowed herself to +win the love of the king; the men of the agitation and freedom +party, who thundered in their clubs against the realm, and held it +to be their sacred duty to destroy the nimbus which, had hitherto +enveloped the throne, and to show to the hungering people that the +queen who lived in luxury was nothing more than a light-minded, +voluptuous woman,--all these enemies of the queen had had time to +gain over public opinion and the judges. The trial had been a +welcome opportunity to all to give free play to their revenge, their +indignation, and their hate. The family of the cardinal, sorely +touched by the degradation which had come upon them all in their +head, would, at the least, see the queen compromised with the +cardinal, and if the latter should really come out from the trial as +the deceived and duped one, Marie Antoinette should, nevertheless, +share in the stain. + +The Rohan family and their friends set therefore all means in +motion, in order to win over public opinion and the judges. To this +end they visited the members of Parliament, brought presents to +those of them who were willing to receive them, made use of +mercenary authors to hurl libellous pamphlets at the queen, +published brochures which, in dignified language, defended the +cardinal in advance, and exhibited him as the victim of his devotion +and love to the royal family. Everybody read these pamphlets; and +when at last the day of decision came, public opinion had already +declared itself in favor of the cardinal and against the queen. + +On the 31st of August, 1786, as already said, the trial so long in +preparation was to be decided. The night before, the cardinal had +been transferred from the Bastile to the prison, as had also the +other prisoners who were involved in the case. + +At early dawn the whole square before the prison was full of men, +and the dependants of Rohan and the Agitators of Freedom, as Marat +and his companions called themselves, were active here as ever to +turn the feeling of the people against the queen. + +In the court-house, on the other side of the great square, +meanwhile, the great drama of the trial had begun. The members of +Parliament, the judges in the case, sat in their flowing black +garments, in long rows before the green table, and their serious, +sad faces and sympathetic looks were all directed toward the +cardinal, Louis de Rohan. But in spite of the danger of the +situation, the noble face of the cardinal was completely +undisturbed, and his bearing princely. He appeared in his full +priestly array, substituting in place of the purple-red under- +garment one of violet, as cardinals do when they appear in mourning. +Over this he wore the short red cloak, and displayed all his orders; +the red stockings, the silk shoes with jewelled buckles, completed +his array. While entering, he raised his hands and gave his priestly +blessing to those who should judge him, and perhaps condemn him. He +then, in simple and dignified words, spoke as follows: + +A relative of his, Madame de Boulainvillier, had, three years +before, brought a young woman to him, and requested him to maintain +her. She was of the most exalted lineage, the last in descent from +the earlier kings of France, of the family of Valois. She called +herself the Countess of Lamotte-Valois; her husband, the Count +Lamotte, was the royal sub-lieutenant in some little garrison city, +and his salary was not able to support them except meagrely. The +young lady was beautiful, intellectual, of noble manners, and it was +natural that the cardinal should interest himself in behalf of the +unfortunate daughter of the kings of France. He supported her for a +while, and after many exertions succeeded in obtaining a pension of +fifteen hundred francs from King Louis XVI., in behalf of the last +descendant of the Valois family. Upon this the countess went herself +to Versailles, in order to render thanks in person for this favor. +She returned the next day to Paris, beaming with joy, and told the +cardinal that she had not only been received by the queen, but that +Marie Antoinette had been exceedingly gracious to her, and had +requested her to visit her often. From this day on, the countess had +naturally gained new favor in the eyes of the cardinal, for she +often went to Versailles; and from the accounts of her visits there, +when she returned, it was clear that she stood in high favor with +the queen. But now, unfortunately, the cardinal found himself in +precisely the opposite situation. He stood in extreme disfavor with +the queen. She never condescended to bestow a glance upon him, nor a +word. The cardinal was for a long time inconsolable on account of +this, and sought in vain to regain the favor of the queen. This he +intrusted with the deepest confidence to the Countess Lamotte- +Valois, and she, full of friendly zeal, had undertaken to speak to +the queen in his behalf. Some days later she told the cardinal that +she had fulfilled her promise; she had painted his sadness in such +moving words that the queen appeared to be very much affected, and +had told the countess that she would pardon all, if the cardinal +would send her in writing an apology for the mortifications which he +had inflicted upon herself and her mother Maria Theresa. The +cardinal, of course, joyfully consented to this. He sent to the +countess a document in which he humbly begged pardon for asking the +Empress Maria Theresa, years before, when Marie Antoinette was yet +Dauphiness of France, and he, the cardinal, was French ambassador in +Vienna, to chide her daughter on account of her light and haughty +behavior, and to charge herself with seeing it bettered. This was +the only offence against the queen of which he felt himself guilty, +and for this he humbly implored forgiveness. He had, at the same +time, begged the queen for an audience, that he might pay his +respects to her, and on bended knee ask her pardon. Some days after, +the Countess Lamotte-Valois had handed him a paper, written with the +queen's hand, as an answer to his letter. + +The president here interrupted the cardinal: "Are you still in +possession of this document, your eminence?" + +The cardinal bowed. "I have always, since I had the fortune to +receive them, carried with me the dear, and to me invaluable, +letters of the queen. On the day when I was arrested in Versailles, +they lay in my breast coat-pocket. It was my fortune, and the +misfortune of those who, after I had been carried to the Bastile, +burst into my palace, sealed my papers, and at once burned what +displeased them. In this way these letters escaped the auto-da-fe. +Here is the first letter of the queen." + +He drew a pocket-book from his robe, took from it a small folded +paper, and laid it upon the table before the president. + +The president opened it and read: "I have received your brief, and +am delighted to find you no longer culpable; in the mean while, I am +sorry not to be able to give you the audience which you ask. As +soon, however, as circumstances allow me, I shall inform you; till +then, silence. Marie Antoinette of France." [Footnote: Goncourt.-- +"Histoire de Marie Antoinette," p. 143.] + +A murmur of astonishment arose among the judges after this reading, +and all looks were directed with deep sympathy to the cardinal, who, +with a quiet, modest bearing, stood over against them. The glances +of the president of the high court, directed themselves, after he +had read the letter and laid it upon the green table, to the great +dignitary of the Church, and then he seemed to notice for the first +time that the cardinal, a prince and grand almoner of the King of +Prance, was standing like a common criminal. + +"Give the lord cardinal an arm-chair," he ordered, with a loud +voice, and one of the guards ran to bring one of the broad, +comfortable chairs of the judges, which was just then unoccupied, +and carried it to the cardinal. + +Prince Rohan thanked the judges with a slight inclination of his +proud head, and sank into the arm-chair. The accused and the judges +now sat on the same seats, and one would almost have suspected that +the cardinal, in his magnificent costume, with his noble, lofty +bearing, his peaceful, passionless face, and sitting in his arm- +chair, alone and separated from all others, was himself the judge of +those who, in their dark garments and troubled and oppressed +spirits, and restless mien, were sitting opposite him. + +"Will your eminence have the goodness to proceed?" humbly asked the +president of the court, after a pause. The cardinal nodded as the +sign of assent, and continued his narrative. + +This letter of the queen naturally filled him with great delight, +particularly as he had a personal interview with her majesty in +prospect, and he had implored the Countess Valois all the more to +procure this meeting, because, in spite of the forgiveness which the +queen had given to the cardinal, she continued on all occasions, +where he had the happiness to be in her presence, to treat him with +extreme disdain. On one Sunday, when he was reading mass before +their majesties, he took the liberty to enter the audience-room and +to address the queen. Marie Antoinette bestowed upon him only an +annihilating look of anger and scorn, and turned her back upon him, +saying, at the same time, with a loud voice, to the Duchess of +Polignac: "What a shameless act! These people believe they may do +any thing if they wear the purple. They believe they may rank with +kings, and even address them." + +These proud and cutting words had naturally deeply wounded the +cardinal, and, for the first time, the doubt was suggested to him +whether, in the end, all the communications of the Countess Valois, +even the letter of the queen, might not prove to be false, for it +appeared to him impossible that the queen could be secretly, +favorably inclined to a man whom she openly scorned. In his anger he +said so to the Countess Lamotte, and told her that he should hold +all that she had brought him from the queen to be false, unless, +within a very short time, she could procure what he had so long and +so urgently besought, namely, an audience with the queen. He desired +this audience as a proof that Marie Antoinette was really changed, +and, at the same time, as a proof that the Countess Lamotte-Valois +had told him the truth. The countess laughed at his distrust, and +promised to try all the arts of address with the queen, in order to +gain for the cardinal the desired audience. The latter, who thought +he recognized in the beautiful and expressive countenance of the +lady innocence and honorableness, now regretted his hasty words, and +said to Madame Lamotte, that in case the queen would really grant +him a private audience, he would give her (the countess) fifty +thousand francs as a sign of his gratitude. + +A murmur of applause and of astonishment rose at these words from +the spectators, comprising some of the greatest noble families of +France, the Rohans, the Guemenes, the Count de Vergennes, and all +the most powerful enemies of the queen, who had taken advantage of +this occasion in order to avenge themselves on the Austrian, who had +dared to choose her friends and select her society, not in +accordance with lineage, but as her own pleasure dictated. + +The president of the court did not consider this murmur of applause +marked enough to be reprimanded, and let it be continued. + +"And did the Countess Lamotte-Valois procure for you this audience?" +he then asked. + +Prince Rohan was silent a moment, his face grew pale, his features +assumed for the first time a troubled expression, and the painful +struggles which disturbed his soul could be seen working within him. + +"May it please this noble court," he replied, after a pause, with +feeling, trembling voice, "I feel at this moment that, beneath the +robe of the priest, the heart of the man beats yet. It is, however, +for every man a wrong, an unpardonable wrong, to disclose the +confidence of a lady, and to reveal to the open light of day the +favors which have been granted by her. But I must take this crime +upon myself, because I have to defend the honor of a priest, even of +a dignitary in the Church, and also because I do not dare to suffer +my purple to be soiled with even the suspicion of a lie, or an act +of falsehood. It may be--and I fear it even myself--it may be, that +in this matter, I myself was the deceived one, but I dare not bring +suspicion upon my tiara that I was the deceiver, and, therefore, I +have to meet the stern necessity of disclosing the secret of a lady +and a queen." + +"Besides this," said the president, solemnly--"besides this, your +eminence may graciously consider, in presence of the authority given +you by God, all the tender thoughts of the cardinal must be silent. +The duty of a dignitary of the Church commands you to go before all +other men in setting them a noble example, and one worthy of +imitation. It is your sacred duty, in accordance with the demands of +truth, to give the most detailed information regarding every thing +that concerns this affair, and your eminence will have the goodness +to remember that we are the secular priests of God, before whom +every accused person must confess the whole truth with a perfect +conscience." + +"I thank you, Mr. President," said the cardinal, with so gentle and +tremulous a voice, that you might hear after it a faint sob from +some deeply-veiled ladies who sat on the spectators' seats, and so +that even the eyes of President de l'Aigro filled with tears--" I +thank you, Mr. President," repeated the cardinal, breathing more +freely. "You take a heavy burden from my heart, and your wisdom +instructs me as to my own duty." + +The president blushed with pleasure at the high praises of the +cardinal. + +"And now," he said, "I take the liberty of repeating my question, +did the Countess Lamotte-Valois succeed in procuring for your +eminence a secret audience with the queen?" + +"She did," replied the cardinal, "she did procure an interview for +me." + +And compelling himself to a quiet manner, he went on with his story: +The Countess de Valois came to him after two days with a joyful +countenance, and brought to him the request to accompany the +Countess Valois two days after to Versailles, where, in the garden, +in a place indicated by the countess, the meeting of the queen and +the cardinal should take place. The cardinal was to put on the +simple, unpretending dress of a citizen of Paris, a blue cloth coat, +a round hat, and high leather boots. The cardinal, full of +inexpressible delight at this, could, notwithstanding, scarcely +believe that the queen would show him this intoxicating mark of her +favor; upon which the Countess Valois, laughing, showed him a letter +of the queen, directed to her, on gold-bordered paper, and signed +like the note which he had received before--" Marie Antoinette of +France." In this note the queen requested her dear friend to go +carefully to work to warn the cardinal to speak softly during the +interview, because there were ears lurking in the neighborhood, and +not to come out from the thicket till the queen should give a sign. + +After reading this letter, the cardinal had no more doubts, but +surrendered himself completely to his joy, his impatience, and +longed for the appointed hour to arrive. At last this hour came, +and, in company with the countess, the cardinal, arrayed in the +appointed dress, repaired in a simple hired carriage to Versailles. +The countess led him to the terrace of the palace, where she +directed the cardinal to hide behind a clump of laurel-trees, and +then left him, in order to inform the queen, who walked every +evening in the park, in company with the Count and Countess +d'Artois, of the presence of the cardinal, and to conduct her to +him. The latter now remained alone, and, with loud-beating heart, +listened to every sound, and, moving gently around, looked down the +long alley which ran between the two fountains, in order to catch +sight of the approach of the queen. It was a delightful evening; the +full moon shone in golden clearness from the deep-blue sky, and +illuminated all the objects in the neighborhood with a light like +that of day. It now disclosed a tall, noble figure, clad in a dark- +red robe, and with large blue pins in her hair, hurrying to the +terrace, and followed by the Countess Valois. + +To the present moment the cardinal had slightly doubted as to his +unmeasurable good fortune--now he doubted no more. It was the queen, +Marie Antoinette, who was approaching. She wore the same dress, the +same coiffure which she had worn the last Sunday, when after the +mass he had gone to Versailles to drive. + +Yes, it was the queen, who was hurrying across the terrace, and +approaching the thicket behind which the cardinal was standing. + +"Come," whispered she, softly, and the cardinal quickly emerged from +the shade, sank upon his knee before the queen, and eagerly pressed +the fair hand which she extended to him to his lips. "Your +eminence," whispered the queen to him, "I can unfortunately spend +only a moment here. I cherish nothing against you, and shall soon +show you marks of my highest favor. Meantime, accept this token of +my grace." And Marie Antoinette took a rose from her bosom and gave +it to the cardinal. "Accept, also, this remembrancer," whispered the +queen, again placing a little case in his hand. "It is my portrait. +Look often at it, and never doubt me, I--" + +At this moment the Countess Valois, who had been waiting at some +distance, hastily came up. + +"Some one is coming," whispered she; "for God's sake, your majesty, +fly!" + +Voices were audible in the distance, and soon they approached. The +queen grasped the hand of the Countess Lamotte. + +"Come, my friend," said she. "Farewell, cardinal, au revoir!" + +Full of joy at the high good fortune which had fallen to him, and at +the same time saddened at the abrupt departure of the queen, the +cardinal turned back to Paris. On the next day the Countess Valois +brought a billet from the queen, in which she deeply regretted that +their interview yesterday had been so brief, and promising a speedy +appointment again. Some days after this occurrence, which constantly +occupied the mind of the cardinal, he was obliged to go to Alsace, +to celebrate a church festival. On the very next day, however, came +the husband of the countess, Count Lamotte, sent as a courier by the +countess. He handed the cardinal a letter from the queen, short and +full of secrecy, like the earlier ones. + +"The moment," wrote the queen--" the moment which I desired is not +yet come. But I beg you to return at once to Paris, because I am in +a secret affair, which concerns me personally, and which I shall +intrust to you alone, and in which I need your assistance. The +Countess Lamotte-Valois will give you the key to this riddle." + +As if on the wings of birds, the cardinal returned to Paris, and at +once repaired to the little palace which the countess had purchased +with the fruits of his liberality. Here he learned of her the reason +of his being sent for. The matter in question was the purchasing of +a set of jewels, which the royal jewellers, Bohmer and Bassenge, had +often offered to the queen. Marie Antoinette had seen the necklace, +and had been enraptured with the size and beauty of the diamonds. +But she had had the spirit to refuse to purchase the collar, in +consequence of the enormous price which the jewellers demanded. She +had, however, subsequently regretted her refusal, and the princely +set of gems, the like of which did not exist in Europe, had awakened +the most intense desire on the part of the queen to possess it. She +wanted to purchase it secretly, without the knowledge of the king, +and to pay for it gradually out of the savings of her own purse. But +just then the jewellers Bohmer and Bassenge had it in view to send +the necklace to Constantinople for the Sultan, who wanted to present +it to the best-loved of his wives. + +But before completing the sale, the crown jewellers made one more +application to the queen, declaring that if she would consent to +take the necklace, they would be content with any conditions of +payment. In the mean time, the private treasury of the queen was +empty. The severe winter had induced much suffering and misfortune, +and the queen had given all her funds to the poor. But as she +earnestly desired to purchase the necklace, she would give her grand +almoner a special mark of her favor in granting to him the +commission of purchasing it in her name. He should receive a paper +from the queen's own hand authorizing the purchase, yet he should +keep this to himself, and show it only to the court jewellers at the +time of the purchase. The first payment of six hundred thousand +francs the cardinal was to pay from his own purse, the remaining +million the queen would pay in instalments of one hundred thousand +francs each, at the expiration of every three months. In the next +three months, the six hundred thousand francs advanced by the +cardinal should be refunded. + +The cardinal felt himself highly flattered by this token of the +queen's confidence, and desired nothing more than the written +authorization of the queen, empowering him to make the purchase at +once. This document was not waited for long. Two days only passed +before the Countess Lamotte-Valois brought it, dated at Trianon, and +subscribed Marie Antoinette of France. Meanwhile some doubts arose +in the mind of the cardinal. He turned to his friend and adviser, +Count Cagliostro, for counsel. The latter had cured him years before +while very sick, and since that time had always been his +disinterested friend, and the prophet, so to speak, who always +indicated the cardinal's future to him. This man, so clear in his +foresight, so skilful in medicine, was now taken into confidence, +and his advice asked. Count Cagliostro summoned the spirits that +waited upon him, before the cardinal, one solitary night. He asked +these invisible presences what their counsel was, and the oracle +answered, that the affair was one worthy of the station of the +cardinal; that it would have a fortunate issue; that it put the seal +upon the favors of the queen, and would usher in the fortunate day +which would bring the great talents of the cardinal into employment +for the benefit of France and the world. The cardinal doubted and +hesitated no longer. He went at once to the court jewellers Bohmer +and Bassenge: he did not conceal from them that he was going to buy +the necklace in the name of the queen, and showed them the written +authorization. The jewellers entered readily into the transaction. +The cardinal made a deposit of six hundred thousand francs, and +Bohmer and Bassenge gave him the necklace. It was the day before a +great festival, and at the festival the queen wanted to wear the +necklace. In the evening a trusted servant of the queen was to take +the necklace from the dwelling of the Countess Lamotte-Valois. The +countess herself requested the cardinal to be present, though +unseen, when the delivery should take place. + +In accordance with this agreement, the cardinal repaired to the +palace of the countess on the evening of February 1st, 1784, +accompanied by a trusted valet, who carried the casket with the +necklace. At the doorway he himself took the collar and gave it to +the countess. She conducted the cardinal to an alcove adjoining her +sitting-room. Through the door provided with glass windows he could +dimly see the sitting-room. + +After some minutes the main entrance opened, and a voice cried: "In +the service of the queen!" A man in the livery of the queen, whom +the cardinal had often seen at the countess's, and whom she had told +was a confidential servant of the queen, entered and demanded the +casket in the name of the queen. The Countess Valois took it and +gave it to the servant, who bowed and took his leave. At the moment +when the man departed, bearing this costly set of jewels, the +cardinal experienced an inexpressible sense of satisfaction at +having had the happiness of conferring a service upon the Queen of +France, the wife of the king, the mother of the future king,--not +merely in the purchase of the diamonds which she desired, but still +more in preventing the young and impulsive woman from taking the +unbecoming step of applying to any other gentleman of the court for +this assistance. + +At these words the spectators broke into loud exclamations, and one +of the veiled ladies cried: "Lords Vaudreuil and Coigny would not +have paid so much, but they would have demanded more." And this +expression, too, was greeted with loud acclaims. + +The first president of the court, Baron de L'Aigre, here cast a +grave look toward the tribune where the spectators sat, but his +reproach died away upon lips which disclosed a faint inclination to +smile. + +"I now beg your eminence," he said, "to answer the following +question: " Did Queen Marie Antoinette personally thank you for the +great service which, according to your showing, you did her? How is +it with the payments which the queen pledged herself to make?" + +The cardinal was silent for a short time, and looked sadly before +him. "Since the day when I closed this unfortunate purchase, I have +experienced only disquietudes, griefs, and humiliations. This is the +only return which I have received for my devotion. The queen has +never bestowed a word upon me. At the great festival she did not +even wear the necklace which she had sent for on the evening before. +I complained of this to the countess, and the queen had the goodness +to write me a note, saying that she had found the necklace too +valuable to wear on that day, because it would have attracted the +attention of the king and the court. I confided in the words of the +queen, and experienced no doubts about the matter till the unhappy +day when the queen was to make the first payment to the jewellers, +and when she sent neither to me nor to the jewellers a word. Upon +this a fearful suspicion began to trouble me,--that my devotion to +the queen might have been taken advantage of, in order to deceive +and mislead me. When this dreadful thought seized me, I shuddered, +and had not power to look down into the abyss which suddenly yawned +beneath me. I at once summoned the Countess Lamotte, and desired her +solution of this inexplicable conduct of the queen. She told me that +she had been on the point of coming to me and informing me, at the +request of the queen, that other necessary outlays had prevented the +queen's paying me the six hundred thousand francs that I had +disbursed to Bohmer at the purchase of the necklace, and that she +must be content with paying the interest of this sum, thirty +thousand francs. The queen requested me to be satisfied for the +present with this arrangement, and to be sure of her favor. I +trusted the words of the countess once more, took fresh courage, and +sent word to the queen that I should always count myself happy to +conform to her arrangements, and be her devoted servant. The +countess dismissed me, saying that she would bring the money on the +morrow. In the mean time, something occurred that awakened all my +doubts and all my anxieties afresh. I visited the Duchess de +Polignac, and while I was with her, there was handed her a note from +the queen. I requested the duchess, in case the billet contained no +secret, to show it to me, that I might see the handwriting of the +queen. The duchess complied with my request, and--" + +The cardinal was silent, and deep inward excitement made his face +pale. He bowed his head, folded his hands, and his lips moved in +whispered prayer. + +The judges, as well as the spectators, remained silent. No one was +able to break the solemn stillness by an audible breath-by a single +movement. + +At length, after a long pause, when the cardinal had raised his head +again, the president asked gently: "And so your eminence saw the +note of the queen, and was it not the same writing as the letters +which you had received?" + +"No, it was not the same!" cried the cardinal, with pain. "No, it +was an entirely different hand. Only the signature had any +resemblance, although the letter to the duchess was simply +subscribed 'Marie Antoinette.' I hastened home, and awaited the +coming of the countess with feverish impatience. She came, smiling +as ever, and brought me the thirty thousand francs. With glowing, +passionate words, I threw my suspicions in her face. She appeared a +moment alarmed, confused, and then granted that it was possible that +the letters were not from the hand of the queen, but that she had +dictated them. But the signatures were the queen's, she could take +her oath of it. I again took a little courage; but soon after the +countess had left me, the jewellers came in the highest excitement +to me, to tell me that, receiving no payments from the queen, they +had applied in writing to her several times, without receiving any +answer; their efforts to obtain an audience were also all in vain, +and so they had at last applied to the first lady-in-waiting on the +queen, Madame de Campan, with whom they had just had an interview. +Madame de Campan had told them that the queen did not possess the +necklace; that no Countess Lamotte-Valois had ever had an interview +with the queen; that she had told the jewellers with extreme +indignation that some one had been deceiving them; that they were +the victims of a fraud, and that she would at once go to Trianon to +inform the queen of this fearful intrigue. This happened on a +Thursday; on the following Sunday I repaired to Versailles to +celebrate high mass, and the rest you know. I have nothing further +to add." + +"In the name of the court I thank your eminence for your open and +clear exposition of this sad history," said the president, solemnly. +"Your eminence needs refreshment, you are free to withdraw and to +return to the Bastile." + +The cardinal rose and bowed to the court. All the judges stood, and +respectfully returned the salutation. [Footnote: 'Historical.--See +"Memoires de l'Abbe Georgel," vol. i.] + +One of the veiled ladies, sitting on the spectators' seats, cried +with trembling voice: "God bless the cardinal, the noble martyr of +the realm!" + +All the spectators repeated the cry; and, while the words yet rang, +the cardinal, followed by the officers who were to take him to the +Bastile, had left the hall. + +"Guards!" cried President de L'Aigre, with a loud voice, "bring in +the accused, the Countess de Lamotte-Valois!" + +All eyes directed themselves to the door which the guards now +opened, and through which the accused was to enter. + +Upon the threshold of this door appeared now a lady of slim, +graceful form, in a toilet of the greatest elegance, her head +decorated with feathers, flowers, and lace, her cheeks highly +painted, and her fine ruby lips encircled by a pert, and at the same +time a mocking smile, which displayed two rows of the finest teeth. +With this smile upon her lips she moved forward with a light and +spirited step, turning her great blazing black eyes with proud, +inquisitive looks now to the stern semicircle of judges and now to +the tribune, whose occupants had not been able to suppress a +movement of indignation and a subdued hiss. + +"Gentlemen," said she, with a clear, distinct voice, in which not +the faintest quiver, not the least excitement was apparent--" +gentlemen, are we here in a theatre, where the players who tread the +boards are received with audible signs of approval or of disfavor?" + +The president, to whom her dark eyes were directed, deigned to give +no answer, but turned with an expressive gesture to the officer who +stood behind the accused. + +He understood this sign, and brought from the corner of the hall a +wooden seat of rough, clumsy form, to whose high back of unpolished +dirty wood two short iron chains were attached. + +This seat he placed near the handsome, gaudily-dressed countess with +her air of assurance and self-confidence, and pointed to it with a +commanding gesture. + +"Be seated," he said, with a loud, lordly tore. She shrugged her +shoulders, and looked at the offered seat with an expression of +indignation. "How!" she cried, "who dares offer me the chair of +criminals to sit in?" + +"Be seated," replied the officer. "The seat of the accused is ready +for you, and the chains upon it are for those who are not inclined +to take it." + +A cry of anger escaped from her lips, and her eyes flashed an +annihilating glance upon the venturesome officer, but he did not +appear to be in the least affected by the lightning from her eyes, +but met it with perfect tranquillity. + +"If you do not take it of yourself, madame," he said, "I shall be +compelled to summon the police; we shall then compel you to take the +seat, and in order to prevent your rising, the chains will be bound +around your arms." + +The countess answered only with an exclamation of anger, and fixed +her inquiring looks upon the judges, the accusers, the defenders, +and then again upon the spectators. Everywhere she encountered only +a threatening mien and suspicious looks, nowhere an expression of +sympathy. But it was just this which seemed to give her courage and +to steel her strength. She raised her head proudly, forced the smile +again upon her lips, and took her seat upon the chair with a grace +and dignity as if she were in a brilliant saloon, and was taking her +seat upon an elegant sofa. The president of the court now turned his +grave, rigid face to the countess, and asked: "Who are you, madame? +What is your name, and how old are you?" + +The countess gave way to a loud, melodious laugh. "My lord +president," answered she, "it is very clear that you are not much +accustomed to deal with ladies, or else you would not take the +liberty of asking a lady, like myself in her prime, after her age. I +will pardon you this breach of etiquette, and I will magnanimously +pretend not to have heard that question, in order to answer the +others. You wish to know my name? I am the Countess Lamotte-Valois +of France, the latest descendant of the former Kings of Prance; and +if in this unhappy land, which is trodden to the dust by a stupid +king and a dissolute queen, right and justice still prevailed, I +should sit on the throne of France, and the coquette who now +occupies it would be sitting here in this criminal's chair, to +justify herself for the theft which she has committed, for it is +Marie Antoinette who possesses the diamonds of the jeweller Bohmer, +not I." + +At the spectators' tribune a gentle bravo was heard at these words, +and this daring calumny upon the queen found no reproval even from +the judges' bench. + +"Madame," said L'Aigre, after a short pause, "instead of simply +answering my questions you reply with a high-sounding speech, which +contains an untruth, for it is not true that you can lay any claim +to the throne of France. The descendants of bastards have claims +neither to the name nor the rank of their fathers. Since, in respect +to your name and rank, you have answered with an untruth, I will +tell you who and what you are. Your father was a poor peasant in the +village of Auteuil. He called himself Valois, and the clergyman of +the village one day told the wife of the proprietor of Auteuil, +Madame de Boulainvillier, that the peasant of Valois was in +possession of family papers, according to which it was +unquestionable that he was an illegitimate descendant of the old +royal family. + +The good priest at the same time recommended the poor, hungry +children of the day-laborer Valois to the kindness of Madame de +Boulainvillier, and the old lady hastened to comply with this +recommendation. She had the daughter of Valois called to her to ask +her how she could assist her in her misery." + +"Say rather to gain for herself the credit that she had shown +kindnesses to the descendants of the Kings of France," interrupted +the countess, quickly. + +"This would have been a sorry credit," replied President L'Aigre. +"The Valois family had for a long time been extinct, and the last +man of that name who is known, was detected in counterfeiting, +sentenced, and executed. Your grandfather was an illegitimate son of +the counterfeiter Valois. That is the sum total of your relation to +the royal family of France. It is possible that upon this very chair +on which you now sit, accused of this act of deception, your natural +great-grandfather once sat, accused like you of an act of deception, +in order, after conviction of his crime, to be punished according to +the laws of France." + +The countess made a motion as if she wanted to rise from the +unfortunate seat, but instantly the heavy hand of the officer was +laid upon her shoulder, and his threatening voice said, "Sit still, +or I put on the chains!" + +The Countess Lamotte-Valois of France sank back with a loud sob upon +the chair, and for the first time a death-like paleness diffused +itself over her hitherto rosy cheeks. + +"So Madame de Boulainvillier had the children of the day-laborer +Valois called," continued the president, with his imperturbable +self-possession. "The oldest daughter, a girl of twelve years, +pleased her in consequence of her lively nature and her attractive +exterior. She took her to herself, she gave her an excellent +education, she was resolved to provide for her whole future; when +one day the young Valois disappeared from the chateau of Madame de +Boulainvillier. She had eloped with the sub-lieutenant, Count +Lamotte, and announced to her benefactress, in a letter which she +left behind, that she was escaping from the slavery in which she had +hitherto lived, and that she left her curse to those who wanted to +hinder her marrying the man of her choice. But in order to +accomplish her marriage, she confessed that she had found it +necessary to rob the casket of Madame de Boulainvillier, and that +out of this money she should defray her expenses. It was a sum of +twenty thousand francs which the fugitive had robbed from her +benefactress." + +"I take the liberty of remarking to you, Mr. President, that you are +there making use of a totally false expression," interrupted the +countess. "It cannot be said that I robbed this sum. It was the +dowry which Madame de Boulainvillier had promised to give me in case +of my marriage, and I only took what was my own, as I was upon the +point of marrying. Madame de Boulainvillier herself justified me in +taking this sum, for she never asked me to return it or filed an +accusation against me." + +"Because she wanted to prevent the matter becoming town-talk," +remarked the president, quietly. "Madame de Boulainvillier held her +peace, and relinquished punishment to the righteous Judge who lives +above the stars." + +"And who surely has not descended from the stars to assume the +president's chair of this court," cried Lamotte, with a mocking +laugh. + +President L'Aigre, without heeding the interruption, continued: + +"The daughter of the laborer Valois married the sub-lieutenant +Lamotte, who lived in a little garrison city of the province, and +sought to increase his meagre salary by many ingenious devices. He +not merely gave instruction in fencing and riding, but he was also a +very skilful card-player--so skilful, that fortune almost always +accompanied him." + +"My lord," cried the countess, springing up," you seem to want to +hint that Count Lamotte played a false game. You surely would not +venture to say this if the count were free, for he would challenge +you for this insult, and it is well known that his stroke is fatal +to those who stand in the way of his dagger." + +"I hint at nothing, and I merely call things by their right names," +replied the president, smiling. "In consequence of strong suspicions +of false play, Count Lamotte was driven out of his regiment; and as +the young pair had in the meantime consumed the stolen wedding- +money, they must discover some new way of making a living. The young +husband repaired to the south of France to continue his card- +playing; the young wife, having for her fortune her youth and the +splendor of her name, repaired to Paris, both resolved de corriger +la fortune wherever and however they could. "This, madame," +continued the president, after a pause, "this is the true answer to +my question, how you are called, and who you are." + +"The answer is, however, not yet quite satisfactory," replied +Lamotte, in an impudent tone. "You have forgotten to add that I am +the friend of the cardinal, Prince Louis de Rohan, the confidante +and friend of Queen Marie Antoinette, and that both now want to do +me the honor to make me their bete de souffrance, and to let me +suffer for what they have done and are guilty of. My whole crime +lies in this, that I helped the Queen of France gain the jewels for +which her idle and trivial soul longed; that I helped the amorous +and light-minded cardinal approach the object of his love, and +procured for him an interview with the queen. That is all that can +be charged upon me; I procured for the queen the fine necklace of +Messrs. Bohmer and Bassenge; I gave the cardinal, as the price of a +part of the necklace, a tender tete-a-tete with the queen. The +cardinal will not deny that in the garden of Versailles he had a +rendezvous with the queen, that he kissed her hand and received a +rose from her; and the queen will be compelled to confess in the end +that the necklace is in her possession. What blame can be laid on me +for this?" + +"The blame of deception, of defalcation, of forgery, of calumny, of +theft," replied the president, with solemn earnestness. "You +deceived Cardinal de Rohan in saying that you knew the queen, that +you were intimate with her, that she honored you with her +confidence. You forged, or got some one to forge, the handwriting of +the queen, and prepared letters which you gave to the cardinal, +pretending that they came from the queen. You misused the devotion +of the cardinal to the royal family, and caused his eminence to +believe that the queen desired his services in the purchase of the +necklace; and after the cardinal, full of pleasure, had been able to +do a service to the queen, had treated with Bohmer and Bassenge, had +paid a part of the purchase money, and gave you the necklace in +charge to be put into the queen's hands, you were guilty of theft, +for the queen knows nothing of the necklace; the queen never gave +you the honor of an audience, the queen never spoke with you, and no +one of the queen's companions ever saw the Countess Lamotte." + +"That means they disown me; they all disown me!" cried the countess, +with flaming rage, stamping upon the floor with her little satin- +covered foot. "But the truth will one day come to the light. The +cardinal will not deny that the queen gave him a rendezvous at +Versailles; that she thanked him personally for the necklace which +she had procured through his instrumentality." + +"Yes, the truth will come to the light," answered the president. "I +summon the crown attorney, M. de Borillon, to present the charge +against the Countess Lamotte-Valois." + +On this the attorney-general, Borillon, rose, and amid the +breathless silence of the assembly began to speak. He painted the +countess as a crafty, skilful adventuress, who had come to Paris +with the determined purpose of making her fortune in whatever way it +could be done. He then spoke of the destitution in which she had +lived at first, of the begging letters which she addressed to all +people of distinction, and especially to Cardinal de Rohan, in +consequence of his well-known liberality. He painted in lively and +touching colors the scene where the cardinal, struck by the name of +the suppliant, went in person to the attic to convince himself +whether it were really true that a descendant of the Kings of France +had been driven to such poverty and humiliation, and to give her +assistance for the sake of the royal house, to which he was devoted +heart and soul. He painted further how the cardinal, attracted by +the lively spirits, amiability, and intellectual character of +Lamotte-Valois, had given her his confidence, and believed what she +told him about her favor with the queen, and her intimate relations +with her. "The cardinal," continued the attorney-general, "did not +doubt for a moment the trustworthiness of the countess; he had not +the least suspicion that he was appointed to become the victim of an +intriguer, who would take advantage of his noble spirit, his +magnanimity, to deceive him and to enrich herself. The countess knew +the boundless devotion of the cardinal to the queen; she had heard +his complaints of the proud coldness, the public slights which she +offered to him. On the other hand, she had heard of the costly +diamond necklace which Bohmer and Bassenge had repeatedly offered to +the queen, and that she had refused to take it on account of the +enormous price which they demanded for it. On this the countess +formed her plan and it succeeded perfectly. She caused the cardinal +to hope that he would soon have an audience of the queen, if he +would give solid assurances of his devotion, and when he professed +himself ready, she proposed to him, as acting under the queen's +instructions, the purchase of the necklace. The cardinal declared +himself ready to accede, and the affair took the course already +indicated with such touching frankness and lofty truthfulness by his +eminence. He brought the purchase to a conclusion; he paid the first +instalment of six hundred thousand francs, and gave the necklace to +the friend of the queen, the Countess Lamotte-Valois, after he had +availed himself of her assistance in receiving from the lips and +hand of the queen in the garden of Versailles the assurance of the +royal favor. The countess at once brought the cardinal a paper from +the queen, stating that she had received the necklace, and conveying +to him the warm thanks of his queen. The cardinal felt himself +richly rewarded by this for all his pains and outlays, and in the +joy of his heart wanted to repay her who, in so prudent and wise a +manner, had effected his reconciliation with the queen. He settled +upon her a yearly pension of four thousand francs, payable her whole +life, and the countess accepted it with tears of emotion, and swore +eternal gratitude to the cardinal. But while uttering this very oath +she was conspiring against her benefactor, and laughing in her +sleeve at the credulous prince who had fallen into the very net +which she had prepared for him. Her most active ally was her +husband, whom she had long before summoned to Paris, and who was the +abetter of her intrigue. The countess had now become a rich lady, +and was able to indulge all her cravings for splendor and luxury. +She who, down to that time, had stood as a supplicant before the +doors of the rich, could herself have a princely dwelling, and could +devote great sums to its adornment. The most celebrated makers were +called on, to furnish the furniture and the decorations, and, as if +by a touch of magic, she was surrounded by fabulous luxury; the +fairest equipages stood ready for her, the finest horses in her +stable, and a troop of lackeys waited upon the beck of the fair lady +who displayed her princely splendor before them. A choice silver +service glittered upon her table, and she possessed valuables worth +more than a hundred thousand francs. More than this, she enjoyed the +best of all, a tender and devoted husband, who overloaded her with +presents; from London, whither he was called by pressing family +affairs, he sent his wife a medallion of diamonds, which was +subsequently estimated at two hundred and thirty louis-d'ors, and a +pearl bracelet worth two hundred louis-d'ors. Returning from his +journey, he surprised his wife with a new and splendid present. He +had purchased a palace in Bar-sur-Aube, and thither the whole costly +furniture of his hired house was carried. Would you know where all +these rare gifts wore drawn? The Countess Lamotte had broken the +necklace, and taken the stones from their setting. For the gold +alone which was used in the setting she received forty thousand +francs; for one of the diamonds, which she sold in Paris, she +received fifty thousand francs; for another, thirty-six thousand. +The diamonds of uncommon size and immense worth she did not dare to +dispose of in Paris, and her husband was compelled to journey to +London to sell a portion of them there. On his return thence he was +able to buy for his wife the house in Bar-sur-Aube, for the sum +received in London was four hundred thousand francs in gold, in +addition to the pearls and the diamond medallion which he brought +his wife from London. And of all this luxury, this extravagance, +Cardinal de Rohan had naturally no suspicion. When he visited her, +where did the countess receive him? In a poorly-furnished attic- +chamber of the house hired by her. In simple, modest attire, She met +him there and told him with trembling voice that the rich countess +who lived in the two lower stories of the house had allowed her to +have this suite next to the roof gratis. But when danger approached, +and Lamotte began to fear that Bohmer and Bassenge, in claiming +their pay from the queen, would bring the history of the necklace to +the light, the countess came to the cardinal to pay her parting +respects, as she was going into the country to a friend to live in +the greatest privacy. She left Paris merely to repair to Bar-sur- +Aube and live in her magnificent palace. She tarried there so long +as to allow the police detectives to discover in the rich and +elegant lady the intriguer Lamotte-Valois, and to effect the +imprisonment of her husband and his friend, the so-called Count +Cagliostro. Her other abetters had put themselves out of sight, and +were not to be discovered. However, their arrest was not specially +necessary, for the facts were already sufficiently strong and clear. +Some of the diamonds which Lamotte had sold in London were brought +back to Paris, and had been recognized by Bohmer and Bassenge as +belonging to the necklace which they had sold to the queen. The +goldsmith had been discovered to whom the countess had sold the +golden setting of the necklace, and Bohmer and Bassenge had +recognized in the fragments which remained their own work. It is +unquestionable that the Countess Lamotte-Valois, through her +intrigues and cunning, had been able to gain possession of the +necklace, and that she had appropriated it to her own use. The +countess is therefore guilty of theft and deception. She is, +moreover, guilty of forgery, for she has imitated the handwriting of +the queen, and subscribed it with the royal name. But the hand is +neither that of the queen, nor does the queen ever subscribe herself +'Marie Antoinette of France.' This makes Lamotte open to the charge +of both forgery and contempt of majesty, for she has even dared to +drag the sacred person of the Queen of France into her mesh of lies, +and to make her majesty the heroine of a dishonorable love- +adventure." + +"My lord," cried Countess Lamotte, with a loud laugh, "you are not +driven to the necessity of involving the queen in dishonorable love- +adventures. The queen is in reality the heroine of so many +adventures of this character, that you can have your choice of them. +A queen who visits the opera-house balls incognito, drives thither +masked and in a fiacre, and who appears incognito on the terraces of +Versailles with strange soldiers, exchanging jocose words with them- +-a queen of the type of this Austrian may not wonder to find her +name identified with the heroine of a love-adventure. But we are +speaking now not of a romance, but of a reality, and I am not to be +accused of forgery and contempt of majesty without having the proofs +brought forward. This cannot, however, be done, for I have the +proofs of my innocence. The cardinal had an interview with the +queen, and she gave him a receipt for the diamonds. If she wrote her +signature differently from her usual manner, it is not my fault. It +only shows that the queen was cunning enough to secure an alibi, so +to speak, for her signature, and to leave a rear door open for +herself, through which she could slip with her exalted name, in case +the affair was discovered, and leave me to be her bete de +souffrance. But I am by no means disposed to accept this part, for I +declare here solemnly, before God and man, that I am innocent of the +crime laid to my charge. I was only a too true and devoted friend, +that is all! I sacrificed my own safety and peace to the welfare of +my exalted friends, and I now complain of them that they have +treated me unthankfully in this matter. But they must bear the +blame, they alone. Let the queen show that she did not give the +cardinal a rendezvous in the park of Versailles; let her further +show that she did not sign the promissory note, and the letters to +his eminence, and then I shall be exposed to the charge of being a +deceiver and a traitor. But so long as this is not done--and it +cannot be done, for God is just, and will not permit the innocent to +suffer for the guilty--so long will all France, yes, all Europe, be +convinced that the queen is the guilty one; that she received the +jewels, and paid the cardinal for them as a coquette and light- +minded woman does, with tender words, with smiles and loving looks, +and, last of all, with a rendezvous!" + +"You are right," said the attorney-general, as the countess ceased, +and looked around her with a victorious smile--"you are quite right, +God IS just, and He will not permit the innocent to suffer for the +guilty. He will not let your infernal intrigue stand as truth; He +will tear away the mask of innocence from your deceiver's face, and +lot you stand forth in all your impudence and deception." + +"My lord," cried the countess, smiling, "those are very high- +sounding words, but they are no proofs." + +"We will now give the proofs," answered the attorney-general, +turning to one of the guards. "Let the lady enter who is waiting in +the room outside." + +The officer gave a sign to one of the men who stood near the door +leading to the witness-room; he entered the adjoining apartment, but +soon after returned alone and whispered something in the officer's +ear. + +"The lady asks the court's indulgence for a few moments," said the +officer, aloud. "As she must be separated some hours from her child, +she asks permission to suckle it a few moments." + +The president cast an inquiring look at the judges, who all nodded +affirmatively. + +The law was silent before the voice of Nature; all waited +noiselessly till the witness had quieted her child. + +And now the door of the witness-room opened, and upon the threshold +was seen a woman's figure, at whose unexpected appearance a cry of +amazement rose from the lips of all the spectators on the tribune, +and all eyes were aflame with curiosity. + +It was the queen--no one but the queen who was entering the hall! It +was her slim, fine figure, it was her fresh, voting, rosy +countenance, with the fair, charming oval of her delicately-tinted +cheeks; it was her finely-cut mouth, with the full, lower lips; +there were her large, grayish-blue eyes; her high forehead; her +beautiful, chestnut-brown hair, arranged in exactly the manner that +Leonard, the queen's hair-dresser, was accustomed to dress hers. The +rest of her toilet, also, was precisely like that of the queen when +she appeared in the gardens of Versailles and dispensed with court +etiquette. A bright dress of light linen flowed down in long, broad +folds over her beautiful figure; her chest and the full shoulders +were covered by a short white robe a l'enfant, and on the loftily +dressed hair lay a white cap, trimmed with lace. + +Yes, it was the queen, as she had often been seen wandering up and +down in the broad walks of Versailles; and even the ladies on the +tribune, who often enough had seen the monarch close at hand and had +spoken with her, looked in astonishment at the entering figure, and +whispered, "It is she! The queen herself is coming to give her +evidence. What folly, what thoughtlessness!" + +While all eyes were directed upon this unexpected figure, no one had +thought of the Countess Lamotte-Valois, no one had noticed how she +shrank back, and then started from her seat, as if she wanted to fly +from the horror which so suddenly confronted her. + +No, the officer who stood near her chair had noticed this movement, +and with a quick and strong grasp seized her arm. + +"What do you want, madame? Why do you rise from your chair after +being told to sit still, if you do not want to be chained?" + +At the touch of the officer, Lamotte had, as it appeared, regained +her whole composure, and had conquered her alarm. + +"I rose," she said calmly, "to pay my respects to the Queen of +France, like a good subject; but as I see that no one else stands +up, and that they allow the queen to enter without rising from their +seats, I will take mine again." And the countess slowly sank into +her chair. + +"Come nearer," cried President de L'Aigre to the royal personage; +and she stepped forward, allowing her eyes to wander unconstrainedly +through the hall, and then, as she approached the table, behind +which the president and the judges sat, greeting them with a +friendly nod and smile which caused her lips to part. Again there +passed through the hall a wave of amazement, for now, when the lady +opened her mouth, the first dissimilarity to the queen appeared. +Behind her cherry-red lips there were two rows of poor, broken +teeth, with gaps between them, whereas Marie Antoinette had, on +account of her faultless teeth, been the object of admiration and +envy to all the ladies of her court. + +"Who are you, madame, and what are you called?" asked the president. + +"Who am I, sir?" replied the lady, with a slight flush, "Good Lord! +that is hard to answer. I was a light-minded and idle girl, that did +not like to work, but did like to live well, and had no objection to +dress, and led a tolerably easy life, till one day my heart was +surprised by love. After being enamoured of my Sergeant George, I +resolved to lead an honorable and virtuous life; and since my little +son was born I have tried to be merely a good mother and a good +wife. Do you now want to know what I am called? Down to the present +time I am called Mademoiselle Oliva. You had me arrested in Brussels +and brought here exactly nine days before the appointed time of my +marriage with my dear George. He had promised me that our child +should be able to regard us as regularly married people, and he +wanted to keep his promise, but you prevented him, and it is your +fault that my dear little boy was born in prison, and that his +father was not there to greet him. But you will confess that I am +guilty of no crime, and then you will fulfil my wish, and give me a +written certificate of my innocence--that is," she corrected +herself, blushing, "of my innocence in this matter, that I may be +able to justify myself to my son, when I have to tell him that he +was born in prison. It is such a dreadful thing for a mother to have +anything that she is ashamed to confess to her child!" + +A murmur of applause ran through the hall, and the ladies upon the +tribune looked with sympathy upon this fair woman, whose faithful +love made her beautiful, and whose mother-feeling gave her dignity. + +"So your name is Mademoiselle Oliva?" asked the president. + +"Yes, sir, that unfortunately is the name I am called by," answered +she, sighing, "but as soon as I leave the prison I shall be married, +and then I shall be called Madame George. For my child's sake, you +would do me a great kindness now if you would call me madame." + +At these naive words a smile lighted up the stern faces of the +judges, and sped like a ray of sunlight over all the countenances of +the spectators. Even the rigid features of the attorney-general were +touched for an instant with the glow; only those of the Countess +Lamotte darkened. + +"Your majesty plays to-day the NAIVE part of a paysanne perversee," +cried she, with a hard, shrill voice. "It is well known that your +majesty loves to play comedies, and that you are sometimes content +with even the minor parts. Now, do not look at me, Mrs. Queen, with +such a withering look. Do not forget that you are playing the part +of Mademoiselle Oliva, and that you have come secretly from +Versailles to save your honor and your diamonds." + +"Officer," cried the president, "if the accused allows herself to +speak a single word without being asked, lock her up and gag her." + +The officer bowed in token of his unconditional obedience, and drew +out the wooden gag, which he showed the countess, going straight to +her chair. + +"I will comply with your wish," said the president, turning to the +living portrait of the queen. "I will call you madame, if you will +promise me in return to answer all my questions faithfully." + +"I promise you that, by my child," answered Mademoiselle Oliva, +bowing slightly. + +"Tell me, then, do you know the person who sits in that chair?" + +Mademoiselle Oliva cast a quick look at Lamotte, who glared at her +from her seat. + +"Oh, yes, I know her," she said. "That is, I do not know her name, I +only know that she lives in a splendid palace, that she is very +rich, and has everything nice." + +"How do you know this lady? Tell us that." + +"I will tell you, gentlemen, and I swear to you that so sure as I +want to be an honorable wife, I will tell you the whole truth. I was +walking one day in the Palais Royal, when a tall, slim, gentlemanly +man, who had passed me several times, came up to me, said some soft +things, and asked permission to visit me. I answered him, smiling, +that he could visit me at once if he would take me into one of the +eating-houses and dine with me. He accepted my proposition, and we +dined together, and were merry and jolly enough for a new +acquaintance. When we parted we promised to meet there again on the +morrow, and so we did. After the second dinner, the amiable +gentleman conducted me home, and there told me that he was very +distinguished and influential, that he had friends at court, and was +very well acquainted with the king and queen. He told me that he +would procure for me powerful patrons, and told me that a very +distinguished lady, who had interested herself in my behalf through +his description, would visit me and make my acquaintance. On the +next day he really came in company with a lady, who greeted me very +friendly, and was astonished at her first glimpse of me." + +"Who was that lady?" asked the president. + +Mademoiselle pointed with her thumb over her shoulder. "The lady +yonder," said she. + +"Are you sure of it?" + +"As of my own life, Mr. President." + +"Good. Good. You saw the lady quite frequently?" + +"Yes, she visited me twice more, and told me about the queen, and +the splendid way they lived at the court; she promised me that she +would bring me to the court and make a great lady out of me, if I +would do what she wanted me to do. I promised it gladly, and +declared myself ready to do every thing that she should order me, if +she would keep her promise and bring me to the court, that I might +speak with the king and the queen." + +"But why were you so curious to go to the court and speak with the +king and the queen?" + +"Why? Good Lord! that is very simple and natural. It is a very easy +thing for the king to make a captain out of a sergeant, and as the +king, so people say, does nothing but what the queen tells him to, I +wanted of course before every thing to have a good word from the +queen. I should have liked to see my dear George wearing epaulets, +and it must have tremendously pleased my boy to have come into the +world the child of a captain." + +"Did you tell that to the lady?" + +"Certainly I told her, and she promised me that the queen would +undoubtedly do me the favor, provided that I would do every thing +that she bade me do in the name of the queen. She told me, then, +that the queen had ordered her to seek a person suitable to play a +part in a little comedy, which she was privately preparing; that I +was just the person to play this part, and if I would do it well and +tell nobody in the world, not even George, when he should come home +from Brussels, she would not only give me her help in the future, +but pay me fifteen thousand francs for my assistance. I consented +with great joy, of course, for fifteen thousand francs was a +magnificent dowry for a marriage, and I was very happy in being able +to earn so much without having to work very hard for it." + +"But did it not occur to you that that was a dangerous game that +they wanted yon to play, and for which they were going to pay such a +high sum?" + +"I did have such thoughts once in a while, but I suppressed them +soon, so as not to be troubled about my good fortune; and besides +that, the countess assured me that every thing was done at the +command of the queen, and that it was the queen who was going to pay +the fifteen thousand francs. That quieted me completely, for as an +obedient and true subject it was my duty to obey the queen, and show +devotion to her in all things, more particularly when she was going +to pay so magnificently. Meantime, I comforted myself that it could +be nothing bad and criminal that the queen could order done, and the +countess assured me that too, and told me that every thing I had to +do was to represent another person, and to make a lover believe that +he was with his love, which would, of course, please him immensely, +and make him very happy. Besides, I did not think it any sin to do +my part toward making an unfortunate lover have happy thoughts. I +was very much pleased with this part, and made my plan to speak to +him in very tender and loving tones." + +"But were you not curious to know for whom you were playing this +part, and what lady you had to represent?" + +"I should certainly have liked very much to know, but the countess +forbade me to ask, and told me that I must suppress my curiosity; +and, on the other hand, make an effort to notice nothing at all, +else I should receive only half of the money; and, besides, if they +noticed that I knew what I was doing, I might be sent to the +Bastile. I was still upon that, and did not trouble myself about any +thing further, and asked nothing more, and only thought of learning +my lesson well, that I might get the fifteen thousand francs for my +marriage portion." + +"So they gave you a lesson to learn?" + +"Yes, the countess, and the gentleman who brought her to me, came +twice to me, and taught me how I ought to walk, how to hold my head, +to nod, and reach my hand to kiss. After teaching me this, they came +one day and carried me in a splendid coach to the house of the +countess. There I dined with them, and then we drove to Versailles. +They walked with me in the park, and at a place near the pavilion +they stood still, and said to me: 'Here is where you will play your +little comedy to-morrow; this is the spot which the queen has +herself appointed, and every thing which takes place is at the +express command of her majesty.' That entirely quieted me, arid I +turned back to Paris overjoyed, in company with the countess and her +companion. They kept me that night in their beautiful home, and on +the next day we drove again to Versailles, where the countess had a +small suite of apartments. She herself dressed me, and condescended +to help me like a waiting-maid." + +"What kind of a suit did she put upon you?" + +"Exactly such a one as I am wearing to-day, only when we were ready, +and it had begun to grow dark, the countess laid a white mantle over +me, and covered my head with a cap. Then she drove me into the park, +gave me a letter, and said: 'You will give this letter to a +gentleman who will meet us.' We went in silence through the paths +and alleys of the park, and I confess that my heart beat right +anxiously, and that I had to think a great deal upon the fifteen +thousand francs, in order to keep my courage up." + +"Did you go with the countess alone, or was some one else with you?" + +"The gentleman who first made my acquaintance, and who was, as I +believe, the husband of the countess, accompanied us. After we had +walked about for a while, he stopped and said: 'Now you must walk +alone; I shall, however, be there at the right time to make a noise, +and to put the amorous lover to flight.' Then he stepped into the +thicket, and we were alone. On this the countess gave me a rose, and +said: 'You will give this rose with the letter to the person, and +say nothing more than this. You know what that signifies.' The +countess made me repeat that three times, and then said: 'You need +not add a single word to that. The queen herself has selected these +words, and she will hear whether you repeat them correctly, for she +will stand behind you, and be a spectator of the whole scene.' On +this the countess withdrew, leading me into a thicket, and soon the +gentleman came, and I came out of the place of my concealment. After +he had made me some very deep reverences, I handed him the rose and +the letter, and repeated the very words the countess had taught me. +The gentleman sank upon his knee, and kissed the hand which I +extended with the rose. At this moment we heard a noise, as if of +men's steps approaching, and the countess came running up. 'For +God's sake!' she cried, 'we are watched! Quick, quick, come!' and +she drew me hurriedly away. We left the garden, and returned to the +dwelling of the countess, and there I remained alone, for the +countess and her husband said, laughing, that they must go and +console the old gentleman for having so short a rendezvous, and for +being so quickly disturbed. I asked whether I had done my part well, +and the countess said that the queen was very well satisfied with +me--that she had stood in the thicket, and had observed all. Early +next morning we rode back to Paris, and when we had arrived at their +hotel, the countess paid me the fifteen thousand francs all +correctly; but she made this condition, that I must go to see my +George as soon as possible, and that till I should go, I must remain +in a little room in her house. I wrote at once to George and +announced my coming, and the time seemed endless till I received his +answer, although the countess paid a great deal of attention to me, +and always invited me to her petits soupers, where we had a right +merry time. As soon as the answer had come from my George, who wrote +me that he was expecting me, I took my departure in an elegant post- +carriage, like a lady; for the countess was not willing that I +should travel in a diligence, and her husband had paid in advance +for all relays of horses as far as Brussels, so that I had a very +agreeable, comfortable ride. And this, I think, is all that I have +to relate, and my son will not have an unquiet night, for I have +kept my word, and told every thing truthfully." + +"You have nothing to add to this?" + +"What could I add to this?" asked Oliva, sighing. "You know as well +as I the end of my history. You know, that a fortnight after that +little scene at Versailles, I was arrested by police agents in +Brussels, and brought to Paris. You know, also, that I swore to take +my life if my dear George were not allowed to visit me daily in +prison. You know that my dear child was born in prison, and that it +is now half a year old, while his poor mother is accused, and not +yet gained her freedom. You know that all! What have I that I could +add to this? I beg you, let me go and return to my child, for my +little George is certainly awake, and his father does not know how +to quiet him when he cries." + +"You may go to your child," said the president, with a gentle smile. +"Officer, conduct Madame Oliva back to the witness-room." + +Madame Oliva expressed her thanks for this by throwing a kiss of the +hand to the president and the judges, and then hastily followed the +officer, who opened the door of the adjoining room. As it swung +back, a loud cry of a child was heard, and Madame Oliva, who was +standing upon the threshold, turned her fair face back to the +president with a triumphant expression, and smiled. + +"Did I not tell you so?" she cried. "My son is calling, for he is +longing for me. I am coming, my little George, I am coming!" + +She sprang forward, and the door closed behind her. + +"You have heard the statements of the witness," said the president, +addressing Countess Lamotte. "You see now that we have the proof of +the ignominious and treacherous intrigues which you have conducted. +Will you, in the face of such proofs, still endeavor to deny the +facts which have been given in evidence?" + +"I have seen neither proofs nor facts," answered Lamotte, +scornfully. "I have only been amazed at the self-possession with +which the queen goes through her part, and wondered how far her +light-mindedness will carry her. She is truly an adroit player, and +she has played the part of Madame Oliva so well, that not a motion +nor a tone would have betrayed the queen." + +"How, madame?" asked the president, in amazement. + +"Do you pretend to assert that this witness, who has just left the +hall, is not Madame Oliva, but another person? Do you not know that +this witness, this living portrait of the queen, has for ten months +been detained at the Bastile, and that no change in the person is +possible?" + +"I only know that the queen has played her part well," said Lamotte, +shrugging her shoulders. "She has even gone so far, in her desire to +show a difference between Madame Oliva and the queen, as to make a +very great sacrifice, and to disclose a secret of her beauty. She +has laid aside her fine false teeth, and let us see her natural +ones, in order that we may see a difference between the queen and +Madame Oliva. Confess only, gentlemen, that it is a rare and comical +sight to have a queen so like a courtesan, that you can only +distinguish the one from the other by the teeth." + +And the countess broke out into scornful laughter, which found a +loud echo in some of the veiled ladies in the tribune. + +"Moderate your pleasantry, madame," commanded the president. +"Remember that you are in a grave and perilous situation, and that +justice hangs over you like the sword of Damocles. You have already +invoked your fate, in calling God to witness that the innocent shall +not suffer for the guilty, and now this word is fulfilled in +yourself. The whole edifice of your lies and intrigues crumbles over +you, and will cover your head with the dust of eternal infamy." + +"I experience nothing of it yet, God be thanked," cried Lamotte, +shrugging her shoulders. + +"You will be punished for these shameless deeds sooner than you +expected," answered the president, solemnly. + +"You said that you wanted proof that that was not the queen who gave +the rendezvous to the cardinal in Versailles; that the promissory +note was not subscribed by the queen, and that the letters to the +cardinal were not written by her. If the proof of this were to be +displayed to you, it would be right to accuse you of high-treason. +We have already exhibited the proof that it was not Queen Marie +Antoinette who made an appointment with the cardinal in Versailles, +but that it was the comedy planned and brought out by yourself, with +which you deceived the cardinal, and made him believe that he was +going to buy the necklace of which you intended to rob him. It only +remains to show you that the subscription of the queen and the +letters to the cardinal were forged by you." + +"And certainly," cried the countess, "I am very curious to have you +exhibit the proofs of this!" + +"That is a very simple matter," answered the president, calmly. "We +confront you with him who at your direction imitated the handwriting +of the queen and wrote the letters. Officer, summon the last +witness!" + +The officer threw open the door which led to the next room. A +breathless silence prevailed in the great hall; every one was +intensely eager to see this last witness who was to uncover the web +of frauds of the countess's spinning. The great burning eyes of the +accused, too, were turned to this door, and her compressed lips and +her piercing glance disclosed a little of the anxiety of her soul, +although her bearing and manner were still impudent and scornful. + +And now the door opened, and a cry of amazement and rage broke from +the lips of the countess. + +"Retaux de Vilette," cried she madly, doubling up her little hands +into fists and extending them toward the man who now entered the +hall. "Shameful, shameful! He has turned against me!" + +And losing for a moment her composure, she sank back upon the seat +from which she had risen in her fright. A deathly paleness covered +her cheeks, and, almost swooning, she rested her head on the back of +the chair. + +"You now see that God is just," said the president, after a brief +pause. "Your own conscience testifies against you and compels you to +confess yourself guilty." + +She sprang up and compelled herself to resume her self-possessed +manner, and to appear cool and defiant as before. + +"No!" she said, "I do not confess myself guilty, and I have no +reason to! My heart only shuddered when I saw this man enter, whom I +have saved from hunger, overwhelmed with kindness, and whom my +enemies have now brought up to make him testify against me! But it +is over--I am now ready to see new lies, new infamies heaped upon +me: M. Retaux de Vilette may now speak on, his calumnies will only +drop from the undented mail of my conscience!" + +And with possessed bearing and an air of proud scorn, Countess +Lamotte looked at the man who, bowing and trembling, advanced by the +side of the officer to the green table, and sedulously shunned +meeting the eyes of Lamotte, which rested on him like two fiery +daggers. + +The president propounded the usual questions as to name and rank. He +answered that his name was Retaux de Vilette, and that he was +steward and secretary of the Countess Lamotte-Valois. On further +questioning, he declared that after the count and the countess had +been arrested he had fled, and had gone to Geneva in order to await +the end of the trial. But as it lingered so long, he had attempted +to escape to England, but had been arrested. + +"Why do you wish to escape?" asked the attorney-general. + +"Because I feared being involved in the affairs of the Countess +Lamotte," answered Retaux de Vilette, in low tones. + +"Say rather you knew that you would be involved with them. You have +at a previous examination deposed circumstantially, and you cannot +take back what you testified then, for your denial would be of no +avail. Answer, therefore: What have you done? Why were you afraid of +being involved in the trial of Countess Lamotte?" + +"Because I had done a great wrong," answered Retaux, with vehemence. +"Because I had allowed myself to be led astray by the promises, the +seductive arts, the deceptions of the countess. I was poor; I lived +unseen and unnoticed, and I wished to be rich, honored, and +distinguished. The countess promised me all this. She would persuade +the cardinal to advance me to honor; she would introduce me to the +court, and through her means I should become rich and sought after. +I believed all this, and like her devoted slave I did all that she +asked of me." + +"Slavish soul!" cried the countess, with an expression of +unspeakable scorn. + +"What did the countess desire of you?" asked the president. "What +did you do in her service?" + +"I wrote the letters which were intended for the cardinal," answered +Retaux de Vilette. "The countess composed them, and I wrote them in +the handwriting of the queen." + +"How did you know her handwriting?" + +"The countess gave me a book in which a letter of the queen's was +printed in exact imitation of her hand. I copied the letters as +nearly as I could, and so worked out my sentences." + +"He lies, he lies!" cried the countess, with a fierce gesture. + +"And how was it with the promissory note to the jewellers, Bohmer +and Bassenge? Do you know about that?" + +"Yes," answered Retaux, with a sigh, "I do know about it, for I +wrote it at the direction of the countess, and added the signature." + +"Had you a copy?" + +"Yes, the signature of the fac-simile." + +"In the printed letter was there the subscription which you +inserted?" + +"No, there was only the name 'Marie Antoinette,' nothing further; +but the countess thought that this was only a confidential way of +writing her name, as a daughter might use it in a letter to a mother +(it was a letter written by the queen to her mother), but that in a +document of a more business-like character there must be an official +signature. We had a long discussion about it, which resulted in our +coming to the conclusion that the proper form would be 'Marie +Antoinette of France.' So I practised this several times, and +finally wrote it on the promissory note." + +"He lies!" cried the countess, stamping on the floor. "He is a born +liar and slanderer." + +"I am prepared to show the proof at once that I speak the truth," +said Retaux de Vilette. "If you will give me writing-materials I +will write the signature of the queen in the manner in which it is +written on the promissory note." + +The president gave the order for the requisite articles to be +brought and laid on a side-table. Retaux took the pen, and with a +rapid hand wrote some words, which he gave to the officer to be +carried to the president. + +The latter took the paper and compared it with the words which were +written on the promissory note. He then passed the two to the +attorney-general, and he to the judge next to him. The papers passed +from hand to hand, and, after they came back to the president again, +he rose from his seat: + +"I believe that the characters on this paper precisely accord with +those on the note. The witness has given what seems to me +irrefutable testimony that he was the writer of that signature, as +well as of the letters to the cardinal. He was the culpable +instrument of the criminal Lamotte-Valois. Those of the judges who +are of my opinion will rise." + +The judges arose as one man. + +The countess uttered a loud cry and fell, seized with fearful +spasms, to the ground. + +"I declare the investigation and hearings ended," said the +president, covering his head. "Let the accused and the witnesses be +removed, and the spectators' tribune be vacated. We will adjourn to +the council-room to prepare the sentence, which will be given to- +morrow." + + + + +BOOK II. + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE BAD OMEN + + +The day was drawing to a close. That endlessly long day, that 31st +of August, 1786, was coming to a conclusion. All Paris had awaited +it with breathless excitement, with feverish impatience. No one had +been able to attend to his business. The stores were closed, the +workshops of the artisans were empty; even in the restaurants and +cafes all was still; the cooks had nothing to do, and let the fire +go out, for it seemed as if all Paris had lost its appetite--as if +nobody had time to eat. + +And in truth, on this day, Paris had no hunger for food that could +satisfy the body. The city was hungry only for news, it longed for +food which would satisfy its curiosity. And the news which would +appease its craving was to come from the court-room of the prison! +It was to that quarter that Paris looked for the stilling of its +hunger, the satisfying of its desires. + +The judges were assembled in the hall of the prison to pronounce the +decisive sentence in the necklace trial, and to announce to all +France, yes, all Europe, whether the Queen of France was innocent in +the eyes of God and His representatives on earth, or whether a shade +of suspicion was thenceforth to rest upon that lofty brow! + +At a very early hour of the morning, half-past five, the judges of +the high court of Parliament, forty-nine in number, gathered at the +council-room in order to pronounce sentence. At the same early hour, +an immense, closely-thronged crowd gathered in the broad square in +front of the prison, and gazed in breathless expectation at the +great gate of the building, hoping every minute that the judges +would come out, and that they should learn the sentence. + +But the day wore on, and still the gates remained shut; no news came +from the council-room to enlighten the curiosity of the crowd that +filled the square and the adjacent streets. + +Here and there the people began to complain, and loud voices were +heard grumbling at the protracted delay, the long deliberations of +the judges. Here and there faces were seen full of scornful +defiance, full of laughing malice, working their way through the +crowd, and now and then dropping stinging words, which provoked to +still greater impatience. All the orators of the clubs and of the +secret societies were there among the crowd, all the secret and open +enemies of the queen had sent their instruments thither to work upon +the people with poisonous words and mocking observations, and to +turn public opinion in advance against the queen, even in case the +judges did not condemn her; that is, if they did not declare the +cardinal innocent of conspiracy against the sovereign, and contempt +of the majesty of the queen. + +It was known that in his resume, the attorney-general had alluded to +the punishment of the cardinal. That was the only news which had +worked its way out of the court-room. Some favored journalist, or +some friend of the queen, had heard this; it spread like the wind +all over Paris, and in thousands upon thousands of copies the words +of the attorney-general were distributed. + +His address purported to run as follows: that "Cardinal de Rohan is +indicted on the accusation, and must answer the Parliament and the +attorney-general respecting the following charges: of audaciously +mixing himself up with the affairs of the necklace, and still more +audaciously in supposing that the queen would make an appointment +with him by night; and that for this he would ask the pardon of the +king and the queen in presence of the whole court. Further, the +cardinal is enjoined to lay down his office as grand almoner within +a certain time, to remove to a certain distance from the royal +residence and not to visit the places where the royal family may be +living, and lastly, to remain in prison till the complete +termination of the trial." + +The friends and dependants of the cardinal, the enemies and +persecutors of the queen, received this decision of the attorney- +general with vexation and anger; they found fault with the servility +of the man who would suffer the law to bow before the throne; they +made dishonorable remarks and calumnious innuendoes about the queen, +who, with her coquetry and the amount received from the jewels, had +gained over the judges, and who would, perhaps have appointed a +rendezvous with every one of them in order to gain him over to her +side. + +"Even if the judges clear her," cried the sharp voice of Marat from +the heart of the crowd, "the people will pass sentence upon her. The +people are always right; the people cannot be bribed--they are like +God in this; and the people will not disown their verdict before the +beautiful eyes and the seductive smiles of the Austrian woman. The +people will not be made fools of; they will not believe in the story +of the counterfeited letters and the forged signature." + +"No," shouted the crowd, laughing in derision, "we will not believe +it. The queen wrote the letters; her majesty understands how to +write love-letters!" + +"The queen loves to have a hand in all kinds of nonsense," thundered +the brewer Santerre, in another group. "She wanted to see whether a +pretty girl from the street could play the part of the Queen of +France, and at the same time she wanted to avenge herself upon the +cardinal because she knew that he once found fault with her before +her mother the empress, on account of her light and disreputable +behavior, and the bad manners which, as the dauphiness, she would +introduce into this court. Since then she has with her glances, her +smiles, and her apparent anger, so worked upon the cardinal as to +make him fall over ears in love with the beautiful, pouting queen. +And that was just what she wanted, for now she could avenge herself. +She appointed a rendezvous with the cardinal, and while she secretly +looked on the scene in the thicket, she allowed the pretty +Mademoiselle Oliva to play her part. And you see that it is not such +a difficult thing to represent a queen, for Mademoiselle Oliva +performed her part so well that the cardinal was deceived, and took +a girl from the streets to be the Queen of France." + +"Oh, better times are coming, better times are coming!" cried Simon +the cobbler, who was close by, with his coarse laugh. "The cardinal +took a girl from the streets for the Queen of France; but wait a +little and we shall see the time when she will have to sweep the +streets with a broom, that the noble people may walk across with dry +feet!" + +In the loud laugh with which the crowd greeted this remark of the +cobbler, was mingled one single cry of anger, which, however, was +overborne by the rough merriment of the mass. It came from the lips +of a man in simple citizen's costume, who had plunged into the mob +and worked his way forward with strong arms, in order to reach a +place as near as possible to the entrance-door of the prison, and to +be among the first to learn the impending sentence. + +No one, as just said, had heard this cry; no one had troubled +himself about this young man, with the bold defiant face, who, with +shrugged shoulders, was listening to the malicious speeches which +were uttered all around him, and who replied to them all with +flaming looks of anger, pressing his lips closely together, in order +to hold back the words which could hardly be suppressed. + +He succeeded at last in reaching the very door of the prison, and +stood directing his eyes thither with gloomy looks of curiosity. + +His whole soul lay in this look; he heard nothing of the mocking +speeches which echoed around him; he saw nothing of what took place +about him. He saw only this fatal door; he only heard the noises +which proceeded from within the prison. + +At last, after long waiting, and when the sun had set, the door +opened a little, and a man came out. The people who, at his +appearance, had broken into a loud cry of delight, were silent when +it was seen that it was not the officer who would announce the +verdict with his stentorian voice, but that it was only one of the +ordinary servants of the court, who had been keeping watch at the +outer gate. + +This man ascended with an indifferent air the steps of the +staircase, and to the loud questions which were hurled at him by the +crowd, whether the cardinal were declared innocent, he answered +quietly, "I do not know. But I think the officer will soon make his +appearance. My time is up, and I am going home, for I am half dead +with hunger and thirst." + +"Let the poor hungry man go through," cried the young man, pressing +up to him. "Only see how exhausted he is. Come, old fellow, give me +your hand; support yourself on me." + +And he took the man by the arm, and with his powerful elbows forced +a way through the crowd. The people let them pass, and directed +their attention again to the door of the prison. + +"The verdict is pronounced?" asked the young man, softly. + +"Yes, Mr. Toulan," he whispered, "the councillor gave me just now, +as I was handing him a glass of water, the paper on which he had +written it." + +"Give it to me, John, but so that nobody can see; otherwise they +will suspect what the paper contains, and they will all grab at it +and tear it in bits." + +The servant slid, with a quick motion, a little folded paper into +the hand of the young man, who thanked him for it with a nod and a +smile, and then quickly dropped his arm, and forced his way in +another direction through the crowd. Soon, thanks to his youth and +his skill, he had worked through the dense mass; then with a flying +step he sped through the street next to the square, then more +swiftly still through the side streets and alleys, till he reached +the gate that led out to the street of Versailles. Outside of this +there was a young man in a blue blouse, who, in an idle and listless +manner, was leading a bridled horse up and down the road. + +"Halloo, Richard, come here!" cried the young man. + +"Ah! Mr. Toulan," shouted the lad in the blouse, running up with the +horse. "You have come at last, Mr. Toulan. I have been already +waiting eight hours for you." + +"I will give you a franc for every hour," said Mr. Toulan, swinging +himself into the saddle. "Now go home, Richard, and greet my +sweetheart, if you see her." + +He gave his horse a smart stroke, pressed the spurs into his flanks, +and the powerful creature sped like an arrow from a bow along the +road to Versailles. + +In Versailles, too, and in the royal palace, this day had been +awaited with anxious expectations. The king, after ending his daily +duties with his ministers, had gone to his workshop in order to work +with his locksmith, Girard, upon a new lock, whose skilful +construction was an invention of the king. + +The queen, too, had not left her room the whole day, and even her +friend, the Duchess Julia de Polignac, had not been able to cheer up +the queen by her pleasant talk. + +At last, when she saw that all her efforts were vain, and that +nothing could dissipate the sadness of the queen, the duchess had +made the proposition to go to Trianon, and there to call together +the circle of her intimate friends. + +But the queen sorrowfully shook her head, and gazed at the duchess +with a troubled look. + +"You speak of the circle of my friends," she said. "Ah! the circle +of those whom I considered my friends is so rent and broken, that +scarcely any torn fragments of it remain, and I fear to bring them +together again, for I know that what once is broken cannot be mended +again." + +"And so does your majesty not believe in your friends any more?" +asked the duchess, reproachfully. "Do you doubt us? Do you doubt +me?" + +"I do not doubt you all, and, before all things else, not you," said +Marie Antoinette, with a lingering, tender look. "I only doubt the +possibility of a queen's having faithful friends. I always forgot, +when I was with my friends, that I was the queen, but they never +forgot it." + +"Madame, they ought never to forget it," replied the duchess, +softly. "With all their love for your majesty, your friends ought +never to forget that reverence is due you as much as love, and +subjection as much as friendship. They ought never to make +themselves your majesty's equals; and if your majesty, in the grace +of your fair and gentle heart, designs to condescend to us and make +yourself like us, yet we ought never to be so thoughtless as to +raise ourselves to you, and want to make ourselves the equals of our +queen." + +"Oh, Julia! you pain me--you pain me unspeakably," sighed Marie +Antoinette, pressing her hand to her heart, as if she wanted to keep +back the tears which would mount into her eyes. + +"Your majesty knows," continued the duchess, with her gentle, and +yet terribly quiet manner, "your majesty knows how modestly I make +use of the great confidence which you most graciously bestow upon +me; how seldom and how tremblingly my lips venture to utter the dear +name of my queen, of whom I may rightly talk only in intimate +converse with your exalted mother and your royal husband. Your +majesty knows further--" + +"Oh! I know all, all," interrupted the queen, sadly. "I know that it +is not the part of a queen to be happy, to love, to be loved, to +have friends. I know that you all, whom I have so tenderly loved, +feel yourselves more terrified than benefited; I know, that with +this confession, happiness has withdrawn from me. I look into the +future and see the dark clouds which are descending, and threatening +us with a tempest. I see all; I have no illusions more. The fair +days are all past--the sunshine of Trianon, and the fragrance of its +flowers." + +"And will your majesty not go there to-day?" asked the duchess. "It +is such beautiful weather, the sun shines so splendidly, and we +shall have such a glorious sunset." + +"A glorious sunset!" repeated Marie Antoinette, with a bitter smile. +"A queen is at least allowed to see the sun go down; etiquette has +not forbidden a queen to see the sun set and night approach. But the +poor creature is not allowed to see the sun rise, and rejoice in the +beauty of the dawn. I have once, since I was a queen, seen the sun +rise, and all the world cried 'Murder,' and counted it a crime, and +all France laughed at the epigrams and jests with which my friends +punished me for the crime that the queen of France, with her court, +had seen the sun rise. And now you want to allow me to see it set, +but I will not; I will not look at this sad spectacle of coming +night. In me it is night, and I feel the storms which are drawing +nigh. Go, Julia, leave me alone, for you can see that there is +nothing to be done with me to-day. I cannot laugh, I cannot be +merry. Go, for my sadness might infect you, and that would make me +doubly sad." + +The duchess did not reply; she only made a deep reverence, and went +with light, inaudible step over the carpet to the door. The queen's +face had been turned away, but as the light sound of the door struck +her ear, she turned quickly around and saw that she was alone. + +"She has left me--she has really gone," sighed the queen, bitterly. +"Oh! she is like all the rest, she never loved me. But who does love +me?" asked she, in despair. "Who is there in the world that loves +me, and forgets that I am the queen? My God! my heart cries for +love, yearns for friendship, and has never found them. And they make +this yearning of mine a crime; they accuse me that I have a heart. 0 +my God! have pity upon me. Veil at least my eyes, that I may not see +the faithlessness of my friends. Sustain at least my faith in the +friendship of my Julia. Let me not have the bitterness of feeling +that I am alone, inconsolably alone." + +She pressed her hands before her face, and sank upon a chair, and +sat long there, motionless, and wholly given over to her sad, bitter +feelings. + +After a long time she let her hands fall from her face, and looked +around with a pained, confused look. The sun had gone down, it began +to grow dark, and Marie Antoinette shuddered within herself. + +"By this time the sentence has been pronounced," she muttered, +softly. "By this time it is known whether the Queen of France can be +slandered and insulted with impunity. Oh! if I only could be sure. +Did not Campan say--I will go to Campan." And the queen rose +quickly, went with a decisive step out of her cabinet; then through +the toilet-room close by, and opened the door which led to the +chamber of her first lady-in-waiting, Madame de Campan. + +Madame de Campan stood at the window, and gazed with such a look of +intense expectation out into the twilight, that she did not notice +the entrance of the queen till the latter called her loudly by name. + +"The queen!" cried she, drawing back terrified from the window. "The +queen! and--here, in my room!" + +Marie Antoinette made a movement of impatience. "You want to say +that it is not becoming for a queen to enter the room of her trusted +waiting-maid, that it is against etiquette. I know that indeed, but +these are days, my good Campan, when etiquette has no power over us, +and when, behind the royal purple, the poor human heart, in all its +need, comes into the foreground. This is such a day for me, and as I +know you are true, I have come to you. Did you not tell me, Campan, +that you should receive the news as soon as the sentence was +pronounced?" + +"Yes, your majesty, I do hope to, and that is the reason why I am +standing at the window looking for my messenger." + +"How curious!" said the queen, thoughtfully. "They call me Queen of +France, and yet I have no one who hastens to give me news of this +important affair, while my waiting-maid has devoted friends, who do +for her what no one does for the queen." + +"I beg your majesty's pardon," answered Madame de Campan, smiling. +"What they do to-day for me, they do only because I am the waiting- +maid of the queen. I was yesterday at Councillor Bugeaud's, in order +to pay my respects to the family after a long interval, for his wife +is a cousin of mine." + +"That means," said the queen, with a slight smile, "that you went +there, not to visit your cousin, the councillor's wife, but to visit +the councillor himself. Now confess, my good Campan, you wanted to +do a little bribery." + +"Well, I confess to your majesty, I wanted to see if it was really +true that Councillor Bugeaud has gone over to the enemy. Your +majesty knows that Madame de Marsan has visited all the councillors, +and adjured them by God and the Holy Church, not to condemn the +cardinal, but to declare him innocent." + +"That is, they will free the cardinal that I may be condemned," said +the queen, angrily. "For to free him is the same as to accuse me and +have my honor tarnished." + +"That was what I was saying to my cousin, Councillor Bugeaud, and +happily I found supporters in his own family. Oh, I assure your +majesty that in this family there are those who are devoted, heart +and soul, to your majesty." + +"Who are these persons?" asked the queen. "Name them to me, that in +my sad hours I may remember them." + +"There is, in the first place, the daughter of the councillor, the +pretty Margaret, who is so enthusiastic for your majesty that she +saves a part of her meagre pocket-money that she may ride over to +Versailles at every great festival to see your majesty; and then +particularly there is the lover of this little person, a young man +named Toulan, a gifted, fine young fellow, who almost worships your +majesty--he is the one who promised me to bring news at once after +the sentence is pronounced, and it is more owing to his eloquence +than to mine that Councillor Bugeaud saw the necessity of giving his +vote against the cardinal and putting himself on the right side." + +At this instant the door which led into the antechamber was hastily +flung open, and a lackey entered. + +"The gentleman whom you expected has just arrived," he announced. + +"It is Mr. Toulan," whispered Madame de Campan to the queen; "he +brings the sentence. Tell the gentleman," she then said aloud to the +lackey, "to wait a moment in the antechamber; I will receive him +directly. + +"Go, I beg your majesty," she continued as the lackey withdrew, "I +beg your majesty to graciously allow me to receive the young man +here." + +"That is to say, my dear Campan," said the queen, smiling, "to +vacate the premises and leave the apartment. But I am not at all +inclined to, I prefer to remain here. I want to see this young man +of whom you say that he is such a faithful friend, and then I should +like to know the news as soon as possible that he brings. See here, +the chimney-screen is much taller than I, and if I go behind, the +young man will have no suspicion of my presence, especially as it is +dark. Now let him come in. I am most eager to hear the news." + +The queen quickly stepped behind the high screen, and Madame Campan +opened the door of the antechamber. + +"Come in, Mr. Toulan," she cried, and at once there appeared at the +open door the tall, powerful figure of the young man. His cheeks +were heated with the quick ride, his eyes glowed, and his breathing +was rapid and hard. Madame Campan extended her hand to him and +greeted him with a friendly smile. "So you have kept your word, Mr. +Toulan," she said. "You bring me the news of the court's decision?" + +"Yes, madame, I do," he answered softly, and with a touch of +sadness. "I am only sorry that you have had to wait so long, but it +is not my fault. It was striking eight from the tower of St. Jacques +when I received the news." + +"Eight," asked Madame de Campan, looking at the clock, "it is now +scarcely nine. You do not mean to say that you have ridden the +eighteen miles from Paris to Versailles in an hour?" + +"I have done it, and I assure you that is nothing wonderful. I had +four fresh horses stationed along the road, and they were good ones. +I fancied myself sometimes a bird flying through the air, and it +seems to me now as if I had flown. I beg your pardon if I sit down +in your presence, for my feet tremble a little." + +"Do sit down, my dear young friend," cried Campan, and she hastened +herself to place an easy-chair for the young man. + +"Only an instant," he said, sinking into it. "But believe me it is +not the quick ride that makes my feet tremble, but joy and +excitement. I shall perhaps have the pleasure to have done the queen +a little service, for you told me that it would be very important +for her majesty to learn the verdict as quickly as possible, and no +one has got here before me, has there?" + +"No, my friend, the queen will learn the news first through your +means, and I shall say to her majesty that I have learned it through +you." + +"No, madame," he cried, quickly, "no, I would much rather you would +not tell the queen, for who knows whether the news is good, or +whether it would not trouble the noble heart of the queen, and then +my name, if she should learn it, would only be disagreeable to her-- +rather that she should never hear it than that it should be +connected with unpleasant associations to her." + +"Then you do not know what the sentence is?" replied Campan, +astonished. "Have you come to bring me the sentence, and yet do not +know yourself what it is?" + +"I do not know what it is, madame. The councillor, the father of my +sweetheart, has sent it by me in writing, and I have not allowed +myself to take time to read it. Perhaps, too, I was too cowardly for +it, for if I had seen that it contained any thing that would trouble +the queen, I should not have had courage to come here and deliver +the paper to you. So I did not read it, and thought only of this, +that I might perhaps save the queen a quarter of an hour's disquiet +and anxious expectation. Here, madame, is the paper which contains +the sentence. Take it to her majesty, and may the God of justice +grant that it contain nothing which may trouble the queen!" + +He stood up, and handed Madame de Campan a paper. "And now, madame," +he continued, "allow me to retire, that I may return to Paris, for +my sweetheart is expecting me, and, besides, they are expecting some +disturbance in the city. I must go, therefore, to protect my house." + +"Go, my young friend," said Madame de Campan, warmly pressing his +hand. "Receive my heartiest thanks for your devotion, and be sure +the queen shall hear of it. farewell, farewell!" + +"No," cried Marie Antoinette, emerging from behind the screen with a +laugh, "no, do not go, sir! Remain to receive your queen's thanks +for the disinterested zeal which you have displayed for me this +day." + +"The queen!" whispered Toulan, turning pale, "the queen!" + +And falling upon his knee he looked at the queen with such an +expression of rapture and admiration that Marie Antoinette was +touched. + +"I have much to thank you for, Mr. Toulan," she said. "Not merely +that you are the bearer of important news--I thank you besides for +convincing me that the Queen of France has faithful and devoted +friends, and to know this is so cheering to me that even if you +bring me bad news, my sorrow will be softened by this knowledge. I +thank you again, Mr. Toulan!" + +Toulan perceived that the queen was dismissing him; he stood up and +retreated to the door, his eyes fixed on the queen, and then, after +opening the door, he sank, as it were, overcome by the storm of his +emotions, a second time upon his knee, and folding his hands, raised +his great, beaming eyes to heaven. + +"God in heaven," he said loudly and solemnly, "I thank Thee for the +joy of this hour. From this moment I devote myself to the service of +my queen. She shall henceforth be the divinity whom I serve, and to +whom I will, if I can avail any thing, freely offer my blood and +life. This I swear, and God and the queen have heard my oath!" + +And without casting another glance at the queen, without saluting +her, Toulan rose and softly left the room, tightly closing the door +after him. + +"Singular," murmured the queen, "really singular. When he took the +oath a shudder passed through my soul, and something seemed to say +to me that I should some time be very unhappy, and that this young +man should then be near me." + +"Your majesty is excited to-day, and so every thing seems to have a +sad meaning," said Madame de Campan, softly. + +"But the sentence, the sentence!" cried the queen. "Give me the +paper, I will read it myself." + +Madame de Campan hesitated. "Would your majesty not prefer to +receive it in the presence of the king, and have it read by his +majesty?" + +"No, no, Campan. If it is favorable, I shall have pleasure in +carrying the good news to the king. If it is unfavorable, then I can +collect myself before I see him." + +"But it is so dark here now that it will be impossible to read +writing." + +"You are right, let us go into my sitting-room," said the queen. +"The candles must be lighted there already. Come, Campan, since I am +indebted to you for this early message, you shall be the first to +learn it. Come, Campan, go with me!" + +With a quick step the queen returned to her apartments, and entered +her sitting-room, followed by Madame de Campan, whose countenance +was filled with sad forebodings. The queen was right; the candles +had already been lighted in her apartments, and diffused a light +like that of day throughout her large sitting-room. In the little +porcelain cabinet, however, there was a milder light, as Marie +Antoinette liked to have it when she was alone and sans ceremonial. +The candles on the main chandelier were not lighted, and on the +table of Sevres china and rosewood which stood before the divan were +two silver candlesticks, each with two wax candles. These four were +the only lights in the apartment. + +"Now, Campan," said the queen, sinking into the armchair which stood +before the table, near the divan, "now give me the paper. But no, +you would better read it to me--but exactly as it stands. You +promise me that?" + +"Your majesty has commanded, and I must obey," said Campan, bowing. + +"Read, read," urged Marie Antoinette. "Let me know the sentence." + +Madame de Campan unfolded the paper, and went nearer to the light in +order to see better. Marie Antoinette leaned forward, folded both +hands in her lap, and looked at Campan with an expression of eager +expectation. + +"Read, read!" she repeated, with trembling lips. Madame de Campan +bowed and read: + +"First.--The writing, the basis of the trial, the note and +signatures, are declared to be forged in imitation of the queen's +hand. + +"Second.--Count Lamotte is sentenced in contumacion to the galleys +for life. + +"Third.--The woman Lamotte to be whipped, marked on both shoulders +with the letter O, and to be confined for life. + +"Fourth.--Retaux de Vilette to be banished for life from France. + +"Fifth.--Mademoiselle Oliva is discharged. + +"Sixth.--The lord cardinal--" + +"Well," cried the queen, passionately, "why do you stammer, why do +you tremble? He has been discharged; I know it already, for we are +already at the names of the acquitted. Read on, Campan." + +And Madame de Campan read on: + +"The lord cardinal is acquitted from every charge, and is allowed to +publish this acquittal." + +"Acquitted!" cried the queen, springing from her seat, "acquitted! +Oh, Campan, what I feared is true. The Queen of France has become +the victim of cabals and intrigues. The Queen of France in her +honor, dignity, and virtue, is injured and wounded by one of her own +subjects, and there is no punishment for him; he is free. Pity me, +Campan! But no, on the contrary, I pity you, I pity France! If I can +have no impartial judges in a matter which darkens my character, +what can you, what can all others hope for, when you are tried in a +matter which touches your happiness and honor? [Footnote: The very +words of the queen See "Memoires de Madame de Campan," vol. ii., o. +23.] I am sad, sad in my inmost soul, and it seems to me as if this +instant were to overshadow my whole life; as if the shades of night +had fallen upon me, and--what is that? Did you blow out the light, +Campan?" + +"Your majesty sees that I am standing entirely away from the +lights." + +"But only see," cried the queen, "one of the candles is put out!" + +"It is true," said Madame de Campan, looking at the light, over +which a bluish cloud was yet hovering. "The light is put out, but if +your majesty allows me, I--" + +She was silent, and her bearing assumed the appearance of amazement +and horror. + +The candle which had been burning in the other arm of the +candlestick went out like the one before. + +The queen said not a word. She gazed with pale lips and wide-opened +eyes at both the lights, the last spark of which had just +disappeared. + +"Will your majesty allow me to light the candles again?" asked +Madame de Campan, extending her hand to the candlestick. + +But the queen held her hand fast. "Let them be," she whispered, "I +want to see whether both the other lights--" + +Suddenly she was convulsed, and, rising slowly from her arm-chair, +pointed with silent amazement at the second candlestick. + +One of the two other lights had gone out. + +Only one was now burning, and dark shadows filled the cabinet. The +one light faintly illumined only the centre, and shone with its +glare upon the pale, horrified face of the queen. + +"Campan," she whispered, raising her arm, and pointing at the single +light which remained burning, "if this fourth light goes out like +the other three, it is a bad omen for me, and forebodes the approach +of misfortune." + +At this instant the light flared up and illumined the room more +distinctly, then its flame began to die away. One flare more and +this light went out, and a deep darkness reigned in the cabinet. + +The queen uttered a loud, piercing cry, and sank in a swoon. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +BEFORE THE MARRIAGE. + + +The wedding guests were assembled. Madame Bugeaud had just put the +veil upon the head of her daughter Margaret, and impressed upon her +forehead the last kiss of motherly love. It was the hour when a +mother holds her daughter as a child in her arms for the last time, +bids adieu to the pleasant pictures of the past, and sends her child +from her parents' house to go out into the world and seek a new +home. Painful always is such an hour to a mother's heart, for the +future is uncertain; no one knows any thing about the new +vicissitudes that may arise. + +And painful, too, to the wife of Councillor Bugeaud was this parting +from her dearly-loved daughter, but she suppressed her deep emotion, +restrained the tears in her heart, that not one should fall upon the +bridal wreath of her loved daughter. Tears dropped upon the bridal +wreath are the heralds of coming misfortune, the seal of pain which +destiny stamps upon the brow of the doomed one. + +And the tender mother would so gladly have taken away from her loved +Margaret every pain and every misfortune! The times were +threatening, and the horizon of the present was so full of stormy +signs that it was necessary to look into the future with hope. + +"Go, my daughter," said Madame Bugeaud, with a smile, regarding +which only God knew how much it cost the mother's heart--" go out +into your new world, be happy, and may you never regret the moment +when yon left the threshold of your father's house to enter a new +home!" + +"My dear mother," cried Margaret, with beaming eyes, "the house to +which I am going is the house of him I love, and my new home is his +heart, which is noble, great, and good, and in which all the +treasures in the earth for me rest." + +"God grant, my daughter, that you may after many years be able to +repeat those words!" + +"I shall repeat them, mother, for in my heart is a joyful trust. I +can never be unhappy, for Toulan loves me. But, hark! I hear him +coming; it is his step, and listen! he is calling me!" + +And the young girl, with reddening cheeks, directed her glowing eyes +to the door, which just then opened, where appeared her lover, in a +simple, dark, holiday-suit, with a friendly, grave countenance, his +tender, beaming eyes turned toward his affianced. + +He hastened to her, and kissed the little trembling hand which was +extended to him. + +"All the wedding guests are ready, my love. The carriages are +waiting, and as soon as we enter the church the clergyman will +advance to the altar to perform the ceremony." + +"Then let us go, Louis," said Margaret, nodding to him, and arm-in- +arm they went to the door. + +But Toulan held back. "Not yet, my dear one. Before we go to the +church, I want to have a few words with you." + +"That is to say, my dear sir, that you would like to have me +withdraw," said the mother, with a smile. "Do not apologize, my son, +that is only natural, and I dare not be jealous. My daughter belongs +to you, and I have no longer the right to press into your secrets. +So I will withdraw, and only God may hear what the lover has to say +to his affianced before the wedding." + +She nodded in friendly fashion to the couple, and left the room. + +"We are now alone, my Margaret," said Toulan, putting his arm around +the neck of the fair young maiden, and drawing her to himself. "Only +God is to hear what I have to say to you." + +"I hope, Louis," whispered the young girl, trembling, "I hope it is +not bad news that you want to tell me. Your face is so grave, your +whole look so solemn. You love me still, Louis?" + +"Yes, Margaret, I do love you," answered he, softly; "but yet, +before you speak the word which binds you to me forever, I must open +my whole heart to you, and you must know all I feel, in order that, +if there is a future to prove us, we may meet it with fixed gaze and +joyful spirit." + +"My God! what have I to hear?" whispered the young girl, pressing +her hand to her heart, that began to beat with unwonted violence. + +"You will have to hear, my Margaret, that I love you, and yet that +the image of another woman is cherished in my heart." + +"Who is this other woman?" cried Margaret. + +"Margaret, it is Queen Marie Antoinette." + +The girl breathed freely, and laughed. "Ah! how you frightened me, +Louis. I was afraid you were going to name a rival, and now you +mention her whom I, too, love and honor, to whom I pay my whole +tribute of admiration, and who, although you ought to live there +alone, has a place in my heart. I shall never be jealous of the +queen. I love her just as devotedly as you do." + +A light, sympathetic smile played upon the lips of Toulan. "No, +Margaret," said he, gravely, "you do not love her as I do, and you +cannot, for your duty to her is not like mine. Listen, my darling, +and I will tell you a little story--a story which is so sacred to me +that it has never passed over my lips, although, according to the +ways of human thinking, there is nothing so very strange about it. +Come, my dear, sit down with me a little while, and listen to me." + +He led the maiden to the little divan, and took a place with her +upon it. Her hand lay within his, and with a joyful and tender look +she gazed into the bold, noble, and good face of the man to whom she +was ready to devote her whole life. + +"Speak now, Louis, I will listen!" + +"I want to tell you of my father, Margaret," said the young man, +with a gentle voice--" of my father, who thirsted and hungered for +me, in his efforts to feed, clothe, and educate me. He had been an +officer in the army, had distinguished himself in many a battle, was +decorated, on account of his bravery, with the Order of St. Louis, +and discharged as an invalid. That was a sad misfortune for my +father, for he was poor, and his officer's pay was his only fortune. +But no--he had a nobler, a fairer fortune--he had a wife whom he +passionately loved, a little boy whom he adored. And now the means +of existence were taken away from this loved wife, this dear boy, +and from him whose service had been the offering of his life for his +king and country, the storming of fortifications, the defying of the +bayonets of enemies; and who in this service had been so severely +wounded, that his life was saved only by the amputation of his right +arm. Had it not been just this right arm, he would have been able to +do something for himself, and to have found some employment in the +government service. But now he was robbed of all hope of employment; +now he saw for himself and his family only destruction, starvation! +But he could not believe it possible; he held it to be impossible +that the king should allow his bold soldier, his knight of the Order +of St. Louis, to die of hunger, after becoming a cripple in his +service. He resolved to go to Paris, to declare his need to the +king, and to implore the royal bounty. This journey was the last +hope of the family, and my father was just entering on it when my +mother sickened and died. She was the prop, the right arm of my +father; she was the nurse, the teacher of his poor boy; now he had +no hope more, except in the favor of the king and in death. The last +valuables were sold, and father and son journeyed to Paris: an +invalid whose bravery had cost him an arm, and whose tears over a +lost wife had nearly cost him his eyesight, and a lad of twelve +years, acquainted only with pain and want from his birth, and in +whose heart, notwithstanding, there was an inextinguishable germ of +hope, spirit, and joy. We went on foot, and when my shoes were torn +with the long march, my feet swollen and bloody, my father told me +to climb upon his back and let him carry me. I would not allow it, +Suppressed my pain, and went on till I dropped in a swoon." + +"Oh!" cried Margaret, with tears in her eyes, "how much you have +suffered; and I am learning it now for the first time, and you never +told me this sad history." + +"I forgot every thing sad when I began to love you, Margaret, and I +did not want to trouble you with my stories. Why should we darken +the clear sky of the present with the clouds of the past? the future +will unquestionably bring its own clouds. I tell you all this now, +in order that you may understand my feelings. Now hear me further, +Margaret! At last, after long-continued efforts, we reached +Versailles, and it seemed to us as if all suffering and want were +taken away from us when we found ourselves in a dark, poor inn, and +lay down on the hard beds. On the next, my father put on his +uniform, decorated his breast with the order of St. Louis, and, as +the pain in his eyes prevented his going alone, I had to accompany +him. We repaired to the palace and entered the great gallery which +the court daily traversed on returning from mass in the royal +apartments. My father, holding in his hand the petition which I had +written to his dictation, took his place near the door through which +the royal couple must pass. I stood near him and looked with curious +eyes at the brilliant throng which filled the great hall, and at the +richly-dressed gentlemen who were present and held petitions in +their hands, in spite of their cheerful looks and their fine +clothes. And these gentlemen crowded in front of my father, shoved +him to the wall, hid him from the eye of the king, who passed +through the hall at the side of the queen, and with a pleasant face +received all the petitions which were handed to him. Sadly we turned +home, but on the following day we repaired to the gallery again, and +I had the courage to crowd back some of the elegantly-dressed men +who wanted to press before my father, and to secure for him a place +in the front row. I was rewarded for my boldness. The king came, and +with a gracious smile took the petition from the hand of my father, +and laid it in the silver basket which the almoner near him +carried." + +"Thank God," cried Margaret, with a sigh of relief, "thank God, you +were saved!" + +"That we said too, Margaret, and that restored my father's hope and +made him again happy and well. We went the next day to the gallery. +The king appeared, the grand almoner announced the names of those +who were to receive answers to their petitions--the name of my +father was not among them! But we comforted ourselves with the +thought, it was not possible to receive answers so quickly, and on +the next day we went to the gallery again, and so on for fourteen +successive days, but all in vain; the name of my father was never +called. Still we went every day to the gallery and took our old +place there, only the countenance of my father was daily growing +paler, his step weaker, and his poor boy more trustless and weak. We +had no longer the means of stilling our hunger, we had consumed +every thing, and my father's cross of St. Louis was our last +possession. But that we dared not part with, for it was our passport +to the palace, it opened to us the doors of the great gallery, and +there was still one last hope. 'We go to-morrow for the last time,' +said my father to me on the fifteenth day. 'If it should be in vain +on the morrow, then I shall sell my cross, that you, Louis, may not +need to be hungry any more, and then may God have mercy upon us!' So +we went the next day to the gallery again. My father was to-day +paler than before, but he held his head erect; he fixed his eye, +full of an expression of defiance and scorn, upon the talkative, +laughing gentlemen around him, who strutted in their rich clothes, +and overlooked the poor chevalier who stood near them, despised and +alone. In my poor boy's heart there was a fearful rage against these +proud, supercilious men, who thought themselves so grand because +they wore better clothes, and because they had distinguished +acquaintances and relations, and yet were no more than my father--no +more than suppliants and petitioners; tears of anger and of grief +filled my eyes, and the depth of our poverty exasperated my soul +against the injustice of fate. All at once the whispering and +talking ceased,--the king and the queen had entered the gallery. The +king advanced to the middle of the hall, the grand almoner called +the names, and the favored ones approached the king, to receive from +him the fulfilment of their wishes, or at least keep their hope +alive. Near him stood the young queen, and while she was converging +with some gentlemen of the court, her beautiful eyes glanced over to +us, and lingered upon the noble but sad form of my father. I had +noticed that on previous days, and every time it seemed to me as if +a ray from the sun had warmed my poor trembling heart--as if new +blossoms of hope were putting forth in my soul. To-day this +sensation, when the queen looked at us, was more intense than +before. My father looked at the king and whispered softly, 'I see +him to-day for the last time!' But I saw only the queen, and while I +pressed the cold, moist hand of my father to my lips, I whispered, +'Courage, dear father, courage! The queen has seen us.' She stopped +short in her conversation with the gentleman and advanced through +the hall with a quick, light step directly to us; her large gray- +blue eyes beamed with kindness, a heavenly smile played around her +rosy lips, her cheeks were flushed with feeling; she was simply +dressed, and yet there floated around her an atmosphere of grace and +nobleness. 'My dear chevalier,' said she, and her voice rang like +the sweetest music, 'my dear chevalier, have you given a petition to +the king?' 'Yes, madame,' answered my father trembling, 'fourteen +days ago I presented a petition to the king.' 'And have you received +no answer yet?' she asked quickly. 'I see you every day here with +the lad there, and conclude you are still hoping for an answer.' 'So +it is, madame,' answered my father, 'I expect an answer, that is I +expect a decision involving my life or death.' 'Poor man!' said the +queen, with a tone of deep sympathy. 'Fourteen days of such waiting +must be dreadful! I pity you sincerely. Have you no one to present +your claims?' 'Madame,' answered my father, 'I have no one else to +present my claims than this empty sleeve which lacks a right arm--no +other protection than the justice of my cause.' 'Poor man!' sighed +the queen, 'you must know the world very little if you believe that +this is enough. But, if you allow me, I will undertake your +protection, and be your intercessor with the king. Tell me your name +and address.' My father gave them, the queen listened attentively +and smiled in friendly fashion. 'Be here to-morrow at this hour--I +myself will bring you the king's answer.' We left the palace with +new courage, with new hope. We felt no longer that we were tired and +hungry, and heeded not the complaints of our host, who declared that +he had no more patience, and that he would no longer give us credit +for the miserable chamber which we had. His scolding and threatening +troubled us that day no more. We begged him to have patience with us +till to-morrow. We told him our hopes for the future, and we +rejoiced in our own cheerful expectations. At length the next day +arrived, the hour of the audience came, and we repaired to the great +gallery. My heart beat so violently that I could feel it upon my +lips, and my father's face was lighted up with a glow of hope; his +eye had its old fire, his whole being was filled with new life, his +carriage erect as in our happy days. At last the doors opened and +the royal couple entered. 'Pray for me, my son,' my father +whispered--'pray for me that my hopes be not disappointed, else I +shall fall dead to the earth.' But I could not pray, I could not +think. I could only gaze at the beautiful young queen, who seemed to +my eyes as if beaming in a golden cloud surrounded by all the stars +of heaven. The eyes of the queen darted inquiringly through the +hall; at last she caught mine and smiled. Oh that smile! it shot +like a ray of sunlight through my soul, it filled my whole being +with rapture. I sank upon my knee, folded my hands, and now I could +think, could pray: 'A blessing upon the queen! she comes to save my +dear father's life, for she frees us from our sufferings.' The queen +approached, so beautiful, so lovely, with such a beaming eye. She +held a sealed paper in her hand and gave it to my father with a +gentle inclination of her head. 'Here, sir,' she said, 'the king is +happy to be able to reward, in the name of France, one of his best +officers. The king grants you a yearly pension of three hundred +louis-d'or, and I wish for you and your son that you may live yet +many years to enjoy happiness and health. Go at once with this paper +to the treasury, and you will receive the first quarterly payment.' +Then, when she saw that my father was almost swooning, she summoned +with a loud voice some gentlemen of the court, and commanded them to +take care of my father; to take him out into the fresh air, and to +arrange that he be sent home in a carriage. Now all these fine +gentlemen were busy in helping us. Every one vied with the others in +being friendly to us; and the poor neglected invalid who had been +crowded to the wall, the overlooked officer Toulan, was now an +object of universal care and attention. We rode home to our inn in a +royal carriage, and the host did not grumble any longer; he was +anxious to procure us food, and very active in caring for all our +needs. The queen had saved us from misfortune, the queen had made us +happy and well to do." + +"A blessing upon the dear head of our queen!" cried Margaret, +raising her folded hands to heaven. "Now I shall doubly love her, +for she is the benefactor of him I love. Oh, why have you waited +until now before telling me this beautiful, touching story? Why have +I not enjoyed it before? But I thank you from my heart for the good +which it has done me." + +"My dear one," answered Toulan, gravely, "there are experiences in +the human soul that one may reveal only in the most momentous epochs +of life--just as in the Jewish temple the Holy of Holies was +revealed only on the chief feast-days. Such a time, my dear one, is +to-day, and I withdraw all veils from my heart, and let you see and +know what, besides you, only God sees and knows. Since that day when +I returned with my father from the palace, and when the queen had +made us happy again--since that day my whole soul has belonged to +the queen. I thanked her for all, for the contentment of my father, +for every cheerful hour which we spent together; and all the +knowledge I have gained, all the studies I have attempted, I owe to +the beautiful, noble Marie Antoinette. We went to our home, and I +entered the high-school in order to fit myself to be a merchant, a +bookseller. My father had enjoined upon me riot to choose a +soldier's lot. The sad experience of his invalid life hung over him +like a dark cloud, and he did not wish that I should ever enter into +the same. 'Be an independent, free man,' said he to me. 'Learn to +depend on your own strength and your own will alone. Use the powers +of your mind, become a soldier of labor, and so serve your country. +I know, indeed, that if the hour of danger ever comes, you will be a +true, bold soldier for your queen, and fight for her till your last +breath.' I had to promise him on his death-bed that I would so do. +Even then he saw the dark and dangerous days approach, which have +now broken upon the realm--even then he heard the muttering of the +tempest which now so inevitably is approaching; and often when I +went home to his silent chamber I found him reading, with tears in +his eyes, the pamphlets and journals which had come from Paris to us +at Rouen, and which seemed to us like the storm-birds announcing the +tempest. 'The queen is so good, so innocent,' he would sigh, 'and +they make her goodness a crime and her innocence they make guilt! +She is like a lamb, surrounded by tigers, that plays thoughtlessly +with the flowers, and does not know the poison that lurks beneath +them. Swear to me, Louis, that you will seek, if God gives you the +power, to free the lamb from the bloodthirsty tigers. Swear to me +that your whole life shall be devoted to her service.' And I did +swear it, Margaret, not merely to my dear father, but to myself as +well. Every day I have repeated, 'To Queen Marie Antoinette belongs +my life, for every thing that makes life valuable I owe to her.' +"When my father died, I left Rouen and removed to Paris, there to +pursue my business as a bookseller. My suspicions told me that the +time would soon come when the friends of the queen must rally around +her, and must perhaps put a mask over their faces, in order to +sustain themselves until the days of real danger. That time has now +come, Margaret; the queen is in danger! The tigers have surrounded +the lamb, and it cannot escape. Enemies everywhere, wherever you +look!--enemies even in the palace itself. The Count de Provence, her +own brother-in-law, has for years persecuted her with his epigrams, +because he cannot forgive it in her that the king pays more +attention to her counsels than he does to those of his brother, who +hates the Austrian. The Count d'Artois, formerly the only friend of +Marie Antoinette in the royal family, deserted her when the queen +took ground against the view of the king's brothers in favor of the +double representation of the Third Estate, and persuaded her husband +to comply with the wishes of the nation and call together the +States-General. He has gone over to the camp of her enemies, and +rages against the queen, because she is inclined to favor the wishes +of the people. And yet this very people is turned against her, does +not believe in the love, but only in the hate of the queen, and all +parties are agreed in keeping the people in this faith. The Duke +d'Orleans revenges himself upon the innocent and pure queen for the +scorn which she displays to this infamous prince. The aunts of the +queen revenge themselves for the obscure position to which fate has +consigned them, they having to play the second part at the brilliant +court of Versailles, and be thrown into the shade by Marie +Antoinette. The whole court--all these jealous, envious ladies-- +revenge themselves for the favor which the queen has shown to the +Polignacs. They have undermined her good name; they have fought +against her with the poisoned arrows of denunciation, calumny, +pamphlets, and libels. Every thing bad that has happened has been +ascribed to her. She has been held responsible for every evil that +has happened to the nation. + +The queen is accountable for the financial troubles that have broken +over us, and since the ministry have declared the state bankrupt, +Parisians call the queen Madame Deficit. Curses follow her when she +drives out, and even when she enters the theatre. Even in her own +gardens of St. Cloud and Trianon men dare to insult the queen as she +passes by. In all the clubs of Paris they thunder at the queen, and +call her the destruction of Prance. The downfall of Marie Antoinette +is resolved upon by her enemies, and the time has come when her +friends must be active for her. The time has come for me to pay the +vow which I made to my dying father and to myself. God has blessed +my efforts and crowned my industry and activity with success. I have +reached an independent position. The confidence of my fellow- +citizens has made me a councillor. I have accepted the position, not +out of vanity or ambition, but because it will give me opportunity +to serve the queen. I wear a mask before my face. I belong to the +democrats and agitators. I appear to the world as an enemy of the +queen, in order to be able to do her some secret service as a +friend; for I say to you, and repeat it before God, to the queen +belong my whole life, my whole being, and thought. I love you, +Margaret! Every thing which can make my life happy will come from +you, and yet I shall be ready every hour to leave you--to see my +happiness go to ruin without a complaint, without a sigh, if I can +be of service to the queen. You my heart loves; her my soul adores. +Wherever I shall be, Margaret, if the call of the queen comes to me, +I shall follow it, even if I know that death lurks at the door +behind which the queen awaits me. We stand before a dark and +tempestuous time, and our country is to be torn with fearful strife. +All passions are unfettered, all want to fight for freedom, and +against the chains with which the royal government has held them +bound. An abyss has opened between the crown and the nation, and the +States-General and the Third Estate will not close it, but only +widen it. I tell you, Margaret, dark days are approaching; I see +them coming, and I cannot, for your sake, withdraw from them, for I +am the soldier of the queen. I must keep guard before her door, and, +if I cannot save her, I must die in her service. Know this, +Margaret, but know, too, that I love you. Let me repeat, that from +you alone all fortune and happiness can come to me, and then do you +decide. Will you, after all that I have told you, still accept my +hand, which I offer you in tenderest affection? Will you be my wife, +knowing that my life belongs not to you alone, but still more to +another? Will you share with me the dangers of a stormy time, of an +inevitable future with me, and devote yourself with, me to the +service of the queen? Examine yourself, Margaret, before you answer. +Do not forget your great and noble heart; consider that it is a vast +sacrifice to devote your life to a man who is prepared every hour to +give his life for another woman--to leave the one he loves, and to +go to his death in defence of his queen. Prove your heart; and, if +you find that the sacrifice is too great, turn your face away from +me, and I will quickly go my way--will not complain, will think that +it happens rightly, will love you my whole life long, and thank you +for the pleasant hours which your love has granted to me." + +He had dropped from the divan upon his knee, and looked up to her +with supplicating and anxious eyes. But Margaret did not turn her +face away from him. A heavenly smile played over her features, her +eye beamed with love and emotion. And as her glance sank deep into +the heart of her lover, he caught the look as if it had been a ray +of sunlight. She laid her arms upon his shoulders, and pressing his +head to her bosom, she bowed over him and kissed his black, curly +hair. + +"Ah! I love you, Louis," she whispered. "I am ready to devote my +life to you, to share your dangers with you, and in all contests to +stand by your side. Soldier of the queen, in me you shall always +have a comrade. With you I will fight for her, with you die for her, +if it must be. We will have a common love for her, we will serve her +in common, and with fidelity and love thank her for the good which +she has done to you and your father." + +"Blessings upon you, Margaret!" cried Toulan, as breaking into tears +he rested his head upon the knee of his affianced. "Blessings on +you, angel of my love and happiness!" Then he sprang up, and, +drawing the young girl within his arms, he impressed a glowing kiss +upon her lips. + +"That is my betrothal kiss, Margaret; now you are mine; in this hour +our souls are united in never-ending love and faithfulness. Nothing +can separate us after this, for we journey hand in hand upon the +same road; we have the same great and hallowed goal! Now come, my +love, let us take our place before the altar of God, and testify +with an oath to the love which we cherish toward our queen!" + +He offered her his arm, and, both smiling, both with beaming faces, +left the room, and joined the wedding guests who had long been +waiting for them with growing impatience. They entered the carriages +and drove to the church. With joyful faces the bridal pair pledged +their mutual fidelity before the altar, and their hands pressed one +another, and their eyes met with a secret understanding of all that +was meant at that wedding. They both knew that at that moment they +were pledging their fidelity to the queen, and that, while seeming +to give themselves away to each other, they were really giving +themselves to their sovereign. + +At the conclusion of the ceremony, they left the church of St. Louis +to repair to the wedding dinner, which Councillor Bugeaud had +ordered to be prepared in one of the most brilliant restaurants of +Versailles. + +"Will you not tell me now, my dear son," he said to Toulan--"will +you not tell me now why you wish so strongly to celebrate the +wedding in Versailles, and not in Paris, and why in the church of +St. Louis?" + +"I will tell you, father," answered Toulan, pressing the arm of his +bride closer to his heart. "I wanted here, where the country erects +its altar, where in a few days the nation will meet face to face +these poor earthly majesties; here, where in a few days the States- +General will convene, to defend the right of the people against the +prerogative of the sovereign, here alone to give to my life its new +consecration. Versailles will from this time be doubly dear to me. I +shall owe to it my life's happiness as a man, my freedom as a +citizen. They have done me the honor in Rouen to elect me to a place +in the Third Estate, and as, in a few days, the Assembly of the +Nation will meet here in Versailles, I wanted my whole future +happiness to be connected with the place. And I wanted to be married +in St. Louis's church, because I love the good King Louis. He is the +true and sincere friend of the nation, and he would like to make his +people happy, if the queen, the Austrian, would allow it." + +"Yes, indeed," sighed the councillor, who, in spite of his relation +to Madame de Campan, belonged to the opponents of the queen--" yes, +indeed, if the Austrian woman allowed it. But she is not willing +that France should be happy. Woe to the queen; all our misery comes +from her! + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +THE OPENING OF THE STATES-GENERAL. + + +On the morning of the 5th of May, 1789, the solemn opening of the +States-General of France was to occur at Versailles. This early date +was appointed for the convocation of the estates, in order to be +able to protract as much as possible the ceremonial proceedings. But +at the same time this occasion was to be improved in preparing a +sensible humiliation for the members of the Third Estate. + +In the avenue of the Versailles palace a large and fine hall was +fixed upon as the most appropriate place for receiving the twelve +hundred representatives of France, and a numerous company of +spectators besides; and, being chosen, was appropriately fitted up. +Louis XVI. himself, who was very fond of sketching and drawing +architectural plans, had busied himself in the most zealous way with +the arrangements and decorations of the hall. + +It had long been a matter of special interest to the king to fit up +the room which was to receive the representatives of the nation, in +a manner which would be worthy of so significant an occasion. He had +himself selected the hangings and the curtains which were to protect +the audience from the too glaring light of the day. + +When the members of the Third Estate arrived, they saw with the +greatest astonishment that they were not to enter the hall by the +same entrance which was appropriated to the representatives of the +nobility and the clergy, who were chosen at the same time with +themselves. While for the last two the entrance was appointed +through the main door of the hall, the commoners were allowed to +enter by a rear door, opening into a dark and narrow corridor, +where, crowded together, they were compelled to wait till the doors +were opened. + +Almost two hours elapsed before they were allowed to pass out of +this dark place of confinement into the great hall, at a signal from +the Marquis de Brize, the master of ceremonies. + +A splendid scene now greeted their eyes. The Salle de Menus, which +had been fitted up for the reception of the nobility, displayed +within two rows of Ionic pillars, which gave to the hall an unwonted +air of dignity and solemnity. The hall was lighted mainly from +above, through a skylight, which was covered with a screen of white +sarcenet. A gentle light diffused itself throughout the room, making +one object as discernible as another. In the background the throne +could be seen on a richly ornamented estrade and beneath a gilded +canopy, an easy-chair for the queen, tabourets for the princesses, +and chairs for the other members of the royal family. Below the +estrade stood the bench devoted to the ministers and the secretaries +of state. At the right of the throne, seats had been placed for the +clergy, on the left for the nobility; while in front were the six +hundred chairs devoted to the Third Estate. + +The Marquis de Brize, with two assistant masters of ceremonies, now +began to assign the commoners to their seats, in accordance with the +situation of the districts which they represented. + +As the Duke d'Orleans appeared in the midst of the other deputies of +Crespy, there arose from the amphitheatre, where the spectators sat, +a gentle sound of applause, which increased in volume, and was +repeated by some of the commoners, when it was noticed that the duke +made a clergyman, who had gone behind him in the delegation from +this district, go in front of him, and did not desist till the +round-bellied priest had really taken his place before him. In the +mean time the bench of the ministers had begun to fill. They +appeared as a body, clothed in rich uniforms, heavy with gold. Only +one single man among them appeared in simple citizen's clothing, and +bearing himself as naturally as if he were engaged in business of +the state, or in ordinary parlor conversation, and by no means as if +taking part in an extraordinary solemnity. As soon as he was seen, +there arose on all sides, as much in the assembly as on the tribune, +a movement as of joy which culminated in a general clapping of +hands. + +The man who received this salutation was the newly-appointed +minister of finance, Necker, to whom the nation was looking for a +reestablishment of its prosperity and of its credit. + +Necker manifested only by a thoughtful smile, which mounted to his +earnest, thought-furrowed face, that he was conscious to whom the +garland of supreme popularity was extended at this moment. + +Next, the deputation of Provence appeared, in the midst of which +towered Count Mirabeau, with his proud, erect bearing, advancing to +take the place appointed for him. His appearance was the sign for a +few hands to commence clapping in a distant part of the hall, in +honor of a man so much talked of in Prance, and of whom such strange +things were said. But at this instant the king appeared, accompanied +by the queen, followed by the princes and princesses of the royal +family. + +At the entrance of the king, the whole assembly broke into a loud, +enthusiastic shout of applause and of joy. The Third Estate as well, +at a signal from Count Mirabeau, had quickly risen, but continued to +stand without bending the knee, as had been, at the last time when +all the estate were assembled, the invariable rule. Only one of the +representatives of the Third Estate, a young man with energetic, +proud face, and dark, glowing eyes, bent his knee when he saw the +queen entering behind the king. But the powerful hand of his +neighbor was laid upon his shoulder and drew him quickly up. + +"Mr. Deputy," whispered this neighbor to him, "it becomes the +representatives of the nation to stand erect before the crown." + +"It is true, Count Mirabeau," answered Toulan. "I did not bend my +knee to the crown, but to the queen as, a beautiful woman." + +Mirabeau made no reply, but turned his flaming eyes to the king. + +Louis XVI. appeared that day arrayed in the great royal ermine, and +wore upon his head a plumed hat, whose band glistened with great +diamonds, while the largest in the royal possession, the so-called +Titt, formed the centre, and threw its rays far and wide. The king +appeared at the outset to be deeply moved at the reception which had +been given him. A smile, indicating that his feelings were touched, +played upon his face. But afterward, when all was still, and the +king saw the grave, manly, marked faces of the commoners opposite +him, his manner became confused, and for an instant he seemed to +tremble. + +The queen, however, looked around her with a calm and self-possessed +survey. Her fine eyes swept slowly and searchingly over the rows of +grave men who sat opposite the royal couple, and dwelt a moment on +Toulan, as if she recalled in him the young man who, two years +before, had brought the message of Cardinal Rohan's acquittal. A +painful smile shot for an instant over her fine features. Yes, she +had recognized him; the young man who, at Madame de Campan's room, +had sworn a vow of eternal fidelity to her. And now he sat opposite +her, on the benches of the commoners, among her enemies, who gazed +at her with angry looks. That was his way of fulfilling the vow +which he had made of his own free will! + +But Marie Antoinette wondered at nothing now; she had witnessed the +falling away of so many friends, she had been forsaken by so many +who were closely associated with her, and who were indebted to her, +that it caused her no surprise that the young man who hardly knew +her, who had admired her in a fit of youthful rapture, had done like +all the rest in joining the number of her enemies. + +Marie Antoinette sadly let her eyes fall. She could look at nothing +more; she had in this solemn moment received a new wound, seen a new +deserter! + +Toulan read her thoughts in her sad mien, on her throbbing forehead, +but his own countenance remained cheerful and bright. + +"She will live to see the day when she will confess that I am her +friend, am true to her," he said to himself. "And on that day I +shall be repaid for the dagger-thrusts which I have just received +from her eyes. Courage, Toulan, courage! Hold up your head and be +strong. The contest has begun; you must fight it through or die!" + +But the queen did not raise her head again. She looked unspeakably +sad in her simple, unadorned attire--in her modest, gentle bearing-- +and it was most touching to see the pale, fair features which sought +in vain to disclose nothing of the painful emotions of her soul. + +The king now arose from his throne and removed his plumed hat. At +once Marie Antoinette rose from her armchair, in order to listen +standing to the address of the king. + +"Madame," said the king, bowing to her lightly, "madame, be seated, +I beg of you." + +"Sire," answered Marie Antoinette, calmly, "allow me to stand, for +it does not become a subject to sit while the king is standing." + +A murmur ran through the rows of men, and loud, scornful laughter +from one side. Marie Antoinette shrank back as if an adder had +wounded her, and with a flash of wrath her eyes darted in the +direction whence the laugh had come. It was from Philip d'Orleans. +He did not take the trouble to smooth down his features; he looked +with searching, defiant gaze over to the queen, proclaiming to her +in this glance that he was her death-foe, that he was bent on +revenge for the scorn which she had poured out on the spendthrift- +revenge for the joke which she had once made at his expense before +the whole court. It was at the time when the Duke d'Orleans, +spendthrift and miser at the same time, had rented the lower rooms +of his palace to be used as stores. On his next appearance at +Versailles, Marie Antoinette said: "Since you have become a +shopkeeper, we shall probably see you at Versailles only on Sundays +and holidays, when your stores are closed!" Philip d'Orleans thought +of this at this moment, as he stared at the queen with his laughing +face, while his looks were threatening vengeance and requital. + +The king now began the speech with which he proposed to open the +assembly of his estates. The queen listened with deep emotion; a +feeling of unspeakable sorrow filled her soul, and despite all her +efforts her eyes filled with tears, which leisurely coursed down her +cheeks. When, at the close of his address, the king said that he was +the truest and most faithful friend of the people, and that France +had his whole love, the queen looked up with a gentle, beseeching +expression, and her eyes seemed as if they wanted to say to the +deputies, "I, too, am a friend of the people! I, too, love France!" + +The king ended his address; it was followed by a prolonged and +lively clapping of hands, and sitting down upon the chair of the +throne, he covered his head with the jewelled chapeau. + +At the same moment all the noblemen who were in the hall put on +their own hats. At once Count Mirabeau, the representative of the +Third Estate, put on his hat; other deputies followed his example, +but Toulan, whom Mirabeau had before hindered from kneeling--Toulan +now wanted to prevent the proud democrats covering themselves in +presence of the queen. + +"Hats off!" he cried, with aloud voice, and here and there in the +hall the same cry was repeated. + +But from other sides there arose a different cry, "Hats on! Be +covered!" + +Scarcely had the ear of the king caught the discordant cry which +rang up and down the hall, when he snatched his hat from his head, +and at once the whole assembly followed his example. + +Toulan had gained his point, the assembly remained uncovered in +presence of the queen. + +At last, after four long, painful hours, the ceremony was ended; the +queen followed the example of the king, rising, greeting the +deputies with a gentle inclination of her head, and leaving the hall +at the side of the king. + +Some of the deputies cried, "Long live the king!" but their words +died away without finding any echo. Not a single voice was raised in +honor of the queen! But outside, on the square, there were confused +shouts; the crowd of people pressed hard up to the door, and called +for the queen. They had seen the deputies as they entered the hall; +they had seen the king as he had attended divine service at the +church of St. Louis. Now the people were curious to see the queen! + +A joyful look passed over the face of the queen as she heard those +cries. For a long time she had not heard such acclaims. Since the +unfortunate 1786, since the necklace trial, they had become more +rare; at last, they had ceased altogether, and at times the queen, +when she appeared in public, was hailed with loud hisses and angry +murmurs. + +"The queen! The queen!" sounded louder and louder in the great +square. Marie Antoinette obeyed the cry, entered the great hall, had +the doors opened which led to the balcony, went out and showed +herself to the people, and greeted them with friendly smiles. + +But, instead of the shouts of applause which she had expected, the +crowd relapsed at once into a gloomy silence. Not a hand was raised +to greet her, not a mouth was opened to cry "Long live the queen!" + +Soon, however, there was heard a harsh woman's voice shouting, "Long +live the Duke d'Orleans! Long life to the friend of the people!" + +The queen, pale and trembling, reeled back from the balcony, and +sank almost in a swoon into the arms of the Duchess de Polignac, who +was behind her. Her eyes were closed, and a convulsive spasm shook +her breast. + +Through the opened doors of the balcony the shouts of the people +could be heard all the time, "Long live the Duke d'Orleans!" + +The queen, still in her swoon, was carried into her apartments and +laid upon her bed; only Madame de Campan remained in front of it to +watch the queen, who, it was supposed, had fallen asleep. + +A deep silence prevailed in the room, and the stillness awoke Marie +Antoinette from her half insensibility. She opened her eyes, and +seeing Campan kneeling before her bed, she threw her arms around the +faithful friend, and with gasping breath bowed her head upon her +shoulder. + +"Oh, Campan," she cried, with loud, choking voice, "ruin is upon me! +I am undone! All my happiness is over, and soon my life will be over +too! I have to-day tasted of the bitterness of death! We shall never +be happy more, for destruction hangs over us, and our death-sentence +is pronounced!" + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +THE INHERITANCE OF THE DAUPHIN. + + +For four weeks the National Assembly met daily at Versailles; that +is to say, for four weeks the political excitement grew greater day +by day, the struggle of the parties more pronounced and fierce, only +with this qualification, that the party which attacked the queen was +stronger than that which defended her. Or rather, to express the +exact truth, there was no party for Marie Antoinette; there were +only here and there devoted friends, who dared to encounter the +odium which their position called down upon them--dared face the +calumnies which were set in circulation by the other parties: that +of the people, the democrats; that of Orleans; that of the princes +and princesses of the royal family. All these united their forces in +order to attack the "Austrian," to obscure the last gleams of the +love and respect which were paid to her in happier days. + +When Mirabeau made the proposition in the National Assembly that the +person of the king should be declared inviolable, there arose from +all these four hundred representatives of the French nation only one +man who dared to declare with a loud voice and with defiant face, +"The persons of the king and queen shall be declared inviolable!" + +This was Toulan, the "soldier of the queen." But the Assembly +replied to this demand only with loud murmurs, and scornful +laughter; not a voice was raised in support of this last cry in +favor of the queen, and the Assembly decreed only this: "The person +of the king is inviolable." + +"That means," said the queen to the police minister Brienne, who +brought the queen every morning tidings of what had occurred at +Paris and Versailles, "that means that my death-warrant was signed +yesterday." + +"Your majesty goes too far!" cried the minister in horror, "I think +that this has an entirely different meaning. The National Assembly +has not pronounced the person of the queen inviolable, because they +want to say that the queen has nothing to do with politics, and +therefore it is unnecessary to pass judgment upon the inviolability +of the queen." + +"Ah!" sighed the queen, "I should have been happy if I had not been +compelled to trouble myself with these dreadful politics. It +certainly was not in my wish nor in my character. My enemies have +compelled me to it; it is they who have turned the simple, artless +queen into an intriguer." + +"Ah! madam!" said the minister, astonished, "you use there too harsh +a word; you speak as if they belonged to your enemies." + +"No, I use the right word," cried Marie Antoinette, sadly. "My +enemies have made an intriguer of me. Every woman who goes beyond +her knowledge and the bounds of her duty in meddling with politics +is nothing better than an intriguer. You see at least that I do not +flatter myself, although it troubles me to have to give myself so +bad a name. The Queens of France are happy only when they have +nothing to trouble themselves about, and reserve only influence +enough to give pleasure to their friends, and reward their faithful +servants. Do you know what recently happened to me?" continued the +queen, with a sad smile. "As I was going into the privy council +chamber to have a consultation with the king, I heard, while passing +OEil de Boeuf, one of the musicians saying so loud that I had to +listen to every word, 'A queen who does her duty stays in her own +room and busies herself with her sewing and knitting.' I said within +myself, 'Poor fellow, you are right, but you don't know my unhappy +condition; I yield only to necessity, and my bad luck urges me +forward." [Footnote: The queen's own words.--See "Memoires de Madame +de Campan," vol ii., p. 32.] + +"Ah! madame," said the minister with a sigh, "would that they who +accuse you of mingling in politics out of ambition and love of +power--would that they could hear your majesty complain of yourself +in these moving words!" + +"My friend," said Marie Antoinette, with a sad smile, "if they heard +it they would say that it was only something learned by heart, with +which I was trying to disarm the righteous anger of my enemies. It +is in vain to want to excuse or justify myself, for no one will hear +a word. I must be guilty, I must be criminal, that they who accuse +me may appear to have done right; that they may ascend while they +pull me down. But let us not speak more of this! I know my future, I +feel it clear and plain in my mind and in my soul that I am lost, +but I will at least fight courageously and zealously till the last +moment; and, if I must go down, it shall be at least with honor, +true to myself and true to the views and opinions in which I have +been trained. Now, go on; let me know the new libels and accusations +which have been disseminated about me." The minister drew from his +portfolio a whole package of pamphlets, and spread them upon a +little table before the queen. + +"So much at once!" said the queen, sadly, turning over the papers. +"How much trouble I make to my enemies, and how much they must hate +me that I have such tenacity of life! Here is a pamphlet entitled +'Good advice to Madame Deficit to leave France as soon as possible.' +'Madame Deficit!' that means me, doesn't it?" + +"It is a name, your majesty, which the wickedness of the Duke +d'Orleans has imposed upon your majesty, answered the minister, with +a shrug of his shoulders. + +The eyes of the queen flashed in anger. She opened her lips to utter +a choleric word, but she governed herself, and went on turning over +the pamphlets and caricatures. While doing that, while reading the +words charged with poison of wickedness and hate, the tears coursed +slowly over her cheeks, and once in a while a convulsive gasp forced +itself from her breast. + +Brienne pitied the deep sorrow of the queen. He begged her to +discontinue this sad perusal. He wanted to gather up again the +contumelious writings, but Marie Antoinette held his hand back. + +"I must know every thing, every thing," said she. "Go on bringing me +every thing, and do not be hindered by my tears. It is of course +natural that I am sensitive to the evil words that are spoken about +me, and to the bad opinion that is cherished toward me by a people +that I love, and to win whose love I am prepared to make every +sacrifice." [Footnote: The queen's own words.--See Malleville, +"Histoire de Marie Antoinette," p. 197] + +At this moment the door of the cabinet was dashed open without +ceremony, and the Duchess de Polignac entered. + +"Forgiveness! your majesty, forgiveness that I have ventured to +disturb you, but--" + +"What is it?" cried the queen, springing up. "You come to announce +misfortune to me, duchess. It concerns the dauphin, does it not? His +illness has increased?" + +"Yes, your majesty, cramps have set in, and the physicians fear the +worst." + +"O God! O God!" cried the queen, raising both her hands to heaven, +"is every misfortune to beat down upon me? I shall lose my son, my +dear child! Here I sit weeping pitiful tears about the malice of my +enemies, and all this while my child is wrestling in the pains of +death! Farewell, sir, I must go to my child." + +And the queen, forgetting every thing else, thinking only of her +child--the sick, dying dauphin--hurried forward, dashing through the +room with such quick step that the duchess could scarcely follow +her. + +"Is he dead?" cried Marie Antoinette to the servant standing in the +antechamber of the dauphin. She did not await the reply, but burst +forward, hastily opened the door of the sick-room, and entered. + +There upon the bed, beneath the gold-fringed canopy, lay the pale, +motionless boy, with open, staring eyes, with parched lips, and +wandering mind--and it was her child, it was the Dauphin of France. + +Around his bed stood the physicians, the quickly-summoned priests, +and the servants, looking with sorrowful eyes at the poor, deathly- +pale creature that was now no more than a withered flower, a son of +dust that must return to dust; then they looked sadly at the pale, +trembling wife who crouched before the bed, and who now was nothing +more than a sorrow-stricken mother, who must bow before the hand of +Fate, and feel that she had no more power over life and death than +the meanest of her subjects. + +She bent over the bed; she put her arms tenderly around the little +shrunken form of the poor child that had long been sick, and that +was now confronting death. She covered the pale face of her son with +kisses, and watered it with her tears. + +And these kisses, these tears of his mother, awakened the child out +of his stupor, and called him back to life. The Dauphin Louis roused +up once more, raised his great eyes, and, when he saw the +countenance of his mother above him bathed in tears, he smiled and +sought to raise his head and move his hand to greet her. But Death +had already laid his iron bands upon him, and held him back upon the +couch of his last sufferings. + +"Are you in pain, my child?" whispered Marie Antoinette, kissing him +affectionately. "Are you suffering?" + +The boy looked at her tenderly. "I do not suffer," he whispered so +softly that it sounded like the last breath of a departing spirit. +"I only suffer if I see you weep, mamma." [Footnote: The very words +of the dying dauphin.--See Weber, "Memoires," vol. L, p. 209.] + +Marie Antoinette quickly dried her tears, and, kneeling near the +bed, found power in her motherly love to summon a smile to her lips, +in order that the dauphin, whose eyes remained fixed upon her, might +not see that she was suffering. + +A deep silence prevailed now in the apartment; nothing was heard but +the gently-whispered prayers of the spectators, and the slow, +labored breathing of the dying child. + +Once the door was lightly opened, and a man's figure stole lightly +in, advanced on tiptoe to the bed, and sank on his knees close by +Marie Antoinette. It was the king, who had just been summoned from +the council-room to see his son die. + +And now with a loud voice the priest began the prayers for the +dying, and all present softly repeated them. Only the queen could +not; her eyes were fastened upon her son, who now saw her no more, +for his eyes were fixed in the last death-struggle. + +Still one last gasp, one last breath; then came a cry from Marie +Antoinette's lips, and her head sank upon the hand of her son, which +rested in her own, and which was now stiff. A few tears coursed +slowly over the cheeks of the king, and his hands, folded in prayer, +trembled. + +The priest raised his arms, and with a loud, solemn voice cried: +"The Lord gave, the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the +Lord. Amen." + +"Amen, amen," whispered all present. + +"Amen," said the king, closing with gentle pressure the open eyes of +his son. "God has taken you to Himself, my son, perhaps because He +wanted to preserve you from much trouble and sorrow. Blessed be His +name!" + +But the queen still bowed over the cold face of the child, and +kissed his lips. "Farewell, my son," she whispered, "farewell! Ah!, +why could I not die with you--with you fly from this pitiful, +sorrow-stricken world?" + +Then, as if the queen regretted the words which the mother had +spoken with sighs, Marie Antoinette rose from her knees and turned +to the priest, who was sprinkling the corpse of the dauphin with +holy water. + +"Father," said she, "the children of poor parents, who may be born +to-day in Versailles, are each to receive from me the sum of a +thousand francs. I wish that the death-bed of my son may be a day of +joy for the poor who have not, like me, lost a child, but gained +one, and that the lips of happy mothers may bless the day on which +my boy died. Have the goodness to bring me to-morrow morning a list +of the children born to-day." + +"Come, Marie," said the king, "the body of our son belongs no more +to the living, but to the grave of out ancestors in St. Denis; his +soul to God. The dauphin is dead! Long live the dauphin! Madame de +Polignac, conduct the dauphin to us in the cabinet of his mother." + +And with the proud and dignified bearing which was peculiar to the +king in great and momentous epochs, he extended his arm to the queen +and conducted her out of the death-chamber, and through the adjacent +apartments, to her cabinet. + +"Ah!" cried the queen, "here we are alone; here I can weep for my +poor lost child." + +And she threw her arms around the neck of her husband, and, leaning +her head upon his breast, wept aloud. + +The king pressed her closely to his heart, and the tears which +flowed from his own eyes fell in hot drops upon the head of the +queen. + +Neither saw the door beyond lightly open, and the Duchess de +Polignac appear there. But when she saw the royal pair in close +embrace, when she heard their loud weeping, she drew back, stooped +down to the little boy who stood by her side, whispered a few words +to him, and, while gently pushing him forward, drew back herself, +and gently closed the door behind them. The little fellow stood a +moment irresolutely at the door, fixing his eyes now upon his father +and mother, now upon the nosegay of violets and roses which he +carried in his hand. The little Louis Charles was of that sweet and +touching beauty that brings tears into one's eyes, and fills the +heart with sadness, because the thought cannot be suppressed, that +life, with its rough, wintry storms, will have no pity on this +tender blossom of innocence, and that the beaming, angel-face of the +child must one day be changed into the clouded, weather-beaten, +furrowed face of the man. A cheering sight to look upon was the +little, delicate figure of the four-year-old boy, pleasing in his +whole appearance. Morocco boots, with red tips, covered his little +feet; broad trousers, of dark-blue velvet, came to his knees, and +were held together at the waist by a blue silk sash, whose lace- +tipped ends fell at his left side. He wore a blue velvet jacket, +with a tastefully embroidered lace ruffle around the neck. The +round, rosy face, with the ruby lips, the dimple in the chin, the +large blue eyes, shaded by long, dark lashes, and crowned by the +broad, lofty brow, was rimmed around with a profusion of golden +hair, which fell in long, heavy locks upon his shoulders and over +his neck. The child was as beautiful to look upon as one of the +angels in Raphael's "Sistine Madonna," and he might have been taken +for one, had it not been for the silver-embroidered, brilliant star +upon his left side. This star, which designated his princely rank, +was for the pretty child the seal of his mortality--the seal which +ruin had already impressed upon his innocent child's breast. + +One moment the boy stood indecisively there, looking at his weeping +parents; then he turned quickly forward, and, holding up his +nosegay, he said: "Mamma, I have brought you some flowers from my +garden." + +Marie Antoinette raised her head, and smiled through her tears as +she looked at her son. The king loosened his embrace from the queen, +in order to lift up the prince. + +"Marie," said he, holding him up to his wife, "Marie, this is our +son--this is the Dauphin of France." + +Marie Antoinette took his head between her hands, and looked long, +with tears in her eyes, and yet smiling all the while, into the +lovely, rosy face of her boy. Then she stooped down, and impressed a +long, tender kiss upon his smooth forehead. + +"God love you, my child!" said she, solemnly. "God bless you, +Dauphin of France! May the storms which now darken our horizon, have +long been past when you shall ascend the throne of your fathers! God +bless and defend you, Dauphin of France!" + +"But, mamma," asked the boy, timidly, "why do you call me dauphin +to-day? I am your little Louis, and I am called Duke de Normandy." + +"My son," said the king, solemnly, "God has been pleased to give you +another name and another calling. Your poor brother, Louis, has left +us forever. He has gone to God, and you are now Dauphin of France!" + +"And God grant that it be for your good," said the queen, with a +sigh. + +The little prince slowly shook his locks. "It certainly is not for +my good," said he, "else mamma would not weep." + +"She is weeping, my child," said the queen--" she is weeping, +because your brother, who was the dauphin, has left us." + +"And will he never come back?" asked the child, eagerly. + +"No, Louis, he never will come back." + +The boy threw both his arms around the neck of the queen. "Ah!" he +cried, "how can any one ever leave his dear mamma and never come +back? I will never leave you, mamma!" + +"I pray God you speak the truth," sighed the queen, pressing him +tenderly to herself. "I pray God I may die before you both!" + +"Not before me--oh, not before me!" ejaculated the king, shuddering. +"Without you, my dear one, my life were a desert; without you, the +King of France were the poorest man in the whole land!" + +He smiled sadly at her. "And with me he will perhaps be the most +unfortunate one," she whispered softly, as if to herself. + +"Never unfortunate, if you are with me, and if you love me," cried +the king, warmly. "Weep no more; we must overcome our grief, and +comfort ourselves with what remains. I say to you once more: the +dauphin is dead, long live the dauphin!" + +"Papa king," said the boy, quickly, "you say the dauphin is dead, +and has left us. Has he taken every thing away with him that belongs +to him?" + +"No, my son, he has left every thing. You are now the dauphin, and +some time will be King of France, for you are the heir of your +brother." + +"What does that mean, his heir?" asked the child. + +"It means," answered the king, "that to you belong now the titles +and honors of your brother." + +"Nothing but that?" asked the prince, timidly. "I do not want his +titles and honors." + +"You are the heir to the throne; you have now the title of Dauphin +of France." + +The little one timidly grasped the hand of his mother, and lifted +his great blue eyes supplicatingly to her. + +"Mamma queen," he whispered, "do you not think the title of Duke de +Normandy sounds just as well, or will you love me more, if I am +called Dauphin of France?" + +"No, my son," answered the queen, "I shall not love you better, and +I should be very happy if you were now the Duke de Normandy." + +"Then, mamma," cried the boy, eagerly, "I am not at all glad to +receive this new title. But I should like to know whether I have +received any thing else from my dear sick brother." + +"Any thing else?" asked the king in amazement; "what would you +desire, my child?" + +The little prince cast down his eyes. "I should not like to tell, +papa. But if it is true that the dauphin has left us and is not +coming back again, and yet has not taken away every thing which +belongs to him, there is something which I should very much like to +have, and which would please me more than that I am now the +dauphin." + +The king turned his face inquiringly to the queen. "Do you +understand, Marie, what he wants to say?" he whispered. + +"I think I can guess," answered Marie Antoinette softly, and she +walked quickly across the room, opened the door of the adjoining +apartment, and whispered a few words to the page who was there. Then +she returned to the king, but while doing so she stepped upon the +bouquet which had fallen out of the boy's hands when his father +lifted him up. + +"Oh, my pretty violets, my pretty roses," cried the prince, sadly, +and his face put on a sorrowful expression. But he quickly +brightened, and, looking up at the queen, he said, smiling, "Mamma +queen, I wish you always walked on flowers which I have planted and +plucked for you!" + +At this moment the door softly opened, and a little black dog +stepped in, and ran forward, whining, directly up to the prince. + +"Moufflet," cried the child, falling upon his knee, "Moufflet!" + +The little dog, with its long, curly locks of hair, put its fore- +paws upon the shoulders of the boy and eagerly and tenderly licked +his laughing, rosy face. + +"Now, my Louis," asked the queen, "have I guessed right?--wasn't it +the doggy that you wanted so much?" + +"Mamma queen has guessed it," cried the boy joyfully, putting his +arms around the neck of the dog. "Does Moufflet belong to my +inheritance too? Do I receive him, since my brother has left him +behind?" + +"Yes, my son, the little dog belongs to your inheritance," answered +the king, with a sad smile. + +The child shouted with pleasure, and pressed the dog close to his +breast. "Moufflet is mine!" he cried, glowing with joy, "Moufflet is +my inheritance!" + +The queen slowly raised to heaven her eyes, red with weeping. "Oh, +the innocence of childhood, the happiness of childhood!" said she, +softly, "why do they not go with us through life? why must we tread +them under feet like the violets arid roses of my son? A kingdom +falls to him as his portion, and yet he takes pleasure in the little +dog which only licks his hands! Love is the fairest inheritance, for +love remains with us till death!" + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +KING LOUIS THE SIXTEENTH. + + +The 14th of July had broken upon Paris with its fearful events. The +revolution had for the first time opened the crater, after +subterranean thunder had long been heard, and after the ground of +Paris had long been shaken. The glowing lava-streams of intense +excitement, popular risings, and murder, had broken out and flooded +all Paris, and before them judgment, discretion, and truth even, had +taken flight. + +The people had stormed the Bastile with arms, killed the governor, +and for the first time the dreadful cry "To the lamp-post!" was +heard in the streets of Paris; for the first time the iron arms of +the lamp-posts had been transformed to gallows, on which those were +suspended whom the people had declared guilty. + +Meanwhile the lava-streams of revolution had not yet flowed out as +far as Versailles. + +On the evening of the 14th of July, peace and silence had settled +early upon the palace, after a whole day spent in the apartments of +the king and queen with the greatest anxiety, and after resolution +had followed resolution in the efforts to come to a decision. + +Marie Antoinette had early withdrawn to her rooms. The king, too, +had retired to rest, and had already fallen into a deep slumber upon +his bed. He had only slept a few hours, however, when he heard +something moving near his bed, with the evident intention of +awakening him. The king recognized his valet, who, with signs of the +greatest alarm in his face, announced the Duke de Liancourt, grand +maitre de la garde-robe of his majesty, who was in the antechamber, +and who pressingly urged an immediate audience with the king. Louis +trembled an instant, and tried to think what to do. Then he rose +from his bed with a quick and energetic motion, and ordered the +valet to dress him at once. After this had been done with the utmost +rapidity, the king ordered that the Duke de Liancourt should be +summoned to the adjacent apartment, when he would receive him. + +As the king went out in the greatest excitement, he saw the duke, +whose devotion to the person of the king was well known, standing +before him with pale, distorted countenance and trembling limbs. + +"What has happened, my friend?" asked the king, in breathless haste. + +"Sire," answered the Duke de Liancourt, with suppressed voice, "in +the discharge of my office, which permits the closest approach to +your majesty, I have undertaken to bring you tidings which are now +so confirmed, and which are so important and dreadful, that it would +be a folly to try to keep what has happened longer from your +knowledge." + +"You speak of the occurrences in the capital?" asked the king, +slightly drawing back. + +"I have been told that your majesty has not yet been informed," +continued the duke, "and yet in the course of yesterday the most +dreadful events occurred in Paris. The head of the army had not +ventured to send your majesty and the cabinet any report. It was +known yesterday in Versailles at nightfall that the people, with, +arms in their hands, had stormed and destroyed the Bastile. I have +just received a courier from Paris, and these tidings are confirmed +with the most horrible particularity. Sire, I held it my duty as a +faithful servant of the crown to break the silence which has +hitherto hindered your majesty from seeing clearly and acting +accordingly. In Paris, not only has the Bastile been stormed by the +people, but truly dreadful crimes and murders have taken place. The +bloody heads of Delaunay and Flesselles were carried on pikes +through the city by wild crowds of people. A part of the +fortifications of the Bastile have been levelled. Several of the +invalides, who were guarding the fort, have been found suspended +from the lantern-posts. A want of fidelity has begun to appear in +the other regiments. The armed people now arrayed in the streets of +Paris are estimated at two hundred thousand men. They fear this very +night a rising of the whole population of the city." + +The king had listened standing, as in a sad dream. His face had +become pale, but his bearing was unchanged. + +"There is then a revolt!" said Louis XVI., after a pause, as if +suddenly awakening from deep thought. + +"No, sire," answered the duke, earnestly, "it is a revolution." + +"The queen was right," said the monarch, softly, to himself; "and +now rivers of blood would be necessary to hide the ruin that has +grown so great. But my resolution is taken; the blood of the French +shall not be poured out." + +"Sire," cried Liancourt, with a solemn gesture, "the safety of +France and of the royal family lies in this expression of your +majesty. I ought to be and I must be plain-spoken this hour. The +greatest danger lies in your majesty's following the faithless +counsels of your ministers. How I bless this hour which is granted +me to stand face to face with your majesty, and dare to address +myself to your own judgment and to your heart! Sire, the spirit of +the infatuated capital will make rapid and monstrous steps forward. +I conjure you make your appearance in the National Assembly to-day, +and utter there the word of peace. Your appearance will work +wonders; it will disarm the parties and make this body of men the +truest allies of the crown." + +The king looked at him with a long, penetrating glance. The youthful +fire in which the noble duke had spoken appeared to move the king. +He extended his hand and pressed the duke's in his own. Then he said +softly: "You are yourself one of the most influential members of +this National Assembly, my lord duke. Can you give me your personal +word that my appearance there will be viewed as indicating the +interest of the crown in the welfare of France?" + +At this moment the first glow of the morning entered the apartment, +and overpowered the pale candle-light which till then had +illuminated the room. + +"The Assembly longs every day and every hour for the conciliatory +words of your majesty," cried Liancourt. "The doubts and disquiet +into which the National Assembly is falling more and more every day +are not to be dispelled in any other way than by the appearance of +your majesty's gracious face. I beseech you to appear to-day at the +National Assembly. The service of to-day, which begins in a few +hours, may take the most unfortunate turn, if you, sire, do not take +this saving step." + +Just then the door opened, and Monsieur, together with Count +d'Artois, entered. Both brothers of the king appeared to be in the +greatest excitement. From their appearance and gestures it could be +inferred that the news brought by the Duke de Liancourt had reached +the palace of Versailles. + +Liancourt at once approached the Count d'Artois, and said to him in +decisive tones: + +"Prince, your head is threatened by the people. I have with my own +eyes seen the poster which announces this fearful proscription." + +The prince uttered a cry of terror at these words, and stood in the +middle of the room like one transfixed. + +"It is good, if the people think so," he said then, recovering +himself. "I am, like the people, for open war. They want my head, +and I want their heads. Why do we not fire? A fixed policy, no +quarter to the so-called freedom ideas-cannon well served! These +alone can save us!" + +"His majesty the king has come to a different conclusion!" said the +Duke de Liancourt, bowing low before the king, who stood calmly by +with folded arms. + +"I beg my brothers, the Count de Provence and the Count d'Artois, to +accompany me this morning to the Assembly of States-General," said +the king, in a firm tone. + +"I wish to go thither in order to announce to the Assembly my +resolution to withdraw my troops. At the same time I shall announce +to them my decided wish that they may complete the work of their +counsels in peace, for I have no higher aim than through them to +learn the will of the nation." + +Count d'Artois retreated a step in amazement. Upon his mobile face +appeared the sharp, satirical expression which was peculiar to the +character of the prince. It was different with Provence, who, at the +king's words, quickly approached him to press his hand in token of +cordial agreement and help. + +At this moment the door of the chamber was opened, and the queen, +accompanied by several persons, her most intimate companions, +entered in visible excitement. + +"Does your majesty know what has happened?" she asked, with pale +face and tearful eyes, as she violently grasped the king's hand. + +"It will be all well yet," said the king, with gentle dignity; "it +will prove a help to us that we have nothing as yet to accuse +ourselves with. I am resolved to go to-day to the National Assembly, +and to show it a sign of my personal confidence, in announcing the +withdrawal of my troops from Paris and Versailles." + +The queen looked at her husband with the greatest amazement; then, +like one in a trance, she dropped his hand and stood supporting her +fair head upon her hand, with a thoughtful, pained expression. + +"By doing so your majesty will make the revolution an irrevocable +fact," she then said, slowly raising her eyes to him; "and it +troubles me, sire, that you will again set foot in an Assembly +numbering so many dreadful and hostile men, and in which the +resolution made last month to disband it ought to have been carried +into effect long ago." + +"Has the Assembly, in fact, so many dreadful members?" asked the +king, with his good-natured smile. "Yet I see before me here two +extremely amiable members of that Assembly, and their looks really +give me courage to appear there. There is my old, true friend, the +Duke de Liancourt, and even in the train of your majesty there is +the valiant Count de la Marck, whom I heartily welcome. May I not, +Count de la Marck, depend upon some favor with your colleagues in +the National Assembly?" asked the king, with an amiable expression. + +"Sire," answered the count, in his most perfect court manner, "in +the variety of persons constituting the Assembly, I do not know a +single one who would be able to close his heart to the direct word +of the monarch, and such condescending grace. The nobility, to whose +side I belong, would find itself confirmed thereby in its fidelity; +the clergy would thank God for the manifestation of royal authority +which shall bring peace; and the Third Estate would have to confess +in its astonishment that safety comes only from the monarch's +hands." + +The king smiled and nodded in friendly manner to the count. + +"It seems to me," he said, "that the time is approaching for us to +go to the Assembly. Their royal highnesses Count de Provence and +Count d'Artois will accompany me. I commission the Duke de Liancourt +to go before us to the Salle des Menus, and to announce to the +Assembly, directly after the opening of the session, that we shall +appear there at once in person." + +On this the king dismissed all who were present. The queen took +tender leave of him, in a manner indicating her excited feelings. +She had never seen her royal husband bearing himself in so decided +and confident a manner, and it almost awakened new confidence in her +troubled breast. But at the same moment all the doubts and cares +returned, and sadly, with drooping head, the queen withdrew. + +In the mean time, close upon the opening of the National Assembly +that morning, stormy debates had begun about the new steps which +they were going to take with the monarch. + +Count Mirabeau had just been breaking out into an anathema in +flaming words about the holiday which the king had given to the new +regiments, when the Duke de Liancourt, who that moment entered the +hall, advanced to the speaker's desk and announced that the king was +just on the point of coming to the Assembly. The greatest amazement, +followed immediately by intense disquiet, was expressed on all sides +at hearing this. Men sprang up from their places and formed +scattered groups to talk over this unexpected circumstance and come +to an understanding in advance. They spoke in loud, angry words +about the reception which should be given to the king in the +National Assembly, when Mirabeau sprang upon the tribune, and, with +his voice towering above every other sound, cried that "mere silent +respect should be the only reception that we give to the monarch. In +a moment of universal grief, silence is the true lesson of kings." +[Footnote: Mirabeau's own words.--See "Memoires du Comte de +Mirabeau," vol. ii., p. 301.] + +A resounding bravo accompanied these words, which appeared to +produce the deepest impression upon all parties in the Assembly. + +Before the room was silent, the king, accompanied by his brothers, +but with no other retinue besides, entered the hall. Notwithstanding +all the plans and efforts which had been made, his appearance at +this moment wrought so powerfully that, as soon as they saw him, the +cry "Long live the king!" was taken up and repeated so often as to +make the arched ceiling ring. + +The king stood in the midst of the Assembly, bearing himself +modestly and with uncovered head. He did not make use of an arm- +chair which was placed for him, but remained standing, as, without +any ceremony, he began to address the Assembly with truly +patriarchal dignity. When at the very outset he said that as the +chief of the nation, as he called himself, he had come with +confidence to meet the nation's representatives, to testify his +grief for what had happened, and to consult them respecting the re- +establishing of peace and order, a pacified expression appeared upon +almost all faces. + +With gentle and almost humble bearing the king then entered upon the +suspicions that had been breathed, that the persons of the deputies +were not safe. With the tone of an honest burgher he referred to his +own "well-known character," which made it superfluous for him to +dismiss such a suspicion. "Ah!" he cried, "it is I who have trusted +myself to you! Help me in these painful circumstances to strengthen +the welfare of the state. I expect it of the National Assembly." + +Then with a tone of touching kindness he said: "Counting upon the +love and fidelity of my subjects, I have given orders to the troops +to withdraw from Paris and Versailles. At the same time I commission +and empower you to convey these my orders to the capital." + +The king now closed his address, which had been interrupted by +frequent expressions of delight and enthusiasm, but which was +received at the close with a thunder of universal applause. After +the Archbishop of Brienne had expressed the thanks of the Assembly +in a few words, the king prepared to leave the hall. At that instant +all present rose in order to follow the king's steps. Silently the +whole National Assembly became the retinue of the king, and +accompanied him to the street. + +The king wished to return on foot to the palace. Behind him walked +the National Assembly in delighted, joyful ranks. The startling +importance of the occasion seemed to have overpowered the most +hostile and the most alienated An immense crowd of people, which had +gathered before the door of the hall, seeing the king suddenly +reappear in the midst of the whole National Assembly, broke into +jubilant cries of delight. The shouts, "Long live the king! Long +live the nation!" blended in a harmonious concord which rang far and +wide. Upon the Place d'Armes were standing the gardes du corps, both +the Swiss and the French, with their arms in their hands. But they, +too, were infected with the universal gladness, as they saw the +procession, whose like had never been seen before, move on. + +The cries which to-day solemnized the happy reconciliation of the +king and the people now were united with the discordant clang of +trumpets and the rattle of drums on all sides. + +Upon the great balcony of the palace at Versailles stood the queen, +awaiting the return of the king. The thousands of voices raised in +behalf of Louis XVI. and the nation had drawn Marie Antoinette to +the balcony, after remaining in her own room with thoughts full of +evil forebodings. She held the dauphin in her arms, and led her +little daughter. Her eyes, from which the heavy veils of sadness +were now withdrawn, cast joyful glances over the immense, shouting +crowds of people approaching the palace, at whose head she joyfully +recognized her husband, the king, wearing an expression of +cheerfulness which for a time she had not seen on his face. + +When the king caught sight of his wife, he hastened to remove his +hat and salute her. But few of the deputies followed the royal +example, and silently, without any salutation, without any cries of +acclamation, they looked up at the queen. Marie Antoinette turned +pale, and stepped hack with her children into the hall. + +"It is all over," she said, with a gush of tears, "it is all over +with my hopes. The Queen of France is still to be the poorest and +most unhappy woman in France, for she is not loved, she is +despised." + +Two soft young arms were laid around her neck, and with a face full +of sorrow, and with tears in his great blue eyes, the dauphin looked +up to the disturbed countenance of his mother. + +"Mamma queen," he whispered, pressing fondly up to her, "mamma +queen, I love you and everybody loves you, and my dear brother in +heaven prays for you." + +With a loud cry of pain, that escaped her against her will, the +queen pressed her son to her heart and covered his head with her +kisses. + +"Love me, my son, love me," she whispered, choking, "and may thy +brother in heaven pray for me that I may soon be released from the +pains which I suffer!" + +But as she heard now the voice of the king without, taking leave of +his retinue with friendly words, Marie Antoinette hastily dried her +tears, and putting down the dauphin, whispered to him, "Do not tell +papa that I have been crying," and in her wonted lofty bearing, with +a smile upon her trembling lips, she went to meet her husband. + +As it grew late and dark in the evening, several baggage-wagons +heavily laden and tightly closed moved noiselessly and hastily from +the inner courts of the palace, and took the direction toward the +country. In these carriages were the Count d'Artois, the Duke +d'Angouleme, and the Duke de Berry, the Prince de Conde, the Duke de +Bourbon, and the Duke d'Enghein, who were leaving the kingdom in +secret flight. + +Louis XVI. had tried to quiet the anxieties of his brother, the +Count d'Artois, by advising him to leave France for some time, and +to remain in a foreign land, until the times should be more quiet +and peaceful. The other princes, although not so sorely threatened +with popular rage as the Count d'Artois, whose head had already been +demanded at Paris, had, with the exception of the king's other +brother, been so overcome with their anxieties as to resolve upon +flight. They were followed on the next day by the new ministers, who +now, yielding to the demands of the National Assembly, had handed in +their resignation to the king, but did not consider it safe to +remain within range of the capital. + +But another offering, and one more painful to the queen, had to be +made to the hatred of the people and the hostile demands of the +National Assembly. Marie Antoinette herself felt it, and had the +courage to express it. + +Her friends the Polignacs must be sent away. In all the libellous +pamphlets which had been directed against the queen, and which +Brienne had sedulously given to her, it was one of the main charges +which had been hurled against her, that the queen had given to her +friends enormous sums from the state's treasury; that the Duchess +Julia, as governess of the royal children, and her husband the Duke +de Polignac, as director of the royal mews, received a yearly salary +of two million francs; and that the whole Polignac family together +drew nearly six million francs yearly from the national treasury. + +Marie Antoinette knew that the people hated the Polignacs on this +account, and she wanted at least to put her friends in a place of +safety. + +At the same hour in which the brothers of the king and the princes +of the royal family left Versailles, the Duke and the Duchess de +Polignac were summoned to the queen, and Marie Antoinette had told +them with trembling voice that they too must fly, that they must +make their escape that very night. But the duchess, as well as the +duke, refused almost with indignation to comply with the request of +the queen. The duchess, who before had been characterized by so calm +a manner, now showed for the first time a glow of affection for her +royal friend, and unreckoning tenderness. "Let us remain with you, +Marie," she said, choking, and throwing both her arms around the +neck of the queen. "Do not drive me from you. I will not go, I will +share your perils and will die for you, if it must be." + +But Marie Antoinette found now in her great love the power to resist +these requests--the power to hold back the tears which started from +her heart and to withdraw herself from the arms of her friend. + +"It must be," she said. "In the name of our friendship I conjure +you, Julia, take your departure at once, for, if you are not willing +to, I shall die with anxiety about you. There is still time for you +and yours to escape the rage of my enemies. They hate you not for +your own sake, and how would it be possible to hate my Julia? It is +for my sake, and because they hate me, that they persecute my +dearest friend. Go, Julia, you ought not to be the victim of your +friendship for me." + +"No, I remain," said the duchess, passionately. "Nothing shall +separate me from my queen." + +"Duke," implored the queen, "speak the word, say that it is +necessary for you to fly!" + +"Your majesty," replied the duke, gravely, "I can only repeat what +Julia says: nothing shall separate us from our queen. If we have in +the days of prosperity enjoyed the favor of being permitted to be +near your majesty, we must claim it as the highest favor to be +permitted to be near you in the days of your misfortune!" + +Just then the door opened and the king entered. + +"Sire," said the queen, as she advanced to meet him, "help me to +persuade these noble friends that they ought to leave us!" + +"The queen is right," said Louis, sadly, "they must go at once. Our +misfortune compels us to part with all who love and esteem us. I +have just said farewell to my brother, now I say the same to you; I +command you to go. Pity us, but do not lose a minute's time. Take +your children and your servants with you. Reckon at all times upon +me. We shall meet again in happier days, after our dangers are past, +and then you shall both resume your old places. Farewell! Once more +I command you to go!" [Footnote: The king's own words. This intense +parting scene is strictly historical, according to the concurrent +communications of Montjoie in his "Histoire de Marie Antoinette." +Campan, Mem., ii. Weber, Mem., i.] + +And as the king perceived that the tears were starting into his +eyes, and that his voice was trembling, he silently bowed to his +friends, and hastily withdrew. + +"You have heard what the king commands," said Marie Antoinette, +eagerly, "and you will not venture to disobey him. Hear also this: I +too, the Queen of France, command you to take your departure this +very hour." + +The duke bowed low before the queen, who stood with pale cheeks, but +erect, and with a noble air. + +"Your majesty has commanded, and it becomes us to obey. We shall +go." + +The duchess sank, with a loud cry of grief, on her knee before the +queen, and buried her face in the royal robe. + +Marie Antoinette did not disturb her, did not venture to speak to +her, for she knew that, with the first word which she should utter, +the pain of her heart would find expression on her lips, and she +would be composed; she would not let her friend see how severe the +sacrifice was which her love compelled her to make. + +"Let me remain with you," implored the duchess, "do not drive me +from you, Marie, my Marie!" + +The queen turned her great eyes upward, and her looks were a prayer +to God to give her power and steadfastness. Twice then she attempted +to speak, twice her voice refused to perform its duty, and she +remained silent, wrestling with her grief, and at last overcoming +it. + +"Julia," she said--and with every word her voice became firmer and +stronger--" Julia, we must part. I should be doubly unhappy to draw +you and yours into my misfortunes; it will, in all my troubles, be a +consolation to me, that I have been able to save you. I do not say, +as the king did, that we shall meet again in happier days, and after +our perils are past--for I do not believe in any more happy days--we +shall not be able to survive those perils, but shall perish in them. +I say, farewell, to meet not in this, but in a better world! Not a +word more. I cannot bear it! Your queen commands you to go at once! +Farewell!" + +She extended her hand firmly to her, but she could not look at her +friend, who lay at her feet weeping and choking; she saluted the +duke with a mere wave of the hand, turned quickly away, and hastened +into the adjoining room, and then on till she reached her own +toilet-room, where Madame de Campan was awaiting her. + +"Campan," she cried, in tones of anguish, "Campan, it is done! I +have lost my friend! I shall never see her again. Close the door, +draw the bolt, that she cannot come in, I--I shall die!" And the +queen uttered a loud cry, and sank in a swoon. + +At midnight two well-packed carriages drove out of the inner courts +of the palace. They were the Polignacs; they were leaving France, to +take refuge in Switzerland. + +In the first carriage was the Duchess de Polignac, with her husband +and her daughter. She held two letters in her hand. Campan had given +her both, in the name of the queen, as she was stepping into the +carriage. + +One was directed to Minister Necker, who, after his dismissal, had +withdrawn to Basle. Since the National Assembly, the clubs, the +whole population of Paris, desired Necker's return, and declared him +to be the only man who could restore the shattered finances of the +country; the queen had persuaded her husband to recall the minister, +although an opponent of hers, and appoint him again minister of +finance. The letter of the queen, which the Duchess Julia was +commissioned to give to Necker, contained his recall, announced to +him in flattering words. + +The second letter was a parting word from the queen to her friend, a +last cry from her heart. "Farewell," it ran--" farewell, tenderly- +loved friend! How dreadful this parting word is! But it is needful. +Farewell! I embrace thee in spirit! Farewell!" + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE FIFTH OF OCTOBER, 1789. + + +The morning dawned--a windy October morning, surrounding the sun +with thick clouds; so the daylight came late to Paris, as if fearing +to see what had taken place on the streets and squares. The national +guard, summoned together by the alarm-signal of drum-beats and the +clangor of trumpets and horns, collected in the gray morning light, +for a fearful rumor had been spread through Paris the evening +before, and one has whispered to another that tomorrow had been +appointed by the clubs and by the agitators for a second act in the +revolution, and the people are too quiet, they must be roused to new +deeds. + +"The people are too quiet," that was the watchword of the 4th of +October, in all the clubs, and it was Marat who had carried it. + +On the platform of the Club de Cordeliers, the cry was raised loudly +and hoarsely: "Paris is in danger of folding its hands in its lap, +praying and going to sleep. They must wake out of this state of +lethargy, else the hateful, tyrannical monarchy will revive, and +draw the nightcap so far over the ears of the sleeping capital, that +it will stick as if covered with pitch, and suffer itself to relapse +into bondage. We must awaken Paris, my friends; Paris must not +sleep." + +And on the night of the 4th of October, Paris had not slept, for the +agitators had kept it awake. The watch-cry had been: "The bakers +must not bake to-night! Paris must to-morrow morning be without +bread, that the people may open their eyes again and awake. The +bakers must not bake to-night!" + +All the clubs had caught up their watch-cry, and their emissaries +had spread it through the whole city, that all the bakers should be +informed that whoever should "open his store in the morning, or give +any other answer than this: 'There is no more meal in Paris; we have +not been able to bake!' will be regarded as a traitor to the +national cause, and as such, will be punished. Be on your guard!" + +The bakers had been intimidated by this threat, and had not baked. +When Paris awoke on the morning of the 5th of October, it was +without bread. People lacked their most indispensable article of +food. + +At the outset, the women, who received these dreadful tidings at the +bake-shops, returned dumb with horror to their families, to announce +to their households and their hungry children: "There is no bread +to-day! The supply of flour is exhausted! We must starve! There is +no more bread to be had!" + +And from the dark abode of the poor, the sad cry sounded out into +the narrow and dirty streets and all the squares, "Paris contains no +bread! Paris must starve!" + +The women, the children uttered these cries in wild tones of +despair. The men repeated the words with clinched fists and with +threatening looks: "Paris contains no more bread! Paris must +starve!" + +"And do you know why Paris must starve?" croaked out a voice into +the ears of the people who were crowding each other in wild +confusion on the Place de Carrousel. + +"Do you know who is the cause of all this misery and want?" + +"Tell us, if you know!" cried a rough man's voice. + +"Yes, yes, tell us!" shouted other voices. "We want to know!" + +"I will tell you," answered the first, in rasping tones; and now +upon the stones, which indicated where the carriage-road crossed the +square, a little, shrunken, broad-shouldered figure, with an +unnaturally large head, and ugly, crafty face, could be seen. + +"Marat!" cried some man in the crowd. "Marat!" yelled the cobbler +Simon, who had been since August the friend and admirer of Marat, +and was to be seen everywhere at his side. "Listen, friends, listen! +Marat is going to speak to us; he will tell us how it happens that +Paris has bread no more, and that we shall all have to starve +together! Marat is going to speak!" + +"Silence, silence!" scattered men commanded here and there. +"Silence!" ejaculated a gigantic woman, with broad, defiant face, +around which her black hair hung in dishevelled masses, and which +was gathered up in partly-secured knots under her white cap. With +her broad shoulders and her robust arms she forced her way through +the crowd, directing her course toward the place where Marat +was standing, and near him Simon the cobbler, on whose broad +shoulders, as upon a desk, Marat was resting one hand. + +"Silence!" cried the giantess. "Marat, the people's friend, is going +to speak! Let us listen, for it will certainly do us good. Marat is +clever and wise, and loves the people!" + +Marat's green, blazing eyes fixed themselves upon the gigantic form +of the woman; he shrank back as if an electrical spark had touched +him, and with a wonderful expression of mingled triumph and joy. +"Come nearer, goodwife!" he exclaimed; "let me press your hand, and +bring all the excellent, industrious, well-minded women of Paris to +take Marat, the patriot, by the hand!" + +The woman strode to the place where Marat was standing and reached +him her hand. No one in the crowd noticed that this hand of unwonted +delicacy and whiteness did not seem to comport well with the dress +of a vender of vegetables from the market; no one noticed that on +one of the tapering fingers a jewel of no ordinary size glistened. + +Marat was the only one to notice it, and while pressing the offered +hand of the woman in his bony fist, he stooped down and whispered in +her ear: + +"Monseigneur, take this jewelled ring off, and do not press forward +too much, you might be identified!" + +"I be identified!" answered the woman, turning pale. "I do not +understand you, Doctor Marat!" + +"But I do," whispered Marat, still more softly, for he saw that +Simon's little sparkling eyes were turned toward the woman with a +look of curiosity. "I understand the Duke Philip d'Orleans very +well. He wants to rouse up the people, but he is unwilling to +compromise his name or his title. And that may be a very good thing. +But you are not to disown yourself before Marat, for Marat is your +very good friend, and will keep your secret honorably." + +"What are you whispering about?" shouted Simon. "Why do you not +speak to the people? You were going to tell us why Paris has no +bread, and who is to blame that we must all starve." + +"Yes, yes, that is what you were going to tell us!" was shouted on +all sides. "We want to know it." + +"Tell us, tell us!" cried the giantess. "Give me your hand once +more, that I may press it in the name of all the women of Paris!" + +Marat with an assuring smile reached his great, bony hand to the +woman, who held it in both of her own for a moment, and then +retreated and was lost in the crowd. + +But in Marat's hand now blazed the jewelled ring which had a moment +before adorned the large, soft hand of the woman. He, perhaps, did +not know it himself; he paid no attention to it, but turned all his +thoughts to the people who now filled the immense square, and hemmed +him in with thousands upon thousands of blazing eyes. + +"You want to know why you have no bread?" snarled he. "You ask why +you starve? Well, my friends and brothers, the answer is an easy one +to give. The baker of France has shut up his storehouse because the +baker's wife has told him to do so, because she hates the people and +wants them to starve! But she does not intend to starve, and so she +has called the baker and the little apprentices to Versailles, where +are her storehouses, guarded by her paid soldiers. What does it +concern her if the people of Paris are miserably perishing? She has +an abundance of bread, for the baker must always keep his store open +for her, and her son eats cake, while your children are starving! +You must always keep demanding that the baker, the baker's wife, and +the whole brood come to Paris and live in your midst, and then you +will see how they keep their flour, and you will then compel them to +give you of their superfluous supplies." + +"Yes, we will make her come!" cried Simon the cobbler, with a coarse +laugh. "Up, brothers, up! We must compel the baker and his wife to +open the flour-store to us!" + +"Let us go to Versailles!" roared the great woman, who had posted +herself among a group of fishwives. "Come, my friends, let us go to +Versailles, and we will tell the baker's wife that our children have +no bread, while she is giving her apprentices cakes. We will demand +of her that she give our children bread, and if she refuses it, we +will compel her to come with her baker and her whole brood to Paris +and starve with us! Come, let us go to Versailles!" + +"Yes, yes, let us go to Versailles!" was the hideous cry which +echoed across the square; "the baker's wife shall give us bread!" + +"She keeps the keys to the stores!" howled Marat, "she prevents the +baker opening them." + +"She shall give us the keys!" yelled the great woman. + +"All the mothers and all the women of Paris must go to Versailles to +the baker's wife!" + +"All mothers, all women to Versailles!" resounded in a thousand- +voiced chorus over the square, and then through the streets, and +then into the houses. + +And all the mothers and wives caught up these thundering cries, +which came to them like unseen voices from the air, commissioning +them to engage in a noble, an exalted mission, calling to them to +save Paris and procure bread for their children. + +"To Versailles, to Versailles! All mothers and women to Versailles!" + +Who was able to resist obeying this command, which no one had given, +which was heard by no single ear, yet was intelligible to every +heart--who could resist it? + +The men had stormed the Bastile, the women must storm the heart of +the baker's wife in Versailles, till it yield and give to the +children of the poor the bread for which they hunger. + +"Up, to Versailles! All wives and mothers!" + +The cry sweeps like a hurricane through the streets, and everywhere +finds an echo in the maddened, panic-stricken, despairing, raging +hearts of the women who see their children hunger, and suffer hunger +themselves. + +"The baker's wife feeds her apprentices with cakes, and we have not +a crumb of bread to give to our poor little ones!" + +In whole crowds the women dashed into the largest squares, where +were the men who fomented the revolution, Marat, Danton, Santerre, +Chaumette, and all the rest, the speakers at the clubs; there they +are, giving their counsels to the maddened women, and spurring them +on! + +"Do not be afraid, do not be turned aside! Go to Versailles, brave +women! Save your children, your husbands, from death by starvation! +Compel the baker's wife to give bread to you and for us all! And if +she conceals it from you, storm her palace with violence; there will +be men there to help you. Only be brave and undismayed, God will go +with mothers who are bringing bread to their children, and your +husbands will protect you!" + +They were brave and undismayed, the wives and mothers of Paris. In +broad streams they rushed on; they broke over every thing which was +in their way; they drew all the women into their seething ranks. "To +Versailles! To Versailles!" + +It was to no avail that De Bailly, the mayor of Paris, encountered +the women on the street, and urged them with pressing words to +return to their families and their work, and assured them that the +bakers had already opened their shops, and had been ordered to bake +bread. It was in vain that the general of the National Guard, +Lafayette, had a discussion with the women, and tried to show them +how vain and useless was their action. + +Louder and louder grew the commanding cry, "To Versailles! We will +bring the baker and his wife to Paris! To Versailles!" + +The crowds of women grew more and more dense, and still mightier was +the shout, "To Versailles!" + +Bailly went with pain to General Lafayette. "We must pacify them, or +you, general, must prevent them by force!" "It is impossible," +replied Lafayette. "How could we use force against defenceless +women? Not one of my soldiers would obey my commands, for these +women are the wives, the mothers, the sisters of my soldiers! They +have no other weapons than their tongues with which to storm the +heart of the queen! How could we conquer them with weapons of steel? +We must let them go! But we must take precautions that the king and +the queen do not fall into danger." + +"That will be all the more necessary, general, as the women will +certainly be accompanied by armed crowds of men, and excitement and +confusion will accompany them all the way to Versailles. Make haste, +general, to defend Versailles. The columns of women are already in +motion, and, as I have said to you, they will be accompanied by +armed men!" + +"It would not be well for me to take my soldiers to Versailles," +said Lafayette, shaking his head. "You know, M. De Bailly, to what +follies the reactionaries of Versailles have already led the royal +family. All Paris speaks of nothing else than of the holiday which +the king and queen have given to the royal troops, the regiment of +Flanders, which they have summoned to Versailles. The king and the +queen, with the dauphin, were present. The tri-colored cockade was +trodden under foot, and the people were arrayed in white ribbons. +Royalist songs were sang, the National Guard was bitterly talked of, +and an oath was given to the king and queen that commands would only +be received of them. My soldiers are exasperated, and many of my +officers have desired of me to-day that we should repair to +Versailles and attack the regiment of Flanders and decimate them. It +is, therefore, perilous to take these exasperated National Guards to +Versailles." + +"And yet something must be done for the protection of the king," +said Bailly; "believe me, these raging troops of women are more +dangerous than the exasperated National Guards. Come, General +Lafayette, we will go to the city hall, and summon the magistracy +and the leaders of the National Guard, to take counsel of them." + +An hour later the drums beat through all the streets of Paris, for +in the city hall the resolve had been taken that the National Guard +of Paris, under the lead of General Lafayette, should repair to +Versailles to protect the royal family against the attacks of the +people, but at the same time to protect the National Assembly +against the attacks of the royalist troops. + +But long before the troops were in motion, and had really begun +their march to Versailles, the troops of women were already on their +way. Soldiers of the National Guard and armed men from the people +accompanied the women, and secured among them a certain military +discipline. They marched in ten separate columns, every one of which +consisted of more than a thousand women. + +Each column was preceded by some soldiers of the National Guard, +with weapons on their shoulders, who, of their own free will, had +undertaken to be the leaders. On both sides of each column marched +the armed men from the people, in order to inspire the women with +courage when they grew tired, but at the same time to compel those +who were weary of the long journey, or sick of the whole +undertaking, and who wanted to return to Paris, to come back into +the ranks and complete what they had begun, and carry the work of +revolution still further. "On to Versailles!" + +All was quiet in Versailles that day. No one suspected the horrors +which it was to bring forth. The king had gone with some of his +gentlemen to Meudon to hunt: the queen had gone to Trianon alone-- +all alone! + +No one of her friends was now at her side, she had lost them all. No +one was there to share the misery of the queen of all who had shared +her happiness. The Duchess de Polignac, the princesses of the royal +house, the cheery brother of the king, Count d'Artois, the Count de +Coigny, Lords Besenval and Lauzun, where are they all now, the +friends, the suppliants of former days? Far, far away in distant +lands, flown from the misfortune that, with its dark wings sinking, +was hovering lower and lower over Versailles, and darkening with its +uncanny shadows this Trianon which had once been so cheerful and +bright. All now is desolate and still! The mill rattles no more, the +open window is swung to and fro by the wind, and the miller no more +looks out with his good-natured, laughing face; the miller of +Trianon is no longer the king, and the burdens and cares of his +realm have bowed his head. The school-house, too, is desolate, and +the learned master no longer writes his satires and jokes upon the +great black-board in the school-room. He now writes libels and +pamphlets, but they are now directed against the queen, against the +former mistress of Trianon. And there is the fish-pond, along whose +shores the sheep used to pasture, where the courtly company, +transformed into shepherds and shepherdesses, used to lie on the +grass, singing songs, arranging tableaux, and listening to the songs +which the band played behind the thicket. All now is silent. No +joyous tone now breaks the melancholy stillness which fills the +shady pathways of the grove where Marie Antoinette, the mistress of +Trianon, now walks with bended head and heart-broken spirit; only +the recollection of the past resounds as an echo in her inner ear, +and revives the cheerful strains which long have been silent. + +At the fish-pond all is still, no flocks grazing on the shore, no +picturesque groups, no songs. The spinning-wheel no longer whirls, +the hand of the queen no longer turns the spindle; she has learned +to hold the sceptre and the pen, and to weave public policy, and not +a net of linen. The trees with their variegated autumn foliage are +reflected in the dark water of the pond; some weeping-willows droop +with their tapering branches down to the water, and a few swans come +slowly sailing across with their necks raised in their majestic +fashion. As they saw the figure on the shore, they expanded their +wings and sailed quicker on, to pick up the crumbs which the white +hands of the queen used to throw to them. + +But these hands have to-day no gifts for the solitary, forgotten +swans. All the dear, pleasant customs of the past are forgotten, +they have all ceased. + +Yet the swans have not forgotten her; they sail unquietly hither and +thither along the shore of the pond, they toss up their slender +necks, and then plunge their red beaks down into the dark water +seeking for the grateful bits which were not there. But when they +saw that they were disappointed, they poured forth their peculiarly +mournful song and slowly sailed away down the lakelet into the +obscurity of the distance, letting their complaining notes be heard +from time to time. + +"They are singing the swan's song of my happiness," whispered the +queen, looking with tearful eyes at the beautiful creatures. "They +too turn away from me, and now I am alone, all alone." + +She had spoken this loudly, and her quivering voice wakened the echo +which had been artistically contrived there, to repeat cheery words +and merry laughter. + +"Alone!" sounded back from the walls of the Marlborough Tower at the +end of the fish-pond. "Alone!" whispered the water stirred with the +swans. "Alone!" was the rustling cry of the bushes. "Alone!" was +heard in the heart of the queen, and she sank down upon the grass, +covered her face with her hands, and wept aloud. All at once there +was a cry in the distance, "The queen, where is the queen? " + +Marie Antoinette sprang up and dried her eyes. No one should see +that she had wept. Tears belong only to solitude, but she has no +longer even solitude. The voice comes nearer and nearer, and Marie +Antoinette follows the sound. She knows that she is going to meet a +new misfortune. People have not come to Trianon to bring her tidings +of joy; they have come to tell her that destruction awaits her in +Versailles, and the queen is to give audience to it. + +A man came with hurried step from the thicket down the winding +footpath. Marie Antoinette looked at him with eager, sharp eye. Who +is he, this herald of misfortune? No one of the court servants, no +one of the gentry. + +He wears the simple garments of a citizen, a man of the people, of +that Third Estate which has prepared for the poor queen so much +trouble and sorrow. + +He had perhaps read her question in her face, for, as he now sank +breathless at her feet, his lips murmured: "Forgive me, your +majesty, forgive me that I disturb you. I am Toulan, your most +devoted servant, and it is Madame de Campan who sends me." + +"Toulan, yes, I recognize you now," said the queen, hastily. "It was +you, was it not, who brought me the sad news of the acquittal of +Rohan?" + +"It appears, your majesty, that a cruel misfortune has always chosen +me to be the bearer of evil tidings to my exalted queen. And to-day +I come only with such." + +"What is it?" cried the queen, eagerly. "Has any thing happened to +my husband? Are my children threatened? Speak quickly, say no or +yes. Let me know the whole truth at once. Is the king dead? Are my +children in danger?" + +"No, your majesty." + +"No," cried the queen, breathing a breath of relief. "I thank you, +air. You see that you accused Fate falsely, for you have brought me +good tidings. And yet again I thank you, for, I remember, I have +much to thank you for. It was you who raised your voice in the +National Assembly, and voted for the inviolability of the queen. It +was not your fault, and believe me not mine either, that your voice +was alone, that no one joined you. The king has been declared +inviolable, but not the queen, and now I am to be attacked, am I +not? Tell me what is it? Why does my faithful Campan send you to +me?" + +"Your majesty, to conjure you to come to Versailles." + +"What has happened there?" + +"Nothing as yet, your majesty, but--I was early this morning in +Paris, and what I saw there determined me to come hither at once, to +bring the news and warn your majesty." + +"What is it? Why do you hesitate? Speak out freely." + +"Your majesty, all Paris is in motion, all Paris is marching upon +Versailles!" + +"What do you mean by that?" asked Marie Antoinette, passionately. +"What does Paris want? Does it mean to threaten the National +Assembly? Explain yourself, for you see I do not understand you." + +"Your majesty, the people of Paris hunger. The bakers have made no +bread, for they assert that there is no more meal. The enemies of +the realm have taken advantage of the excitement to stir up the +masses and even the women. The people are hungry; the people are +coming to Versailles to ask the king for bread. Ten thousand women +are on the road to Versailles, accompanied by armed bodies of men." + +"Let us hasten, sir, I must go to my children," said the queen, and +with quick steps she went forward. Not a glance back, not a word of +farewell to the loved plantation of Trianon, and yet it is the last +time that Marie Antoinette is to look upon it. She will never return +hither, she turns her back forever upon Trianon. + +With flying steps she hurries on; Toulan does not venture to address +her, and she has perhaps entirely forgotten his presence. She does +not know that a faithful one is near her; she only knows that her +children are in Versailles, and that she must go to them to protect +them, and to the king too, to die with him, if it must be. + +When they were not far from the great mall of the park at +Versailles, the Count de St. Priest came running, and his frightened +looks and pale face confirmed the news that Mr. Toulan had brought. + +"Your majesty," cried the count, breathless, "I took the liberty of +looking for your majesty at Trianon. Bad news has arrived." + +"I know it," answered the queen, calmly. "Ten thousand women are +marching upon Versailles, Mr. Toulan has informed me, and you see I +am coming to receive the women." + +All at once she stood still and turned to Toulan, who was walking +behind her like the faithful servant of his mistress. + +"Sir," said she, "I thank you, and I know that I may reckon upon +you. I am sure that to-day as always you have thought upon our +welfare, and that you will remain mindful of the oath of fidelity +which you once gave me. Farewell! Do you go to the National +Assembly. I will go to the palace, and may we each do our duty." She +saluted Toulan with a gentle inclination of her head and with +beaming looks of gratitude in her beautiful eyes, and then hurried +on up the grand mall to the palace. + +In Versailles all was confusion and consternation. Every one had +lost his senses. Every one asked, and no one answered, for the only +one who could answer, the king, was not there. He had not yet +returned from the hunt in Meudon. + +But the queen was there, and with a grand calmness and matchless +grasp of mind she undertook the duties of the king. First, she sent +the chief equerry, the Marquis de Cubieres, to meet the king and +cause him to hasten home at once. She intrusted Count St. Priest, +minister of the interior, with a division of the guards in the inner +court of the palace. She inspired the timid women with hope. She +smiled at her children, who, timid and anxious at the confusion +which surrounded them, fled to the queen for refuge, and clung to +her. + +Darker and darker grew the reports that came meanwhile to the +palace. They were the storm-birds, so to speak, that precede the +tempest. They announced the near approach of the people of Paris, of +the women, who were no longer unarmed, and who had been joined by +thousands of the National Guard, who, in order to give the train of +women a more imposing appearance, had brought two cannon with them, +and who, armed with knives and guns, pikes and axes, and singing +wild war-songs, were marching on as the escort of the women. + +The queen heard all without alarm, without fear. She commanded the +women, who stood around her weeping and wringing their hands, to +withdraw to their own apartments, and protect the dauphin and the +princess, to lock the doors behind them and to admit no one--no one, +excepting herself. She took leave of the children with a kiss, and +bade them be fearless and untroubled. She did not look at them as +the women took them away. She breathed firmly as the doors closed +behind them. + +"Now I have courage to bear every thing," she said to St. Priest. +"My children are in safety! Would only that the king were here!" + +At the same instant the door opened and the king entered. Marie +Antoinette hastened to meet him, threw herself with a cry of joy +into his arms, and rested her head, which had before been erect with +courage, heavily on his shoulder. + +"Oh, sire, my dear sire! thank God that you are here. Now I fear +nothing more! You will not suffer us to perish in misery! You will +breathe courage into these despairing ones, and tell the +inexperienced what they have to do. Sire, Paris is marching against +us, but with us there are God and France. You will defend the honor +of France and your crown against the rebels?" + +The king answered confusedly, and as if in a yielding frame of mind. +"We must first hear what the people want," he said; "we must not +approach them threateningly, we must first discuss matters with +them." + +"Sire," answered the queen, in amazement, "to discuss with the +rebels now is to imply that they are in the right, and you will not, +you cannot do that!" + +"I will consult with my advisers," said the king, pointing at the +ministers, who, summoned by St. Priest, were then entering the room. + +But what a consultation was that! Every one made propositions, and +yet no one knew what to do. No one would take the responsibility of +the matter upon himself, and yet every one felt that the danger +increased every minute. But what to do? That was the question which +no one was able to answer, and before which the king was mute. Not +so the queen, however. + +"Sire!" cried she, with glowing cheeks, "sire, you have to save the +realm, and to defend it from revolution. The contest is here, and we +cannot withdraw from it. Call your guards, put yourself at their +head, and allow me to remain at your side. We ought not to yield to +revolution, and if we cannot control it, we should suffer it to +enter the palace of the kings of France only over our dead bodies. +Sire, we must either live as kings, or know how to die as kings!" + +But Louis replied to this burst of noble valor in a brave woman's +soul, only with holding back and timidity. Plans were made and cast +aside. They went on deliberating till the wild yells of the people +were heard even within the palace. + +The queen, pale and yet calm, had withdrawn to the adjoining +apartment. There she leaned against the door and listened to the +words of the ministers, and to the new reports which were all the +time coming in from the streets. + +The crowd had reached Versailles, and was streaming through the +streets of the city in the direction of the palace. The National +Guard of Versailles had fraternized with the Parisians. Some +scattered soldiers of the royal guard had been threatened and +insulted, and even dragged from their horses! + +The queen heard all, and heard besides the consultation of the king +and his ministers--still coming to no decisive results, doubting and +hesitating, while the fearful crisis was advancing from the street. + +Already musket-shots were heard on the great square in front of the +palace, wild cries, and loud, harsh voices. Marie Antoinette left +her place at the door and hurried to the window, where a view could +be had of the whole square. She saw the dark dust-cloud which hung +over the road to Paris; she saw the unridden horses, running in +advance of the crowd, their riders, members of the royal guard, +having been killed; she heard the raging discords, which surged up +to the palace like a wave driven by the wind; she saw this black, +dreadful wave sweep along the Paris road, roaring as it went. + +What a fearful mass! Howling, shrieking women, with loosened hair, +and with menacing gestures, extended their naked arms toward the +palace defiantly, their eyes naming, their mouths overflowing with +curses. Wild men's figures, with torn blouses, the sleeves rolled up +over dusty and dirty arms, and bearing pikes, knives, and guns, here +and there members of the National Guard marching with them arm in +arm, pressed on toward the palace. Sometimes shrieks and yells, +sometimes coarse peals of laughter, or threatening cries, issued +from the confused crowd. Nearer and nearer surged the dreadful wave +of destruction to the royal palace. Now it has reached it. Maddened +fists pounded upon the iron gates before the inner court, and +threatening voices demanded entrance: hundreds and hundreds of women +shrieked with wild gestures: + +"We want to come in! We want to speak with the baker! We will eat +the queen's guts if we cannot get any thing else to eat!" + +And thousands upon thousands of women's voices repeated--"Yes, we +will eat the queen's guts, if we get nothing else to eat!" + +Marie Antoinette withdrew from the window; her bearing was grave and +defiant, a laugh of scorn played over her proudly-drawn-up upper- +lip, her head was erect, her step decisive, dignified. + +She went again to the king and his ministers. "Sire," said she, "the +people are here. It is now too late to supplicate them, as you +wanted to do. Nothing remains for you except to defend yourself, and +to save the crown for your son the dauphin, even if it falls from +your own head." + +"It remains for us," answered the king, gravely, "to bring the +people back to a sense of duty. They are deceived about us. They are +excited. We will try to conciliate them, and to show them our +fatherly interest in them." + +The queen stared in amazement at the pleasant, smiling face of the +king; then, with a loud cry of pain, which escaped from her breast +like the last gasp of a dying man, she turned around, and went up to +the Prince de Luxemburg, the captain of the guard, who just then +entered the hall. + +"Do you come to tell us that the people have taken the palace?" +cried the queen, with an angry burst from her very soul. + +"Madame," answered the prince, "had that been the case, I should not +have been here alive. Only over my body will the rabble enter the +palace." + +"Ah," muttered Marie Antoinette to herself, "there are men in +Versailles yet, there are brave men yet to defend us!" + +"What news do you bring, captain?" asked the king, stepping up. + +"Sire, I am come to receive your commands," answered the prince, +bowing respectfully. "This mob of shameless shrews is growing more +maddened, more shameless every moment. Thousands and thousands of +arms are trying the gates, and guns are fired with steady aim at the +guards. I beg your majesty to empower me to repel this attack of mad +women!" + +"What an idea, captain!" cried Louis, shrugging his shoulders. +"Order to attack a company of women! You are joking, prince!" +[Footnote: The king's own words.--See Weber, "Memoires," vol. t, p. +433.] + +And the king turned to Count de la Marck, who was entering the room. +"You come with new news. What is it, count?" + +"Sire, the women are most desirous of speaking with your majesty, +and presenting their grievances." + +"I will hear them," cried the king, eagerly. "Tell the women to +choose six of their number and bring them into my cabinet. I will go +there myself." + +"Sire, you are going to give audience to revolution," cried Marie +Antoinette, seizing the arm of the king, who was on the point of +leaving the room. "I conjure you, my husband, do not be overpowered +by your magnanimous heart! Let not the majesty of the realm be +defiled by the raging hands of these furies! Remain here. Oh, sire, +if my prayers, my wishes have any power with you, remain here! Send +a minister to treat with these women in your name. But do not +confront their impudence with the dignity of the crown. Sire, to +give them audience is to give audience to revolution; and from the +hour when it takes place, revolution has gained the victory over the +kingly authority! Do not go, oh do not go!" + +"I have given my word," answered Louis, gently. "I have sent word to +the women that I would receive them, and they shall not say that the +first time they set foot in the palace of their king, they were +deceived by him. And see, there comes the count to take me!" + +And the king followed with hasty step Count de la Marck, who just +then appeared at the door. + +Six women of wild demeanor, with dusty, dirty clothes, their hair +streaming out from their round white caps, were assembled in the +cabinet of the king, and stared at him with defiant eyes as he +entered. But his gentle demeanor and pleasant voice appeared to +surprise them; and Louise Chably, the speaker, who had selected the +women, found only timid, modest words, with which to paint to the +king the misfortune, the need, and the pitiable condition of the +people, and with which to entreat his pity and assistance. + +"Ah, my children," answered the king with a sigh, "only believe me, +it is not my fault that you are miserable, and I am still more +unhappy than you. I will give directions to Corbeil and D'Estampes, +the controllers of the grain-stores, to give out all that they can +spare. If my commands had always been obeyed, it would be better +with us all! If I could do every thing, could see to it that my +commands were everywhere carried into effect, you would not be +unhappy; and you must confess, at least, that your king loves you as +a father his children, and that nothing lies so closely at his heart +as your welfare. Go, my children, and tell your friends to prove +worthy of the love of their king, and to return peaceably to Paris." +[Footnote: The king's own words.--See. A. de Beauchesne, "Louis +XVI.. sa Vie, son Agonie, "etc., vol. i., p. 43.] + +"Long live the king! Long live our father!" cried the touched and +pacified women, as trembling and with tears in their eyes, they left +the royal cabinet, in order to go to the women below, and announce +to them what the king had said. + +But the royal words found no response among the excited masses. "We +are hungry, we want bread," shouted the women. "We are not going to +live on words any more. The king shall give us bread, and then we +shall see it proved that he loves us like a father; then we will go +back to Paris. If the baker believes that he can satisfy us with +words and fine speeches, he is mistaken." + +"If he has no bread, he shall give us his wife to eat!" roared a man +with a pike in his hand and a red cap on his head. "The baker's wife +has eaten up all our bread, and it is no more than fair that we +should eat her up now." + +"Give us the heart of the queen," was now the cry, "give us the +heart of the queen!" + +Marie Antoinette heard the words, but she appeared not to be +alarmed. With dignity and composure, she cast a look at the +ministers and gentlemen, who, pale and speechless, had gathered +around the royal couple. + +"I know that this crowd has come from Paris to demand my head! I +learned of my mother not to fear death, and I shall meet it with +courage and steadfastness." [Footnote: The words of the queen.--See +"Histoire de Marie Antoinette," p. 194.] + +And firmly and fearlessly Marie Antoinette remained all this +dreadful evening, which was now beginning to overshadow Versailles. +Outside of the palace raged the uproar; revolutionary songs were +sung; veiled forms, the leaders of the revolution, stole around, and +fired the people with new rage against the baker and the baker's +wife. Torches were lighted to see by, and the blood-red glare shone +into the faces there, and tended to exasperate them still more. What +dances were executed by the women, with torches in their hands! and +the men roared in accompaniment, ridiculing the king and threatening +the queen with death. + +At times the torches threw their flickering glare into the windows +of the palace, where were the ministers and servants of the king, in +silent horror. Among all those counsellor of the king, there was at +this time but one Man, Marie Antoinette! She alone preserved her +steadfastness and discretion; she spoke to every one friendly, +inspiriting words. She roused up the timid; at times she even +attempted to bring the king to some decisive action, and yet she did +not complain when she found herself unable to do so. + +Once her face lighted up in hope and joy. That was when a company of +deputies, headed by Toulan, entered the hall, to offer their +services to the royal couple, and to ask permission to be allowed to +remain around the king and queen. + +But scarcely had this request been granted, when both the +secretaries of the president of the National Assembly entered, +warning the members, in the name of the president, to return at once +to the hall and to take part in the night session which was to be +held. + +"They call our last friends away from us," murmured the queen, "for +they want us to be entirely defenceless!" + +All at once the cries on the square below were more violent and +loud; musket-shots were heard; at the intervals between rose the +thousand-voiced clamor, and at one time the thunder of a cannon. +There was a rush of horses, and clash of arms, more musket-shots, +and then the cry of the wounded. + +The king had withdrawn to hold a last consultation with his +ministers and a few faithful friends. At this fearful noise, this +sound of weapons, this shout of victory, his first thought was of +the queen. He rose quickly and entered the hall. + +No one was there; the red glare of the torches was thrown from below +into the deserted room, and showed upon the wall wondrous shadows of +contorted human figures, with clinched fists and with raised and +threatening arms. + +The king walked hastily through the fearfully illuminated hall, +called for the queen with a loud voice, burst into the cabinet, then +into her sleeping-room, but no Marie Antoinette was to be found--no +one gave reply to the anxious call of the king. + +More dreadful grew the wild shrieks and howls, the curses and +maledictions which came in from without. + +The king sprang up the little staircase which led to the rooms of +the children, and dashed through the antechamber, where the door was +open that led to the dauphin's sleeping-room. + +And here Louis stood still, and looked with a breath of relief at +the group which met his tearful eyes. The dauphin was lying in his +bed fast asleep, with a smile on his face. Marie Antoinette stood +erect before the bed in an attitude of proud composure. + +"Marie," said the king, deeply moved--"Marie, I was looking for +you." + +The queen slowly turned her head toward him and pointed at the +sleeping prince. + +"Sire," answered she calmly, "I was at my post." [Footnote: This +conversation, as well as this whole scene, is historical.--See +Beauchesne's "Louis XVII.," vol. i.] + +Louis, overcome by the sublimity of a mother's love, hastened to his +wife and locked her in his arms. + +"Remain with me, Marie," he said. "Do not leave me. Breathe your +courage and your decision into me." + +The queen sighed and sadly shook her head. She had not a word of +reproach; she did not say that she no longer believed in the courage +and decision of the king, but she had no longer any hope. + +But the doors of the room now opened. Through one came the maids of +the queen and the governess of the dauphin; through the other, some +gentlemen of the court, to call the king back into the audience- +hall. + +After the first panic, every one had come back to consciousness +again, and all vied in devoting themselves to the king and the +queen. The gentlemen brought word that something new had occurred, +and that this was the cause of the dreadful tumult below upon the +square. The National Guard of Paris had arrived; they had +fraternized with the National Guard of Versailles, and with the +people; they had been received by the women with shouts of applause, +and by the men with a volley of musket-shots in salutation. General +Lafayette had entered the palace to offer his services to the king, +and he now asked for an audience. + +"Come, madame," said Louis quickly, cheered up, "let us receive the +general. You see that things are not so bad with us as you think. We +have faithful servants yet to hasten to our assistance." + +The queen made no reply. Quietly she followed the king into the +hall, in which Lafayette, surrounded by the ministers and gentlemen, +was standing. On the entrance of the royal couple, the general +advanced to meet them with a reverential salutation. + +"Sire," said Lafayette, with cheerful confidence--" sire, I have +come to protect your majesties and the National Assembly against all +those who shall venture to threaten you." + +"Are you assured of the fidelity and trustworthiness of your +troops?" asked the queen, whose flaming eyes rested upon Lafayette's +countenance as if she wanted to read his utmost thoughts. + +But these eyes did not confuse the cheerful calmness of the general. + +"I know, madame, that I can rely upon the fidelity of my soldiers," +answered he, confidently. "They are devoted to me to the death, and +as I shall command them, they will watch over the security of the +king and queen, and keep all injury from them." + +The queen detected the touch of scorn in these loud-sounding words, +but she pretended to believe them. At last she really did believe +them, for Lafayette repeated emphatically that from this time +nothing more was to be feared for the royal family, and that all +danger was past. The guard should be chosen this night from his own +troops; the Paris National Guard should restore peace again in +Versailles, and keep an eye upon the crowds which had encamped upon +the great square before the palace. + +Lafayette promised well for his army, for the howling, shrieking +women, for the cursing, raging men. + +And the king was satisfied with these assurances of General +Lafayette, and so, too, was Marie Antoinette at last. + +Louis ordered the garde du corps to march to Rambouillet, and +reserved only the necessary sentinels in the palace. In the +immediate neighborhood the soldiers of Lafayette were stationed. The +general once more made the rounds, and then, as if every thing was +in a position of the greatest security, he went into the palace to +spend the night there, and in peaceful slumbers to refresh himself +for the labors of the day. + +The king, too, had retired to his apartments, and the valets who had +assisted his majesty to undress had not left the sleeping-room, when +the loud, uniform breathing which issued from the silken curtains of +the bed told them that the king had already fallen asleep. The +queen, too, had gone to rest, and while laying her wearied and heavy +head upon the cushions, she tenderly besought both her maids to lie +down too. All was quiet now in the dark palace of Versailles. The +king and the queen slept. + +But through the dark, deserted halls which that day had witnessed so +much pain and anxiety, resounded now the clang of the raging, +howling voices which came up from the square, and hurled their +curses against the queen. + +In the palace of Versailles they were asleep, but without, before +the palace, Uproar and Hate kept guard, and with wild thoughts of +murder stalked around the palace of the Kings of France. + +How soon were these thoughts to become fact! Sleep, Marie +Antoinette, sleep! One last hour of peace and security! + +One last hour! Before the morning dawns Hate will awaken thee, and +Murder's terrible voice will resound through the halls of the Kings +of France! + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +THE NIGHT OF HORROR. + + +Marie Antoinette slept! The fearful excitement of the past day and +of the stormy evening, crowded with its events, had exhausted the +powers of the queen, and she had fallen into that deep, dreamless +sleep which sympathetic and gracious Nature sometimes sends to those +whom Fate pursues with suffering and peril. + +Marie Antoinette slept! In the interior of the palace a deep calm +reigned, and Lafayette had withdrawn from the court in order to +sleep too. But below, upon this court, Revolution kept her vigils, +and glared with looks of hatred and vengeance to the dark walls +behind which the queen was sleeping. + +The crown of France had for centuries sinned so much, and proved +false so much, that the love of the people had at last been +transformed into hate. The crown had so long sown the wind, that it +could not wonder if it had to reap the whirlwind. The crimes and +innovations which Louis XIV. and Louis XV. had sown upon the soil of +France, had created an abyss between the crown and the people, out +of which revolution must arise to avenge those crimes and sins of +the past upon the present. The sins of the fathers had to be visited +upon the children to the third and fourth generation. + +Marie Antoinette did not know it; she did not see the abyss which +had opened between the crown and the people; the courtiers and +flatterers had covered it with flowers, and with the sounds of +festivity the cries of a distressed people had been drowned. + +Now the flowers were torn away, the festive sounds had ceased, and +Marie Antoinette saw the abyss between the crown and the people; she +heard the curses, the raging cries of these exasperated men, who had +been changed from weak, obedient subjects into threatening, +domineering rebels. She looked with steady eye down into the abyss, +and saw the monster rise from the depths to destroy herself and her +whole house; but she would not draw back, she would not yield. She +would rather be dragged down and destroyed than meekly and miserably +to make her way to the camp of her enemies, to take refuge with +them. + +Better to die with the crown on her head than to live robbed of her +crown in lowliness and in a, subject condition. Thus thought Marie +Antoinette, as at the close of that dreadful day she went to rest; +this was her prayer as she sank upon her couch: + +"Give me power, O God, to die as a queen, if I can no longer live as +a queen! And strengthen my husband, that he may not only be a good +man, but a king too!" + +With this prayer on her trembling lips, she had fallen asleep. But +when Campan stole on tiptoe to the queen's bed to watch her mistress +while she slept, Marie Antoinette opened her eyes again, and spoke +in her friendly way to her devoted servant. + +"Go to bed, Campan," said she, "and the second maid must lie down +too. You all need rest after this evil day, and sleep is so +refreshing. Go, Campan, good-night!" + +Madame de Campan had to obey, and stepped out into the antechamber, +where were the two other maids. + +"The queen is asleep," she said, "and she has commanded us to go to +rest too. Shall we do so?" + +The two women answered only with a shake of the head and a shrug of +the shoulders. + +"I know very well that we are agreed," said Madame de Campan, +reaching her hand to them. "For us there must be no sleep to-night, +for we must watch the queen. Come, my friends, let us go into the +antechamber. We shall find Mr. Varicourt, who will tell us what is +going on outside." + +On tiptoe the three women stole out into the second ante-chamber, +which was lighted only with a couple of glimmering wax tapers, and +in its desolate disorder, with the confusion of chairs, divans, and +tables, brought back sad recollections of the wild women who had on +the day before pressed into this apartment in their desire to speak +with the queen. Somebody had told them that this was the antechamber +of the queen, and they had withdrawn in order to go to the +antechamber of the king. But they now knew the way that led to the +apartments of the queen; they knew now that if one turned to the +left side of the palace, he would come at once into the apartments +occupied by the royal family, and that the queen occupied the +adjacent rooms, directly behind the hall of the Swiss Guard. + +Madame de Campan thought of this, as she cast her glance over this +antechamber which adjoined the Swiss hall, and this thought filled +her with horror. + +Varicourt had not yet come in; nothing disturbed the silence around +her, except the dreadful shouting and singing outside of the palace. + +"Let us go back into the waiting-room," whispered her companions, +"it is too gloomy here. Only hear how they shout and laugh! O God, +it is a fearful night!" + +"Yes, a fearful night," sighed Madame de Campan, "and the day that +follows it may be yet more fearful. But we must not lose our +courage. All depends upon our having decision, upon our defying +danger, and defending our mistress. And see, there comes Mr. +Varicourt," she continued, earnestly, as the door quickly opened, +and an officer of the Swiss guard came in with great haste. + +"Tell us, my friend, what news do you bring us?" + +"Bad news," sighed Varicourt. "The crowd is increasing every moment. +New columns have arrived from Paris, and not only the common people, +but the speakers and agitators are here. Everywhere are groups +listening to the dreadful speeches which urge on to regicide and +revolution. It is a dreadful, horrible night. Treachery, hatred, +wickedness around the palace, and cowardice and desertion pass out +from the palace to them, and open the doors. Many of the royal +soldiers have made common cause with the people, and walk arm in arm +with them around the square." + +"And what do these dreadful men want?" asked Campan. "Why do they +encamp around the palace? What is their object?" + +Mr. Varicourt sadly bowed his head, and a loud sigh came from his +courageous breast. "They want what they shall never have while I am +alive," he then said, with a decided look. "I have sworn fidelity to +the king and queen, and I shall keep it to death. My duty calls me, +for the hour of changing guards is near, and my post is below at the +great staircase which leads up here. We shall meet at daylight, if I +am then alive. But till then we shall do our duty. I shall guard the +grand staircase, do you guard the sleeping-room of the queen." + +"Yes, we will do our duty," answered Madame de Campan, extending her +hand to him. "We will watch over those to whom we have devoted +ourselves, and to whom we have vowed fidelity. No one shall pass +into the chamber of the queen while we are alive, shall there?" + +"Never," replied both of the women, with courageous decision. + +"And no one shall ascend the great staircase so long as I live," +said Varicourt. "Adieu now, ladies, and listen carefully to every +sound. If a voice calls to you, 'It is time,' wake the queen and +save her, for danger will then be right upon her. Hark, it is +striking three, that is the hour of changing guard. Farewell!" + +He went quickly to the door, but there he stood still, and turned +once more around. His glance encountered that of his friend, and +Madame de Campan understood its silent language well, for she +hastened to him. + +"You have something to say to me?" + +"Yes," he whispered softly, "I have a presentiment that I shall not +survive the horrors of this night. I have one whom I love, who, as +you know, is betrothed to me. If I fall in the service of the king, +I ask you to see my Cecilia, and tell her that I died with her name +upon my lips! Tell her not to weep for me, but at the same time not +to forget me. Farewell." + +He hurriedly opened the door and hastened away. Madame de Campan +repressed the tears which would fill her eyes, and turned to the two +maids. + +"Now," said she, with decisive tones, "let us return to the waiting- +room and watch the door of the queen's chamber." + +With a firm step she walked on, and the ladies followed. Without any +noise they entered the little hall, where in the mornings those +ladies of the court used to gather who had the right to be present +while the queen dressed herself. Madame de Campan locked the door +through which they had entered, behind her, drew out the key and hid +it in her pocket. + +"No one will enter here with my will," said she. "Now we will place +chairs before the door of the sleeping-room, and sit there. We shall +then have erected a barricade before our queen, a wall which will be +as strong as any other, for there beat three courageous hearts +within it." + +They sat down upon the chairs, whose high backs leaned against the +door of the queen's room, and, taking one another's hands, began +their hallowed watch. + +All was still and desolate around them. No one of the women could +break the silence with a word or a remark. With dumb lips, with open +eyes, the three watchers sat and hearkened to the sounds of the +night. At times, when the roaring without was uncommonly loud and +wild, they pressed one another's hands, and spoke to one another in +looks; but when the sounds died away, they turned their eyes once +more to the windows and listened. + +Slowly, dreadfully slowly moved the fingers of the great clock above +on the chimney. Madame de Campan often fixed her gaze upon it, and +it seemed to her as if time must have ceased to go on, for it +appeared to be an eternity since Varicourt had taken leave of her, +and yet the two longer fingers on the dial had not indicated the +fourth hour after midnight. But the pendulum still continued its +regular, even swinging; the time went forward; only every moment +made the horror, the fear of unknown danger seem like an eternity! + +At last, slowly, with calm stroke, the hour began to strike four +o'clock. And amid the dreadful sounds outside the palace, the women +could recognize the deep tones of the great clock on the Swiss hall. +Four o'clock! One solitary, dreadful hour is passed! Three hours +more, three eternities before daylight comes! + +But hark! what new, fearful noise without? That is no more the sound +of singing and shouting, and crying--that is the battle-cry-that is +the rattle and clatter of muskets. The three women sprang up, moved +as if by one thought, animated by one purpose. They moved the chairs +back from the door, ready, as soon as danger should approach, to go +into the chamber of the queen and awaken her. Campan then slipped +across the room to the door of the antechamber, which she had looked +before. She laid her ear to the key-hole, and listened. All was +still and quiet in the next room; no one was in the antechamber. +There was no immediate danger near, for Varicourt's voice had not +yet uttered the cry of warning. + +But more fearful grew the noise outside. The crackle of musketry was +more noticeable, and every now and then there seemed to be heavy +strokes as if directed against the palace, sounding as if the people +were attempting to force the iron gate of the front court. + +"I must know what is going on," whispered Campan, and with cool +decision she put the key into the door, turned it, entered the +antechamber, and flew to the window, where there was a view of the +whole court; and a fearful sight met her there. The crowd had broken +the gate, pressed into the court, and was surging in great masses +toward the palace doors. Here and there torches threw their glare +over these masses, disclosing men with angry gestures, and women +with streaming hair, swinging their arms savagely, and seeming like +a picture of hell, not to be surpassed in horror even by the +phantasms of Dante. Women changed to furies and bacchanalians, +roaring and shouting in their murderous desires; men, like blood- +thirsty tigers, preparing to spring upon their prey, and give it the +death-stroke; swinging pikes and guns, which gleamed horribly in the +glare of the torches; arms and fists bearing threatening daggers and +knives! All this was pressing on upon the palace--all these clinched +fists would soon be engaged in hammering upon the walls which +separated the king and queen from the people--the executioner from +his victim! + +All at once there rang out a fearful, thundering cry, which made the +windows rattle, and called forth a terrible echo above in the +deserted hall; for through all these shrieks and howls, there +resounded now a piercing cry, such as only the greatest pain or the +most instant need can extort from human lips. + +"That was a death-cry," whispered Madame de Campan, trembling, and +drawing back from the window. "They have certainly killed the Swiss +guards, who are keeping the door; they will now pour into the +palace. O God! what will become of Varicourt? I must know what is +going on!" + +She flew through the antechamber and opened the door of the Swiss +hall. It was empty, but outside of it could be heard a confused, +mixed mass of sounds, cries, and the tramping as of hundreds and +hundreds of men coming on. Nearer and nearer came the sound, more +distinct every moment. All at once the door was flung open on the +other side of the Swiss hall, the door which led out, and Varicourt +appeared in it, pushed backward by the raging, howling mass. He +still sought to resist the oncoming tramp of these savage men, and, +with a movement like lightning, putting his weapon across the door, +he was able for one minute to hold the place against the tide--just +so long as the arms which held the weapon had in them the pulse of +life! Varicourt looked like a dying man; his uniform was torn and +cut, his face deathly pale, and on one side disfigured by the blood +which was streaming down from a broad wound in his forehead. + +"It is time, it is time!" he cried, with a loud tremulous voice, +and, as he saw for an instant the face of Campan at the opposite +door, a flash of joy passed over his face. + +"Save the queen! They will murder her!" [Varicourt's last words.-- +See "Memoires de Madame de Campan," vol. ii., p. 77. ] + +Madame de Campan hastily closed the door, drew the great bolt, and +then sprang through the antechamber into the waiting-room, and +bolted its door too. Then, after she had done that--after she had +raised this double wall between the sleeping queen and the raging +mob--she sank upon her knees like one who was utterly crushed, and +raised her folded hands to heaven. + +"Have mercy on his soul, O God! take him graciously to heaven!" +whispered she, with trembling lips. + +"For whom are you praying?" asked the two women, in low voices, +hurrying up to her. "Who is dead?" + +"Mr. Varicourt," answered Campan, with a sigh. "I heard his death- +cry, as I was bolting the door of the antechamber. But we cannot +stop to weep and lament. We must save the queen!" + +And she sprang up from her knees, flew through the room, and opened +the door leading to the queen's chamber. + +At that moment a fearful crash was heard, then a loud shout of +triumph in the outer antechamber. + +"The queen! We want the heart of the queen!" + +"They have broken down the door of the antechamber--they are in the +waiting-room!" whispered Campan. "There is no time to be lost. Come, +friends, come!" + +And she hastened to the bed of the queen, who was still lying in +that heavy, unrefreshing sleep which usually follows exhaustion and +intense excitement. + +"Your majesty, your majesty, wake!" + +"What is it, Campan?" asked Marie Antoinette, opening her eyes, and +hastily sitting up in bed. "Why do you waken me? What has happened?" + +The fearful sounds without, the crashing of the door of the little +waiting-room, gave answer. The rough, hard voices of the exasperated +women, separated now from the queen by only one thin door, quickly +told all that had happened. + +Marie Antoinette sprang from her bed. "Dress me quick, quick!" + +"Impossible! There is no time. Only hear how the gunstocks beat +against the door! They will break it down, and then your majesty is +lost! The clothes on without stopping to fasten them! Now fly, your +majesty, fly! Through the side-door-through the OEil de Boeuf!" + +Madame de Campan went in advance; the two women supported the queen +and carried her loose clothes, and then they flew on through the +still and deserted corridors to the sleeping-room of the king. + +It was empty--no one there! + +"O God! Campan, where is the king? I must go to him. My place is by +his side! Where is the king?" + +"Here I am, Marie, here!" cried the king, who just then entered and +saw the eager, anxious face of his wife. "I hurried to save our most +costly possessions!" + +He laid the dauphin, only half awake, and lying on his breast, in +the arms which Marie Antoinette extended to him, and then led her +little daughter to her, who had been brought in by Madame Tourzel. + +"Now," said the king, calmly, "now that I have collected my dearest +treasures, I will go and see what is going on." + +But Marie Antoinette held him back. "There is destruction, +treachery, and murder outside. Crime may break in here and overwhelm +us, but we ought not to go out and seek it." + +"Well," said the king, "we will remain here and await what comes." +And turning to his valet, who was then entering, Louis continued: +"Bring me my chocolate, I want to take advantage of the time to +breakfast, for I am hungry!" + +"Sire, now? shall we breakfast now?" asked the queen, amazed. + +"Why not?" answered Louis calmly. "If the body is strengthened, we +look at every thing more composedly and confidently. You must take +breakfast too, Marie, for who knows whether we shall find time for +some hours after this?" + +"I! oh, I need no breakfast," cried Marie Antoinette; and as she saw +Louis eagerly taking a cup of chocolate from the hands of a valet, +and was going to enjoy it, she turned away to repress the tears of +anger and pain which in spite of herself pressed into her eyes. + +"Mamma queen," cried the dauphin, who was yet in her arms, "I should +like my breakfast too. My chocolate--I should like my chocolate +too!" + +The queen compelled herself to smile, carried the child to its +father, and softly set him down on the king's knee. + +"Sire," said she, "will the King of France teach his son to take +breakfast, while revolution is thundering without, and breaking +down, with treasonable hands, the doors of the royal palace? Campan, +come here--help me arrange my toilet; I want to prepare myself to +give audience to revolution!" + +And withdrawing to a corner of the room, the queen finished her +toilet, for which her women fortunately had in their flight brought +the materials. + +While the queen was dressing and the king breakfasting with the +children, the cabinet of the king began to fill. All Louis's +faithful servants, then the ministers and some of the deputies, had +hurried to the palace to be at the side of the king and queen at the +hour of danger. + +Every one of them brought new tidings of horror. St. Priest told how +he, entering the Swiss room, at the door leading into the +antechamber of the queen, had seen the body of Varicourt covered +with wounds. The Duke de Liancourt had seen a dreadful man, of +gigantic size, with heavy beard, the arms of his blouse rolled up +high, and bearing a heavy hatchet-knife in his hand, springing upon +the person of the faithful Swiss, in order to sever his head from +his body. The Count de Borennes had seen the corpse of the Swiss +officer, Baron de Deshuttes, who guarded the iron gate, and whom the +people murdered as they entered. The Marquis de Croissy told of the +heroism with which another Swiss, Miomandre of St. Marie, had +defended the door between the suites of the king and queen, and had +gained time to draw the bolt and barricade the door. And during all +these reports, and while the cabinet was filling more and more with +pale men and women, the king went composedly on dispatching his +breakfast. + +The queen, who had long before completed her toilet, now went up to +him, and with gentle, tremulous voice conjured him to declare what +should be done--to come at last out of this silence, and to speak +and act worthy of a king. + +Louis shrugged his shoulders and set the replenished cup which he +was just lifting to his mouth, on the silver waiter. At once the +queen beckoned to the valet Hue to come up. + +"Sir," said she, commandingly, "take these things out. The king has +finished his breakfast." + +Louis sighed, and with his eye followed the valet, who was carrying +the breakfast into the garde-robe. + +"Now, sire," whispered Marie Antoinette, "show yourself a king." + +"My love," replied the king, quietly, "it is very hard to show +myself a king when the people do not choose to regard me as one. +Only hear that shouting and yelling, and then tell me what I can do +as a king to bring these mad men to peace and reason?" + +"Sire, raise your voice as king; tell them that you will avenge the +crimes of this night, take the sword in your hand and defend the +throne of your fathers and the throne of your son, and then you will +see these rebels retire, and you will collect around you men who +will be animated with fresh courage, and who will take new fire from +your example. Oh, sire, disregard now the pleadings of your noble, +gentle heart; show yourself firm and decided. Have no leniency for +traitors and rebels!" + +"Tell me what I shall do," murmured the king, with a sigh. + +Marie Antoinette stooped down to his ear. "Sire," whispered she, +"send at once to Vincennes, and the other neighboring places. Order +the troops to come hither, collect an army, put yourself at its +head, march on Paris, declare war on the rebellious capital, and you +will march as conqueror into your recaptured city. Oh, only no +yielding, no submission! Only give the order, sire; say that you +will do so, and I will summon one of my faithful ones to give him +orders to hasten to Vincennes." + +And while the queen whispered eagerly to the king, her flashing +glance sped across to Toulan, who, in the tumult, had found means to +come in, and now looked straight at the queen. Now, as her glance +came to him as an unspoken command, he made his way irresistibly +forward through the crowd of courtiers, ministers, and ladies, and +now stood directly behind the queen. + +"Has your majesty orders for me?" he asked, softly. She looked +anxiously at the king, waiting for an answer, an order. But the king +was dumb; in order not to answer his wife, he drew the dauphin +closer to him and caressed him. + +"Has your majesty commands for me?" asked Toulan once more. + +Marie Antoinette turned to him, her eyes suffused with tears, and +let Toulan see her face darkened with grief and despair. + +"No," she whispered, "I have only to obey; I have no commands to +give!" + +"Lafayette," was now heard in the corridor--"General Lafayette is +coming!" + +The queen advanced with hasty steps toward the entering general. + +"Sir," she cried, "is this the peace and security that you promised +us, and for which you pledged your word? Hear that shouting without, +see us as if beleaguered here, and then tell me how it agrees with +the assurances which you made to me!" + +"Madame, I have been myself deceived," answered Lafayette. "The most +sacred promises were made to me; all my requests and propositions +were yielded to. I succeeded in pacifying the crowd, and I really +believed and hoped that they would continue quiet; that-- + +"Sir," interrupted the queen, impatiently, "Whom do you mean by +'they?' Of whom are you speaking in such tones of respect?" + +"Madame, I am speaking of the people, with whom I came to an +understanding, and who promised me to keep the peace, and to respect +the slumbers of your majesty." + +"You are not speaking of the people, but of the rebels, the +agitators," cried Marie Antoinette, with flashing eyes. "You speak +of high traitors, who break violently into the palace of the king; +of murderers, who have destroyed two of our faithful subjects. Sir, +it is of such crime that you speak with respect; it is with such a +rabble that you have dealt, instead of ordering your soldiers to cut +them down." + +"Madame," said Lafayette, turning pale, "had I attempted to do that, +your majesty would not have found refuge in this chamber. For the +anger of the mob is like the lightning and thunder of the tempest, +it heeds neither door nor bolt, and if it has once broken loose, +nothing can restrain or stop it." + +"Oh," cried the queen, with a mocking laugh, "it is plain that Mr. +Lafayette has been pursuing his studies in America, at the +university of revolutions. He speaks of the people with a deference +as if it were another majesty to bow to." + +"And in that Lafayette is right," said the king, rising and +approaching them. "Hear the yell, madame! it sounds like the roaring +of lions, and you know, Marie, that the lion is called the king of +beasts. Tell us, general, what does the lion want, and what does his +roaring mean?" + +"Sire, the enemies of the royal family, the agitators and rebels, +who have within these last hours come from Paris, have urged on the +people afresh, and kindled them with senseless calumnies. They have +persuaded the people that your majesty has summoned hither the +regiments from all the neighboring stations; that you are collecting +an army to put yourself at its head and march against Paris." + +Louis cast a significant look at his wife, which was answered with a +proud toss of her head. + +"I have sought in vain," continued Lafayette, "to make the poor, +misguided men conscious of the impossibility of such a plan." + +"Yet, sir," broke in Marie Antoinette, fiercely, "the execution of +this plan would save the crown from dishonor and humiliation!" + +"Only, madame, that it is exactly the execution of it which is +impossible," answered Lafayette, gently bowing. + +"If you could give wings to the soldiers of the various garrisons +away from here, the plan might be good, and the army might save the +country! But as, unfortunately, this cannot be, we must think of +other means of help, for your majesty hears the danger knocking now +at the door, and we must do with pacificatory measures what we +cannot do with force." + +"How will you use pacificatory measures, sir?" asked Marie +Antoinette, angrily. + +Lafayette cast upon her a sad, pained look, and turned to the king. +"Sire," said he, with loud, solemn voice, "sire, the people are +frightfully carried away. Stimulating speeches have driven them to +despair and to madness. It is only with difficulty that we have +succeeded in keeping the mob out of the palace, and closing the door +again. 'Paris shall be laid in ashes!' is the horrible cry which +drives all these hearts to rage, and to which they give +unconditional belief!" + +"I will show myself to the people," said Louis. "I will tell them +that they have been deceived. I will give them my royal word that I +have no hostile designs whatever against Paris." + +General Lafayette sighed, and dropped his head heavily upon his +breast. + +"Do you counsel me not to do this?" asked the king, timidly. + +"Sire," answered the general, with a shrug, "the people are now in +such an excited, unreasonable state, that words will no longer be +sufficient to satisfy them. Your majesty might assure them ever so +solemnly that you entertain no hostile intentions whatever against +Paris, and that you will not call outside help to your assistance, +and the exasperated people would mistrust your assurances! For in +all their rage the people have a distinct consciousness of the +crimes they are engaged in committing in creating this rebellion +against the crown, and they know that it were not human, that it +were divine, for your majesty to forgive such crimes, and therefore +they would not credit such forgiveness." + +"How well General Lafayette knows how to interpret the thoughts of +this fanatical rabble, whom he calls 'the people!' "ejaculated the +queen, with a scornful laugh. At this instant a loud, thundering cry +was heard below, and thousands upon thousands of voices shouted, +"The king! We want to see the king!" + +Louis's face lighted up. With quick step he hurried to the window +and raised it. The people did not see him at once, but the king saw. +He saw the immense square in front of the palace, which had been +devoted to the rich equipages of the nobility, occupied by the +humbler classes--the troops of his staff marching up in their gala +uniforms--he saw it filled with a dense mass of men whom Lafayette +had called "the people," whom the queen had termed a "riotous +rabble," surging up and down, head pressed to head, here and there +faces distorted with rage, eyes blazing, fists clinched, arms bare, +and pikes glistening in the morning light, while a great roar, like +that which comes from the sea in a tempest, filled the air. + +"You are right, Lafayette," said the king, who looked calmly at this +black sea of human life--"you are right, this is the people; there +are here probably twenty thousand men, and Heaven defend me from +regarding all as criminals and rabble! I believe--" + +A tremendous shout now filled the air. The king had been seen, some +one had noticed him at the open window, and now all heads and all +looks were directed to this window, and twenty thousand voices +cried, "Long live the king! Long live the king!" + +Louis turned with a proud, happy look to the gentlemen and ministers +who stood near him, Marie Antoinette having withdrawn to the +farthest corner of the room, where, throwing her arms around both of +the children, and drawing them to her bosom, she had sunk into a +chair. + +"What do you say now, gentlemen?" asked the king. + +"Did they not want to make me believe that my good people hate their +king, and wish him ill? But when I show myself to them, hear how +they shout to greet me!" + +"To Paris!" was now the roar of the mob below. "We want the king +should go to Paris!" + +"What do they say? What do they want?" asked Louis, turning to +Lafayette, who now stood close beside him. + +"Sire, they are shouting their wishes to you, that you and the royal +family should go to Paris." + +"And you, general, what do you say?" asked the king. + +"Sire, I have taken the liberty already to say that words and +promises are of no more avail to quiet this raving, maddened people, +and to make them believe that you have no hostile designs against +Paris." + +"But if I go to Paris and reside there for a time, it is your +opinion, as I understand it, that the people would be convinced that +I have no evil intentions against the city--that I should not +undertake to destroy the city in which I might live. That is your +meaning, is it not?" + +"Yes, sire, that is what I wanted to say." + +"To Paris, to Paris!" thundered up from below. "The king shall go to +Paris!" + +Louis withdrew from the window and joined the circle of his +ministers, who, with their pale faces, surrounded him. + +"Gentlemen," said the king, "you are my counsellors. Well, give me +your counsel. Tell me now what I shall do to restore peace and +quiet." + +But no one replied. Perplexed and confused they looked down to the +ground, and only Necker found courage to answer the king after a +long pause. + +"Sire," he said, "it is a question that might be considered for days +which your majesty has submitted to us, and on its answer depends, +perhaps, the whole fate of the monarchy. But, as you wish to know +the opinions of your ministers, I will venture to give mine: that it +would be the safest and most expedient course for your majesty to +comply with the wishes of the people, and go to Paris!" + +"I supposed so," whispered the king, dropping his head. + +"To Paris!" cried the queen, raising her head. "It is impossible. +You cannot be in earnest in being willing to go of your own accord +down into the abyss of revolution, in order to be destroyed there! +To Paris!" + +"To Paris!" was the thundering cry from below, as if the words of +the queen had awakened a fearful, thousand-voiced echo. "To Paris! +The king and the queen shall go to Paris!" + +"And never come from there!" cried the queen, with, bursting tears. + +"Speak, Lafayette!" cried the king. "What do you think?" + +"Sire, I think that there is only one way to restore peace and to +quiet the people, and that is, for your majesty to go to-day with +the royal family to Paris." + +"It is my view, too," said Louis, calmly. "Then go, Lafayette, tell +the people that the king and queen, together with the dauphin and +the princess, will journey today to Paris." + +The simple and easily spoken words had two very different effects in +the cabinet on those who heard them. Some faces lightened up with +joy, some grew pale with alarm; there were sighs of despair, and +cries of fresh hope. Every one felt that this was a crisis in the +fate of the royal family--some thinking that it would bring +disaster, others deliverance. + +The queen alone put on now a grave, decided look; a lofty pride +lighted up her high brow, and with an almost joyful expression she +looked at her husband, who had been induced to do something--at +least, to take a decisive step. + +"The king has spoken," she said, amid the profoundest silence, "and +it becomes us to obey the will of the king, and to be subject to it. +Madame de Campan, make all the preparations for my departure, and do +it in view of a long stay in Paris!" + +"Now, Lafayette," asked the king, as the general still delayed in +the room, "why do you not hasten to announce my will to the people?" + +"Sire," answered Lafayette, solemnly, "there are moments when a +people can only be pacified by the voice either of God or of its +king, and where every other human voice is overwhelmed by the +thunder of the storm!" + +"And you think that this is such a moment?" asked the king. "You +think that I ought myself to announce to the people what I mean to +do?" + +Lafayette bowed and pointed to the window, which shook even then +with the threatening cry, "The king! We will see the king! He shall +go to Paris! The king, the king!" + +Louis listened awhile in thoughtful silence to this thundering +shout, which was at once so full of majesty and horror; then he +quickly raised his head. + +"I will follow your advice, general," said he, calmly. "I will +announce my decision to the people. Give me your hand, madame, we +will go into the balcony-room. And you, gentlemen, follow me!" + +The queen took the hand of her husband without a word, and gave the +other to the little dauphin, who timidly clung to her, while her +daughter Therese quietly and composedly walked near them. + + + + +BOOK III + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +TO PARIS. + + +Without speaking a word, and with hasty steps, the royal couple, +followed by the ministers and courtiers, traversed the two adjoining +apartments, and entered the balcony-room, which, situated at the +centre of the main building, commanded a wide view of the inner +court and the square in front of it. + +The valet Hue hastened, at a motion from the king, to throw open the +great folding doors, and the king, parting with a smile from Marie +Antoinette, stepped out upon the balcony. In an instant, as if the +arm of God had been extended and laid upon this raging sea, the +roaring ceased; then, as soon as the king was recognized, a +multitudinous shout went up, increasing every moment, and sending +its waves beyond the square, out into the adjoining streets. + +"The king! Long live the king!" + +Louis, pale with emotion and with tears in his eyes, went forward to +the very edge of the balcony, and, as a sign that he was going to +speak, raised both hands. The motion was understood, and the loud +cries were hushed which now and then burst from the mighty mass of +people. Then above the heads of the thousands there who gazed +breathlessly up, sounded the loud, powerful voice of the king. + +"I will give my dear people the proof that my fatherly heart is +distrusted without reason. I will journey to-day with the queen and +my children to Paris, and there take up my residence. Return +thither, my children, I shall follow you in a few hours and come to +Paris!" + +Then, while the people were breaking out into a cry of joy, and were +throwing arms, caps, and clothes up into the air, Louis stepped back +from the balcony into the hall. + +Instantly there arose a new cry below. "The queen shall show +herself! We want to see the queen! The queen! the queen! the queen!" + +And in tones louder, and more commanding, and more terrible every +moment, the summons came in through the balcony door. + +The queen took her two children by the hand and advanced a step or +two, but the king held her back. + +"Do not go, Marie," he cried, with trembling voice and anxious look. +"No, do not go. It is such a fearful sight, this raging mass at +one's feet, it confuses one's senses. Do not go, Marie!" + +But the cry below had now expanded into the volume of a hurricane, +and made the very walls of the palace shake. + +"You hear plainly, sire," cried Marie Antoinette; "there is just as +much danger whether we see or do not see it. Let me do, therefore, +what you have done! Come, children!" + +And walking between the two little ones, the queen stepped out upon +the balcony with a firm step and raised head, followed by the king, +who placed himself behind Marie Antoinette, as if he were a sentinel +charged with the duty of protecting her life. + +But the appearance of the whole royal family did not produce the +effect which Louis had, perhaps, anticipated. The crowd did not now +break out into snouts of joy. + +They cried and roared and howled: "The queen alone! No children! We +want no one but the queen! Away with the children!" + +It was all in vain that Louis advanced to the edge of the platform; +in vain that he raised his arms as if commanding silence. The sound +of his voice was lost in the roar of the mob, who, with their +clinched fists, their pikes and other weapons, their horrid cry, so +frightened the dauphin that he could not restrain his tears. + +The royal family drew back and entered the apartment again, where +they were received by the pale, trembling, speechless, weeping +courtiers and servants. + +But the mob below were not pacified. They appeared as though they +were determined to give laws to the king and queen, and demand +obedience from them. + +"The queen! we will see the queen!" was the cry again and again. +"The queen shall show herself!" + +"Well, be it so!" cried Marie Antoinette, with cool decision, and, +pressing through the courtiers, who wanted to restrain her, and even +impatiently thrusting back the king, who implored her not to go, she +stepped out upon the balcony. Alone, without any one to accompany +her, and having only the protection which the lion-tamer has when he +enters the cage of the fierce monsters--the look of the eye and the +commanding mien! + +And the lion appeared to be subdued; his fearful roar suddenly +ceased, and in astonishment all these thousands gazed up at the +queen, the daughter of the Caesars, standing above in proud +composure, her arms folded upon her breast, and looking down with +steady eye into the yawning and raging abyss. + +The people, overcome by this royal composure, broke into loud shouts +of applause, and, during the continuance of these thousand-voiced +bravos, the queen, with a proud smile upon her lips, stepped back +from the balcony into the chamber. + +The dauphin flew to her with open arms and climbed up her knee. +"Mamma queen, my dear mamma queen," cried he, "stay with me, don't +go out again to these dreadful men, I am afraid of them--oh, I am +afraid!" + +Marie Antoinette took the little boy in her arms, and with her cold, +pale lips pressed a kiss upon his forehead. For one instant it +seemed as if she felt herself overcome by the fearful scene through +which she had just passed--as if the tears which were confined in +her heart would force themselves into her eyes. But Marie Antoinette +overcame this weakness of the woman, for she felt that at this hour +she could only be a queen. + +With the dauphin in her arms, and pressing him closely to her heart, +she advanced to the king, who, in order not to let his wife see the +tears which flooded his face, had withdrawn to the adjoining +apartment and was leaning against the door. + +"Sire," said Marie Antoinette, entering the room, and presenting the +dauphin to him, "sire, I conjure you that, in this fearful hour, you +will make one promise to me." + +"What is it, Marie?" asked the king, "what do you desire?" + +"Sire, by all that is dear to you and me," continued the queen, "by +the welfare and safety of France, by your own and by the safety of +this dear child, your successor, I conjure you to promise me that, +if we ever must witness such a scene of horror again, and if you +have the means to escape it, you will not let the opportunity pass," +[Footnote: The very words of the queen.--See Beauchesne, "Louis +XVI., sa Vie," etc., p 145.] + +The king, deeply moved by the noble and glowing face of the queen, +by the tones of her voice, and by her whole expression, turned away. +He wanted to speak, but could not; tears choked his utterance; and, +as if he were ashamed of his weakness, he pushed the queen and the +dauphin back from him, hastened through the room, and disappeared +through the door on the opposite side. + +Marie Antoinette looked with a long, sad face after him, and then +returned to the balcony-room. A shudder passed through her soul, and +a dark, dreadful presentiment made her heart for an instant stop +beating. She remembered that this chamber in which she had that day +suffered such immeasurable pain--that this chamber, which now echoed +the cries of a mob that had this day for the first time prescribed +laws to a queen, had been the dying-chamber of Louis XIV. [Footnote: +Historical.--See Goncourt, "Marie Antoinette," p. 195.] A dreadful +presentiment told her that this day the room had become the dying- +chamber of royalty. + +Like a pale, bloody corpse, the Future passed before her eyes, and, +with that lightning speed which accompanies moments of the greatest +excitement, all the old dark warnings came back to her which she had +previously encountered. She thought of the picture of the slaughter +of the babes at Bethlehem, which decorated the walls of the room in +which the dauphin passed his first night on French soil; then of +that dreadful prophecy which Count do Cagliostro had made to her on +her journey to Paris, and of the scaffold which he showed her. She +thought of the hurricane which had made the earth shake and turn up +trees by their roots, on the first night which the dauphin had +passed in Versailles. She thought too of the dreadful misfortune +which on the next day happened to hundreds of men at the fireworks +in Paris, and cost them their lives. She recalled the moment at the +coronation when the king caught up the crown which the papal nuncio +was just on the point of placing on his head, and said at the same +time, + +"It pricks me." [Footnote: Historical.]And now it seemed to her to +be a new, dreadful reason for alarm, that the scene of horror, which +she had just passed through, should take place in the dying-chamber +of that king to whom France owed her glory and her greatness. + +"We are lost, lost!" she whispered to herself. "Nothing can save us. +There is the scaffold!" + +"With a silent gesture, and a gentle inclination of her head, the +queen took her leave of all present, and returned to her own +apartments, which were now guarded by Lafayette's soldiers, and +which now conveyed no hint of the scene of horror which had +transpired there a few hours before. + +Some hours later two cannon were discharged upon the great square +before the palace. They announced to the city of Versailles that the +king, the queen, and their children, had just left the proud palace- +-were then leaving the solitary residence at Versailles--never to +return! + +From the lofty tower of the church of St. Louis, in which recently +the opening of the States-General had been celebrated, the bell was +just then striking the first hour after mid-day, when the carriage +drove out of the great gate through which the royal family must pass +on its way to Paris. A row of other carriages formed the escort of +the royal equipage. They were intended for the members of the +States-General. For as soon as the journey of the king to Paris was +announced, the National Assembly decreed that it regarded itself as +inseparably connected with the person of the king, and that it would +follow him to Paris. A deputation had instantly repaired to the +palace, to communicate this decree to the king, and had been +received by Louis with cordial expressions of thanks. + +Marie Antoinette, however, had received the tidings of these +resolves of the National Assembly with, a suspicious smile, and an +angry flash darted into her eyes. + +"And so, the gentlemen of the Third Estate have gained their point!" +cried she, in wrath. "They alone have produced this revolt, in order +that the National Assembly may have a pretext for going to Paris. +Now, they have reached their goal! Yet do not tell me that the +revolution is ended here. On the contrary, the hydra will now put +forth all its heads, and will tear us in pieces. But, very well! I +would rather be torn to pieces by them than bend before them!" + +And, with a lofty air and calm bearing, Marie Antoinette entered the +great coach in which the royal family was to make the journey to +Paris. Near her sat the king, between them the dauphin. Opposite to +them, on the broad, front seat, were their daughter Therese, the +Princess Elizabeth, and Madame de Tourzel, governess of the royal +children. Behind them, in a procession, whose end could not be seen, +followed an artillery train; then the mob, armed with pikes, and +other weapons-men covered with blood and dust, women with +dishevelled hair and torn garments, the most of them drunken with +wine, exhausted by watching during the night, shouting and yelling, +and singing low songs, or mocking the royal family with scornful +words. Behind these wild masses came two hundred gardes du corps +without weapons, hats, and shoulder-straps, every one escorted by +two grenadiers, and they were followed by some soldiers of the Swiss +guard and the Flanders regiment. In the midst of this train rattled +loaded cannon, each one accompanied by two soldiers. But still more +fearful than the retinue of the royal equipage were the heralds who +preceded it--heralds consisting of the most daring and defiant of +these men and women, impatiently longing for the moment when they +could announce to the city of Paris that the revolution in +Versailles had humiliated the king, and given the people victory. +They carried with them the bloody tokens of this victory, the heads +of Varicourt and Deshuttes, the faithful Swiss guards, who had died +in the service of their king. They had hoisted both these heads upon +pikes, which two men of the mob carried before the procession. +Between them strode, with proud, triumphant mien, a gigantic figure, +with long, black beard, with naked blood-flecked arms, with flashing +eyes, his face and hands wet with the blood with which he had imbued +himself, and in his right hand a slaughter-knife which still dripped +blood. This was Jourdan, who, from his cutting off the heads of both +the Swiss guards, had won the name of the executioner--a name which +he understood how to keep during the whole revolution.[Footnote: +Jourdan, the executioner, had, until that time, been a model in the +Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture.] + +Like storm-birds, desirous to be the first to announce to Paris the +triumph of the populace, and impatient of the slow progress of the +royal train, these heralds of victory, bearing their bloody banner, +hastened on in advance of the procession to Paris. In Sevres they +made a halt--not to rest, or wait for the oncoming train--but to +have the hair of the two heads dressed by friseurs, in order, as +Jourdan announced with fiendish laughter to the yelling mob, that +they might make their entrance into the city as fine gentlemen. + +While before them and behind them these awful cries, loud singing +and laughing resounded, within the carriage that conveyed the royal +family there was unbroken silence. The king sat leaning back in the +corner, with his eyes closed, in order not to see the horrid forms +which from time to time approached the window of the carriage, to +stare in with curious looks, or with mocking laughter and +equivoques, to heap misery on the unfortunate family. + +The queen, however, sat erect, with proud, dignified bearing, +courageously looking the horrors of the day in the face, and not a +quiver of the eyelids, nor a sigh, betraying the pain that tortured +her soul. + +"No, better die than grant to this triumphing rabble the pleasure of +seeing what I suffer! Better sink with exhaustion than complain." + +Not a murmur, not a sigh, came from her lips; and yet, when the +dauphin, after four hours of this sad journey, turned with a +supplicatory expression to his mother, and said to her with his +sweet voice, "Mamma queen, I am hungry," the proud expression +withdrew from the features of the queen, and two great tears slowly +ran down over her cheeks. + +At last, after a ride of eight hours, the frightful train reached +Paris. Not a window in all the streets through which the royal +procession went was empty. In amazement and terror the people of the +middle class gazed at this hitherto unseen spectacle--the King and +the Queen of France brought in triumph to the capital by the lowest +people in the city! A dumb fear took possession of those who +hitherto had tried to ignore the revolution, and supposed that every +thing would subside again into the old, wonted forms. Now, no one +could entertain this hope longer; now, the most timid must confess +that a revolution had indeed come, and that people must accustom +themselves to look at it eye to eye. + +Slowly the train moved forward--slowly down the quay which extends +along by the garden of the Tuileries. The loungers who were in the +garden hurried to the fence, which then bordered the park on the +side of the quay, in order to watch this frightful procession from +this point: to see an unbridled populace dash in pieces the +prescriptive royalty of ages. + +Scorn and the love of destruction were written on most of the faces +of these observers, but many were pale, and many quivered with anger +and grief. In the front ranks of the spectators stood two young men, +one of them in simple civilian's costume, the other in the uniform +of a sub-lieutenant. The face of the young officer was pale, but it +lightened up with rare energy; and with his noble, antique profile, +and flaming eyes, it enchanted every look, and fixed the attention +of every one who observed him. + +As the howling, roaring mob passed him, the young officer turned to +his companion with an expression of fiery indignation. "0 God," he +cried, "how is this possible? Has the king no cannon to destroy this +canaille? " [Footnote: His own words.--See Beauchesne, vol. i.,p. +85.] + +"My friend," answered the young man, smiling, "remember the words of +our great poet Corneille: 'The people give the king his purple and +take it back when they please. The beggar, king only by the people's +grace, simply gives back his purple to the people.' " + +"Ah!" cried the young lieutenant, smiling, "what once has been +received should be firmly held. I, at least, if I had once received +the purple by the people's grace, would not give it back. But come, +let us go on, it angers me to see this canaille, upon which you +bestow the fine name of 'the people.'" He hastily grasped the arm of +his friend, and turned to a more solitary part of the garden of the +Tuileries. + +This young sub-lieutenant, who saw with such indignation this +revolutionary procession pass him, and whom destiny had appointed +one day to bring this revolution to an end--this young lieutenant's +name was Napoleon Bonaparte. + +The young man who walked at his side, and whom, too, destiny had +appointed to work a revolution, although only in the theatrical +world, to recreate the drama--this young man's name was Talma. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +MAMMA QUEEN. + + +"Every thing passes over, every thing has an end; one must only have +courage and think of that," said Marie Antoinette, with a gentle +smile, as on the morning after her arrival in Paris, she had risen +from her bed and drunk her chocolate in the improvised sitting-room. +"Here we are installed in the Tuileries, and have slept, while we +yesterday were thinking we were lost, and that only death could give +us rest and peace again." + +"It was a fearful day," said Madame de Campan, with a sigh, "but +your majesty went through it like a heroine." + +"Ah, Campan," said the queen, sadly, "I have not the ambition to +want to be a heroine, and I should be very thankful if it were +allowed me from this time on to be a wife and mother, if it is no +longer allowed me to be a queen." + +At this instant the door opened; the little dauphin, followed by his +teacher, the Abbe Davout, ran in and flew with extended arms to +Marie Antoinette. + +"Oh, mamma queen!" cried he, with winning voice, "let us go back +again to our beautiful palace; it is dreadful here in this great, +dark house." + +"Hush, my child, hush!" said the queen, pressing the boy close to +her. "You must not say so; you must accustom yourself to be +contented everywhere." + +"Mamma queen," whispered the child, tenderly nestling close to his +mother, "it is true it is dreadful here, but I will always say it so +low that nobody except you can hear. But tell me, who owns this +hateful house? And why do we want to stay here, when we have such a +fine palace and a beautiful garden in Versailles?" + +"My son," answered the queen with a sigh, "this house belongs to us, +and it is a beautiful and famous palace. You ought not to say that +it does not please you, for your renowned great-grandfather, the +great Louis XIV., lived here, and made this palace celebrated all +over Europe." + +"Yet I wish that we were away from here," whispered the dauphin, +casting his large blue eyes with a prolonged and timid glance +through the wide, desolate room, which was decorated sparingly with +old-fashioned, faded furniture. + +"I wish so, too," sighed Marie Antoinette, to herself; but softly as +she had spoken the words, the sensitive ear of the child had caught +them. + +"You, too, want to go?" asked Louis Charles, in amazement. "Are you +not queen now, and can you not do what you want to?" + +The queen, pierced to the very heart by the innocent question of the +child, burst into tears. + +"My prince," said the Abbe Davout, turning to the dauphin, "you see +that you trouble the queen, and her majesty needs rest. Come, we +will take a walk." + +But Marie Antoinette put both her arms around the child and pressed +its head with its light locks to her breast. + +"No," she said, "no, he does not trouble me. Let me weep. Tears do +me good. One is only unfortunate when she can no longer weep; when-- +but what is that?" she eagerly asked, rising from her easy-chair. +"What does that noise mean?" + +And in very fact in the street there were loud shouting and crying, +and intermingled curses and threats. + +"Mamma," cried the dauphin, nestling close up to the queen, "is to- +day going to be just like yesterday?" [Footnote: The very words of +the dauphin.--See Beauchesne, vol. i.] + +The door was hastily opened, and the king entered. + +"Sire," asked Marie, eagerly advancing toward him, "are they going +to renew the dreadful scenes of yesterday?" + +"On the contrary, Marie, they are going to bring to their reckoning +those who occasioned the scenes of yesterday," answered the king. "A +deputation from the Court of Chatelet have come to the Tuileries, +and desire of me an authorization to bring to trial those who are +guilty, and of you any information which you can give about what has +taken place. The mob have accompanied the deputation hither, and +hence arise these cries. I am come to ask you, Marie, to receive the +deputation of Chatelet." + +"As if there were any choice left us to refuse to see them," +answered Marie Antoinette, sighing. "The populace who are howling +and crying without are now the master of the men who come to us with +a sneer, and ask us whether we will grant them an audience. We must +submit!" + +The king did not answer, but shrugged his shoulders, and opened the +door of the antechamber. "Let them enter," he said to the +chamberlains there. + +The two folding doors were now thrown open, and the loud voice of an +officer announced, "The honorable judges of Chatelet!" + +Slowly, with respectful mien and bowed head, the gentlemen, arrayed +in their long black robes, entered the room, and remained humbly +standing near the door. + +Marie Antoinette had advanced a few steps. Not a trace of grief and +disquiet was longer to be seen in her face. Her figure was erect, +her glance was proud and full of fire, and the expression of her +countenance noble and majestic. She was still the queen, though not +surrounded by the solemn pomp which attended the public audiences at +Versailles. She did not stand on the purple-carpeted step of the +throne, no gold-embroidered canopy arched over her, no crowd of +brilliant courtiers surrounded her, only her husband stood near her; +her son clung to her side, and his teacher, the Abbe Davout, timidly +withdrew into the background. These formed all her suite. But Marie +Antoinette did not need external pomp to be a queen; she was so in +her bearing, in every look, in every gesture. With commanding +dignity she allowed the deputation to approach her, and to speak +with her. She listened with calm attention to the words of the +speaker, who, in the name of the court, gave utterance to the deep +horror with which the treasonable actions of the day before had +filled him. He then humbly begged the queen to give such names of +the rioters as might be known to her, that they might be arrested, +but Marie Antoinette interrupted him in his address. + +"No, sir," she cried, "no, never will I be an informer against the +subjects of the king." [Footnote: Marie Antoinette's own words.--See +Goncourt, "Marie Antoinette," pp. 196, 197.] + +The speaker bowed respectfully. "Then let me at least beg of you, in +the name of the High-Court of the Chatelet, to give us your order to +bring the guilty parties to trial, for without such a charge we +cannot prosecute the criminals who have been engaged in these acts." + +"Nor do I wish you to bring any one to trial," cried the queen, with +dignity. "I have seen all, known all, and forgotten all! Go, +gentlemen, go! My heart knows no vengeance; it has forgiven all +those who have wounded me. Go!" [Footnote: Ibid] + +With a commanding gesture of her hand, and a gentle nod of her head, +she dismissed the deputation, who silently withdrew. + +"Marie," said the king, grasping the hand of his wife with unwonted +eagerness, and pressing it tenderly to his lips, "Marie, I thank you +in the name of all my subjects. You have acted this hour not only as +a queen, but as the mother of my people." + +"Ah, sir," replied the queen, with a sad smile, "only that the +children will not believe in the love of their mother--only that +your subjects do not consider me their mother, but their enemy." + +"They have been misguided," said the king. "Evil-minded men have +deceived them, but I hope we shall succeed in bringing the people +back from their error." + +"Sire," sighed Marie Antoinette, "I hope for nothing more; but," +added she, with still firmer voice, "I also fear nothing more. The +worst may break over me--it shall find me armed!" + +The side-door now opened, and Madame de Campan entered. + +"Your majesty," said she, bowing low, "a great number of ladies from +the Faubourg St. Germain are in the small reception-room. They wish +to testily their devotion to your majesty." + +"I will receive them at once," cried Marie Antoinette, with an +almost joyful tone. "Ah, only see, husband, the consolations which +misfortune brings. These ladies of the Faubourg St. Germain formerly +cut me; they could not forget that I was an Austrian. To-day they +feel that I am the Queen of France, and that I belong to them. +Pardon me, sire, for leaving you." + +She hastened away with a rapid step. The king looked after her with +an expression of pain. "Poor queen," he whispered to himself, "how +much she is misjudged, how wrongly she is calumniated! And I cannot +change it, and must let it be." + +He sank with a deep sigh, which seemed much like a groan, into an +arm-chair, and was lost in painful recollections. A gentle touch on +his hand, which rested on the side-arm of the chair, restored him to +consciousness. Before him stood the dauphin, and looked gravely and +thoughtfully out of his large blue eyes up into his father's face. + +"Ah, is it you, my little Louis Charles?" said the king, nodding to +him. "What do you want of me, my child?" + +"Papa king," answered the boy, timidly, "I should like to ask you +something--something really serious!" + +"Something really serious!" replied the king. "Well, what is it? Let +me hear!" + +"Sire," replied the dauphin, with a weighty and thoughtful air, +"sire, Madame de Tourzel has always told me that I must love the +people of France very much, and treat every one very friendly, +because the people of France love my papa and my mamma so much, and +I ought to be very grateful for it. How comes it then, sire, that +the French people are now so bad to you, and that they do not love +mamma any longer? What have you both done to make the people so +angry, because I have been told that the people are subject to your +majesty, and that they owe you obedience and respect? But they were +not obedient yesterday, and not at all respectful, your subjects, +were they? How is this, papa?" + +The king drew the little prince to his knee, and put his arm around +the slight form of the boy. "I will explain it to you, my son," he +said, "and listen carefully to what I say to you." + +"I will, sire," answered the boy eagerly, "I at least am an obedient +subject of my king, for the Abbe Davout has told me that I am +nothing but a subject of your majesty, and that, as a son and a +subject, I must give a good example to the French people, how to +love and obey the king. And I love you very much, papa, and I am +just as obedient as I can be. But it seems as though my good example +had made no difference with the other subjects. How comes that +about, papa king?" + +"My son," answered Louis, "that comes because there are bad men who +have told the people that I do not love them. We have had to have +great wars, and wars cost a deal of money. And so I asked money of +my people--just as my ancestors always did." + +"But, papa," cried the dauphin, "why did you do that? Why did you +not take my purse, and pay out of that? You know that I receive +every day my purse all filled with new francs, and--but then," he +interrupted himself, "there would be nothing left for the poor +children, to whom I always give money on my walks. And, oh! there +are so many poor children, so very many, that my purse is empty +every day, when I return from my walk, and yet I give to each child +only one poor franc-piece. So your people have money, more money +than you yourself?" + +"My child, kings receive all that they have from their people, but +they give it all back to the people again; the king is the one +appointed by God to govern his people, and the people owe respect +and obedience to the king, and have to pay taxes to him. And so, if +he needs money, he is justified in asking his subjects for it, and +so does what is called 'laying taxes' upon them. Do you understand +me?" + +"Oh! yes, papa," cried the child, who had listened with open eyes +and breathless attention, "I understand all very well. But I don't +like it. It seems to me that if a man is king, every thing belongs +to him, and that the king ought to have all the money so as to give +it to the people. They ought to ask HIM, and not he THEM!" + +"In former and more happy times it was so," said the king, with a +sigh. "But many kings have misused their power and authority, and +now the king cannot pay out money unless the people understand all +about it and consent!" + +"Have you given out money, papa, without asking the people's leave? +Was that the reason they came to Versailles yesterday, and were so +wicked, ah! so very wicked? For those bad men-they were the people, +were they not?" + +"No, my son," answered Louis, "I hope they were not the people. The +people cannot come to me in such great masses; they must have their +representatives. The representatives of the people I have myself +called to me; they are the States-General, which I assembled at +Versailles. I asked of them money for the outlays which I had to +make for the people, but they asked things of me that I could not +grant, either for my own sake, or for yours, my son, who are some +day to be my successor. Then wicked men came and stirred up the +people, and told them that I did not love the people any more, and +that I wanted to trouble my subjects. And the poor people have +believed what these evil advisers and slanderers have told them, and +have been led astray into making the riot against me. But every +thing will come out right again, and my subjects will see that I +love them, and am ready to share every thing with them. That is the +reason I have come to Paris, to live here among my people. It is +certainly not so pleasant as in Versailles; our rooms are not so +fine and convenient, and we do not have the beautiful gardens here +that we had there. But we must learn to be contented here, and put +up with what we have. We must remember that there is no one in Paris +better than we, and that the Parisians must acknowledge that the +king loves them, for he has given up his beautiful Versailles, in +order to live with them, and share all their need, and all the +disagreeable things which they have to bear." + +"Papa king, I have understood every thing, and I am very much +ashamed that I have complained before. I promise you, sire," he +continued, with earnest mien, and laying his hand upon his breast, +"yes, sire, I promise you, that I will take pains to give the people +a good example, and to be really good and kind. I will never +complain again that we are living in Paris, and I will take pains to +be happy and contented here." + +And the dauphin kept his word. He took pains to be contented; he +said not another word about the old pleasant life at Versailles, but +appeared to have forgotten all about ever having been anywhere but +in this great, desolate palace, with its halls filled with faded +tapestry; stately, solemn furniture, their golden adornments having +grown dim, and their upholstery hard; he seemed never to have known +any garden but this, only one little corner of which was set apart +for the royal family, and through the iron gate of which threatening +words were often heard, and spiteful faces seen. + +One day, when the dauphin heard such words, and saw such faces +beyond the paling, he shrank back, and ran to his mother, earnestly +imploring her with trembling voice to leave the garden, and go into +the palace. But Marie Antoinette led him farther into the garden, +instead of complying with his wish. In the little pavilion which +stood at the corner of the enclosure on the side of the quay, she +sat down, and lifting her boy up in her arms, set him before her on +the marble table, wiped away his tears with her handkerchief, and +tenderly implored him not to weep or feel badly any more. + +"If you weep, my child," she said, sadly, as the dauphin could not +control his tears, "if you weep, I shall have no courage left, and +it will be as dark and dreary to me as if the sun had gone down. If +you weep, I should want to weep with you; and you see, my son, that +it would not be becoming for a queen to weep. The wicked people, who +want to hurt our feelings, they find pleasure in it, and therefore +we must be altogether too proud to let them see what we suffer. I +have this pride, but when I see you suffer it takes away all my +strength. You remember our ride from Versailles here, my son? How +the bad men who surrounded us, mocked at me and said foul things to +me! I was cold and calm, but I could not help weeping, my child, +when you complained of being hungry." + +"Mamma," cried the child, with flashing eyes, "I will never complain +again, and the bad men shall never have the pleasure of seeing me +weep." + +"But good men, my child, you must always treat kindly, and behave +very prettily to them." + +"I will do so," answered the dauphin, thoughtfully. "But, mamma +queen, tell me who the good men are!" + +"You must believe, Louis, that all men are good, and therefore you +must be kind to all. If then they despise your goodness or +friendliness, and cast it from them, it will not be your fault, and +our heavenly Father and your parents will be pleased with you." + +"But, mamma," cried the prince, and a shadow passed over his pure, +beautiful child's face, "but, mamma, I cannot see that all men are +good. When they were abusing us, and cursing us, and speaking bad +words at us in the carriage, and were talking so angrily at you, +dear mamma, the men were not good, and I never could treat them +friendly if they should come again." + +"They will not come again, Louis. No, we will hope that the bad men +will not come again, and that those who come to see us here are good +men; so be very kind and polite to everybody, that all may love you, +and see that their future king is good and polite, even while a +child." + +"Good?" cried the boy, spiritedly. "I will be good and polite to +everybody, that you may be satisfied with me. Yes, just for that +will I be so." + +Marie Antoinette pressed the pretty boy to herself, and kissed his +lips. Just then an officer entered and announced General Lafayette +and Bailly, the mayor of Paris. + +"Mamma," whispered the prince, as the two gentlemen entered--" +mamma, that is the general that was at Versailles, then. I can never +be kind to him, for he belongs to the bad men." + +"Hush! my child-hush!" whispered the queen. "For God's sake, do not +let anybody hear that. No, no, General Lafayette does not belong to +our enemies, he means well toward us. Treat him kindly, very kindly, +my child." + +And Marie Antoinette took her son by the hand, and, with a smile +upon her lips, went to meet the two gentlemen, in order to inquire +the reason for their appearing at this unwonted time and place. + +"Madame," said General Lafayette, "I have come to ask your majesty +whether you will not have the goodness to let me know the hours in +which you may wish to visit the park and the garden, that I may make +my arrangements accordingly." + +"That means, general," cried the queen, "that it is not to depend +upon my free-will when and at what times I am to walk in the park, +but it will be allowed me only at certain hours, just as prisoners +are allowed to take their walks at certain hours." + +"I beg your pardon, madame," said the general, with great respect; +"your majesty will graciously believe, that to me, the peace and +security of your exalted person is sacred above every thing, and +that I regard it as my first duty to protect you against every +insult, and every thing that may be disagreeable." + +"And so it has come to that," cried Marie Antoinette, angrily. "The +Queen of France must be protected against insults and disagreeable +things. She is not to go out when she will into her park, because +she has to fear that, if General Lafayette has not previously made +his special preparations, the people will insult her. But if this is +so, sir, why do you not close the gates of the park? It is royal +property, and it probably will be allowed to the king to defend his +private property from the brutality of the rabble. I will myself, +general, see to it that I be protected from insults, and that, at +any time when it pleases me, I may go into the park and the inner +gardens. I will ask his majesty the king to allow the gates of the +park and. the promenade on the quay to be closed. That will close +every thing, and we shall at least gain the freedom thereby of being +able to take walks at any time, without first sending information to +General Lafayette." + +"Madame, I expected that you would answer me so," said Lafayette, +sadly, "and I have therefore brought M. de Bailly with me, that he +might join me in supplicating your majesty to graciously abstain +from taking measures of violence, and not to further stir up the +feelings of the people, already so exasperated." + +"And so you are of this opinion, sir?" asked Marie Antoinette, +turning to M. Bailly. "You, too, regard it as a compulsory measure, +for the king to claim his own right, and to keep out of his property +those who insult him." + +"Your majesty, the king is, unfortunately, not free to make use of +this right, as you call it." + +"You will not say, sir, that if it pleases the king not to allow +evil-disposed persons to enter the park of the Tuileries, he has not +the right to close the gates?" + +"Madame, I must indeed take the privilege of saying so," answered M. +de Bailly, with a gentle obeisance. "King Henry IV. gave the +Parisians the perpetual privilege of having the park of the +Tuileries open to them always, and free to be used in their walks. +The palace of the Tuileries was, as your majesty knows, originally +built by Queen Catherine de Medicis, after the death of her husband, +for the home of her widowhood. All sorts of stories were then +current about the uncanny things which were said to occur in the +park of the Tuileries. They told about laboratories in which Queen +Catherine prepared her poisons; of a pavilion in which there was a +martyr's chamber; of subterranean cells for those who had been +buried alive; and all these dreadful stories made such an impression +that no one dared approach this place of horrors after sunset. But +when Queen Catherine had left Paris, and King Henry IV. resided in +the Louvre, he had this dreaded Tuileries garden, with all its +horrors, opened to the Parisians, and out of the queen's garden he +made one for the people, in order that the curse which rested upon +it might be changed into a blessing." + +"And now you suppose, Mr. Mayor, that it would change the blessing +into a curse again, if we should want to close the gates that Henry +IV. opened?" + +"I do fear it, madame, and therefore venture to ask that the right +to enter the Tuileries gardens may not be taken from the people, nor +their enjoyment interfered with." + +"Not the people's enjoyment, only ours, is to be interfered with," +cried Marie Antoinette, bitterly. "They are doubtless right who call +the people now the real king of France, but they forget that this +new king has usurped the throne only by treachery, rebellion, and +murder, and that the wrath of God and the justice of man 'will one +day hurl him down into the dust at our feet. In this day I hope, and +until then I will bear in patience and with unshaken courage what +fate may lay upon me. The wickedness and brutality of men shall at +least not intimidate me, and fear shall not humiliate me to the +state of a prisoner who takes her walks under the protection of M. +de Lafayette, the general of the people, at appointed hours." + +"Your majesty," cried Lafayette, turning pale. + +"What is your pleasure?" interrupted the queen, with a proud +movement of her head. "You were a gentleman, and knew the customs +and. mode of our court before you went to America. Has the want of +manners there so disturbed your memory that you do not know that it +is not permitted to speak in the presence of the queen without being +asked or permitted by her to do so?" + +"General," cried the dauphin, at this instant, with loud, eager +voice, running forward to Lafayette, and extending to him his little +hand--" general, I should like to salute you. Mamma told me that I +must be kind to all those who are good to us and love us, and just +as you were coming in with this gentleman, mamma told me that +General Lafayette does not belong to our enemies, but means well to +us. Let me, therefore, greet you kindly and give you my hand." And +while saying so and smiling kindly at the general, he raised his +great blue eyes to the face of his mother an instant with a +supplicatory expression. + +Lafayette took the extended hand of the prince, and a flush of deep +emotion passed over his face that was just before kindling with +anger. As if touched with reverence and astonishment, he bent his +knee before this child, whose countenance beamed with innocence, +love, and goodness, and pressed to his lips the little hand that +rested in his own. + +"My prince," said be, deeply moved, "you have just spoken to me with +the tongue of an angel, and I swear to you, and to your exalted +royal mother, that I will never forget this moment; that I will +remember it so long as I live. The kiss which I have impressed upon +the hand of my future king is at once the seal of the solemn vow, +and the oath of unchangeable fidelity and devotion which I +consecrate to my king and to the whole royal family, and in which +nothing shall make me waver; nothing, not even the anger and the +want of favor of my exalted queen. Dauphin of France, you have to- +day gained a soldier for your throne who is prepared to shed his +last drop of blood for you and your house, and on whose fidelity and +devotion you may continually count." + +With tears in his eyes, his brave, noble face quivering with +emotion, Lafayette looked at the child that with cheeks all aglow +and with a pleasant smile was gazing with great, thoughtful child's +eyes up to the strong man, who placed himself so humbly and +devotedly at his feet. Behind him stood M. de Bailly, with bended +head and folded hands, listening with solemn thoughtfulness to the +words of the general, upon whose strong shoulders the fate of the +monarchy rested, and who, at this time, was the mightiest and most +conspicuous man in France, because the National Guard of Paris was +still obedient to him, and followed his commands. + +Close by the dauphin stood the queen, in her old, proud attitude, +but upon her face a striking change had taken place. The expression +of anger and suspicion which it had before displayed had not +completely disappeared. The cloud which had gathered upon her lofty +forehead was dissipated, and her face shone out bright and clear. +The large, grayish-blue eyes, which before had shot angry darts, now +glowed with mild fire, and around her lips played an instant that +fair, pleasant smile which, in her happier days, had often moved the +favorites of the queen to verses of praise, and which her enemies +had so often made a reproach to her. + +When the general ceased there was silence--that eloquent, solemn +silence which accompanies those moments in which the Genius of +History hovers over the heads of men, and, touching them with its +pinions, ties their tongues and opens the eyes of the spirit, so +that they can look into the future, and, with presaging horror, read +all the secrets of coming time as by a flash of lightning. + +Such a critical moment in history was that in which Lafayette, at +the feet of the dauphin, swore eternal fidelity to the monarchy of +France in the presence of the unfortunate mayor of Paris, who was +soon to seal his loyalty with his own blood, and in presence of the +queen, whose lofty character was soon to make her a martyr. + +The moments passed by, then Marie Antoinette bowed to Lafayette with +her gracious smile. + +"Rise, general," she said, in gentle tones, "God has heard your +oath, and I accept it in the name of the French monarchy, my +husband, my son, and myself. I shall always continue mindful of it, +and I hope that you will also. And I beg you, too," she continued, +in a low voice, and with a deep flush upon her face, "I beg you to +forgive me if I have hitherto cast unworthy reproaches upon you. I +have lived through so many sad and dreadful days, that it will be +set down to my favor if my nerves are agitated and easily excited. I +shall probably learn to accept evil days with calmness, and to bow +my head patiently beneath the yoke which my enemies are laying upon +me! But still I feel the injury, and the proud habits of my birth +and life war against it. But only wait, and I shall become +accustomed to it." + +While saying this she stooped down to the dauphin and kissed his +golden hair. A tear fell from her eyes upon the forehead of her son, +and glittered there like a star fallen from heaven. Marie Antoinette +did not see it, did not know that the tear which she was trying to +conceal was now glistening on the brow of her son--on that brow +which was never to wear any other diadem than the one that the tears +of love placed on his innocent head. + +"Heaven defend your majesty ever being compelled to become +accustomed to insult!" cried Lafayette, deeply moved. "I hope we +have seen our worst days, and that after the tempest there will be +sunshine and bright weather again. The people will look back with +shame and regret upon the wild and stormy scenes to which they have +allowed themselves to be drawn by unprincipled agitators; they will +bow in love and obedience before the royal couple who, with so much +confidence and devotion, leave their beautiful, retired home at +Versailles, in order to comply with the wish of the people and come +to Paris. Will your majesty have the goodness to ask the mayor of +Paris, and he will tell you, madame, how deeply moved all the good +citizens of Paris are at the truly noble spirit which prompted you +to refuse to initiate an investigation respecting the night of +horrors at Versailles, and to bring the ringleaders to justice." + +"Is it true, M. de Bailly?" asked the queen, eagerly. "Was my +decision approved? Have I friends still among the people of Paris?" + +"Your majesty," answered M. de Bailly, bowing low, "all good +citizens of Paris have seen with deep emotion the noble resolve of +your majesty, and in all noble and true hearts the royal words are +recorded imperishably, which your majesty spoke to the judges of the +Chatelet, 'I have heard all, seen all, and forgotten all!' With +tears of deep feeling, with a hallowed joy, they are repeated +through all Paris; they have become the watchword of all the well- +inclined and faithful, the evangel of love and forgiveness for all +women, of fidelity and devotion for all men! It has been seen and +confessed that the throne of France is the possessor not only of +goodness and beauty, but of forgiveness and gentleness, and that +your majesty bears rightly the title of the Most Christian Queen. +These nine words which your majesty has uttered, have become the +sacred banner of all true souls, and they will cause the golden days +to come back, as they once dawned upon Paris when the Dauphin of +France made his entry into the capital, and it could be said with +truth to the future queen, Marie Antoinette, 'Here are a hundred +thousand lovers of your person.'" + +The queen was no longer able to master her deep emotion. She who had +had the courage to display a proud and defiant mien to her enemies +and assailants, could not conceal the intensity of her feeling when +hearing words of such devotion, and uttered a cry, then choked with +emotion, and at length burst into a torrent of tears. Equally +astonished and ashamed, she covered her face with her hands, but the +tears gushed out between her white tapering fingers, and would not +be withheld. They had been so long repressed behind those proud +eyelids, that now, despite the queen's will, they forced their way +with double power and intensity. + +But only for a moment did the proud-spirited queen allow herself to +be overcome by the gentle and deeply-moved woman; she quickly +collected herself and raised her head. + +"I thank you, sir, I thank you," she said, breathing more freely, +"you have done me good, and these tears, though not the first which +grief and anger have extorted, are the first for a long time which +have sprung from what is almost joy. Who knows whether I shall ever +be able to shed such tears again! And who knows," she continued, +with a deep sigh, "whether I do not owe these tears more to your +wish to do me good, than to true and real gains? I bethink me now-- +you say all good citizens of Paris repeat my words, all the well- +disposed are satisfied with my decision. But, ah! I fear that the +number of these is very small, and that the golden days of the past +will never return! And is not your appearance here to-day a proof of +this? Did you not come here because the people insult and calumniate +me, and because you considered it needful to throw around me your +protection, which is now mightier than the royal purple and the +lilies of the throne of France?" + +"Madame, time must be granted to the misguided people to return to +the right way," said Lafayette, almost with a supplicating air. +"They must be dealt with as we deal with defiant, naughty children, +which can be brought back to obedience and submission better by +gentle speech and apparent concession than by rigidity and severity. +On this account I ventured to ask your majesty to intrust me for a +little while with the care of your sacred person, and, in order that +I may satisfy my duty, that you would graciously appoint the time +when your majesty will take your walks here in the park and garden, +so that I can make my arrangements accordingly." + +"In order to make a fence out of your National Guards, protected by +which the Queen of France may not become visible to the hate of the +people, and behind which she may be secure against the attacks of +her enemies!" cried Marie Antoinette. "No, sir, I cannot accept +this! It shall at least be seen that I am no coward, and that I will +not hide myself from those who come to attack me!" + +"Your majesty," said Bailly, "I conjure you, do this out of +compassion for us, for all your faithful servants who tremble for +the peace and security of your majesty, and allow M. de Lafayette to +keep the brutality of the people away from you, and protect you in +your walks." + +"Sufficient, gentlemen," cried Marie Antoinette, impatiently. "You +now know my fixed resolve, and it is not necessary to discuss it +further. I will not hide myself from the people, and I will confront +them under the simple protection of God. Defended by Him, and +sustained by the conviction that I have not merited the hate with +which I am pursued, I will continue to meet the subjects of the king +fearlessly, with an unveiled head, and only God and my fate shall +judge between me and them! I thank you, gentlemen, for your zeal and +your care, and you may be sure that I shall never forget it. But now +farewell, gentlemen! It is growing cold, and I should like to return +to the palace." + +"Will your majesty not have the kindness to allow us both to mingle +with your train, and accompany you to the palace?" asked Lafayette. + +"I came hither, attended by only two lackeys, who are waiting +outside the pavilion," answered the queen. "You know that I have +laid aside the court etiquette which used to attend the queen upon +her walks, and which do not allow the free enjoyment of nature. My +enemies charge me with this as an offence, and consider it improper +that the Queen of France should take a walk without a brilliant +train of courtiers, and like any other human being. But I think that +the people ought not to be angry at this, and they may take it as a +sign that I am not so proud and unapproachable as I am generally +believed to be. And so farewell, gentlemen!" + +She graciously waved her hand toward the door, and, with a gentle +inclination of her head, dismissed the two gentlemen, who, with a +sad bearing, withdrew, and left the pavilion. + +"Come, my son," said the queen, "we will return to the palace." + +"By the same way that we came, shall we not, mamma?" asked the +dauphin, taking the extended hand of the queen, and pressing it to +his lips. + +"You will not weep again if the people shout and laugh?" asked Marie +Antoinette. "You will not be afraid any more?" + +"No, I will not be afraid any more. Oh, you shall be satisfied with +me, mamma queen! I have paid close attention to all that you said to +the two gentlemen, and I am very glad that you did not allow M. de +Lafayette to walk behind us. The people would then have believed +that we are afraid, and now they shall see that we are not so at +all." + +"Well, come, my child, let us go," said Marie Antoinette, giving her +hand to her son, and preparing to leave the pavilion. + +But on the threshold the dauphin stopped, and looked imploringly up +into the face of his mother. + +"I should like to ask you something, mamma queen." + +"Well, what is it, my little Louis? What do you wish?" + +"I should like to have you allow me to go alone, else the people +would believe that I am afraid and want you to lead me. And I want +to be like the Chevalier Bayard, about whom the Abbe talked with me +to-day. I want to be sans peur et sans reproche, like Bayard." + +"Very well, chevalier," said the queen, with a smile, "then walk +alone and free by my side." + +"No, mamma, if you will allow me, I will walk before you. The +knights always walk in advance of the ladies, so as to ward off any +danger which may be in the way. And I am your knight, mamma, and I +want to be as long as I live. Will you allow it, my royal lady?" + +"I allow it! So go in front, Chevalier Louis Charles! We will take +the same way back by which we came." + +The dauphin sprang over the little square in front of the pavilion, +and down the alley which led to the Arcadia Walk along the side of +the quay. + +Before the little staircase which led up to this walk, he stopped +and turned his pretty head round to the queen, who, followed by the +two lackeys, was walking slowly and quietly along. + +"Well, Chevalier Bayard," asked the queen, with a smile, "what are +you stopping for?" + +"I am only waiting for your majesty," replied the child, gravely. +"Here is where my knightly service commences, for here it is that +danger begins." + +"It is true," said the queen, as she stopped at the foot of the +steps and listened to the loud shouting which now became audible. +"One would think that a storm had been Sweeping over the ocean, +there is such a thundering sound. But you know, my son, that the +storms lie in God's hand, and that He protects those who trust in +Him. Think of that, my child, and do not be afraid!" + +"Oh, I am not afraid!" cried the boy, and he sprang up the stairs +like a gazelle. + +The queen quickened her steps a little, and seemed to be giving her +whole attention to her son, who went before her with such a happy +flow of spirits, and appeared to hear nothing of what was passing +around her. And yet, behind the fence which ran along the left side +of the Arcadia Walk all the way to the quay, was a dense mass of +people, head behind head, and all their blazing eyes were directed +at the queen, and words of hate, malediction, and threatening +followed her every step which she took forward. + +"See, see," cried a woman, with dishevelled hair, which streamed out +from her round cap, and fell down over her red, angry face--" see, +that is the baker's woman, and the monkey that jumps in front of her +is the apprentice-boy! They can dress themselves up and be fine, for +all is well with them, and they can eat cakes, while we have to go +hungry. But wait, only wait! times will be different by and by, and +we shall see the baker-woman as hungry as we. But when we have the +bread, we will give her none--no, we will give her none!" + +"No, indeed, we will give her none!" roared, and cried, and laughed, +and howled the mob. And they all pressed closer up to the fence, and +naked arms and clinched fists were thrust through the palings, and +threatened the queen, and the dauphin, who walked in front of his +mother. + +"Will he be able to bear it? Will my poor boy not weep with fear and +anxiety? "That was the only thought of the queen, as she walked on +past the angry roars of the crowd. To the dauphin alone all her +looks were directed; not once did she glance at the fence, behind +which the populace roared like a pack of lions. + +All at once the breath of the queen stopped, and her heart ceased +beating, with horror. She saw directly at the place where the path +turned and ran away from the fence, but where, before making the +turn, it ran very near the fence, the bare arm of a man extended +through the paling as far as possible, and stretching in fact half- +way across the path, as if it were a turnpike-bar stopping the way. +The eyes of the queen, when they fell upon this dreadful, powerful +arm, turned at once in deep alarm to the dauphin. She saw him +hesitate a little in his hurried course, and then go slowly forward. +The queen quickened her steps in order to come up with the dauphin +before he should reach the danger which confronted him. The people +outside of the fence, when they saw the manoeuvre of the man who was +forcing his arm still farther in, stopped their shouting and lapsed +into a breathless, eager silence, as sometimes is the case in a +storm, between the successive bursts of wind and thunder. + +Every one felt that the touch of that threatening arm and that +little child might be like the contact of steel and flint, and +elicit sparks which should kindle the fires of another revolution. +It was this feeling which made the crowd silent; the same feeling +compelled the queen to quicken her steps, so that she was close to +the dauphin before he had reached this terrible turnpike-bar. + +"Come here, my son," cried the queen, "give me your hand!" + +But before she had time to grasp the hand of the little prince, he +sprang forward and stood directly in front of the outstretched arm. + +"My God! what will he do?" whispered the queen to herself. + +At the same instant, there resounded from behind the fence a loud, +mighty bravo, and a thousand voices took it up and cried, "Bravo! +bravo!" + +The dauphin had stretched up his little white hand and laid it upon +the brown, clinched fist that was stretched out toward him, and +nodded pleasantly at the man who looked down so fiercely upon him. + +"Good-day, sir!" he said, with a loud voice--"good-day!" + +And he took hold with his little hand of the great hand of the man +and shook it a little, as in friendly salutation. "Little knirps," +roared the man, "what do you mean, and how dare you lay your little +paw on the claws of the lion?" + +"Sir," said the boy, smiling, "I thought you were stretching out +your hand to reach me with it, and so I give you mine, and say, +'Good-day, sir!'" + +"And if I wanted, I could crush your hand in my fist as if it were +in a vise," cried the man, holding the little hand firmly. + +"You shall not do it," cried hundreds and hundreds of voices in the +crowd. "No, Simon, you shall not hurt the child." + +"Who of you could hinder me if I wanted to?" asked the man, with a +laugh. "See here, I hold the hand of the future King of France in my +fist, and I can break it if I want to, and make it so that it can +never lift the sceptre of France. The little monkey thought he would +take hold of my hand and make me draw it back, and now my hand has +got his and holds it fast. And mark this, boy, the time is past when +kings seized us and trod us down; now we seize them and hold them +fast, and do not let them go unless we will." + +"Sir!" cried the queen, motioning back with a commanding gesture the +two lackeys who were hurrying up to release the dauphin from the +hand of the man, "sir, I beg you to withdraw your hand, and not to +hinder us in our walk." + +"Ah! you are there, too, madame, the baker's wife, are you?" cried +the man, with a horrid laugh. "We meet once more, and the eyes of +our most beautiful queen fall again upon the dirty, pitiable face of +such a poor, wretched creature as, in your heavenly eyes, the +cobbler Simon is!" + +"Are you Simon the cobbler?" asked Marie Antoinette. + +"It is true, I bethink me now, I have spoken with you once before. +It was when I carried the prince here, for the first time, to Notre +Dame, that God would bless him, and that the people might see him. +You stood then by my carriage, sir!" + +"Yes, it is true," answered Simon, visibly flattered. "You have, at +least, a good memory, queen. But you ought to have paid attention to +what I said to you. I am no 'sir,' I am a simple cobbler, and earn +my poor bit of bread in the sweat of my brow, while you strut about +in your glory and happiness, and cheat God out of daylight. Then I +held the hand of your daughter in my fist, and she cried out for +fear, merely because a poor fellow like me touched her." + +"But, Mr. Simon, you see very plainly that I do not cry out," said +the dauphin, with a smile. "I know that you do not want to do me any +harm, and I ask you to be so good as to take away your arm, that my +mamma can go on in her walk." + +"But, suppose that I do not do as you want me to?" asked the +cobbler, defiantly. "I suppose it would come that your mamma would +dictate to me, and perhaps call some soldiers, and order them to +shoot the dreadful people?" + +"You know, Master Simon, that I give no such command, and never gave +any such," said the queen, quickly. + +"The king and I love our people, and never would give orders to our +soldiers to fire upon them." + +"Because you would not be sure, madame, that the soldiers would obey +your commands, if you should," laughed Simon. "Since we got rid of +the Swiss guards, there are no soldiers left who would let +themselves be torn in pieces for their king and queen; and you know +well that if the soldiers should fire the first shot at us, the +people would tear the soldiers in pieces afterward. Yes, yes, the +fine days at Versailles are past; here, in Paris, you must accustom +yourself to ask, instead of command, and the arm of a single man of +the people is enough to stop the Queen and the Dauphin of France." + +"You are mistaken, sir," said the queen, whose proud heart could no +longer be restrained, and allow her to take this humble stand; "the +Queen of France and her son will no longer be detained by you in +their walk." + +And with a quick movement she caught the dauphin, struck back at the +same moment the fist of the cobbler, snatched the boy away like +lightning, and passed by before Simon had time to put his arm back. + +The people, delighted with this energetic and courageous action of +the queen--the people, who would have howled with rage, if the queen +had ordered her lackeys to push the cobbler back, now roared with +admiration and with pleasure, to see the proud-hearted woman have +the boldness to repel the assailant, and to free herself from him. +They applauded, they laughed, they shouted from thousands upon +thousands of throats, "Long live the queen! Long live the dauphin!" +and the cry passed along like wildfire through the whole mass of +spectators behind the fence, and all eyes followed the tall and +proud figure of the queen as she walked away. + +Only the eyes of Simon pursued her with a malicious glare, and his +clinched fists threatened her behind her back. + +"She shall pay for this!" he muttered, with a withering curse. "She +has struck back my hand to-day, but the day will come when she will +feel it upon her neck, and when I will squeeze the hand of the +little rascal so that he shall cry out with pain! I believe now, +what Marat has so often told me, that the time of vengeance is come, +and that we must bring the crown down and tread it under our feet, +that the people may rule! I will have my share in it. I will help +bring it down, and tread it under foot. I hate the handsome Austrian +woman, who perks up her nose, and thinks herself better than my +wife; and if the golden time has come of which Marat speaks, when +the people are the master, and the king is the servant, Marie +Antoinette shall be my waiting-maid, and her son shall be my +choreboy, and his buckle shall make acquaintance with my shoe- +straps!" + +And while Master Simon was muttering this to himself, he was making +a way through the crowd with those great elbows of his, a slipping +along the fence, to be able to follow as long as possible the tall +figure of the queen, who was now leading the dauphin by the hand, +traversing the Arcadian Walk. At the end of it was the fence which +led into the little garden reserved for the royal family. Through +the iron gate, hard by, adorned with the arms of the kings of +France, Marie Antoinette entered an asylum, which had been saved to +the crown, free from the intrusion of the people, and she drew a +free breath when one of the lackeys closed the gate, and she heard +the key grate in the lock. + +She stood still a moment to regain her composure, and then she felt +that her feet were trembling, and that she scarcely had the power to +go farther. It would have been a relief to her to have fallen there +upon her knees, and poured all her sorrows and trials into the ear +of God. But there were the lackeys behind her; there was her little +son, looking up to her with his great eyes; and there was that +dreadful cry coming up from the quay like the roaring of the sea. + +The queen could not utter a word of grief or sorrow, she could not +sink to the ground in her weakness; she had to show a cheerful face +to her son, and a proud brow to her servants. God only could look +into her heart and see the tears which glowed there like burning +coals. Yet in all her sadness she had a feeling of triumph, of proud +satisfaction. She had preserved her freedom, her independence; she +was not Lafayette's prisoner! No, the Queen of France had not put +herself under the protection of the people's general; she had not +given him the power of watching her with his hated National Guard, +and of saying to them: "At this or that hour the queen takes her +walks, and, that she may recreate herself, we will protect her +against the rage of the people!" + +No, she had defended herself, she had remained the queen all the +while, the free queen, and she had gained a victory over the people +by showing them that she did not fear them. + +"Mamma," cried the dauphin, interrupting her in her painful and +proud thought--" mamma, there comes the king, there comes my papa! +Oh, he will be glad to hear that I was so courageous!" + +The queen quickly stooped down and kissed him. "Yes, truly, my +little Bayard, yon have done honor to your great exemplar, and you +have really been a little chevalier sans peur et sans reproche. But, +my child, true bravery does not glory in its great deeds, and does +not desire others to admire them, but keeps silent and leaves it to +others to talk about them!" + +"Mamma, I will be silent, too," cried the boy, with glowing eyes. +"Oh, you shall see that I can be silent, and not talk at all about +myself." + +The king meanwhile, followed by some gentlemen and servants, was +coming forward with unaccustomed haste, and, in his eagerness to +reach his wife, he had not noticed the beds, but was treading under +foot the last fading flowers of autumn. + +"You are here at last, Marie," said he, when he was near enough to +speak. "I wanted to go to meet you, to conduct you hither out of the +park. You were gone very long, and I worried about you." + +"Why worried, sire?" asked the queen. "What danger could threaten me +in our garden?" + +"Do not seek to hide any thing from me, Marie," said Louis, with a +sigh. "I know every thing! The hate of the people denies us any +longer the enjoyment of the open air! Lafayette and Bailly were with +me after they were dismissed by you. They told me that you had given +no favor to their united request, and that you would not grant to +General Lafayette the right to protect you while you are taking your +walks." + +"I hope your majesty is satisfied with me," answered Marie +Antoinette. "You feel, like me, that it is a new humiliation for us +if we are to allow our very enjoyment of nature to be under the +control of the people's general, and if even the air is no longer to +be the free air for us!" + +"I have only thought that in such unguarded walks you would be +threatened with danger," answered the king, perplexed. "Lafayette +has painted to me in such dark and dreadful colors, and I have so +painfully had to confess that he speaks the truth, that I could only +think of your safety, and take no other point of view than to see +you sheltered from the attacks of your enemies, and from the rage of +these factions. I have therefore approved Lafayette's proposal, and +allowed him to protect your majesty on your walks." + +"But you have not fixed definite hours for my walks? You have not +done that, sire, have you?" + +"I have indeed done that," answered the king, gently. "I am familiar +with your habits, and know that in autumn and winter you usually +take your walks between twelve and two, and in summer afternoons +between five and seven. I have therefore named these hours to +General Lafayette." + +The queen heaved a deep sigh. "Sire," she said, softly, "you +yourself are binding tighter and tighter the chains of our +imprisonment. To-day you limit our freedom to two poor hours, and +that will be a precedent for others to continue what you have begun. +We shall after this walk for two hours daily under the protection of +M. de Lafayette, but there will come a time when this protection +will not suffice, and no security will be great enough for us. For +the royal authority which shows itself weak and dependent, and which +does not draw power from itself--the royalty which suffers its crown +to be borne up for it by the hands of others, confesses thereby that +it is too weak to bear the burden itself. Oh, sire, I would rather +you had let me break away from the rage of the people, while I might +be walking unguarded, than be permitted to take my daily walks under +the protection of M. de Lafayette!" + +"You see every thing in too dark and sad a light," cried the king. +"Every thing will come out right if we are only wise and carefully +conform to circumstances, and by well-timed concessions and +admissions propitiate this hate and bring this enmity to silence." + +The queen did not reply; she stooped down to the dauphin, and, +pressing a kiss upon his locks, whispered: "Now yon may tell every +thing, Louis. It is not longer necessary to keep silent about any +thing, for silence were useless! So tell of your heroism, my son!" + +"Is it of heroism that you talk?" said the king, whose nice ear had +caught the words of the queen. + +"Yes, of heroism, sire," answered Marie Antoinette. "But it is with +us as with Don Quixote; we believed that we were fighting for our +honor and our throne; now we must confess that we only fought +against windmills. I beg you now, sire, to inform General Lafayette +that it is not necessary to call out his National Guards on my +account, I shall not walk again!" + +And the queen kept her word. Never again during the winter did she +go down into the gardens and park of the Tuileries. She never gave +Lafayette occasion to protect her, but she at least gained thereby +what Lafayette wanted to reach by his National Guard--she held the +populace away from the Tuileries. At first they stood in dense +masses day after day along the fence of the park and the royal +garden, but when they saw that Marie Antoinette would no more expose +herself to their curious and evil glances, they grew tired of +waiting for her, and withdrew from the neighborhood of the +Tuileries,--but only to repair to their clubs and listen to the +raving speeches which Marat, Santerre, and other officers, hurled +like poisoned arrows at the queen-only to go into the National +Assembly and hear Mirabeau and Robespierre, Danton, Chenier, Petion, +and all the rest, the assembled representatives of the nation, +launch their thundering philippics against a royalty appointed by +the grace of God, and causing the people to believe that it was a +royalty appointed by the wrath of God. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +IN ST. CLOUD. + + +The winter was passed--a sad dismal winter for the royal family, and +for Marie Antoinette in particular! None of those festivities, those +diversions, those simple and innocent joys, which are wont to adorn +the life of a woman and of a queen! + +Marie Antoinette is no more a queen who commands, who sees around +her a throng of respectful courtiers, zealously listening to every +word that falls from her lips; Marie Antoinette is a grave solitary +woman, who works much, thinks much, makes many plans for saving the +kingdom and the throne, and sees all these plans shipwrecks on the +indecision and weakness of her husband. + +Far away from the queen lay those happy times when every day brought +new joys and new diversions; when the dawn of a summer morning made +the queen happy, because it promised her a delightful evening, and +one of those charming idyls at Trianon. The brothers of the king, +the schoolmaster and mayor of Trianon, had left France and had +located themselves at Coblentz on the Rhine; the Polignacs had fled +to England; the Princess Lamballe, too, had, at the wish of the +queen, gone to negotiate with Pitt, in order to implore the all- +powerful minister of George III. to give to the oppressed French +crown more material and effectual support than was afforded by the +angry and bitter words which he hurled in Parliament against the +riotous and rebellious French nation. The Counts de Besenval and +Coigny, the Marquis de Lauzun, and Baron d'Adhemar, all the +privileged friends of the summer days at Trianon and the winter days +of Versailles, all, all, were gone. + +They had fled to Coblentz, and were at the court of the French +princes. There they spun their intrigues, sought to excite a +European war against France; from there they hurled their flaming +torches into France, their calumnies against Queen Marie Antoinette, +the Austrian woman. She alone was accountable for all the +misfortunes and the disturbances of France, she alone had given +occasion for the distrust now felt against royalty. On her head fell +the curse and the burden of all the faults and sins which the French +court had for a hundred years committed. There must be a sacrificial +lamb, to be thrown into the arms glistening with spears and daggers, +of a revolution which thirsted for blood and vengeance, and Marie +Antoinette had to be the victim. In her bleeding heart the spirits +glowing with hate might cool themselves, and there the evil which +her predecessors had done, was to be atoned for. Many a wrong had +been done, and the French nation had, no doubt, a right to be angry +and to rage as does the lion for a long time kept in subjection, +when at last, touched too much by the iron of its keeper, it rises +in its wildness, and with withering greed, tears him in pieces from +whom it has suffered so long and so much. The French people rose +just as the incensed lion does, and determined to wreak their +vengeance on their keepers, on those whom they had so long called +their lords and rulers. + +To pacify the lion some prey must be thrown to him, and to him who +thirsts for vengeance and blood, a human offering must be brought to +propitiate him. + +Marie Antoinette had to be the offering to the lion! Her blood had +to flow for the sins of the Bourbons! On her all the anger, the +exasperation, the rage of the people must concentrate! She must bear +the blame of all the miseries and the needs of France! She must +satisfy the hunger for vengeance, in order that when the lion is +appeased it can be made placable and patient again, the chains put +on which he has broken in his rage--the chains, however, to which, +when his rage is past, he must again submit. + +The queen, the queen is to blame for all! Marie Antoinette has +brought royalty into discredit; the Austrian woman has brought the +hatred of the French nation upon herself, and she must atone for it, +she alone! + +Libels and calumnies are forged against the queen by those who were +once the friends and cavaliers of the queen--cavaliers no longer, +but cavillers now; the poisoned arrows are sent to France to be +directed against the head of the queen, to destroy first her honor +and good name, and then to make her a prey for scorn and contempt. + +If the lion stills his rage and cools his hate with Marie Antoinette +as his victim, he will relax again and bow to his king, for it is +time for these royal princes to return to France and their loved +Paris once more. + +The Count do Provence is the implacable enemy of the queen; he can +never forgive her for gaining the heart of the king her husband, and +leaving no influence for his wise, clever brother. The Count de +Provence is avaricious and crafty. He sees that an abyss has opened +before the throne of the lilies, and that it will not close again! +It must, therefore, be filled up! A reconciliation will not be +possible in a natural way, and artificial methods must be found to +accomplish it. Louis XVI. will not be saved, and Marie Antoinette +shall not be! The two, perhaps, can fill up the abyss that yawns +between the throne of the lilies and the French people. They, +perhaps, may fill it up, and then a way may be made for the Count de +Provence, the successor of his brother. + +The Count d'Artois was once the friend of the queen, the only one of +the royal family who wished her well, and who defended her sometimes +against the hatred of the royal aunts and sisters-in-law, and the +crafty brother. But while living in Coblentz, the Count d'Artois had +become the embittered enemy of Marie Antoinette. He had heard it so +often said on all sides that the queen by her levity, her +extravagance, and her intrigues, was the cause of all, that she +alone had brought about the revolution, that he at last believed it, +and turned angrily against the royal woman, whose worst offence in +the eyes of the prince lay in this, that she had been the occasion +of his enforced exile to Coblentz. + +And Marie Antoinette knew all these intrigues which were forged by +the prince in Coblentz against herself--knew about all the calumnies +that were set in circulation there; she read the libels and +pamphlets which the storm-wind of revolution shook from the dry tree +of monarchy like withered autumn leaves, and scattered through all +France, that they might be everywhere found and read. + +"They will kill me," she would often say, with a sigh, after reading +these pamphlets steeped with hate, and written in blood--" yes, they +will kill me, but with me they will kill the king and the monarchy +too. The revolution will triumph over us all, and hurl us all +together down into the grave." + +But still she would make efforts to control the revolution and +restore the monarchy again out of its humiliations. The Emperor +Joseph II., brother of the queen, once said of himself, "I am a +royalist, because that is my business." Marie Antoinette was a +royalist not because it was her business; she was a royalist by +conviction, a royalist in her soul, her mind, and her inmost nature. +For this she would defend the monarchy; for this she would contend +against the revolution, until she should either constrain it to +terms or be swallowed up in it. + +All her efforts, all her cares, were directed only to this, to +kindle in the king the same courage that animated her, to stir him +with the same fire that burned in her soul. But alas! Louis XVI. was +no doubt a good man and a kind father, but he was no king. He had no +doubt the wish to restore the monarchy, but he lacked the requisite +energy and strong will. Instead of controlling the revolution with a +fiery spirit, he sought to conciliate it by concession and mild +measures; and instead of checking it, he himself went down before +it. + +But Marie Antoinette could not and would not give up hope. As the +king would not act, she would act for him; as he would not take part +in politics, she would do so for him. With glowing zeal she plunged +into business, spent many hours each day with the ministers and +dependants of the court, corresponded with foreign lands, with her +brother the Emperor Leopold, and her sister, Queen Caroline of +Naples, wrote to them in a cipher intelligible only to them, and +sent the letters through the hands of secret agents, imploring of +them assistance and help for the monarchy. + +In earnest labor, in unrelieved care and business, the queen's days +now passed; she sang, she laughed no more; dress had no longer +charms for her; she had no more conferences with Mademoiselle +Bertin, her milliner; her hairdresser, M. Leonard, had no more calls +upon his genius for new coiffures for her fair hair; a simple, dark +dress, that was the toilet of the queen, a lace handkerchief round +the neck, and a feather was her only head-dress. + +Once she had rejoiced in her beauty, and smiled at the flatteries +which her mirror told her when it reflected her face; now she looked +with indifference at her pale, worn face, with its sharp grave +features, and it awoke no wonder within her when the mirror told her +that the queen of France, in spite of her thirty-six years, was old; +that the roses on her cheeks had withered, and that care had drawn +upon her brow those lines which age could not yet have done. She did +not grieve over her lost beauty; she looked with complacency at that +matron of six-and-thirty years whose beautiful hair showed the +traces of that dreadful night in October. She had her picture +painted, in order to send it to London, to the truest of her +friends, the Princess Lamballe, and with her own hands she wrote +beneath it the words: "Your sorrows have whitened your hair." + +And yet in this life full of cares, full of work, full of pain and +humiliation--in these sad days of trouble and resignation, there +were single gleams of sunshine, scattered moments of happiness. + +It was a ray of sunshine when this sad winter in the Tuileries was +past, and the States-General allowed the royal family to go to St. +Cloud and spend the summer there. Certainly it was a new humiliation +for the king to receive permission to reside in his own summer +palace of St. Cloud. But the States-General called themselves the +pillars of the throne, and the king who sat upon this shaking throne +was very dependent upon its support. + +In St. Cloud there was at least a little freedom, a little solitude +and stillness. The birds sang in the foliage, the sun lighted up the +broad halls of the palace, in which a few faithful ones gathered +around the queen and recalled at least a touch of the past happiness +to her brow. In St. Cloud she was again the queen, she held her +court there. But how different was this from the court of former +days. + +No merry laughter, no cheerful singing resounded through these +spacious halls; no pleasant ladies, in light, airy, summer costume +swept through the fragrant apartments; M. d'Adhemar no longer sits +at the spinet, and sings with his rich voice the beautiful arias +from the opera "Richard of the Lion Heart," in which royalty had its +apotheosis, and in which the singer Garat had excited all Paris to +the wildest demonstrations of delight! And not all Paris, but +Versailles as well, and in Versailles the royal court! + +Louis XVI. himself had been in rapture at the aria which Garat sang +with his flexible tenor voice in so enchanting a manner--"Oh, +Richard! oh, mon roi!"--an aria which had once procured him a +triumph in the very theatre. For when Garat began this air with his +full voice, and every countenance was directed to the box where the +royal family were sitting, the whole theatre rose, and the hundreds +upon hundreds present had joined in the loud, jubilant strains--"Oh, +Richard! oh, mon roi!" Louis XVI. was grateful to the spirited +singer, who, in that stormy time, had the courage to publicly offer +him homage, and he had therefore acceded to the request of the +queen, that Garat should be invited to the private concerts of the +queen at Versailles, and give her instruction on those occasions in +the art of singing. + +Marie Antoinette thought of those pleasant days of the past, as she +sat in the still, deserted music-room, where the instruments stood +silent by the wall--where there were no hands to entice the cheerful +melodies from the strings, as there had once been. + +"I wish that I had never sung duets with Garat," whispered the queen +to herself. "The king allowed me, but yet I ought not to have done +it. A queen has no right to be free, merry, and happy. A queen can +practise the fine arts only alone, and in the silence of her own +apartments. I would I had never sung with Garat." [Footnote: The +queen's own words.--See "Memoires de Madame de Campan," vol. ii.] + +She sat down before the spinet and opened it. Her fingers glided +softly over the keys, and for the first time, in long months of +silence, the room resounded with the tones of music. + +But, alas! it was no cheerful music which the fingers of the queen +drew from the keys; it was only the notes of pain, only cries of +grief; and yet they recalled the happy by-gone times--those golden, +blessed days, when the Queen of France was the friend of the arts, +and when she received her early teacher, the great maestro and +chevalier, Gluck, in Versailles; when she took sides for him against +the Italian maestro Lully, and when all Paris divided into two +parties, the Gluckists and Lullyists, waging a bloodless war against +each other. Happy Paris! At that time the interests of art alone +busied all spirits, and the battle of opinions was conducted only +with the pen. Gluck owed it to the mighty influence of the queen +that his opera "Alcestes" was brought upon the stage; but at its +first representation the Lullyists gained the victory, and condemned +it. In despair, Gluck left the opera-house, driven by hisses into +the dark street. A friend followed him and detained him, as he was +hurrying away, and spoke in the gentlest tones. But Gluck +interrupted him with wild violence: "Oh, my friend!" cried he, +falling on the neck of him who was expressing his kindly sympathy, +"'Alcestes' has fallen!" But his friend pressed his hand, and said, +"Fallen? Yes, 'Alcestes' has fallen! It has fallen from heaven!" + +The queen thought of this as she sat before the spinet--thought how +moved Gluck was when he related this answer of his friend, and that +he, who had been so kind, was the Duke d'Adhemar. + +She had thanked him for this gracious word by giving him her hand to +kiss, and Adhemar, kneeling, had pressed his lips to her hand. And +that was the same Baron Adhemar who was now at Coblentz assisting +the prince to forge libels against herself, and who was himself the +author of that shameless lampoon which ridiculed the musical studies +of the queen, and even the duet which she had sung with Garat! + +Softly glided her fingers over the keys, softly flowed over her +pale, sunken cheeks two great tears--tears which she shed as she +thought of the past--tears full of bitterness and pain! But no, no, +she would not weep; she shook the tears from her eyes, and struck +the keys with a more vigorous touch. Away, away, those recollections +of ingratitude and faithlessness! Art shall engage her thoughts in +the music-room, and to Gluck and "Alcestes" the hour belongs! + +The queen struck the keys more firmly, and began to play the noble +"Love's Complaint," of Gluck's opera. Unconsciously her lips opened, +and with loud voice and intense passionate expression, she sang the +words, "Oh, crudel, non posso in vere, tu lo sui, senza dite!" + +At the first notes of this fine voice the door in the rear of the +room had lightly opened--the one leading to the garden--and the +curly head of the dauphin was thrust in. Behind him were Madame de +Tourzel and Madame Elizabeth, who, like the prince, were listening +in breathless silence to the singing of the queen. + +As she ended, and when the voice of Marie Antoinette was choked in a +sigh, the dauphin flew with, extended arms across the hall to his +mother, "Mamma queen," cried he, beaming with joy, "are you singing +again? I thought my dear mamma had forgotten how to sing. But she +has begun to sing again, and we are all happy once more." + +Marie Antoinette folded the little fellow in her arms, and did not +contradict him, and nodded smilingly to the two ladies, who now +approached and begged the queen's pardon for yielding to the +pressing desires of the dauphin, and entering without permission. + +"Oh, mamma, my dear mamma queen," said the prince, in the most +caressing way, "I have been very industrious to-day; the abbe was +satisfied with me, and praised me, because I wrote well and learned +my arithmetic well. Won't you give me a reward for that, mamma +queen?" + +"What sort of a reward do you want, my child?" asked the queen, +smiling. + +"Say, first, that you will give it." + +"Well, yes, I will give it, my little Louis; now tell me what it +is." + +"Mamma queen, I want you to sing your little Louis a song; and," he +added, nodding at the two ladies, "that you allow these friends of +mine to hear it." + +"Well, my child, I will sing for you," answered Marie Antoinette, +"and our good friends shall hear it." + +The countenance of the boy beamed with pleasure; with alacrity he +rolled an easy-chair up to the piano, and took his seat in it in the +most dignified manner. + +Madame Elizabeth seated herself near him on a tabouret, and Madame +de Tourzel leaned on the back of the dauphin's chair. + +"Now sing, mamma, now sing," asked the dauphin. + +Marie Antoinette played a prelude, and as her eyes fell upon the +group they lighted up with joy, and then turned upward to God with a +look of thankfulness. + +A few minutes before she had felt alone and sad: she had thought of +absent friends in bitter pain, and now, as if fate would remind her +of the happiness which still remained to her, it sent her the son +and the sister-in-law, both of whom loved her so tenderly, and the +gentle and affectionate Madame de Tourzel, whom Marie Antoinette +knew to be faithful and constant unto death. + +The flatterers and courtiers, the court ladies and cavaliers, are no +longer in the music-room; the enraptured praises no longer accompany +the songs of the queen; but, out of the easy-chair, in which the +Duchess de Polignac had sat so often, now looks the beautiful blond +face of her son, and his beaming countenance speaks more eloquently +to her than the flatteries of friends. On the tabouret, now occupied +by her sister-in-law, Madame Elizabeth, De Dillon has often sat--the +handsome Dillon, and his glowing, admiring looks have often, +perhaps, in spite of his own will, said more to the queen than she +allowed herself to understand, as her heart thrilled in sweet pain +and secret raptures under those glances! How pure and innocent is +the face which now looks out from this chair--the face of an angel +who bears God in his heart and on his countenance. + +"Pray for me; pray that God may let me drink of Lethe, that I may +forget all that has ever been! Pray that I may be satisfied with +what remains, and that my heart may how in humility and patience!" + +Thus thought the queen as she began to sing, not one of her great +arias which she had studied with Garat, and which the court used to +applaud, but one of those lovely little songs, full of feeling and +melody, which did not carry one away in admiration, but which filled +the heart with joy and deep emotion. + +With suspended breath, and great eyes directed fixedly to Marie +Antoinette, the dauphin listened, but gradually his eyes fell, and +motionless and with grave face the child sat in his arm-chair. + +Marie Antoinette saw it, and began to sing one of those cradle-songs +of the "Children's Friend," which Berquin had written, and Gretry +had set to music so charmingly. + +How still was it in the music-room, how full and touching was the +voice of the queen as she began the last verse: + +"Oh, sleep, my child, now so to sleep. Thy crying grieves my heart; +Thy mother, child, has cause to weep, But sleep and feel no smart." +[Footnote: "Dors, mon enfant, clos ta paupiere, Tes cris me +dechirent la coeur; Dors, mon enfant, ta pauvre more A bien assez de +sa douleur."] + +All was still in the music-room when the last words were sung; +motionless, with downcast eyes, sat the dauphin long after the sad +voice of the queen had ceased. + +"Ah, see," cried Madame Elizabeth, with a smile, "I believe now our +Louis has fallen asleep." + +But the child quickly raised his head and looked at the smiling +young princess with a reproachful glance. + +"Ah, my dear aunt," cried he, reprovingly, "how could any one sleep +when mamma sings?" [Footnote: The dauphin's own words.--See +Beauchesne, vol. i., p. 27.] + +Marie Antoinette drew the child within her arms, and her countenance +beamed with delight. Never had the queen received so grateful a +compliment from the most flattering courtier as these words of her +fair-haired boy conveyed, who threw his arms around her neck and +nestled up to her. + +The Queen of France is still a rich, enviable woman, for she has +children who love her; the Queen of France ought not to look without +courage into the future, for the future belongs to her son. The +throne which now is so tottering and insecure, shall one day belong +to him, the darling of her heart, and therefore must his mother +struggle with all her power, and with all the means at her command +contend for the throne for the Dauphin of France, that he may +receive the inheritance of his father intact, and that his throne +may not in the future plunge down into the abyss which the +revolution has opened. + +No, the dauphin, Louis Charles, shall not then think reproachfully +of his parents; he shall not have cause to complain that through +want of spirit and energy they have imperilled or lost the sacred +heritage of his fathers. + +No, Queen Marie Antoinette may not halt and lose courage,--not even +when her husband has done so, and when he is prepared to humbly bow +his sacred head beneath that yoke of revolution, which the heroes +and orators selected by the nation have wished to put upon his neck +in the name of France. + +This makes hers a double duty, to be active, to plan, and work; to +keep her head erect, and look with searching eye in all directions +to see whence help and deliverance are to come. + +Not from without can they come, not from foreign monarchs, nor from +the exiled princes. Foreign armies which might march into the +country would place the king, who had summoned them to fight with +his own people, in the light of a traitor; and the moment that they +should pass the frontiers of France, the wrath of the nation would +annihilate the royal couple. + +Only from those who had called down the danger could help come. The +chiefs of the revolution, the men who had raised their threatening +voices against the royal couple, must be won over to become the +advocates of royalty. And who was more powerful, who more +conspicuous among all these chiefs of the revolution, and all the +orators of the National Assembly, than Count Mirabeau! + +When he ascended the Speaker's tribune of the National Assembly all +were silent, and even his opponents listened with respectful +attention to his words, which found an echo through all France; when +he spoke, when from his lips the thunder of his speeches resounded, +the lightning flashed in his eyes, and his head was like the head of +a lion, who, with the shaking of his mane and the power of his +anger, destroyed every thing which dared to put itself in his way. +And the French nation loved this lion, and listened in reverential +silence to the thunder of his speech, and the throne shook before +him. And the excitable populace shouted with admiration whenever +they saw the lion, and deified that Count Mirabeau, who, with his +powerul, lace-cuffed hand, had thrust these words into the face of +his own caste: "They have done nothing more than to give themselves +the trouble to be born." + +The people loved this aristocrat, who was abhorred by his family and +the men of his own rank; this count whom, the nobility hated because +the Third Estate loved him. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +MIRABEAU. + + +"Count Mirabeau must be won over," Count de la Marck ventured to say +one day to Marie Antoinette. "Count Mirabeau is now the mightiest +man in France, and he alone is able to bring the nation back again +to the throne." + +"It is he," replied the queen, with a glow, "who is most to blame +for alienating the nation from the throne. Never will the renegade +count be forgiven! Never can the king stoop so low as to pardon this +apostate, who frivolously professes the new religion of 'liberty,' +and disowns the faith of his fathers." + +"Your majesty," replied Count de la Marck, with a sigh, "it may be +that in the hand of this renegade lies the future of your son." + +The queen trembled, and the proud expression on her features was +softened. + +"The future of my son?" said she. "What do you mean by that? What +has Count Mirabeau to do with the dauphin? His wrath follows us +only, his hatred rests upon us alone! I grant that at present he is +powerful, but over the future he has no sway. I hope, on the +contrary, that the future will avenge the evil that Mirabeau does to +us in the present." + +"But how does it help, madame, if vengeance hurries him on?" asked +Count de la Marck, sadly. "The temple which Samson pulled down was +not built again, that Samson might be taken from its ruins; it +remained in its dust and fragments, and its glory was gone forever. +Oh, I beseech your majesty, do not listen to the voice of your +righteous indignation, but only to the voice of prudence. Master +your noble, royal heart, and seek to reconcile your adversaries, not +to punish them!" + +"What do you desire of me?" asked Marie Antoinette, in amazement. +"What shall I do?" + +"Your majesty must chain the lion," whispered the count. "Your +majesty must have the grace to change Mirabeau the enemy into +Mirabeau the devoted ally and friend!" + +"Impossible, it is impossible!" cried the queen, in horror. "I +cannot descend to this. I never can view with friendly looks this +monster who is accountable for the horrors of those October days. I +can only speak of this man, who has created his reputation out of +his crimes, who is a faithless son, a faithless husband, a faithless +lover, a faithless aristocrat, and a faithless royalist--I can only +speak of him in words of loathing, scorn, and horror! No, rather die +than accept assistance from Count Mirabeau! Do you not know, count, +that he honors me his queen with his enmity and his contempt? Is it +not Mirabeau who caused the States-General to accept the words 'the +person of the king is inviolable,' and to reject the words 'and that +of the queen?' Was it not Mirabeau who once, when my friends +exhorted him to moderation, and besought him to soften his words +about the Queen of France, had the grace to answer with a shrug, +'Well, she may keep her life!' Was it not Mirabeau who was to blame +for the October days? Was it not Mirabeau who publicly said: 'The +king and the queen are lost. The people hate them so, that they +would even destroy their corpses?'" [Footnote: The queen's own +words.--See Goncourt, "Marie Antoinette," p. 305.] + +"Your majesty, Mirabeau said that, not as a threat, but out of pity, +and deep concern and sympathy." + +"Sympathy!" repeated the queen, "Mirabeau, who hates us!" + +"No, your majesty, Mirabeau, who honors his queen, who is ready to +give his life for you and for the monarchy, if your majesty will +forgive him and receive him as a defender of the throne!" + +The queen shuddered, and looked in astonishment and terror at the +excited face of Count de la Marck. "Are you speaking of Mirabeau, +the tribune of the people," she asked, "the fiery orator of the +National Assembly?" + +"I am speaking of Count Mirabeau, who yesterday was the enemy of the +throne, and who to-day will be a zealous defender, if your majesty +will only have it so--if your majesty will only speak a gracious +word to him." + +"It is impossible, it is impossible!" whispered the queen. + +De la Marck continued: "Since he has frequently seen your majesty-- +since he has had occasion to observe your proud spirit and lofty +resignation--a change has taken place in the character of Mirabeau. +He is subdued as the lion is subdued, when the beaming eye of a pure +soul looks it in the face. He might be of service again, he might be +reconciled! He writes, he speaks of his exalted queen with +admiration, with enthusiasm; he glows with a longing desire to +confess his sins at the feet of your majesty, and to receive your +forgiveness." + +"Does the king know this?" asked Marie Antoinette. "Has any one told +his majesty?" + +"I should not have taken the liberty of speaking to your majesty +about these things if the king had not authorized me," replied Count +de la Marck, bowing. "His majesty recognizes it to be a necessary +duty to gain Mirabeau to the throne, and he hopes to have in this +matter the cooperation of his exalted wife." + +Marie Antoinette sadly shook her head. "I will speak with his +majesty about it," she said, with a sigh, "but only under +circumstances of extreme urgency can I submit to this, I tell you in +advance." + +But the case was of extreme urgency, and when Marie Antoinette had +seen it to be so, she kept her word and conformed to it, and +commissioned Count de la Marck to tell his friend Mirabeau that the +queen would grant him an audience. + +But in order that this audience might be of advantage, it must be +conducted with the deepest secrecy. No one ought to suspect that +Mirabeau, the tribune of the people, the adored hero of the +revolution--Mirabeau, who ruled the National Assembly, and Paris +itself, whom the freest of the free hailed as their apostle and +saviour, who with the power of his eloquence ruled the spirits of +thousands and hundreds of thousands of men,--no one could suspect +that the leader of the revolution would now become the devoted +dependant upon the monarchy, and the paid servant of the king. + +Two conditions Mirabeau had named, when Count de la Marck had tried +to gain him over in the name of the king: an audience with the +queen, and the payment of his debts, together with a monthly pension +of a hundred louis-d'or. + +"I am paid, but not bought," said Mirabeau, as he received his first +payment. "Only one of my conditions is fulfilled, but what will +become of the other?" + +"And so you still insist on having an audience with the queen?" +asked La Marck. + +"Yes, I insist upon it," said Mirabeau, with naming eyes. "If I am +to battle and speak for this monarchy, I must learn to respect it. +If I am to believe in the possibility of restoring it, I must +believe in its capacity of life; I must see that I have to deal with +a brave, decided, noble man. The true and real king here is Marie +Antoinette; and there is only one man in the whole surroundings of +Louis XVI., and that is his wife. I must speak with her, in order to +hear and to see whether she is worth the risking of my life, honor, +and popularity. If she really is the heroine that I hold her to be, +we will both united save the monarchy, and the throne of Louis XVI., +whose king is Marie Antoinette. The moment is soon to come when we +shall learn what a woman and a child can accomplish, and whether the +daughter of Maria Theresa with the dauphin in her arms cannot stir +the hearts of the French as her great mother once stirred the +Hungarians." [Footnote:Mirabeau's own words.--See "Marie Antoinette +et sa Famille." Far M. de Lescure. p. 478.] + +"Do you then believe the danger is so great," asked La Marck, "that +it is necessary to resort to extreme, heroic measures?" + +Mirabeau grasped his arm with a sudden movement, and an expression +of solemn earnestness filled his lion-like face. "I am convinced of +it," he answered, "and I will add, the danger is so great, that if +we do not soon meet it and in heroic fashion, it will not be +possible to control it. There is no other security for the queen +than through the reestablishment of the royal authority. I believe +of her, that she does not desire life without her crown, and I am +certain that, in order to keep her life, she must before all things +preserve her crown. And I will help her and stand by her in it; and +for this end I must myself speak with her and have an audience." +[Footnote: Mirabeau's own words.--See Count de la Marck, "Mirabeau," +vol. 21. p. 50.] + +And Mirabeau, the first man in the revolution had his audience with +Marie Antoinette, the dying champion of monarchy. + +On the 3rd of July, 1790, the meeting of the queen and Mirabeau took +place in the park of St. Cloud. Secrecy and silence surrounded them, +and extreme care had been taken to let no one suspect, excepting a +few intimate friends, what was taking place on this sequestered, +leaf-embowered grass-plat of St. Cloud. + +A bench of white marble, surrounded by high oleander and taxus +trees, stood at the side of this grass-plat. It was the throne on +which Marie Antoinette should receive the homage of her new knight. +Mirabeau had on the day before gone from Paris to the estate of his +niece, the Marchioness of Aragan. There he spent the night; and the +next morning, accompanied by his nephew, M. de Saillant, he walked +to the park of St. Cloud. + +At the nether gate of the park, which had been left open for this +secret visit, Mirabeau took leave of his companion, and extended him +his hand. + +"I do not know," he said, and his voice, which so often had made the +windows of the assembly hall shake with its thunder, was now weak +and tremulous, "I do not know why this dreadful presentiment creeps +over me all at once, and why voices whisper to me, 'Turn, back, +Mirabeau, turn back! Do not step over the threshold of this door, +for there you are stepping into your open grave!' " + +"Follow this voice, uncle, there is still time," implored M. de +Saillant; "it is with me as it is with you. I, too, have a sad, +anxious feeling!" + +"May they not have laid snares for me here?" whispered Mirabeau, +thoughtfully. "They are capable of every thing, these artful +Bourbons. Who knows whether they have not invited me here to take me +prisoner, and to cast me, whom they hold to be their most dangerous +enemy, into one of their oubliettes, their subterranean dungeons? My +friend," he continued, hastily, "wait for me here, and if in two or +three hours I do not return, hasten to Paris, go to the National +Assembly, and announce to them that Mirabeau, moved by the queen's +cry of distress, has gone to St. Cloud, and is there held a +prisoner." + +"I will do it, uncle," said the marquis, "but I do not believe in +any such treachery on the part of the queen or her husband. They +both know that without Mirabeau they are certainly lost, and that +he, perhaps, is able to save them. I fear something entirely +different." + +"And what do you fear?" + +"I fear your enemies in the National Assembly," said M. de Saillant, +and with a pained expression. "I fear these enraged republicans, who +have begun to mistrust you since you have begun to speak in favor of +royalty and mon archy, and since you have even ventured to defend +the queen personally against the savage and mean attacks which Marat +hurls against Marie Antoinette in his journal, the Ami du Peuplt." + +"It is true," said Mirabeau, with a smile, "they have mistrusted me, +these enraged republicans, since then, and they tell me that Petion, +this republican of steel and iron, turned to Danton at the close of +my speech, and said: 'This Mirabeau is dangerous to liberty, for +there is too much of the blood of the count flowing through the +veins of the tribune of the people. Danton answered him with a +smile: 'In that case we must draw off the count's blood from the +tribune of the people, that he may either be cured of his +reactionary disease or die of it!'" + +"And when they told Marat, uncle, that you had spoken angrily and +depreciatingly of his attacks upon the queen, he raised his fist +threateningly, and cried: 'Mirabeau is a traitor, who wants to sell +our new, young liberty to the monarchy. But he will meet the fate of +Judas, who sold the Saviour. He will one day atone for it with his +head, for if we tap him for his treachery, we shall do for him what +Judas did for himself. This Mirabeau Judas must take care of +himself." + +"And do you suppose that this disputatious little load of a Marat +will hang me?" asked Mirabeau, with a scornful smile. + +"I think that you must watch him," answered M. de Saillant. "Last +evening, in the neighborhood of our villa, I met two disguised men, +who, I would swear, were Perion and Marat; and on our way here, as I +looked around, I feel certain that I saw these same disguised +figures following us!" + +"What if it be?" answered Mirabeau, raising himself up, and looking +around him with a proud glance. "The lion does not fear the annoying +insect that buzzes about him, he shakes it off with his mane or +destroys it with a single stroke of his paw. And Mirabeau fears just +as little such insects as Petion and Marat; they would much better +keep out of his way. I will tread them under foot, that is all! And +now, farewell, my dear nephew, farewell, and wait for me here!" + +He nodded familiarly to his nephew, passed over the threshold, and +entered the park, from whose entrance the popular indignation had +long since removed the obnoxious words, De par la Reine, the garden +belonging now to the king only because the nation willed it so. + +Mirabeau hastened with an anxious mind and a light step along the +walk, and again it seemed to him as if dark spirits were whispering +to him, "Turn back, Mirabeau, turn back! for with every step forward +you are only going deeper into your grave." He stopped, and with his +hand-kerchief wiped away the drops of cold sweat which gathered upon +his forehead. + +"It is folly," he said, "perfect folly. Truly I am as tremulous as a +girl going to her first rendezvous. Shame on you, Mirabeau, be a +man!" + +He shook his head as if he wanted to dispel these evil forebodings, +and hastened forward to meet Count de la Marck, who appeared at the +bending of the allee. + +"The queen is already here, and is waiting for you, Mirabeau," said +the marquis, with a slight reproach in his voice. + +Mirabeau shrugged his shoulders instead of replying, and went on +more rapidly. There soon opened in front of them a small grass-plat, +surrounded by bushes, and on the bench opposite, the lady in the +white, neat dress, with a straw hat on her arm, her hair veiled with +black lace--that lady was Marie Antoinette. + +Mirabeau stopped in his walk, and fixed a long, searching look upon +her. When he turned again to his friend, his face was pale, and bore +plain traces of emotion. + +"My friend," whispered he to La Marck, "I know not why, but I have a +strange feeling! I have not wept since the day on which my father +drove me with a curse from the house of my ancestors, but, seeing +yonder woman, I could weep, and an unspeakable sympathy fills my +soul." + +The queen had seen him, too, and had grown pale, and turned +tremblingly to the king, who stood beside her, half concealed by the +foliage. + +"There is the dreadful man!" said Marie Antoinette, with a shudder. +"My God! a thrill of horror creeps through all my veins, and if I +only look at this monster, I have a feeling as though I should +sicken with loathing!" [Footnote: The queen's own words. See "Madame +du Campan," vol. II.] + +"Courage, my dear Marie, courage," whispered the king. "Remember +that the welfare of our future, and of our children, perhaps, +depends upon this interview. See, he is approaching. Receive him +kindly, Marie. I will draw back, for you alone shall have the honor +of this day, and monarchy has in you its fairest representative." + +"But remain so near me, sire, that you can hear me if I call for +help," whispered Marie Antoinette. + +The king smiled. "Fear nothing, Marie," he said," and believe that +the danger for Mirabeau is greater than for you. The name of +criminal will be fastened not to us, but to Mirabeau, if it shall be +known that he has come to visit us here. I will withdraw, for there +is Mirabeau." + +And the king withdrew into the thicket, while Mirabeau stopped near +the queen, and saluted her with a profound bow. + +Marie Antoinette rose from her marble seat. At this moment she was +not the queen giving an audience, but the anxious lady, advancing to +meet danger, and desirous to mitigate it by politeness and smiles. + +"Come nearer, count," said Marie Antoinette, still standing. But as +he approached, the queen sank slowly upon the seat, and raised her +eyes to Mirabeau, with an almost timid look, who now did not seem to +her a monster, for his mien was disturbed, and his eyes, which had +always been represented as so fearful, had a gentle, respectful +expression. + +"Count," said the queen, and her voice trembled a little "count, if +I found myself face to face with an ordinary enemy, a man who was +aiming at the destruction of monarchy, without seeing of what use it +is for the people, I should be taking at this moment a very useless +step. But when one talks with a Mirabeau, one is beyond the ordinary +conditions of prudence, and hope of his assistance is blended with +wonder at the act." [Footnote: The queen's own words.--See "Marie +Antoinette et sa Famille" Par M. de Lescure, p. 484.] + +"Madame," cried Mirabeau, deeply moved, "I have not come here as +your enemy, but as your devoted servant, who is ready cheerfully to +give his life if he can be of any service to the monarchy." + +"You believe, then, that it is a question of life, or, if you +prefer, of death, which stands between the French people and the +monarchy?" asked the queen, sadly. + +"Yes, I am convinced of that," answered Mirabeau. "But I still hope +that we can answer the question in favor of the monarchy, provided +that the right means are applied in season." + +"And what, according to your views, are the right means, count?" + +Mirabeau smiled and looked with amazement into the noble face of the +queen, who, with such easy composure, had put into this one short +question what for centuries had perplexed the greatest thinkers and +statesmen to answer. + +"Will your majesty graciously pardon me if I crave permission, +before I answer, to put a question in like manner to my exalted +queen?" + +"Ask on, count," replied Marie Antoinette, with a gentle inclination +of her head. + +"Well, madame, this is my question: 'Does your majesty purpose and +aim at the reestablishment of the old regime, and do you deem it +possible to roll the chariot of human history and of politics +backward?" + +"You have in your question given the answer as well," said Marie +Antoinette, with a sigh. "It is impossible to reerect the same +edifice out of its own ruins. One must be satisfied if out of them a +house can be built, in which one can manage to live." + +"Ah, your majesty," said Mirabeau, with feeling, "this answer is the +first ray of light which breaks through the heavy storm-clouds! The +new day can be descried and hailed with delight! After hearing this +noble answer of your majesty, I look up comforted, and the clouds do +not terrify me longer, for I know that they will soon be past--that +is, if we employ the right means." + +"And now I repeat my question, count, What, according to your view, +are the right means?" + +"First of all, the recognition of what is wrong," answered Mirabeau, +"and then the cheerful and honest will to do what is found to be +necessary." + +"Well, tell me, what is it that is wrong?" + +Mirabeau bowed, and then began to speak to her in his clear, sharp +way, which was at the same time so full of energy, of the situation +of France, the relation of the various political parties to one +another, to the court, and the throne. In strongly outlined +sentences he characterized the chiefs of the political clubs, the +leaders of the parties in the National Assembly, and spoke of the +perilous goal which the demagogues, the men of the extreme Left, +aimed at. He did not, from delicacy, speak the word "republican," +but he gave the queen to understand that the destruction of the +monarchy and the throne, the annihilation of the royal family, was +the ultimate object aimed at by all the raving orators and leaders +of the extreme Left. + +The queen had listened to him with eager, fixed attention, and, at +the same time, with a dignified composure; and the earnest, +thoughtful look of her large eyes had penetrated and moved Mirabeau +more and more, so that his words came from his lips like a stream of +fire, and kindled a new hope even in himself. + +"All will yet be well," he cried, in conclusion; "we shall succeed +in contending with the hidden powers that wish to undermine your +majesty's throne, and to take from the hands of your enemies these +dangerous weapons of destruction. I shall apply all my power, all my +eloquence to this. I will oppose the undertakings of the demagogues; +I will show myself to be their public opponent, and zealously serve +the monarchy, making use of all such means of help as are adapted to +move men's minds, and not to trouble and terrify them, as if freedom +and self-government were to be taken from them, and yet which will +restore the credit and power of the monarchy." + +"Are you, then, with honest and upright heart, a friend of ours?" +asked Marie Antoinette, almost supplicatingly. "Do you wish to +assist us, and stand by us, with your counsel and help?" + +Mirabeau met her inquisitive and anxious look with a cordial smile, +a noble and trustworthy expression of face. "Madame," he said, with +his fine, resonant voice, "I defended monarchical principles when I +saw only their weakness, and when I did not know the soul nor the +thoughts of the daughter of Maria Theresa, and little reckoned upon +having such an exalted mediator. I contended for the rights of the +throne when I was only mistrusted, when calumny dogged all my steps, +and declared me guilty of treachery! I served the monarchy, then, +when I knew that from my rightful, but misled king, I should receive +neither kindness nor reward. What shall I do now, when confidence +animates my spirit, and gratitude has made my duties run directly in +the current of my principles? I shall be and remain what I have +always been, the defender of monarchy governed by law, the apostle +of liberty guaranteed by the monarchy." [Footnote: Mirabeau's own +words.--See "Memoires du Comte de Mirabeau," vol III., p. 290.] + +"I believe you, count," cried Marie Antoinette, with emotion. "You +will serve us with fidelity and zeal, and with your help all will +yet be well. I promise yon that we will follow your counsels, and +act in concord with you. You will put yourself in communication with +the king; you will consult him about needful matters, and advise him +about the things which are essential to his welfare and that of the +people." + +"Madame," replied Mirabeau, "I take the liberty of adding this to +what has already been said. The most necessary thing is that the +royal court leave Paris for a season!" + +"That we flee?" asked Marie Antoinette, hastily. "Not flee, but +withdraw," answered Mirabeau. "The exasperated people menace the +monarchy, and therefore the threatened crown must for a while be +concealed from the people's sight, that they may be brought back to +a sense of duty and loyalty. And, therefore, I do not say that the +court must flee; I only say it must leave Paris, for Paris is the +furnace of the revolution! The royal court must withdraw, as soon as +possible, to the very boundaries of France! It must there gather an +army, and put it under the command of some faithful general, and +with this army march against the riotous capital; and I will be +there to smooth the way and open the gates!" + +"I thank you, count, I thank you!" cried Marie Antoinette, rising +from her seat. "Now, I doubt no more about the future, for my own +thoughts coincide with those of our greatest statesmen! I, too, am +convinced the court ought to leave Paris--that it must withdraw, in +order to escape new humiliations, and that it ought to return only +in the splendor of its power, and with an army to put the rebels to +flight, and breathe courage into the timid and faithful. Oh! you +must tell the king all this; you must show him that our removal from +Paris is not only a means of salvation to the crown, but to the +people as well. Your words will convince the noblest and best of +monarchs; he will follow your counsels, and, thanks to you, not we +alone, but the monarchy will be saved! No, go to the work, count! Be +active in our behalf; bring your unbounded influence, in favor of +the king and queen, to bear upon all spirits, and be sure that we +shall be grateful to you so long as we live. Farewell, and remember +that my eye will follow all your steps, and that my ears will hear +every word which Mirabeau shall speak in the National Assembly." + +Mirabeau bowed respectfully. "Madame," said he, "when your exalted +mother condescended to favor one of her subjects with an audience, +she never dismissed him without permitting the favored one +respectfully to kiss her hand." + +"It is true," replied Marie Antoinette, with a pleasant smile, "and +in this, at least, I can follow the example of my great mother!" + +And, with inimitable grace, the queen extended her hand to him. +Mirabeau, enraptured, beside himself at this display of courtesy and +favor, dropped upon his knee and pressed his lips to the delicate, +white hand of the queen. + +"Madame," cried he, with warmth, "this kiss saves the monarchy!" +[Mirabeau's own words.--See "Memoires de Mirabeau," vol iv., p. +208.] + +"If you have spoken the truth, sir," said the queen, with a sigh, +rising and dismissing him, with a gentle inclination of her head. + +With excited and radiant looks, Mirabeau returned to his nephew, who +was waiting for him at the gate of the park. + +"Oh!" said he, with a breath of relief, laying his hand upon the +shoulder of Saillant, "what have I not heard and seen! She is very +great, very noble, and very unhappy, Victor! But," cried he, with a +loud, earnest voice, "I will save her--I will save her!" [Footnote: +"Marie Antoinette et sa Famille," p 480.] + +Mirabeau was in earnest in this purpose; and not because he had been +bought over, but because he had been won--carried away with the +noble aspect of the queen--did he become from this time a zealous +defender of the monarchy, an eloquent advocate in behalf of Marie +Antoinette. But he was not now able to restrain the dashing waves of +revolution; he could not even save himself from being engulfed in +these raging waves. + +Mirabeau knew it well, and made no secret of the peril of his +position. On the day when, before the division, he spoke in defence +of the monarchy and the royal prerogative, and undertook to decide +the question of peace or war--on that day he first announced himself +openly for the king, and raised a storm of excitement and disgust in +the National Assembly. Still he spoke right bravely in behalf of the +crown; and while doing so, he cried, "I know well that it is only a +single step from the capitol to the Tarpeian rock!" + +Step after step! And these successive steps Mirabeau was soon to +take. Petion had not in vain characterized Mirabeau as the most +dangerous enemy of the republic. Marat had not asserted, without +knowing what he said, that Mirabeau must let all his aristocratic +blood flow from his veins, or bleed to death altogether! Not with +impunity could Mirabeau encounter the rage of parties, and fling +down the gauntlet before them, saying, at the same moment, "He would +defend the monarchy against all attacks, from what side soever, and +from what part soever of the kingdom they might come." + +The leaders of the republican factions knew very well how to +estimate the power of Mirabeau; they knew very well that Mirabeau +was able to fit together the fragments of the crown which he had +helped to break. And, to prevent his doing this, they knew that he +must be buried beneath these fragments. + +Soon after his interview with the queen--after his dissenting speech +in behalf of the prerogative of the king--Mirabeau began to fail in +health. His enemies said that it was only the result of over- +exertion, and a cold which he had brought on by drinking a glass of +cold water during a speech, in the National Assembly. His friends +whispered about a deadly poison which had been mingled with this +glass of water, in order to rid themselves of this powerful and +dangerous opponent. + +Mirabeau believed this; and the increasing torpor of his limbs, the +pains which he felt in his bowels, appeared to him to be the sure +indications of poison given him by his enemies. + +The lion, who had been willing to crouch at the foot of the throne +for the purpose of guarding it, was now nothing but a poor, sick +man, whose voice was lost, and whose power was extinguished. For a +season he sought to contend against the malady which was lurking in +his body; but one day, in the midst of a speech which he was making +in behalf of the queen, he sank in a fainting-fit, and was carried +unconsciously to his dwelling. After long efforts on the part of his +physician, the celebrated Cabanis, Mirabeau opened his eyes. +Consciousness was restored, but with it a fixed premonition of his +approaching death. + +"I am dying!" he said, softly. "I am bearing in my heart the funeral +crape of the monarchy. These raging partisans want to pluck it out, +deride it, and fasten it to their own foreheads. And this compels +them to break my heart, and this they have done!" [Footnote: +Mirabeau's own words.--See "Memoires sur Mirabeau," vol. iv.,. p. +296.] + +Yes, they had broken it--this great strong heart, in which the +funeral crape of monarchy lay. At first the physician and his +friends hoped that it might be possible to overcome his malady, but +Mirabeau was not flattered by any such hope; he felt that the pains +which were racking his body would end only with death. + +After one especially painful and distressing night, Mirabeau had his +physician Cabanis and his friend Count de la Marck summoned to his +bed, and extended to them both his hands. "My friends," he said to +them with gentle voice and with peaceful face, "my friends, I am +going to die to-day. When one has been brought to that pass, there +is only one thing that remains to be done: to be perfumed, +tastefully dressed, and surrounded with flowers, so as to fall +agreeably into that last sleep from which there is no waking. So, +call my servants! I must be shaved, dressed, and nicely arrayed. The +window must be opened, that the warm air may stream in, and then +flowers must be brought. I want to die in the sunshine and flowers." +[Footnote: Mirabeau's words.--See "Memoires sur Mirabeau," vol. iv., +p. 298.] + +His friends did not venture to oppose his last wish. The gladiator +wanted to make his last toilet and be elaborately arrayed in order +to fall in the arena of life as a hero falls, and even in death to +excite the wonder and the applause of the public. + +All Paris was in this last scene the public of this gladiator; all +Paris had, in these last days of his battle for life, only one +thought, "How is it with Mirabeau? Will he compel the dreadful enemy +Death to retire from before him, or will he fall as the prey of +Death?" This question was written on all faces, repeated in all +houses and in all hearts. Every one wanted to receive an answer from +that still house, with its closely-drawn curtains, where Mirabeau +lived. All the streets which led thither were, during the last three +days before his death, filled with a dense mass of men, and no +carriage was permitted to drive through the neighborhood, lest it +should disturb Mirabeau. The theatres were closed, and, without any +consultation together, the merchants shut their stores as they do on +great days of national fasting or thanksgiving. + +On the morning of the fourth day, before life had begun to move in +the streets of Paris, and before the houses were opened, a cry was +heard in the great highways of the city, ringing up into all the +houses, and entering all the agitated hearts that heard it: +"Flowers, bring flowers! Mirabeau wants flowers! Bring roses and +violets for Mirabeau! Mirabeau wants to die amid flowers!" + +This cry awoke slumbering Paris the 2d of April, 1791, and, as it +resounded through the streets, windows and doors opened, and +hundreds, thousands of men hastened from all directions toward +Mirabeau's house, carrying nosegays, bouquets, whole baskets of +flowers. One seemed to be transferred from cool, frosty spring +weather to the warm, fragrant days of summer; all the greenhouses, +all the chambers poured out their floral treasures to prepare one +last summer day for the dying tribune of the people. His whole house +was filled with flowers and with fragrance. The hall, the staircase, +the antechamber, and the drawing-room were overflowing with flowers; +and there in the middle of the drawing-room lay Mirabeau upon a +lounge, carefully dressed, shaved and powdered, as if for a royal +festival. The most beautiful of the flowers, the fairest exotics +surrounded his couch, and bent their variegated petals down to the +pale, death-stricken gladiator, who still had power to summon a +smile to his lips, and with one last look of affection to bid +farewell to his weeping friends--farewell to the flowers and the +sunlight! + +On his lofty brow, on his smiling lips, there was written, after +Death had claimed him, after the gladiator had fallen, "The dying +one greets you!" + +The day of his death was the day of his last triumph; and the +flowers that all Paris sent to him, were to Mirabeau the parting +word of love and admiration! + +Four times daily the king had sent to inquire after Mirabeau's +welfare, and when at noon, on the 2d of April, Count de la Marck +brought the tidings of his death, the king turned pale. "Disaster is +hovering over us," he said, sadly, "Death too arrays himself on the +side of our enemies!" + +Marie Antoinette was also very deeply moved by the tidings. "He +wanted to save us, and therefore must die! The burden was too heavy, +the pillar has broken under the weight; the temple will plunge down +and bury us beneath its ruins, if we do not hasten to save +ourselves! Mirabeau's bequest was his counsel to speedy and secret +flight! We must follow his advice, we must remove from Paris. May +the spirit of Mirabeau enlighten the heart of the king, that he may +be willing to do what is necessary,--that he may be willing to leave +Paris!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +REVOLUTION IN THE THEATRE. + + +All Paris was again in commotion, fear, and uproar. The furies of +the revolution, the market-women, went howling again through the +streets on the 20th of June, 1791, uttering their horrid curses upon +the king and the Austrian woman, and hurling their savage words and +dirty songs against Madame Veto, against la chienne d'Autriche. + +Around the Tuileries stood in immense masses the corps of the +National Guard, with grave and threatening mien, and with difficulty +holding back the people, who were filling the whole broad square in +front of the palace, and who could only with great effort be +prevented from breaking through those strong cordons of guards who +held both ends of the street leading to the Tuileries, and kept at +least the middle of the way free and open. + +It was a way for the king, the queen, and the royal family, who were +to reenter Paris that day. Lafayette had, at the order of the +National Assembly, gone with some regiments of the guard to +Varennes, to conduct the king back to the capital. Thousands upon +thousands had hurried out after him in order to observe this return +of the representatives of monarchy, and to take part in this funeral +procession! + +For it was a funeral of the monarchy which was celebrated that day; +and this great, heavy carriage, surrounded by soldiers, and the +ribald, mocking populace--this great carriage, which now drove along +the streets leading to the Tuileries, amid the thunder of cannon, +and the peals of bells from towers, was the funeral car of monarchy. + +The king, the queen, the royal children, the sister of the king, +Madame Tourzel, and the two deputies whom the National Assembly had +sent to Varennes to accompany the royal family, Petion and Barnave, +were in this carriage. + +They had tried to follow the advice of the dying Mirabean, and to +save themselves from the revolution. That was the offence of this +king and this queen, who were now brought back in triumph to the +Tuileries, the palace of kings, and from that time a royal prison. + +Tri-colored banners waved from all roofs and from all windows; +placards were displayed everywhere, bearing in immense letters the +words: "Whoever applauds the king shall be scourged; whover insults +him shall be hanged!" + +They had wished to escape, these unhappy ones, who are now brought +back from Varennes, where they were identified and detained. Now +they were returning, no longer the masters, but the prisoners of the +French nation! The National Assembly had passed a decree, whose +first article was: "The king is temporarily set aside from the +functions of royalty;" and whose second and third articles were, +"that so soon as the king and his family shall be brought back to +the Tuileries, a provisional watch shall be set over him, as well as +over the queen and the dauphin, which, under the command of the +general-in-chief of the National Guard of Paris, shall be +responsible for their safety and for their detention." + +The king and the queen returned to Paris as prisoners, and Lafayette +was their jailer. The master of France, the many-headed King of the +French nation, was the National Assembly. + +Sad, dreadful days of humiliation, of resignation, of perils and +anxieties, now followed for the royal family, the prisoners of the +Tuileries, who were watched day and night by spying eyes, and whose +doors must remain open day and night, in order that officers on +guard might look without hindrance into the apartments in which the +prisoners of the French nation lived. + +During the first week after the sad return, the spirit of the queen +seemed to be broken, her energies to be impaired forever. She had no +more hope, no more fear; she threw out no new plans for escaping, +she neither worked nor wrote. She only sat still and sad for hours, +and before her eyes passed the dreadful pictures of the time just +gone by, presenting themselves with dreadful vividness, and in the +recollection anguishing her spirit. She recalled the excitement and +anxiety of the day which preceded the flight. She saw herself, as +with trembling hands she put on the garments of one of her waiting- +maids, and then disguised the dauphin in girl's clothes; she heard +the boy asking anew, with his pleasant smile: "Are we going to play +theatre, mamma queen?" Then she saw herself on the street alone, +waiting without any protection or company for the carriage which was +to take her up, after taking up at another place the king and the +two children. She recalled the drive in the dark night, the heat in +the close, heavy carriage, the dreadful alarm when suddenly, after a +twelve hours' drive, the carriage broke, and all dismounted to climb +the hill to the village which lay before them, and where they had to +wait till the carriage could be repaired. Then the journey on, the +delay in Varennea, the cry, "They are recognized." Then the +confusion, the march, the anguish of the hours following, and +finally that last hour of hope when, in the poor chamber of the +shopkeeper Sauce, his wife standing near the bed on which the little +prince slept, she conjured his wife to save the king and find him a +hiding-place. Then she heard again before her ears the woman's hard +voice answering her: + +"Madame, it cannot be; I love my husband, too, and I also have +children, but my husband were lost if I saved yours." Then she heard +afresh the cries, the march; saw the arrival of the Paris regiments +and the deputies whom the National Assembly sent to conduct the +royal refugees back to Paris. Then she recalled the drive back, +crowded into the carriage with the deputies, and the ribald populace +roaring around. As she thought of all these things, a shudder ran +through the form of the unhappy queen, and tears streamed +unrestrainedly from her eyes. + +But gradually she gained her composure and spirit, and even the +daily humiliation and trials which she encountered awakened in her +the fire and defiance of her earlier days. + +The king and the queen were, after their return from Varennes, the +prisoners of their own people, and the Tuileries formed the prison +in which with never-sleeping cruelty the people watched their royal +captives. + +The chiefs of the battalions constituting the National Guard took +turns in sentry duty over the royal couple. They had received the +rigid order to constantly watch the royal family, and not to leave +them for a moment alone. Even the sleeping-room of the queen was not +closed to the espionage of the guards; the door to the drawing-room +close by had always to be open, and in this drawing-room was the +officer of the guard. Even in the night, while the queen lay in her +bed, this door remained open, and the officer, sitting in an arm- +chair directly opposite to the door, kept his eyes directed to the +bed in which the queen sought to sleep, and wrestled with the pains +and fear which she was too proud to show to her persecutors. The +queen had stooped to make but one request; she had asked that at +least in the morning, when she arose and dressed, she might close +the doors of her sleeping-room, and they had been magnanimous enough +to comply with her wish.[Footnote: "Histoire de Marie Antoinette," +par Edmondet Jules de Goneourt, p. 861.] + +But Queen Marie Antoinette had met all these humiliations, these +disenchantments, and trials, full of hope of a change in her +fortune. Her proud soul was still unbroken, her belief in the +victory of monarchy under the favor of God animated her heart with a +last ray of hope, and sustained her amid all her misfortune. She +still would contend with her enemies for the love of this people, of +whom she hoped that, led astray by Jacobins and agitators, they +would at last confess their error, respect the voice of their king +and queen, and return to love and regretfulness. And Marie +Antoinette would sustain herself in view of the great day when the +people's love should be given back; she would seek to bring that day +back, and reconcile the people to the throne. On this account she +would show the people that she cherished no fear of them; that she +would intrust herself with perfect confidence to them, and greet +them with her smiles and all the favor of former days. She would +make one more attempt to regain her old popularity, and reawaken in +their cold hearts the love which the people had once displayed to +her by their loud acclamations. She found power in herself to let +her tears flow, not visibly, but within her heart; to disguise with +her smile the pain of her soul, and so she resolved to wear a +cheerful and pleasant face, and appear again publicly in the +theatre, as well as in open carriage-drives through the city. + +They were then giving in the great opera-house Gluck's "Alceste," +the favorite opera of the queen--the opera in which a few years +before she had received so splendid a triumph; in which the public +loudly encored, "Chantons, celebrons notre reine!" which the choir +had sung upon the stage, and, standing with faces turned toward the +royal box, had mingled their voices with those of the singers, and +repeated in a general chorus, "Chantons, celebrons notre reine!" + +"I will try whether the public remembers that evening," said Marie +Antoinette, with a faint smile, to Mademoiselle de Bugois, the only +lady who had been permitted to remain with her; "I will go this +evening to the opera; the public shall at least see that I intrust +myself with confidence to it, and that I have not changed, however +much may have been changed around." + +Mademoiselle de Bugois looked with deep sadness at the pale face of +the queen, that would show the public that she had not altered, and +upon which, once so fair and bright, grief had recorded its +ineradicable characters, and almost extinguished its old beauty. +Deeply moved, the waiting-lady turned away in order not to let the +tears be seen which, against her will, streamed from her eyes. + +But Marie Antoinette had seen them nevertheless. With a sad smile +she laid her hand upon the shoulder of the lady-in-waiting. "Ah!" +said she, mildly, "do not conceal your tears. You are much happier +than I, for you can shed tears; mine have been flowing almost two +years in silence, and I have had to swallow them! [Footnote: Marie +Antoinette's own words.--See Goncourt, p. 264.] + +"But I will not weep this evening," she continued, "I will meet +these Parisians at least in composure. Yes, I will do more, I will +try to smile to them. They hate me now, but perhaps they will +remember then that once they truly loved me. There is a trace of +magnanimity in the people, and my confidence will perhaps touch it. +Be quick, and make my toilet. I will be fair to-day. I will adorn +myself for the Parisians. They will not be my enemies alone who will +be at the theatre; some of my friends will be there, and they at +least will be glad to see me. Quick, mademoiselle, let us begin my +toilet." + +And with a liveliness and a zeal which, in her threatened situation, +had something touching in it, Marie Antoinette arrayed herself for +the public, for the good Parisians. + +The news that the queen was to appear that evening at the theatre +had quickly run through all Paris; the officer on duty told it at +his relief to some of the guards, they to those whom they met, and +it spread like wildfire. It was therefore very natural that, long +before the curtain was raised, the great opera-house was completely +filled, parquette, boxes, and parterre, with a passionately-excited +throng. The friends of the queen went in order to give her a long- +looked-for triumph; her enemies--and these the poor queen had in +overwhelming numbers--to fling their hate, their malice, their +scorn, into the face of Marie Antoinette. + +And enemies of the queen had taken places for themselves in every +part of the great house. They even sat in the boxes of the first +rank, on those velvet-cushioned chairs which had formerly been +occupied exclusively by the enthusiastic admirers of the court, the +ladies and gentlemen of the aristocracy. But now the aristocracy did +not dare to sit there. The most of them, friends of the queen, had +fled, giving way before her enemies and persecutors; and in the +boxes where they once sat, now were the chief members of the +National Assembly, together with the leading orators of the clubs, +and the societies of Jacobins. + +To the box above, where the people had once been accustomed to see +Princess Lamballe, the eyes of the public were directed again and +again. Marie Antoinette had been compelled to send away this last of +her friends to London, to have a conference with Pitt. Instead of +the fair locks of the princess, was now to be seen the head of a +man, who, resting both arms on the velvet lining of the box, was +gazing down with malicious looks into the surging masses of the +parterre. This man was Marat, once the veterinary of the Count +d'Artois, now the greatest and most formidable orator of the wild +Jacobins. + +He too had come to see the hated she-wolf, as he had lately called +the queen in his "Ami du Peuple," and, to prepare for her a public +insult, sat drunk with vanity in the splendid box of the Princess +Lamballe; his friends and confidants were in the theatre, among them +Santerre the brewer, and Simon the cobbler, often looking up at +Marat, waiting for the promised motion which should be his signal +for the great demonstration. + +At length the time arrived for the opera to begin, and, although the +queen had not come, the director of the orchestra did not venture to +detain the audience even for a few minutes. He went to his place, +took his baton, and gave the sign. The overture began, and all was +silent, in parquette and parterre, as well as in the boxes. Every +one seemed to be listening only to the music, equally full of +sweetness and majesty--only to have ears for the noble rhythm with +which Gluck begins his "Alceste." + +Suddenly there arose a dull, suppressed sound in parquette, +parterre, and boxes, and all heads which had before been directed +toward the stage, were now turned backward toward the great royal +box. No one paid any more attention to the music, no one noticed +that the overture was ended and that the curtain was raised. + +Amid the blast of trumpets, the noise of violins and clarionets, the +public had heard the light noise of the opening doors, had noticed +the entrance of the officers, and this sound had made the Parisians +forget even their much-loved music. + +There now appeared in the open box-door a woman's form. The queen, +followed by Mademoiselle de Bugois, advanced slowly through the +great box to the very front. All eyes were directed to her, all +looks searched her pale, noble face. + +Marie Antoinette felt this, and a smile flitted over her face like +the evening glow of a summer's day. With this smile and a deep blush +Marie Antoinette bowed and saluted the public. + +A loud, unbounded cry of applause resounded through the vast room. +In the parquette and in the boxes hundreds of spectators arose and +hailed the queen with a loud, pealing "Vive la reine!" and clapped +their hands like pleased children, and looked up to the queen with +joyful, beaming countenances. + +"Oh, my faith has not deceived!" whispered Marie Antoinette into the +ear of her companion. "The good Parisians love me still; they, like +me, remember past times, and the old loyalty is awaking in them." + +And again she bowed her thanks right and left, and again the house +broke out into loud applause. A single, angry glance of Marat's +little eyes, peering out from beneath the bushy brows, met the +queen. + +"Only wait," said Marat, rising from his seat and directing his +glances at the parterre. There stood the giant Santerre, and not far +from him Simon the cobbler, in the midst of a crowd of savage- +looking, defiant fellows, who all looked at their leaders, while +they, Santerre and Simon, directed their eyes up to the box of +Marat. + +The glance of the chief met that of his two friends. A scornful, +savage expression swept over Marat's ash-colored, dirty face, and he +nodded lightly to his allies. Santerre and Simon returned the nod, +and they, turning to their companions, gave the signal by raising +the right hand. + +Suddenly the applause was overborne by loud whistling and shouting, +derisive laughter, and wild curses. + +"The civil war has begun!" cried Marat, rubbing his hands together +with delight. + +The royalists continued to applaud and to shout, "Vive la reine!" +Their opponents tried to silence them by their hisses and whistling. +Marat's face glowed with demoniacal pleasure. He turned to the boxes +of the second tier, and nodded smilingly to the men who sat there. +At once they began to cry, "The chorus, the chorus, let them sing, +'Chantons, celebrons notre reine!'" + +"Very well," said Marat. "I am a good royalist, for I have trained +the people to the cry." + +"Sing, sing!" shouted the men to the performers on the stage--"sing +the chorus, 'Chantons, celebrons notre reine!'" + +And in the boxes, parquette, everywhere was the cry, "Sing the +chorus, 'Chantons, celebrons notre reine!'" + +"No," roared Santerre, "no, they shall not sing that!" + +"No," cried Simon, "we will not hear the monkey-song!" + +And hundreds of men in the parterre and the upper rows of boxes +echoed the cry, "No, we will not hear the monkey-song!" + +"The thing works well!" said Marat. "I hold my people by a thread, +and make them gesticulate and spring up and down, like the concealed +man in a Punch and Judy show." + +The noise went on; the royalists would not cease their applause and +their calls for the chorus, "Chantons, celebrons notre reine!" The +enemies of the queen did not cease hissing and shouting, "We do not +want to hear any thing about the queen; we will not hear the monkey- +song!" + +"Oh, would I had never come here!" whispered the queen, with tearful +eyes, as she sank back in her armchair, and hid her face in her +handkerchief. + +Perhaps because the real royalists saw the agitation of the queen, +and out of compassion for her were willing to give up the +controversy--perhaps Marat had given a sign to the false royalists +that they had had enough of shouting and confusion--at all events +the cry "Vive la reine" and the call for the chorus died away +suddenly, the applause ceased, and as the enemies of the queen had +now no opposition to encounter, nothing was left to them but to be +silent too. + +"The first little skirmish is over!" said Marat, resting his bristly +head on the back of his velvet arm-chair. "Now we will listen to the +music a little, and look at the pretty theatre girls." + +And in fact the opera had now begun; the director of the orchestra +had taken advantage of the return of quiet to give a sign to the +singers on the stage to begin at once, and with fortunate presence +of mind his command was obeyed. + +The public, wearied it may be with the shouting and noise, remained +silent, and seemed to give its attention exclusively to the stage, +the development of the plot, and the noble music. + +Marie Antoinette breathed freely again; her pale cheeks began to +have color once more, her eyes were again bright, and she seemed +transported beyond the sore battles and dreadful discords of her +life; she listened respectfully to the sweet melodies, and the grand +harmonies of the teacher of her youth, the great Gluck. Leaning back +in her armchair, she allowed the music to flow into her soul, and +the recollection of past days awoke afresh in her mind. She dreamed +of the days of her childhood: she saw herself again in Schonbrunn; +she saw her teacher Gluck enter the blue music-room, in which she +with her sisters used to wait for him; she saw the glowing +countenance of her mother, the great Maria Theresa, entering her +room, in order to give Gluck a proof of her high regard, and to +announce to him herself that Marie Antoinette had betrothed herself +to the Dauphin of France, and that she would soon bid her teacher +farewell, in order to enter upon her new and brilliant career. + +A low hum in the theatre awakened the queen from her reveries; she +raised herself up and leaned forward, to see what was going on. Her +glance, which was directed to the stage, fell upon the singer +Clairval, who was just then beginning to give, with his wonderfully +full and flexible voice, the great aria in which the friend comes to +console the grief-burdened, weeping Queen Alceste, and to dry her +tears by assuring her of the love of her faithful adherents. +Clairval had advanced in the aria to that celebrated passage which +had given to Marie Antoinette a half year before her last great +triumph. It ran: + +"Reine infortunee, ah! que ton coeur Ne soit plus navre de douleur! +Il vous reste encore des amis!" + +But scarcely had Clairval begun the first strophe when the +thundering voice of Santerre called, "None of that, we will not hear +the air!" + +"No, we will not hear the air!" shouted hundreds and hundreds of +voices. + +"Poor Gluck," whispered Marie Antoinette, with tears in her eyes, +"because they hate me, they will not even hear your music!" + +"Sing it, sing it!" shouted hundreds and hundreds of voices from all +parts of the house. + +"No, do not sing it!" roared the others; "we will not hear the air." + +And suddenly, above the cries of the contestants, rose a loud, +yelling voice: + +"I forbid the singer Clairval ever again singing this air. I forbid +it in the name of the people!" + +It was Marat who spoke these words. Standing on the arm-chair of the +Princess de Lamballe, and raising his long arms, and directing them +threateningly toward the stage, he turned his face, aglow with hate +and evil, toward the queen. + +Marie Antoinette, who had turned her head in alarm in the direction +whence the voice proceeded, met with her searching looks the eyes of +Marat, which were fixed upon her with an expression equally stern +and contemptuous. She shrank back, and, as if in deadly pain, put +her hand to her heart. + +"0 God!" she whispered to herself, "that is no man, that is an +infernal demon, who has risen there to take the place of my dear, +sweet Lamballe. Ah, the good spirit is gone, and the demon takes its +place--the demon which will destroy us all!" + +"Long live Marat!" roared Santerre, and his comrades. "Long live +Marat, the great friend of the people, the true patriot!" + +Marat bowed on all sides, stepped down from the easy-chair, and +seated himself comfortably in it. + +Clairval had stopped in the air; pale, confused, and terrified, he +had withdrawn, and the director whispered to the orchestra and the +singers to begin the next number. + +The opera went on, and the public again appeared to give itself +during some scenes to the enjoyment of the music. But soon this +short quiet was to be disturbed again. One of the singers, Madame +Dugazont, a zealous royalist, wanted to give the queen a little +triumph, and show her that, although Clairval had been silenced, the +love and veneration of Dugazont were still alive and ready to +display themselves. + +Singing as the attendant of Alceste, Dugazont had these words to +give in her part: "Ah! comme faime la reine, comme faime ma +maitresse!" + +She advanced close to the footlights, and turning her looks toward +the royal box, and bowing low, sang the words: "Comme faime la +reine, comme j'aime ma maitresse!" + +And now, as if this had been the battle-cry of a new contest, a +fearful din, a raging torrent of sound began through the whole +house. At first it was a mixed and confused mass of cries, roars, +hisses, and applause. Now and then single voices could be heard +above the horrid chaos of sounds. "We want no queen!" shouted some. + +"We want no mistress!" roared others; and mingled with those was the +contrary cry, "Long live the queen! Long live our mistress!" + +"Hi!" said Marat, full of delight, twisting his bony form up into +all kinds of knots--" hi! this is the way they shout in hell. Satan +himself would like this!" + +More and more horrible, more and more wild became the cries of the +rival partisans. Already embittered and exasperated faces were +confronting each other, and here and there clinched fists were seen, +threatening to bring a shouting neighbor to silence by the use of +violence. + +The queen, trembling in every limb, had let her head fall +powerlessly on her breast, in order that no one might see the tears +which ran from her eyes over her death-like cheeks. + +"0 God," whispered she, "we are lost, hopelessly lost, for not +merely our enemies injure us, and bring us into danger, but our +friends still more. Why must that woman turn to me and direct her +words to me? She wanted to give me a triumph, and yet she has +brought me a new humiliation." Suddenly she shrank back and raised +her head. She had caught the first tones of that sharp, mocking +voice, which had already pierced her heart, the voice of that evil +demon who now occupied the place of the good Princess Lamballe. + +The voice cried: "The people of Paris are right. We want no queen! +And more than all other things, no mistress! Only slaves acknowledge +masters over them. If the Dugazont ventures to sing again, 'I love +my queen, I love my mistress,' she will be punished as slaves are +punished--that is, she will be flogged!" + +"Bravo, Marat, bravo!" roared Santerre, with his savage rabble. +"Bravo, Marat, bravo!" cried his friends in the boxes; "she shall be +flogged!" + +Marat bowed on all sides, and turned his eyes, gleaming with scorn +and hatred, toward the royal box, and menaced it with his clinched +fists. + +"But not alone shall the singer be flogged," cried he, with a voice +louder and sharper than before--"no, not alone shall the singer be +flogged, but greater punishment have they deserved who urge on to +such deeds. If the Austrian woman comes here again to turn the heads +of sympathizing souls with her martyr looks, if she undertakes again +to move us with her tears and her face, we will serve her as she +deserves, we will go whip in hand into her box!" [Footnote: +Goneourt's "Histoire de Marie Antoinette," p. 365.] + +The queen rose from her chair like an exasperated lioness, and +advanced to the front of the box. Standing erect, with flaming looks +of anger, with cheeks like purple, she confronted them there--the +true heir of the Caesars, the courageous daughter of Maria Theresa-- +and had already opened her lips to speak and overwhelm the traitor +with her wrath, when another voice was heard giving answer to Marat. + +It cried: "Be silent, Marat, be silent. Whoever dares to insult a +woman, be she queen or beggar, dishonors himself, his mother, his +wife, and his daughter. I call on you all, I call on the whole +public, to take the part of a defenceless woman, whom Marat ventures +to mortally insult. + +You all have mothers and wives; you may, perhaps, some day have +daughters. Defend the honor of woman! Do not permit it to be +degraded in your presence. Marat has insulted a woman; we owe her +satisfaction for it. Join with me in the cry, 'Long live the queen! +Long live Marie Antoinette!'" + +And the public, carried away with the enthusiasm of this young, +handsome man, who had risen in his box, and whose slender, proud +figure towered above all--the public broke into one united stirring +cry: "Long live the queen! Long live Marie Antoinette!" + +Marat, trembling with rage, his countenance suffused with a livid +paleness, sank back in his chair. + +"I knew very well that Barnave was a traitor," he whispered. "I +shall remember this moment, and Barnave shall one day atone for it +with his head." + +"Barnave, it is Barnave," whispered the queen to herself. "He has +rescued me from great danger, for I was on the point of being +carried away by my wrath, and answering the monster there as he +deserves." + +"Long live the queen! Long live Marie Antoinette!" shouted the +public. + +Marie Antoinette bowed and greeted the audience on all sides with a +sad smile, but not one look did she cast to the box where Barnave +sat, with not one smile did she thank him for the service he had +done her. For the queen knew well that her favor brought misfortune +to those who shared it; that he on whom she bestowed a smile was the +object of the people's suspicion. + +The public continued to shout her name, but the queen felt herself +exhausted, and drawing back from the front of the box, she beckoned +to her companion. "Come," she whispered, "let us go while the public +are calling 'Long live Marie Antoinette!' Who knows whether they +will not be shouting in another minute, 'Away with the queen! we +want no queen!' It pains my ear so to hear that, so let us go." + +And while the public were yet crying, Marie Antoinette left the box +and passed out into the corridor, followed by Mademoiselle Bugois +and the two officers in attendance. But the corridor which the queen +had to pass, the staircase which she had to descend in order to +reach her carriage, were both occupied by a dense throng. With the +swiftness of the wind the news had spread through Paris that the +queen was going to visit the opera that evening, and that her visit +would not take place without witnessing some extraordinary outbreak. + +The royalists had hastened thither, to salute the queen, and at +least to see her on the way. The curious, the idle, and the hostile- +minded had come to see what should take place, and to shout as the +majority might shout. The great opera-house had therefore not +accommodated half who wanted to be present, and all those who had +been refused admittance had taken their station on the stairway and +the corridor, or before the main entrance. And it was natural that +those who stood before the door should, by their merely being there, +excite the curiosity of passers-by, so that these, too, stood still, +to see what was going on, and all pressed forward to the staircase +to see every thing and to hear every thing. + +But the civil war which was raging within the theatre had given rise +'to battles outside as well; the same cries which had resounded +within, pealed along the path of the queen. She could only advance +slowly; closer and closer thronged the crowd, louder and louder +roared around Marie Antoinette the various battle-cries of the +parties, "Long live the queen!" "Long live the National Assembly! +Down with the queen!" + +Marie Antoinette appeared to hear neither the one nor the other of +these cries. With proudly erected head, and calm, grave looks, she +walked forward, untroubled about the crowd, which the National Guard +before her could only break through by a recourse to threats and +violence, in order to make a passage for the queen. + +At last the difficult task was done; at last she had reached her +carriage, and could rest upon its cushions, and, unobserved by +spying looks, could give way to her grief and her tears. But alas! +this consolation continued only for a short time. The carriage soon +stopped; the Tuileries, that sad, silent prison of the royal family, +was soon reached, and Marie Antoinette quickly dried her tears, and +compelled herself to appear calm. + +"Do not weep more, Bugois," she whispered. "We will not give our +enemies the triumph of seeing that they have forced tears from us. +Try to be cheerful, and tell no one of the insults of this evening." + +The carriage door was opened, the queen dismounted, and, surrounded +by National Guards and officers, returned to her apartments. + +No one bade her welcome, no one received her as becomes a queen. A +few of the servants only stood in the outer room, but Marie +Antoinette had no looks for them. She had been compelled as a +constitutional queen ought, to dismiss her own tried and faithful +servants; her household had been reorganized, and she knew very well +that these new menials were her enemies, and served as spies for the +National Assembly. The queen therefore passed them without greeting, +and entered her sitting-room. + +But even here she was not alone; the door of the ante-room was open, +and there sat the officer of the National Guard, whose duty of the +day it was to watch her. + +Marie Antoinette had no longer the right of being alone with her +grief, no longer the right of being alone with her husband. The +little corridor which ran from the apartments of the queen to those +of the king, was always closed and guarded. When the king came to +visit his wife, the guard came too and remained, hearing every word +and standing at the door till the king retired. In like manner, both +entrances to the apartments of the queen were always watched; for +before the one sat an officer appointed by the National Assembly, +and before the other a member of the National Guard stood as sentry. + +With a deep sigh the queen entered her sleeping-room. The officer +sat before the open door of the adjacent room, and looked sternly +and coldly in. For an instant an expression of anger flitted over +the face of the queen, and her lips quivered as though she wanted to +speak a hasty word. But she suppressed it, and withdrew behind the +great screen, in order to be disrobed by her two waiting-maids and +be arrayed in her night-dress. + +Then she dismissed the maids, and coming out from behind the screen, +she said, loudly enough to be heard by the officer: "I am weary, I +will sleep." + +At once he arose, and turning to the two guards, who stood at the +door of the anteroom, said: + +"The queen is retiring, and the watch in the black corridor can +withdraw. The National Assembly has given command to lighten the +service of the National Guard, by withdrawing as much of the force +as possible. As long as the queen is lying in bed, two eyes are +enough to watch her, and they shall watch her well!" + +The soldiers left the anteroom, and the officer returned to the +entrance of the sleeping-room. He did not, however, sit down in the +easy-chair before the door, but walked directly into the chamber of +the queen. + +Marie Antoinette trembled and reached out her hand for the bell +which stood by her on the table. + +"Be still, for God's sake, be still!" whispered the officer. "Make +no noise, your majesty. Look at my face." And, kneeling before the +queen, he raised his head and looked at her with an expression +almost of supplication. "I am Toulan," he whispered, "the faithful +servant of my queen. Will your majesty have the goodness to recall +me? Here is a letter from my patroness, Madame de Campan, who speaks +well for me. Will your majesty read it?" + +The queen ran over the paper quickly and turned with a gentle smile +to the officer, who was still kneeling before her, and who, in all +her humiliation and misfortune, still paid her the homage due to +majesty. + +"Stand up, sir," she said, mildly. "The throne lies in dust, and my +crown is so sadly broken, that it is no longer worth the trouble to +kneel before it." + +"Madame, I see two crowns upon your noble head," whispered Toulan-- +"the crown of the queen, and the crown of misfortune. To these two +crowns I dedicate my service and my fidelity, and for them I am +prepared to die. It is true, I can do but little for your majesty, +but that little shall be faithfully done. Thanks to my bitter hatred +of royalty, and my rampant Jacobinism, I have carried matters so +far, that I have been put upon the list of officers to keep watch, +and, therefore, once every week I shall keep guard before your +majesty's sleeping-room." + +"And will you do me the favor to so put your chair that I shall not +see you--that during the night I may not always have the feeling of +being watched?" asked the queen, in supplicant tones. + +"No, your majesty," said Toulan, moved. "I will remain in my chair, +but your majesty will prefer, perhaps, to turn the night into day, +and remain up; as during my nights you will not be disturbed." + +"What do you mean by that?" asked Marie Antoinette, joyfully. + +"I mean, that, as during the day your majesty can never speak with +the king without witnesses, we must call the night to our +assistance, if you wish to speak confidentially to his majesty. Your +majesty has heard, that during the night the watch is withdrawn from +the corridor, and your majesty is free to leave your room and go to +the chamber of the king." + +A flash of joy passed over the countenance of the queen. "I thank +you, sir--I thank you to-day as a wife; perhaps the day may come +when I can thank you as a queen; I accept your magnanimous kindness. +Yes, I will turn the night into day, and, thanks to you, I shall be +able to spend several hours undisturbed with my husband and my +children. And do you say that you shall be here quite often?" + +"Yes, your majesty, I shall be here once every week at your +majesty's order." + +"Oh! I have lost the habit of ordering," said Marie Antoinette, with +a pained look. "You see that the Queen of France is powerless, but +she is not wholly unfortunate, for she has friends still. You belong +to these friends, sir; and that we may both retain the memory of +this day, I will always call you my faithful one." + +No, the queen is not wholly unfortunate; she has friends who are +ready, with her, to suffer; with her, if it must be, to die. The +Polignacs are gone, but Princess Lamballe, whom the queen had sent +to London, to negotiate with Pitt, has returned, in spite of the +warnings and pleadings of the queen. Marie Antoinette, when she +learned that the princess was on the point of leaving England, had +written to her: "Do not come back at a moment so critical. You would +have to weep too much for us. I feel deeply, believe me, how good +you are, and what a true friend you are. But, with all my love, I +enjoin you not to come here. Believe me, my tender friendship for +you will cease only with death." + +The warning of her royal friend had, meanwhile, not restrained +Princess Lamballe from doing what friendship commanded. She had +returned to France, and Marie Antoinette had, at least, the comfort +of having a tender friend at her side. + +No, the queen was not wholly unfortunate. Besides this friend, she +had her children, too--her sweet, blooming little daughter, and the +dauphin, the pride and joy of her heart. + +The dauphin had no suspicion of the woes and misfortunes which were +threatening them. Like flowers that grow luxuriantly and blossom +upon graves, so grew and blossomed this beautiful boy in the +Tuileries, which was nothing more than the grave of the old kingly +glory. But the dauphin was like sunshine in this dark, sad palace, +and Marie Antoinette's countenance lightened when her eye fell upon +her son, looking up to her with his tender, beaming face. From the +fresh, merry smile of her darling, she herself learned to smile +again, and be happy. + +Gradually, after the first rage of the people was appeased, the +chains with which she was bound were relaxed. The royal family was +at least permitted to leave the close, hot rooms, and go down into +the gardens, although still watched and accompanied by the National +Guard. They were permitted to close the doors of their rooms again, +although armed sentries still stood before them. + +There were even some weeks and months in this year 1791, when it +appeared as if the exasperated spirits would be pacified, and the +throne be reestablished with a portion of its old dignity. The king +had, in a certain manner, received forgiveness from the National +Assembly, while accepting the constitution and swearing--as indeed +he could but swear, all power having been taken from him, and he +being a mere lay-figure--that would control all his actions, and +govern according to the expressed will of the National Assembly. + +But the king, in order to make peace with his people, had even made +this sacrifice, and accepted the constitution. The people seemed +grateful to him for this, and appeared to be willing to return to +more friendly relations. The queen was no longer insulted with +contemptuous cries when she appeared in the garden of the Tuileries, +or in the Bois de Boulogne, and it even began to be the fashion to +speak about the dauphin as a miracle of loveliness and beauty, and +to go to the Tuileries to see him working in his garden. + +This garden of the dauphin was in the immediate neighborhood of the +palace, at the end of the terrace on the river-side; it was +surrounded with a high wire fence, and close by stood the little +pavilion where dwelt Abbe Davout, the teacher of the dauphin. The +dauphin had had in Versailles a little garden of his own, which he +himself worked, planted, and digged, and from whose flowers he +picked a bouquet every morning, to bring it with beaming countenance +to his mamma queen. + +For this painfully-missed garden of Versailles, the little garden on +the terrace had to compensate. The child was delighted with it; and +every morning, when his study-hours were over, the dauphin hastened +to his little parterre, to dig and to water his flowers. The garden +has, since that day, much changed; it is enlarged, laid out on a +different plan, and surrounded with a higher fence, but it still +remains the garden of the Dauphin Louis Charles, the same garden +that Napoleon subsequently gave to the little King of Borne; the +same that Charles X. gave to the Duke de Bordeaux, and that Louis +Philippe gave to the Count de Paris. How many recollections cluster +around this little bit of earth, which has always been prematurely +left by its young possessors! One died in prison scarcely ten years +old; another, hurried away by the tempest, still younger, into a +foreign land, only lived to hear the name of his father, and see his +dagger before he died. The third and fourth were hurled out by the +storm-wind like the first two, and still wear the mantle of exile in +Austria and England. And many as are the tears with which these +children regard their own fate, there must be many which they must +bestow upon the fate of their fathers. One died upon the scaffold, +another from the knife of an assassin, a third from a fall upon the +pavement of a highway; and the last, the greatest of them all, was +bound, like Prometheus, to a rock, and fed on bitter recollections +till he met his death. + +This little garden, on the river-side terrace of the Tuileries park, +which has come to have a world-wide interest, was then the Eldorado +of the little Dauphin of Prance; and to see him behind the fence was +the delight of the Parisians who used to visit there, and long for +the moment when the glance of his blue eye fell upon them, and for +some days and months had again become enthusiastic royalists. + +When the prince went into his little garden, he was usually +accompanied by a detachment of the National Guard, who were on duty +in the Tuileries; and the dauphin, who was now receiving instruction +in the use of weapons, generally wore himself the uniform of a +member of the National Guard. The Parisians were delighted with this +little guard of six years. His picture hung in all stores, it was +painted on fans and rings, and it was the fashion, among the most +elegant ladies of the Faubourg St. Germain, and among the market- +women as well, to decorate themselves with the likeness of the +dauphin. How his brow beamed, how his eye brightened, when, +accompanied by his escort, of which he was proud, he entered his +garden! When the retinue was not large, the prince took his place in +the ranks. One day, when all the National Guards on duty were very +desirous of accompanying him, several of them were compelled to +stand outside of the garden. "Pardon me, gentlemen," said the +dauphin; "it is a great pity that my garden is so small that it +deprives me of the pleasure of receiving you all." Then he hastened +to give flowers to every one who was near the fence, and received +their thanks with great pleasure. + +The enthusiasm for the dauphin was so great, that the boys of Paris +envied their elders the honor of being in his service, and longed to +become soldiers, that they might be in his retinue. There was, in +fact, a regiment of boys formed, which took the name of the +Dauphin's Regiment. The citizens of Paris were anxious to enroll the +names of their sons in the lists of this regiment, and to pay the +expenses of an equipment. And when this miniature regiment was +formed, with the king's permission, it marched to the Tuileries, in +order to parade before the dauphin. + +The prince was delighted with the little regiment, and invited its +officers to visit his garden, that they might see his flowers, his +finest treasures. "Would you do us the pleasure to be the colonel of +our regiment?" one of the officers asked the dauphin. + +"Oh! certainly," he answered. + +"Then you must give up getting flowers and bouquets for your mamma!" +said one of the boys. + +"Oh!" answered the dauphin, with a smile, "that will not hinder my +taking care of my flowers. Many of these gentlemen have little +gardens, too, as they have told me. Very well, they can follow the +example of their colonel, and love the queen, and then mamma will +receive whole regiments of flowers every day." + +The majority of this regiment consisted, at the outset, of children +of the highest ranks of society, and it was therefore natural that +they, practiced in the most finished courtesy, should pay some +deference to their young colonel. + +But they were expressly forbidden showing any thing of this feeling +toward their comrade. "For," said the king, "I want him to have +companions who will stimulate his ambition; but I do not want him to +have flatterers, who shall lead him to live to himself alone." Soon +the number of little soldiers increased, for every family longed for +the honor of having its sons in the regiment of the royal dauphin. +The people used always to throng in great masses when this regiment +went through its exercises in the Place de la Carrousel. It was a +miniature representation of the French guards, with their three- +cornered hats and white jackets; and nothing could be more charming +than this regiment of blooming boys in their tasteful uniforms, and +their little chief, the dauphin, looking at his regiment with +beaming eyes and smiling lips. + +The enthusiasm of the little soldiers of the Royal Dauphin Regiment +for their colonel was so great, that they longed to give him a proof +of their love. One day the officers of the regiment came into the +Tuileries and begged the king's permission to make a present to the +dauphin, in the name of the whole regiment. The king gladly acceded +to their request--, and he himself conducted the little officers +into the reception-room, where was the dauphin, standing at the side +of his mother. + +The little colonel hastened to greet them. "Welcome, my comrades, +welcome!" cried he, extending his hand to them. "My mamma queen +tells me that you have brought me something which will give me +pleasure. But it gives me pleasure to see you, and nothing more is +needed." + +"But, colonel, you will not refuse our present?" + +"Oh, certainly not, for my papa king says that a colonel is not +forbidden taking a gift from his regiment. What is it?" + +"Colonel, we bring you a set of dominoes," said a little officer, +named Palloy, who was the speaker of the delegation--" a set of +dominoes entirely made out of the ruins of the Bastile." + +And taking the wrapper from the white marble box, bound with gold, +he extended it to the dauphin, and repeated with a solemn face the +following lines: + +"Those gloomy walls that once awoke our fear Are changed into the +toy we offer here: And when with joyful race the gift you view, +Think what the people's mighty love can do." [Footnote: "De ces aff +reux cachota, la terreur des Francais, Vous voyez les debris +transformes en hoohets; Puissent-ils, en servant aux jeux de votre +enfance, Du peuple vous prouver 1'amour et la puissance." +Beauchesne, "Louis XVD. Sa Vie, sou Agonie," etc., vol. iv., p. +396.] + +Poor little dauphin! Even when they wanted to do him homage, they +were threatening him; and the present which affection offered to the +royal child was at the same time a bequest of Revolution, which even +then lifted her warning finger, and pointed at the past, when the +hate of the people destroyed those "gloomy walls," which had been +erected by kingly power. + +In his innocence and childish simplicity, the dauphin saw nothing of +the sting which, unknown even to the givers, lurked within this +gift. He enjoyed like a child the beautiful present, and listened +with eagerness while the manner of playing the game was described to +him. All the stones were taken from the mantel of black marble in +the reception-room of Delaunay, the governor of the Bastile, who had +been murdered by the people. On the back of each of these stones was +a letter set in gold, and when the whole were arranged in regular +order, they formed the sentence: "Vive le Roi, vive la Reine, et M. +le Dauphin." The marble of the box was taken from the altar-slab in +the chapel. In the middle was a golden relief, representing a face. + +"That is my papa king," cried the dauphin, joyfully, looking at the +representation. + +"Yes," replied Palloy, the speaker of the little company, "every one +of us bears him in his heart. And like the king, you will live for +the happiness of all, and like him you will be the idol of Prance. +We, who shall one day be French soldiers and citizens, bring to you, +who will then be our commander-in-chief and king, our homage as the +future supporters of the throne which is destined for you, and which +the wisdom of your father has placed under the unshakable power of +law. The gift which we offer you is but small, but each one of us +adds his heart to it." [Footnote: The very words of the little +officer.] + +"And I give all of you my heart in return for it," cried the +dauphin, with a joyful eagerness, "and I shall take great pains to +be good, and to learn well, that I may be allowed to amuse myself +with playing dominoes." + +And the little fellow fixed his large, blue eyes upon the queen with +a tender look, took her hand and pressed it to his lips. + +"My dear mamma queen," he said, caressingly, "if I am real good, and +study hard, we can both play dominoes together, can't we?" + +A sad smile played around the lips of the queen, and no one saw the +distrustful, timid look which she cast at the box, which to her was +merely the memorial of a dreadful day. + +"Yes, my child," she replied, mildly, "we will play dominoes often +together, for you certainly will be good and industrious." + +She controlled herself sufficiently to thank the boys with friendly +words for the present which they had made to the dauphin, and then +the deputation, accompanied by the king and the little prince, +withdrew. But as soon as they had gone, the smile died away upon her +lips, and with an expression of horror she pointed to the box. + +"Take it away--oh, take it away!" she cried, to Madame de Tourzel. +"It is a dreadful reminder of the past, a terrible prophecy of the +future. The stones of the Bastile, which the people destroyed, lie +in this box! And the box itself, does it not look like a +sarcophagus? And this sarcophagus bears the face of the king! Oh, +the sorrow and woe to us unfortunate ones, who can not even receive +gifts of love without seeing them obscured by recollections of hate, +and who have no joys that have not bitter drops of grief mingled +with them! The revolution sends us storm-birds, and we are to regard +them as doves bringing us olive-branches. Believe me, I see into the +future, and I discern the deluge which will drown us all!" + + + + +BOOK IV. + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +JUNE 20 AND AUGUST 10, 1792. + + +Marie Antoinette was right. The revolution was sending its storm- +birds to the Tuileries. They beat with their strong pinions against +the windows of the palace; they pulled up and broke with their claws +the flowers and plants of the garden, so that the royal family no +longer ventured to enter it. But they had not yet entered the palace +itself; and within its apartments, watched by the National Guard, +the queen was at least safe from the insults of the populace. + +No, not even there longer, for the storm-birds of the revolution +beat against the windows, and these windows had once in a while to +be opened to let in a little sunshine, and some fresh air. Marie +Antoinette had long given up her walks in the garden of the +Tuileries, for the rabble which stood behind the fence had insulted +her so often with cries and acts, that she preferred to give up her +exercise rather than to undergo such contemptuous treatment. + +The king, too, in order to escape the scornful treatment of the +populace, had relinquished his walks, and before long things came to +such a pass that the dauphin was not allowed to visit his little +garden. Marat, Santerre, Danton, and Robespierre, the great leaders +of the people, had, by their threats against the royalists and their +insurrectionary movements among the people, gained such power, that +no one ventured to approach the garden of the prince to salute him, +and show deference to the son of the king. The little regiment had +been compelled, in order to escape the mockery and contempt, the +hatred and persecution which followed them, to disband after a few +months; and around the fence, when the dauphin appeared, there now +stood none but men sent there by the revolutionists to deride the +dauphin when he appeared, and shout their wild curses against the +king and queen. + +One day, when a crowd of savage women stood behind the fence, and +were giving vent to their derision of the queen, the poor dauphin +could not restrain his grief and indignation. With glowing cheeks +and flaming eyes he turned upon the wild throng. + +"You lie --oh, you lie!" he cried, with angry voice. "My mamma queen +is not a wicked woman, and she does not hate the people. My mamma +queen is so good, so good that--" + +His tears choked his voice, and flowed in clear streams down over +his cheeks. Ashamed, as it were, of this indication of weakness, the +dauphin dashed out of the garden, and hastened so rapidly to the +palace that the Abbe Davout could scarcely follow him. Weeping and +sobbing, the dauphin passed through the corridor, but when they +reached the broad staircase which led to the apartments where the +queen lived, the dauphin stopped, suppressed his sobs, and hastily +dried his eyes. + +"I will not weep any more," he said, "it would trouble mamma. I beg +you, abbe, say nothing to mamma. I will try to be cheerful and +merry, for mamma queen likes much to have me so. Sometimes, when she +is sad and has been weeping, I make believe not to notice it, and +then I laugh and sing, and jump about, and then her beautiful face +will clear up, and sometimes she even smiles a little. So, too, I +will be right merry, and she shall notice nothing. You would not +suspect that I have been weeping, would you?" + +"No, my prince, no one would think you had," answered the abbe, +looking with deep emotion into the great blue eyes which the dauphin +turned up to his with an inquiring look. + +"Well, then, we will go to my mamma queen," cried the dauphin, and +he sprang forward and opened the door with a smile, and, half +concealed behind the curtains, he asked, in a *jesting tone, whether +he might have permission to enter her majesty's presence. + +Marie Antoinette bade him heartily welcome, and opened her arms to +him. The dauphin embraced her and pressed a glowing kiss upon her +eyes and upon her lips. + +"You are extraordinarily affectionate to-day, my little Louis +Charles," said the queen, with a smile. "What is the cause of that?" + +"That comes from the fact that to-day I have nothing to give you +excepting kisses--not a single flower. They are all withered in my +garden, and I do not like to go there any more, for there are no +more bouquets to pluck for my dear mamma queen. Mamma, this is my +bouquet." + +And he kissed and caressed the queen afresh, and brought a glow to +her eyes and a smile to her lips. + +"Come now, my child, you see that the abbe is waiting, and I believe +it is time for the study-hours to begin. "What comes first to-day?" + +"We have first, grammar," answered the abbe, laying the needful +books upon the little table at which the dauphin always took his +lessons in the presence of the queen. + +"Grammar!" cried the dauphin; "I wish it were history. That I like, +but grammar I hate!" + +"That comes because you make so many mistakes in it," said the abbe; +"and, certainly, grammar is very hard." + +The child blushed. "Oh, it is not on that account," he said. "I do +not dislike grammar because it is hard, but merely because it is +tedious." + +"And I will wager that on that account you have forgotten what we +went over in our last grammar hour. We were speaking of the three +comparatives. But you probably do not remember them." + +"You are mistaken," replied the dauphin, smiling. "In proof, hear +me. If I say, 'My abbe is a good abbe,' that is the positive. If I +say, 'My abbe is better than another abbe,' that is the comparative. +And," he continued, turning his eyes toward the queen with an +expression of intense affection, "if I say, 'My mamma is the dearest +and best of all mammas,' that is the superlative." [Footnote: The +dauphin's own words.--See Beauchesne's "Louis XVII.," vol. i., p. +133.] + +The queen drew the boy to her heart and kissed him, while her tears +flowed down upon his auburn curls. + +On the next day, at the time of his accustomed walk, the queen went +into the dauphin's room to greet him before he went into the garden. + +"Mamma, I beg your permission to remain here," said the dauphin. "My +garden does not please me any longer." + +"Why not, my son," asked Marie Antoinette, "has any thing happened +to you?" + +"Yes, mamma," he answered, "something has happened to me. There are +so many bad people always standing around the fence, and they look +at me with such evil eyes, that I am afraid of them, and they scold +and say such hard things. They laugh at me, and say that I am a +stupid jack, a baker's boy that does not know how to make a loaf, +and they call me a monkey. That angers me and hurts my feelings, and +if I begin to cry I am ashamed of myself, for I know that it is very +silly to cry before people who mean ill to us. But I am still a poor +little boy, and my tears are stronger than I. And so I want you, +mamma, not to let me go to the garden any more. Moufflet and I would +a great deal rather play in my room. Come here, Moufflet, make your +compliments to the queen, and salute her like a regular grenadier." + +And smiling, he caught the little dog by the fore-paws, and made him +stand up on his hind legs, and threatened Moufflet with his hand +till he made him stand erect and let his fore feet hang down very +respectfully. + +The queen looked down with a smile at the couple, and laughed aloud +when the dauphin, still waving his hand threateningly to compel the +dog to stand as he was, jumped up, ran to the table, caught up a +paper cap, which he had made and painted with red stripes, and put +it on Moufflet's head, calling out to him: "Mr. Jacobin, behave +respectfully! Make your salutations to her majesty the queen!" + +After that day, the dauphin did not go into his garden again, and +the park of the Tuileries was now the exclusive property of the +populace, that took possession of it with furious eagerness. + +The songs of the revolution, the wild curses of the haters of +royalty, the coarse laughter and shouting of the rabble--these were +the storm birds which were beating at the windows of the royal +apartments. + +Marie Antoinette had still one source of enjoyment left to her in +her sufferings, her correspondence with her absent friends, and the +Duchess de Polignac before all others. Once in a while there was a +favorable opportunity to send a letter by the hands of some faithful +friend around her, and the queen had then the sad satisfaction at +least of being able to express to some sympathizing heart what she +was undergoing, without fearing that these complaints would be read +by her enemies, as was the case with all letters which were sent by +post. + +One of these letters to the Duchess de Polignac, which history has +preserved, gives a faithful and touching picture of the sorrows and +grief of the queen. A translation of it runs thus: + +"I cannot deny myself the pleasure of embracing you, my dear heart, +but it must be done quickly, for the opportunity is a passing one, +although a certain one. I can only write a word, which will be +forwarded to you with a large package. We are guarded like +criminals, and this restraint is truly dreadfully hard to bear!-- +constantly too apprehensive for one another, not to be able to +approach the window without being loaded with insults; not to be +able to take the poor children out into the air without exposing the +dear innocents to reproaches, what a situation is ours, my dear +heart! And when you think that I suffer not for myself alone, but +have to tremble for the king as well, and for our friends who are +with us, you will see that the burden is well-nigh unbearable! But, +as I have told you before, you absent ones, you keep me up. Adieu, +dear heart, let us hope in God, who looks into our consciences, and +who knows whether we are not animated by the truest love for this +land. I embrace you! + +"P. S.--The king has just come in and wants to add a word." + +"I will only say, duchess, that you are not forgotten, that we +regret receiving so few letters from you, and that, whether near or +far away, you and yours are always loved. Louis." [Footnote: +Beauchesne "Louis XVII," vol. 1., p. 143.] + +Not to be able to show one's self near the window without being +showered with insults! Yes, and even into the very middle of her +room they followed her. Even when sitting far away from the window, +she could not help hearing the loud cries which were thundered out +on the pavement below, as the hucksters offered to the laughing +crowd the infamous pamphlet, written with a poisoned pen, and +entitled "The Life of Marie Antoinette." + +At times her anger mastered her, her eyes flashed, her figure was +straightened up, and the suffering martyr was transformed for an +instant into the proud, commanding queen. + +"I will not bear it!" she cried, walking up and down with great +strides, "I will speak to them; they shall not insult me without +hearing my justification. Yes, I will go down to these people, who +call me a foreigner. I will say to them, 'Frenchmen, people have had +the want of feeling to tell you that I do not love France, I, the +mother of a dauphin, I--'" [Footnote: The queen's own words.-See +Campan, "Memoires," vol. II. ] + +But her voice choked in her tears, and she fled to the extreme end +of the room, fell sobbing on her knees, and held both her hands to +her ears, in order not to hear the dreadful insults which came up +from below and through her windows. + +Thus, amid trials which renewed themselves daily, the months passed +by. The queen had no longer any hope. She had given up every thing, +even the hope of an honorable end, of a death such as becomes a +queen, proud and dignified beneath the ruins of a palace laid low by +an exasperated populace. She knew that the king would never bring +himself to meet such a death, that his weakness would yield to all +humiliation, and his good-nature resist all measures that might +perhaps bring help. She had sought in vain to inspire him with her +zeal. Louis was a good man, but a bad king; his was not a nature to +rule and govern, but rather to serve as the scape-goat for the sins +of his fathers, and to fall as a victim for the misdeeds which his +ancestors had committed, and through which they had excited the +wrath of the people, the divine Nemesis that never sleeps. + +The queen knew and felt this, and this knowledge lay like a mourning +veil over her whole thought and being, filling her at times with a +moody resignation, and at times with a swiftly-kindling and wrathful +pain. + +"I am content that we be the victims," cried she, wringing her +hands, "but I cannot bear to think that my children too are to be +punished for what they have not committed." + +This thought of her children was the pillar which always raised the +queen up again, when the torture of her daily life cast her to the +ground. She would, she must live for her children. She must, so long +as a breath remained in her, devote all her powers to retain for her +son the dauphin at least the crown beneath whose burden his father +sank. She wanted nothing more for herself, all for her son alone. + +There were still true friends who wanted to save the queen. Secret +tidings came to her that all was ready for her escape. It was +against her that the popular rage was chiefly directed, and her life +was even threatened. Twice had the attempt been made to kill the +queen, and the most violent denunciations of the populace were +directed against her. It was therefore the queen whom her friends +wanted most to save. Every thing was prepared for the flight, true +and devoted friends were waiting for her, ready to conduct her to +the boundaries of France, where she should meet deputies sent by her +nephew, the Emperor Francis. The plan was laid with the greatest +care; nothing but the consent of the queen was needed to bring it to +completion, and save her from certain destruction. But Marie +Antoinette withheld her acquiescence. "It is of no consequence about +my life," she said. "I know that I must die, and I am prepared for +it. If the king and my children cannot escape with me, I remain; for +my place is at the side of my husband and my children." + +At last the king himself, inspired by the courage and energy of his +wife, ventured to oppose the decisions and decrees of the all- +powerful Assembly. It had put forth two new decrees. It had resolved +upon the deportation of all priests beyond the limits of France, and +also upon the establishment of a camp of twenty thousand men on the +Rhine frontier. With the latter there had been coupled a warning, +threatening with death all who should spend any time abroad, and +engage in any armed movement against their own country. + +To both these decrees Louis refused his sanction; both he vetoed on +the 20th of June, 1792. + +The populace, which thronged the doors of the National Assembly in +immense masses, among whom the emissaries of revolution had been +very active, received the news of the king's veto with a howl of +rage. The storm-birds of revolution flew through the streets, and +shouted into all the windows: "The country is in danger! The king +has been making alliances abroad. The Austrian woman wants to summon +the armies of her own land against France, and therefore the king +has vetoed the decree which punishes the betrayers of their country. +A curse on M. Veto! Down with Madame Veto! That is the cry to-day +for the revolutionary party. A curse on M. Veto! Down with Madame +Veto!" + +The watch-cry rolled like a peal of thunder through all the streets +and into all the houses; and, while within their closed doors, and +in the stillness of their own homes, the well-disposed praised the +king for having the courage to protect the priests and the emigres, +the evil-disposed bellowed out their curses through all the streets, +and called upon the rabble to avenge themselves upon Monsieur and +Madame Veto. + +Nobody prevented this. The National Assembly let every thing go +quietly on, and waited with perfect indifference to see what the +righteous anger of the people should resolve to do. + +Immense masses of howling, shrieking people rolled up, on the +afternoon of the 20th of June, to the Tuileries, where no +arrangements had been made for defence, the main entrances not even +being protected that day by the National Guard. + +The king gave orders, therefore, that the great doors should be +opened, and the people allowed to pass in unhindered. + +In a quarter of an hour all the staircases, corridors, and halls +were filled by a howling, roaring crowd; the room of the king alone +was locked, and in this apartment were the royal family and a few +faithful friends--the king, bland and calm as ever; the queen, pale, +firm, uncomplaining; Madame Elizabeth, with folded hands, praying; +the two children drawing closely together, softly weeping, and yet +suppressing their sobs, because the queen had, in a whisper, +commanded them to keep still. + +A little company of faithful servants filled the background of the +room, and listened with suspended breath to the axe-strokes with +which the savage crowd broke down the doors, and heard the +approaching cries of the multitude. + +At last a division of the National Guard reached the palace, too +late to drive the people out, but perhaps in season to protect the +royal family. The door of the royal apartment was opened to the +second officer of the National Guard, M. Acloque. He burst in, and +kneeling before the king, conjured him, with tears in his eyes, to +show himself to the people, and by his presence to calm the savage +multitude. + +By this time the two children were no longer able to control their +feelings and suppress their fear. The dauphin burst into tears and +loud cries; he clung affrighted to the dress of his mother; he +implored her with the most moving tones to take him away, and go +with him to his room. Marie Antoinette stooped down to the poor +little fellow, and pressed him and Theresa, who was weeping calmly, +to her heart, whispering a few quieting words into their ears. + +While the mother was comforting her children, Louis, yielding to +Acloque's entreaties, had left the room, in order to show himself to +the people. Madame Elizabeth, his sister, followed him through the +corridor into the great hall, passing through the seething crowd, +which soon separated her from the king. Pushed about on all sides, +Madame Elizabeth could not follow, and was now alone in the throng, +accompanied only by her equerry, M. Saint-Pardoux. Armed men pressed +up against the princess, and horrid cries surged around her. + +"There is the Austrian woman!" and at once all pikes, all weapons +were directed against the princess. + +"For God's sake!" cried M. de Saint Pardoux, "what do you want to +do? This is not the queen!" + +"Why do you undeceive them?" asked Madame Elizabeth, "their error +might save the queen!" + +And while she put back one of the bayonets directed against her +breast, she said, gently: "Take care, sir, you might wound somebody, +and I am convinced that you would be sorry." + +The people were amazed at this, and respectfully made way for her to +come up with the king. He stood in the middle of the hall, +surrounded by a crowd threatening him with wild curses. One of these +desperadoes pressed close up to the king, while the others were +shouting that they must strangle the whole royal family, and, +pulling a bottle and a glass out of his pocket, he filled the +latter, gave it to the king, and ordered him to drink to the welfare +of the nation. + +The king quietly took the glass. "The nation must know that I love +it," said he, "for I have made many sacrifices for it. From the +bottom of my heart I drink to its welfare," and, in spite of the +warning cries of his friends, he put the glass to his lips and +emptied it. + +The crowd was beside itself with delight, and their cries were +answered from without by the demand of the bloodthirsty rabble--"How +soon are you going to throw out the heads of the king and the +queen?" + +Marie Antoinette had meanwhile succeeded in pacifying the dauphin. +She raised herself up, and when she saw that the king had gone out, +she started toward the door. + +Her faithful friends stopped the way; they reminded her that she was +not simply a queen, that she was a mother, too. They conjured her +with tears to give ear to prudence--not to rush in vain into danger, +and imperil the king still more. + +"No one shall hinder me from doing what is my duty," cried the +queen. "Leave the doorway free." + +But her friends would not yield; they defied even the wrath of the +queen. At that moment, some of the National Guards came in through +another door, and pacified Marie Antoinette, assuring her that the +life of the king was not threatened. + +In the mean while the shouting came nearer and nearer, the cries +resounded from the guard-room, the doors were torn open, and the +people surged in, in immense waves, like the sea lashed into fury by +the storm. The National Guards rolled a table before the queen and +her children, and placed themselves at the two sides to defend them. + +Only a bit of wood now separated the queen from her enemies, who +brandished their weapons at her. But Marie Antoinette had now +regained her whole composure. She stood erect; at her right hand, +her daughter, who nestled up to her mother--at her left, the +dauphin, who, with wide-open eyes and looks of astonishment, gazed +at the people bursting in. Behind the queen were Princesses Lamballe +and Tarente, and Madame Tourzel. + +A man, with dishevelled hair and bare bosom, gave the queen a +handful of rods, bearing the inscription, "For Marie Antoinette!" +Another showed her a guillotine, a third a gallows, with the +inscription, "Tremble, tyrant! thy hour has come!" Another held up +before her, on the point of a pike, a human heart dripping with +blood, and cried: "Thus shall they all bleed--the hearts of tyrants +and aristocrats!" + +The queen did not let her eyes fall, her fixed look rested upon the +shrieking and howling multitude; but when this man, with the +bleeding heart, approached her, her eyelids trembled--a deathly +paleness spread over her cheeks, for she recognized him--Simon the +cobbler--and a fearful presentiment told her that this man, who had +always been for her the incarnation of hatred, is now, when her life +is threatened, to be the source of her chief peril. + +From the distance surged in the cries: "Long live Santerre! Long +live the Faubourg Saint Antoine! Long live the sans-culottes!" + +And at the head of a crowd of half-naked fellows, the brewer +Santerre, arrayed in the fantastic costume of a robber of the +Abruzzo Mountains, with a dagger and pistol in his girdle, dashed +into the room, his broad-brimmed hat, with three red plumes, aslant +upon his brown hair, that streamed down on both sides of his savage +countenance, like the mane of a lion. + +The queen lifted the dauphin up, set him upon the table, and +whispered softly to him, he must not cry, he must not grieve, and +the child smiled and kissed his mother's hands. Just then a drunken +woman rushed up to the table, threw a red cap down upon it, and +ordered the queen, on pain of death, to put it on. + +Marie Antoinette threw both her arms around the dauphin, kissed his +auburn hair, and turned calmly to General de Wittgenhofen, who stood +near her. + +"Put the cap upon me," said she, and the women howled with pleasure, +while the general, pale with rage and trembling with grief, obeyed +the queen's command, and put the red cap upon that hair which +trouble had already turned gray in a night. + +But, after a minute, General Wittgenhofen took the red cap from the +head of the queen, and laid it on the table. + +From all sides resounded thus the commanding cry: "The red cap for +the dauphin! The tri-color for Little Veto!" And the women tore +their three-colored ribbons from their caps and threw them upon the +table. + +"If you love the nation," cried the women to the queen, "put the red +cap on your son." + +The queen motioned to Madame Tourzel, who put the red cap on the +dauphin, and decked his neck and arms with the ribbons. The child +did not understand whether it was a joke or a way of insulting him, +and looked on with a smile of astonishment. + +Santerre leaned over the table and looked complacently at the +singular group. The proud and yet gentle face of the queen was so +near him, that when he saw the sweat-drops rolling down from beneath +the woollen cap over the dauphin's forehead, even he felt a touch of +pity, and, straightening himself up, perhaps to escape the eye of +the queen, he called out, roughly: "Take that cap off from that +child; don't you see how he sweats?" + +The queen thanked him with a mute glance, and took the cap herself +from the head of the poor child. + +At this point a horde of howling women pressed up to the table, and +threatened the queen with their fists, and hurled wild curses at +her. + +"Only see how proudly and scornfully this Austrian looks at us!" +cried a young woman, who stood in the front rank." She would like to +blast us with her eyes, for she hates us." + +Marie Antoinette turned kindly to them: "Why should I hate you?" she +asked, in gentle tones. "It is you that hate me--you. Have I ever +done you any harm?" + +"Not to me," answered the young woman, "not to me, but to the +nation." + +"Poor child!" answered the queen, gently, "they have told you so, +and you have believed it. What advantage would it bring to me to +harm the nation? You call me the Austrian, but I am the wife of the +King of France, the mother of the dauphin. I am French with all my +feelings of wife and mother. I shall never see again the land in +which I was born, and only in France can I be happy or unhappy. And +when you loved me, I was happy there." [Footnote: The queen's own +words.--See Beauchesne, vol. i., p. 106.] + +She said this with quivering voice and moving tones, the tears +filling her eyes; and while she was speaking the noise was hushed, +and even these savage creatures were transformed into gentle, +sympathetic women. + +Tears came to the eyes of the young woman who before had spoken so +savagely to the queen. "Forgive me," she said, weeping, "I did not +know you; now I see that you are not bad." + +"No, she is not bad," cried Santerre, striking with both fists upon +the table, "but bad people have misled her," and a second time he +struck the table with his resounding blows. Marie Antoinette +trembled a little, and hastily lifting the dauphin from the table, +she put him by her side. + +"Ah! madame," cried Santerre, smiling, "don't be afraid, they will +do you no harm; but just think how you have been misled, and how +dangerous it is to deceive the people. I tell you that in the name +of the people. For the rest, you needn't fear." + +"I am not afraid," said Marie Antoinette, calmly; "no one need ever +be afraid who is among brave people," and with a graceful gesture +she extended her hands to the National Guards who stood by the +table. + +A general shout of applause followed the words of the queen; the +National Guards covered her hands with kisses, and even the women +were touched. + +"How courageous the Austrian is!" cried one. "How handsome the +prince is!" cried another, and all pressed up to get a nearer view +of the dauphin, and a smile or a look from him. + +The great eyes of Santerre remained fixed upon the queen, and +resting both arms upon the table he leaned over to her until his +mouth was close by her ear. + +"Madame," he whispered, "you have very unskilful friends; I know +people who would serve you better, who--" + +But as if ashamed of this touch of sympathy, he stopped, sprang back +from the table, and with a thundering voice, commanded all present +to march out and leave the palace. + +They obeyed his command, filed out in military order past the table, +behind which stood the queen with her children and her faithful +friends. + +A rare procession, a rare army, consisting of men armed with pikes, +hatchets, and spades, of women brandishing knives and scissors in +their hands, and all directing their countenances, before hyena-like +and scornful, but now subdued and sympathetic, to the queen, who +with calm eye and gentle look responded to the salutations of the +retreating crowd with a friendly nod. + +In the mean while the long-delayed help had reached the king: the +National Guards had overcome the raging multitude, and gained +possession of the great reception-room where Louis was. The mayor of +Paris, Petion, had come at last, and, hailed loudly by the crowd +which occupied the whole space in the rear of the National Guards, +he approached the king. + +"Sire," said he, "I have just learned what is going on here." + +"I am surprised at that," answered the king, with a reproachful +look, "the mayor of Paris ought to have learned before this about +this tumult, which has now been lasting three hours." + +"But is now at an end, sire, since I have come," cried Petion, +proudly. "You have now nothing more to fear, sire." + +"To fear?" replied Louis with a proud shrug. "A man who has a good +conscience does not fear. Feel," he said, taking the hand of the +grenadier who stood at his side, "lay your hand upon my heart, and +tell this man whether it beats faster." [Footnote: The king's words. +The grenadier's name whose hand the king took, was Lalanne. Later, +in the second year of "the one and indivisible republic," he was +condemned to die by the guillotine, because, as stated in the +sentence, he showed himself on the 30th of June, 1798, as a common +servant of tyranny, and boasted to other citizens that Capet took +his hand, laid it upon his heart, and said: "Feel, my friend, +whether it beats quicker."--See Hue, "Dernieres Annees de Louis +Seize," p. 180.] + +Petion now turned to the people and commanded them to withdraw. +"Fellow-citizens," said he, "you began this day wisely and worthily; +you have proved that you are free. End the day as you began it. +Separate peaceably; do as I do, return to your houses, and go to +bed!" The multitude, flattered by Petion's praises, began to +withdraw, and the National Guards escorted the king into the great +council-chamber, where a deputation of the National Assembly had met +to pay their respects to the king. + +"Where is the queen, where are the children?" cried the king, as, +exhausted, he sank into a chair. + +His gentlemen hastened out to bring them, and soon the queen and the +children came in. With extended arms Marie Antoinette hastened to +her husband, and they remained a long time locked in their embrace. + +"Papa king," cried the dauphin, "give me a kiss, too! I have +deserved it, for I was brave and did not cry when the people put the +red cap on my head." + +The king stooped down to the child and kissed his golden hair, and +then pressed his little daughter, who was nestling up to him, to his +heart. + +The deputies stood with curious looks around the group, to whom it +was not granted, even after such a fearful day and such imminent +peril, to embrace each other, and thank God for their preservation, +without witnesses. + +"Confess, madame," said one of the deputies to Marie Antoinette, in +a confidential tone, "confess that you have experienced great +anxiety." + +"No, sir," replied the queen, "I have not been anxious, but I have +suffered severely, because I was separated from the king at a moment +when his life was threatened. I had at least my children with me, +and so could discharge one of my duties." + +"I will not excuse every thing that took place to-day," said the +deputy, with a shrug. "But confess at least, madame, that the people +conducted themselves very well." + +"Sir, the king and I are convinced of the natural good-nature of the +people; they are only bad when they are led astray." + +Some other deputies approached the dauphin, and directed various +questions to him, in order to convince themselves about his +precocious understanding that was so much talked about. + +One of the gentlemen, speaking of the day that had gone by, compared +it with St. Bartholomew's night. + +"The comparison does not hold," cried another: "here is no Charles +the Ninth." + +"And no Catherine de Medicis either," said the dauphin, quickly, +pressing the hand of the queen to his lips. + +"Oh! see the little scholar," cried the by-standers. "Let us see +whether he knows as much about geography as about history!" + +And all pressed up to him, to put questions to him about the +situation and boundaries of France, and about the division of the +French territory into departments and districts. The prince answered +all these questions quickly and correctly. After every answer he +cast an inquiring glance at the queen, and when he read in her looks +that his answer had been correct, his eyes brightened, and his +cheeks glowed with pleasure. + +"Our dauphin is really very learned," cried one of the deputies. "I +should like to know whether he has paid any attention yet to the +arts. Do you love music, my little prince?" + +"Ah, sir," answered the dauphin, eagerly, "whoever has heard mamma +sing and play, must love music!" + +"Do you sing too, prince?" + +The dauphin raised his eyes to his mother. "Mamma," he asked, "shall +I sing the prayer of this morning?" + +Marie Antoinette nodded. "Sing it, my son, for perhaps God heard it +this morning, and has graciously answered it." + +The dauphin sank upon his knees, and folding his hands, he raised +his head and turned his blue eyes toward heaven, and, with a sweet +voice and a mild, smiling look, he sang these words: + +"Ciel, entends la priere Qu'ici je fais; Conserve un si boil pere A +ses sujets." [Footnote: See Beauchesne, vol. i., p. 146. This scene +is historical. Sees Hue, "Dernioree Anneesde Louis XVI." This prayer +is from the opera so much admired at that time, "Peter the Great" "O +Heaven, accept the prayer, I offer here; Unto his subjects spare My +father dear."] + +A deep, solemn silence reigned while the dauphin's voice rang +through the room. The faces of the deputies, hitherto defiant and +severe, softened, deeply moved. They all looked at the beautiful +boy, who was still on his knees, his countenance beaming, and with a +smile upon it like the face of one in a blissful dream. No one +ventured to break the silence. The king, whose arm was thrown around +the neck of his daughter, looked affectionately at the dauphin; +Madame Elizabeth had folded her hands, and was praying; but Marie +Antoinette, no longer able to control her deep emotion, covered her +face with her hands, and wept in silence. + +From this day the life of the royal family was one of constant +excitement--an incessant, feverish expectation of coming evil. The +king bore it all with an uncomplaining resignation; no one drew from +him a complaint, no one a reproach. But the thought never seemed to +occur to him that perhaps even yet safety might be attained by +energy, by spirit, or even by flight. + +He had surrendered all; he was ready to suffer as a Christian +instead of rising as a king, and preferred to fall in honorable +battle rather than to live despised. + +Marie Antoinette had given up her efforts to inspire her husband +with her own energetic will. She knew that all was in vain, and had +accepted her fate. Since she could not live as a queen, she would at +least die as one. She made her preparations for this calmly and with +characteristic decision. "They will kill me, I know," she said to +her maids. "I have only one duty left me, to prepare myself to die!" + +She lost her accustomed spirit, wept much, and exhibited a great +deal of feeling. Yet she still stood guard over the shattered throne +like a resolute sentinel, and looked around with sharp and searching +glances, to keep an eye on the enemy, and to be ready for his nearer +approach. + +She still continued to receive news about every thing that +transpired in Paris, every thing that was resolved upon in the +National Assembly and discussed in the clubs, and had the libels and +pamphlets which were directed at her all sent to her. Marie +Antoinette understood the condition of the capital and the feeling +of the people better than did the king (who often sat for hours, and +at times whole days, silent and unoccupied) better even than did the +ministers. She received every morning the reports of the emissaries, +followed the intrigues of the conspirators, and was acquainted with +the secret assemblies which Marat called together, and the alliances +of the clubs. She knew about the calling together of the forty-eight +sections of the Paris "fraternity" in one general convention. She +knew that Potion, Danton, and Manuel, three raving republicans, were +at the head, and that their emissaries were empowered to stir up the +suburbs of the city. She knew, too, that the monsters from +Marseilles, who had been active on the 20th of June, were boasting +that they were going to repeat the deeds of that day on a greater +scale. + +Nor was it unknown to her that more than half the deputies in the +National Assembly belonged to the Jacobin party, and that they were +looking for an opportunity to strike a fresh blow at royalty. Very +often, when at dead of night Marie Antoinette heard the noisy chorus +of the rioters from Marseilles singing beneath her windows, + +"Allons, enfants de la patrie," or the Parisians chanting the "Qa +ira, fa ira!" she sprang from her bed (she now never disrobed +herself on retiring), hurried to the beds of her children to see +that they were not in danger, or called her maids and commanded them +to light the candles, that they might at least see the danger which +threatened. + +At last, on the night of the 9th of August, the long-feared terror +arrived. + +A gun fired in the court of the Tuileries announced its advent. +Marie Antoinette sprang from her bed, and sent her waiting-maid to +the king to waken him. The king had already risen; his ministers and +a few tried friends were now with him. The queen wakened her +children, and assisted in dressing them. She then went with the +little ones to the king, who received them with an affectionate +greeting. At length a blast of trumpets announced that the movement +had become general; the thunder of cannon and the peals of bells +awakened the sleeping city. + +The royal family, crowded close together, silently awaited the +stalking of the republic into the halls of the king's palace, or the +saving of the monarchy by the grace of God and the bravery of their +faithful friends. For even then monarchy had those who were true to +it; and while the trumpet-blasts continued and the bells to ring, to +awaken republicans to the struggle, the sounds were at the same time +the battle-cry of the royalists, and told them, that the king was in +danger and needed their help. + +About two hundred noblemen had remained in Paris, and had not +followed the royal princes to Coblentz to take arms against their +own country. They had remained in Paris, in order to defend the +monarchy to the last drop of their blood, and at least to be near +the throne, if they were not able to hold it up longer. In order not +to be suspected, they carried no arms, and yet it was known that +beneath the silk vest of the cavalier they concealed the dagger of +the soldier, and they received in consequence the appellation of +"Chevaliers of the Dagger." + +At the first notes of the trumpet the nobility had hurried on the +night of the 10th of August to the Tuileries, which were already +filled with grenadiers, Swiss guards, and volunteers of every rank, +who had hastened thither to protect the royal family. All the +staircases, all the corridors and rooms, were occupied by them. + +The "Chevaliers of the Dagger" marched in solemn procession by them +all to the grand reception-room, where were the king, the queen, and +the children. With respectful mien they approached the royal pair, +imploring the king's permission to die for him, and beseeching the +queen to touch their weapons, in order to make them victorious, and +to allow them to kiss the royal hand, in order to sweeten death for +them. There were cries of enthusiasm and loyalty on all sides, "Long +live the king of our fathers!" cried the young people. "Long live +the king of our children!" cried the old men, taking the dauphin in +their arms and raising him above their heads, as if he were the +living banner in whose defence they wished to die. + +As the morning dawned, the king, at the pressing request of his +wife, walked with her and the children through the halls and +galleries of the palace, to reanimate the courage of their defenders +who were assembled there, and to thank them for their fidelity. +Everywhere the royal family was received with enthusiasm, everywhere +oaths of loyalty to death resounded through the rooms. The king then +went, accompanied by a few faithful friends, down into the park, to +review the battalions of the National Guard who were stationed +there. + +When Louis appeared, the cry, "Long live the king!" began to lose +the unanimity which had characterized it in the palace. It was +suppressed and overborne by a hostile murmur, and the farther the +king advanced, the louder grew these mutterings; till at last, from +hundreds and hundreds of throats, the thundering cry resounded, +"Abdication or death! Long live Petion! Resignation or death!" + +The king turned hastily around, and, with pale face and forehead +covered with drops of cold sweat, he returned to the palace. + +"All is lost!" cried the queen, bitterly, "Nothing more remains for +us than to die worthily." + +But soon she raised herself up again, and new courage animated her +soul, when she saw that new defenders were constantly pressing into +the hall, and that even many grenadiers of the National Guard +mingled in the ranks of the nobility. + +But these noblemen, these "Chevaliers of the Dagger," excited +mistrust, and a major of the National Guard demanded their removal +with a loud voice. + +"No," cried the queen, eagerly, "these noblemen are our best +friends. Place them before the mouth of the cannon, and they will +show you how death for one's king is met. Do not disturb yourselves +about these brave people," + +She continued, turning to some grenadiers who were approaching her, +"your interests and theirs are common. + +Every thing that is dearest to you and them-wives, children, +property-depends upon your courage and your common bravery." + +The grenadiers extended their hands to the chevaliers, and mutual +oaths were exchanged to die for the royal family, to save the throne +or to perish with it. It was a grand and solemn moment, full of +lofty eloquence! The hearts of these noblemen and these warriors +longed impatiently for death. With their hands laid upon their +weapons, they awaited its coming. + +The populace rolled up in great masses to the palace. "Wild shrieks +were heard, the thunder of cannon, the harsh cries of women, and the +yells of men. Within the palace they listened with suspended breath. +The queen straightened herself up, grasped with a quick movement the +hands of her children, drew them to herself, and, with head bent +forward and with breathless expectation, gazed at the door, like a +lioness awaiting her enemy, and making herself ready to defend her +young with her own life. + +The door was suddenly opened, and the attorney-general Roderer burst +in. + +"Sire," cried he, with impassioned utterance, "you must save +yourself! All opposition is vain. Only the smallest part of the +National Guard is still to be trusted, and even this part only waits +the first pretext to fraternize with the populace. The cannoneers +have already withdrawn the loading from the cannon, because they are +unwilling to fire upon the people. The king has no time to lose. +Sire, there is protection for you only in the National Assembly, and +only the representatives of the people can now protect the royal +family." + +The queen uttered a cry of anger and horror. "How!" she cried. "What +do you say? We seek protection with our worst enemies? Never, oh, +never! Rather will I be nailed to these walls, than leave the palace +to go to the National Assembly!" [Footnote: The queen's own words.-- +See Beauchesne, vol. i., p. 90.] + +And turning to the king, who stood silent and undecided, she spoke +to him with flaming words, with glowing eloquence, addressed him as +the father of the dauphin, the successor of Henry IV. and Louis +XIV., sought to animate his ambition and touch his heart, and tried +for the last time to kindle him with her courage and her decision. + +In vain, all in vain. The king remained silent and undecided. A cry, +one single cry of grief, burst from the lips of the queen, and one +moment her head sank upon her breast. + +"Hasten, hasten, sire!" cried Roderer, "every moment increases the +peril. In a quarter of an hour perhaps the queen and the children +will be lost beyond remedy!" + +These words awakened the king from his reverie. He looked up and +nodded his head. "We can do nothing else," he said. "Let us go at +once to the National Assembly." + +"Sir," cried the queen, turning to Roderer, "is it true that we are +deserted by all?" + +"Madame," answered the attorney-general, sadly, "all opposition is +in vain, it will only increase the danger. Would you suffer +yourself, the king, your children, and friends, to be killed?" + +"God forbid it! Would that I alone could be the offering!" + +"Another minute," urged Roderer, "perhaps another second, and it is +impossible to guarantee your life, and perhaps that of your husband +and children." + +"My children!" cried the queen, throwing her arms around them, and +drawing them to her breast. "No, oh no, I will not give them over to +the knife!" + +One sigh, one last sob, burst from her lips, and then she released +herself from the children, and approached the king and his +ministers. + +"This is the last sacrifice," she said, heavily, "that I can offer. +I submit myself, M. Roderer," and then with louder tones, as if she +wanted to call all present to be witnesses, she continued, "will you +pledge yourself for the person of the king, and for that of my son?" + +"Madame," answered Roderer, solemnly, "I pledge myself for this, +that we are all ready to die at your side. That is all that I can +promise." + +And now the noblemen and the grenadiers pressed up to take the king +and queen in their escort. + +"For God's sake," cried Roderer, "no demonstration, or the king is +lost! + +"Remain, my friends," said the king, stolidly, "await our return +here." + +"We shall soon return," said Marie Antoinette; and leading her two +children, she followed the king, who walked slowly through the hall. +Princess Lamballe and Madame Tourzel brought up the rear. + +It was done. The dying monarchy left the royal palace to put itself +under the protection of the revolution, which was soon to give birth +to the republic. + +It was six o'clock in the morning when the royal family crossed the +threshold of the Tuileries--in front the king, conducting Princess +Elizabeth on his arm, behind him the queen with the two children. + +Before leaving the palace, the king received tidings that a part of +the National Guard had withdrawn, in order to protect their families +and their property from an attack of the populace, and that another +part had declared, itself against the king and in favor of the +revolution. + +Louis made his way through the seething crowd that scarcely opened +to allow a free passage for the royal family, and overwhelmed them +with curses, insults, and abuse. + +Some members of the National Assembly went in advance, and could +themselves scarcely control the raging waves of popular fury. + +On the Terrace des Feuillants the people shouted, "Down with the +tyrants! To death, to death with them!" + +The dauphin cried aloud with fright, for the bloody hands of two +yelling women were extended after him. A grenadier sprang forward, +seized the boy with his strong arm, and raised him upon his +shoulder. + +"My son, give me back my son!" cried the queen, wildly. The +grenadier bowed to her. "Do not be afraid, do you not recognize me?" + +Marie Antoinette looked at him, and the hint of a smile passed over +her face. She did indeed recognize him who, like a good angel, was +always present when danger and death threatened her. It was Toulan, +the faithful one, by her side in the uniform of a National +Guardsman. + +"Courage, courage, good queen, the demons are loose, but good angels +are near thee too; and where those curse and howl, these bring +blessing and reconciliation." + +"Down with the tyrants!" roared the savage women. + +"Do not be afraid, my prince," said the grenadier, to the dauphin +whom he carried upon his shoulder, in order to protect him from the +thronging of the crowd. "Nobody will hurt you." + +"Not me, but my dear papa," sobbed the child, while the tears rolled +over his pale cheeks. + +The poor child trembled and was afraid, and how could he help it? +Even the king was terrified for a moment, and felt as if the tears +were coming into his eyes. The queen too wept, dried her tears, and +then wept again. The sad march consumed more than an hour, in order +to traverse the bit of way to the Manege, where the National +Assembly met. Before the doors of this building the cries were +doubled; the attorney-general harangued the mob, and sought to quiet +it, and pushed the royal family into the narrow corridor, in which, +hemmed in by abusive crowds, they made their way forward slowly. At +last the hall doors opened, and as Marie Antoinette passed in behind +the king, Toulan gave the little dauphin to her, who flung both his +arms around the neck of his mother. + +A death-like silence reigned in the hall. The deputies looked with +dark faces at the new-comers. No one rose to salute the king, no +word of welcome was spoken. + +The king took his place by the side of the president, the queen and +her ladies took the chairs of the ministers. Then came an angry cry +from the tribune: "The dauphin must sit with the king, he belongs to +the nation. The Austrian has no claim to the confidence of the +people." + +An officer came down to take the child away, but Louis Charles clung +to his mother, fear was expressed on his features, tears stood in +his eyes, and won a word of sympathy, so that the officer did not +venture to remove the prince forcibly. + +A deep silence sat in again, till the king raised his voice. "I have +come hither," he said, "to prevent a great crime, and because I +believe that I am safest surrounded by the representatives of the +nation." + +"Sire," replied President Vergniaud, "you can reckon upon the +devotion of the National Assembly. It knows its duties; its members +have sworn to live and to die in defence of the rights of the people +and of the constitutional authorities." + +Voices were heard at this point from all sides of the hall, +declaring that the constitution forbids the Assembly holding its +deliberations in the presence of the king and the queen. + +They then took the royal family into the little low box scarcely ten +feet long, in which the reporters of the "Logograph" used to write +their accounts of the doings of the Assembly. Into this narrow space +were a king, a queen, with her sister and her children, their +ministers and faithful servants, crowded, to listen to the +discussions concerning the deposition of the king. + +From without there came into the hall the wild cry of the populace +that the Swiss guards had been killed, and shouts accompanied the +heads as they were carried about on the points of pikes. The crack +of muskets was heard, and the roar of cannon. The last faithful +regiments were contending against the army of the revolutionists, +while within the hall the election by the French people of a General +Convention was discussed. + +This scene lasted the whole day; the whole day the queen sat in the +glowing heat, her son asleep in her lap, motionless, and like a +marble statue. She appeared to be alive only when once in a while a +sigh or a faint moan escaped her. A glass of water mixed with +currant-juice was the only nourishment she took through the day. + +At about five in the afternoon, while the Assembly was still +deliberating about the disposal of the king, Louis turned composedly +around to the valet who was standing back of him. + +"I am hungry," he said; "bring me something to eat!" Hue hastened to +bring, from a restaurant near by, a piece of roast chicken, some +fruit and stewed plums; a small table was procured, and carried into +the reporters' box of the "Logograph." + +The countenance of the king lightened up a little, as he sat down at +the table and ate his dinner with a good appetite. He did not hear +the suppressed sobs that issued from a dark corner of the box. To +this corner the unhappy woman had withdrawn, who yesterday was Queen +of France, and whose pale cheeks reddened with shame at this hour to +see the king eating with his old relish! + +The tears started afresh from her eyes, and, in order to dry them, +she asked for a handkerchief, for her own was already wet with her +tears, and with the sweat which she had wiped from the forehead of +her sleeping boy. But no one of her friends could reach her a +handkerchief that was not red with the blood of those who had been +wounded in the defence of the queen! + +It was only at two o'clock in the night that the living martyrdom of +this session ended, and the royal family were conducted to the cells +of the former Convent des Feuillants, which was above the rooms of +the Assembly, and which had hastily been put in readiness for the +night quarters of the royal family. Hither armed men, using their +gun-barrels as candlesticks for the tapers which they carried, +marched, conducting a king and a queen to their improvised sleeping- +rooms. A dense crowd of people, bearing weapons, surrounded them, +and often closed the way, so that it needed the energetic command of +the officer in charge to make a free passage for them. The populace +drew back, but bellowed and sang into the ears of the queen as she +passed by: + +"Madame Veto avait promis D'fegorger tout Paris." + +These horrible faces, these threatening, abusive voices, frightened +the dauphin, who clung tremblingly to his mother. Marie Antoinette +stooped down to him and whispered a few words in his ear. At once +the countenance of the boy brightened, and he sprang quickly and +joyfully up the staircase; but at the top he stood still, and waited +for his sister, who was so heavy with sleep that she had to be led +slowly up. "Listen, Theresa," said the prince, joyously, "mamma has +promised me that I shall sleep in her room with her, because I was +so good before the bad people. " [Footnote: Goncourt.--"Histoirede +Marie Antoinette," p. 234.] And he jumped about delightedly into the +rooms which had been opened, and in which a supper had been even +prepared. But suddenly, his countenance darkened, and his eyes +wandered around with an anxious look. + +"Where is Moufflet?" he asked. "He came with me, and he was with me +when we left the box. Moufflet, Moufflet, where are you, Moufflet?" +and asking this question loudly, the dauphin hurried through the +four rooms everywhere seeking after the little dog, the inheritance +from his brother, the former Dauphin of France. + +But Moufflet did not come, and all search was in vain; no Moufflet +was to be found. He had probably been lost in the crowd, or been +trodden under foot. + +When at last silence and peace came, and the royal family were +resting on their hard beds, sighs and suppressed sobs were heard +from where the dauphin lay. It was the little fellow weeping for his +lost dog. The heir of the kings of France had to-day lost his last +possession--his little, faithful dog. + +Marie Antoinette stooped down and kissed his wet eyes. + +"Do not cry, my boy; Moufflet will come back again tomorrow." + +"To-morrow! certainly, mamma?" + +"Certainly." + +The boy dried his tears, and went to sleep with a smile upon his +lips. + +But Marie Antoinette did not sleep; sitting erect in her bed, she +listened to the cries and fiendish shoutings which came up from the +terrace of the Feuillants, as the people heaped their abuses upon +her, and demanded her head. + +On the next day new sufferings! The royal family had to go again +into the little box which they had occupied the day before; they had +to listen to the deliberation of the National Assembly about the +future residence of the royal family, which had made itself unworthy +to inhabit the Tuileries, while even the Luxemburg palace was no +suitable residence for Monsieur and Madame Veto. + +The queen had in the mean time regained her self-possession and +calmness, she could even summon a smile to her lips with which to +greet her children and the faithful friends who thronged around her +in order to be near her in these painful hours. She was pleased with +the attentions of the wife of the English ambassador, Lady +Sutherland, who sent linen and clothes of her own son for the +dauphin. The queen also received from Madame Tourzel her watch with +many thanks, since she had been robbed of her own and her purse on +the way to the Convent des Feuillants. + +On receiving news of this theft, the five gentlemen present hastened +to lay all the gold and notes that they carried about them on the +table before they withdrew. But Marie Antoinette had noticed this. +"Gentlemen," she said, with thanks and deep feeling, "gentlemen, +keep your money; you will want it more than we, for you will, I +trust, live longer." [Footnote: The queen's own words.--See +"Beauehesne," vol. i., p. 806.] + +Death had no longer any terrors for the queen, for she had too often +looked him in the eye of late to be afraid. She had with joy often +seen him take away her faithful servants and friends. Death would +have been lighter to bear than the railings and abuse which she had +to experience upon her walks from the Logograph's reporters' seat to +the rooms in the Convent des Feuillants. On one of these walks she +saw in the garden some respectably dressed people standing and +looking without hurling insults at her.--Full of gratitude, the +queen smiled and bowed to them. On this, one of the men shouted: +"You needn't take the trouble to shake your head so gracefully, for +you won't have it much longer!" + +"I would the man were right!" said Marie Antoinette softly, going on +to the hall of the Assembly to hear the representatives of the +nation discuss the question whether the Swiss guards, who had +undertaken to defend the royal family with weapons in their hands, +should not be condemned to death as traitors to the French nation. + +At length, after five days of continued sufferings, the Assembly +became weary of insulting and humiliating longer those who had been +robbed of their power and dignity; and it was announced to the royal +family that they would hereafter reside in the Temple, and be +perpetual prisoners of the nation. + +On the morning of the 18th of August two great carriages, each drawn +by only two horses, stood in the court des Feuillants ready to carry +the royal family to the Temple. In the first of these sat the king, +the queen, their two children, Madame Elizabeth, Princess Lamballe, +Madame Tourzel and her daughter; and besides these, Potion the mayor +of Paris, the attorney-general, and a municipal officer. In the +second carriage were the servants of the king and two officials. A +detachment of the National Guards escorted the carriages, on both +sides of which dense masses of men stood, incessantly pouring out +their abuse and insults. + +In the Place Vendome the procession stopped, and with scornful +laughter they showed the king the scattered fragments, upon the +pavements, of the equestrian statue of Louis XIV., which had stood +there, and which had been thrown from its pedestal by the anger of +the people. "So shall it be with all tyrants!" shouted and roared +the mob, raising their fists threateningly. + +"How bad they are!" said the dauphin, looking with widely-opened +eyes at the king, between whose knees he was standing. + +"No," answered Louis, gently, "they are not bad, they are only +misled." + +At seven in the evening they reached the gloomy building which was +now to be the home of the King and Queen of France. "Long live the +nation!" roared the mob, which filled the inner court as Marie +Antoinette and her husband dismounted from the carriage. "Long live +the nation!--down with the tyrants!" The queen paid no attention to +the cries; she looked down at her black shoe, which was torn, and +out of whose tip her white silk stocking peeped. "See," she said, to +Princess Lamballe, who was walking by her side, "see my foot, it +would hardly be believed that the Queen of France has no shoes." + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +TO THE 21ST 0F JANUARY. + + +"We must look misfortune directly in the eye, and have courage to +bear it worthily," said Marie Antoinette." "We are prisoners, and +shall long remain so! Let us seek to have a kind of household life +even in our prison. Let us make a fixed plan how to spend our days." + +"You are right, Marie," replied Louis; "let us arrange how to spend +each day. As I am no longer a king, I will be the teacher of my son, +and try to educate him to be a good king." + +"Do you believe, then, husband, that there are to be kings after +this in France?" asked Marie Antoinette, with a shrug. + +"Well," answered Louis, "we will at least seek to give him such an +education that he shall be able to fill worthily whatever station he +may be called to. I will be his teacher in the sciences." + +"And I will interest him and our daughter in music and drawing," +said the queen. + +"And you will allow me to teach my niece to embroider an altar- +cover," said Madame Elizabeth. + +"And in the evening," said Marie Antoinette, nodding playfully to +Princess Lamballe, "in the evening we will read comedies, that the +children may learn of our Lamballe the art of declamation. We will +seek to forget the past, and turn our thoughts only to the present, +whatever it may be. You see that these four days that we have spent +here in the Temple have been good schoolmasters for me, and have +made me patient, and--but what is that?" exclaimed the queen; "did +you not hear steps before the door? It must be something unusual, +for it is not yet so late as the officials are accustomed to come. +Where are the children?" + +And, in the anxiety of her motherly love, the queen hastened up the +little staircase which led to the second story of the Temple, where +was the chamber of the dauphin, together with the general sitting- +room. + +Louis Charles sprang forward to meet his mother, and asked her +whether she had come to fulfil her promise, and go out with him into +the garden. The queen, instead of answering, clasped him in her +arms, and beckoned to Theresa to come to her side. "Oh! my children, +my dear children, I only wanted to see you; I--" + +The door opened, and the king, followed by his sister, Princess +Lamballe, and Madame Tourzel, entered. + +"What is it?" cried Marie Antoinette. "Some new misfortune, is it +not?" + +She was silent, for she now became aware of the presence of both of +the municipal officials, who had come in behind the ladies, and in +whose presence she would not complain. Manuel, who, since the 10th +of August, had been attorney-general--Manuel, the enemy of the +queen, the chief supervisor of the prisoners in the Temple, was +there--and Marie Antoinette would not grant him the triumph of +seeing her weakness. + +"You have something to say to us, sir," said the queen, with a voice +which she compelled to be calm. + +Yes, Manuel had something to say to her. He had to lay before her +and the king a decree of the National Assembly, which ordered old +parties who had accompanied "Louis Capet and his wife" to the +Temple, either under the name of friends or servants, to leave the +place at once. The queen had not a word of complaint, but her pride +was vanquished; she suffered Manuel to see her tears. She extended +her arms, and called the faithful Lamballe to her, mingled her tears +with those of the princess, and then gave a parting kiss to Madame +de Tourzel and her daughter. + +The evening of that day was a silent and solitary one in the rooms +of the Temple. Their last servants had been taken away from the +royal prisoners, and only Clery, the valet of the king, had been +suffered to remain, to wait upon his master. The next morning, +however, Manuel came to inform the queen that she would be allowed +to have two other women to wait upon her, and gave her a list of +names from which she might choose. But Marie Antoinette, with proud +composure, refused to accept this offer. "We have been deprived of +those who remained faithful to us out of love, and devoted their +services to us as a free gift, and we will not supply their places +by servants who are paid by our enemies." + +"Then you will have to wait upon yourselves," cried Manuel, with a +harsh voice. + +"Yes," answered the queen, gently, "we will wait upon ourselves, and +take pleasure in it." + +And they did wait upon themselves; they took the tenderest care one +of another, and performed all these offices with constant readiness. +The king had, happily, been allowed to retain his valet, who dressed +him, who knew all his quiet, moderate ways, and who arranged every +thing for the king in the little study at the Temple, as he had been +accustomed to do in the grand cabinet at Versailles. The ladies +waited upon themselves, and Marie Antoinette undertook the task of +dressing and undressing the dauphin. + +The little fellow was the sunbeam which now and then would light up +even the sombre apartments of the Temple. With the happy +carelessness of infancy, he had forgotten the past, and did not +think of the future; he lived only in the present, sought to be +happy, and found his happiness when he succeeded in calling a smile +to the pale, proud lips of the queen, or in winning a word of praise +from the king for his industry and his attention. + +And thus the days went by with the royal family-monotonous, sad, and +dreary. No greeting of love, no ray of hope came in from the outer +world, to lighten up the thick walls of the old building. No one +brought the prisoners news of what was transpiring without. They +were too well watched for any of their friends to be able to +communicate with them. This was the greatest trial for the royal +captives. Not a moment, by day or by night, when the eyes of the +sentries were not directed toward them, and their motions observed! +The doors to the anterooms were constantly open, and in them always +there were officials, with searching looks and with severe faces, +watching the prisoners in the inner rooms. Even during the night +this trial did not cease, and the Queen of France had to undergo the +indignity of having the door of her sleeping-room constantly open, +while the officials, who spent the night in their arm-chairs in the +anteroom, drank, played, and smoked, always keeping an eye on her +bed, in order to be sure of her presence. + +Even when she undressed herself, the doors of the queen's apartment +were not closed; a mere small screen stood at the foot of the bed; +this was removed as soon as the queen had disrobed and lain down. + +This daily renewed pain and humiliation--this being watched every +minute--was the heaviest burden that the prisoners of the Temple had +to bear, and the proud heart of Marie Antoinette rose in +exasperation every day against these restraints. She endeavored to +be patient and to choke the grief that rose within her, and yet she +must sometimes give expression to it in tears and threatening words, +which now fell like cold thunderbolts from the lips of the queen, +and no longer kindled any thing, no longer dashed any thing in +pieces. + +Thus August passed and September began, sad, gloomy, and hopeless. +On the morning of the 3d of September, Manuel came to the royal +prisoners, to tell them that Paris was in great excitement, and that +they were not to go into the garden that day as usual about noon, +but were to remain in their rooms. + +"How is it with my friend, Princess Lamballe?" asked Marie +Antoinette. + +Manuel was perplexed; he even blushed and cast down his eyes, as he +answered that that morning the princess had been taken to the prison +La Force. Then, in order to divert conversation from this channel, +Manuel told the prisoners about the tidings which had recently +reached Paris, and had thrown the city into such excitement and +rage. + +The neighboring powers had made an alliance against France. The King +of Prussia was advancing with a powerful army, and had already +confronted the French force before Chalons, while the Emperor of +Germany was marching against Alsace. Marie Antoinette forgot the +confusion and perplexity which Manuel had exhibited, in the +importance of this news. She hoped again; she found in her elastic +spirit support in these tidings, and began to think of the +possibility of escape. It did not trouble her that beneath her +windows she heard a furious cry, as the crowd surged up to the +prison walls: "The head of the Austrian! Give us the head of the +Austrian!" She had so often heard that--it had been so long the +daily refrain to the sorrowful song of riot which filled Paris--that +it had lost all meaning for Marie Antoinette. + +Nor did it disturb her at all that she heard the loud beatings of +drums approaching like muffled thunder, that trumpets were blown, +that musketry rattled, and loud war cries resounded in the distant +streets. + +Marie Antoinette paid no heed to this. She heard constantly ringing +before her ear Manuel's words: "The neighboring nations have allied +against France. The King of Prussia is before Chalons. The Emperor +of Germany is advancing upon Strasburg." "0 God of Heaven, be +merciful to us! Grant to our friends victory over our enemies. + +Release us from these sufferings and pains, that our children may at +least find the happiness which for us is buried forever in the +past." + +And yet Marie Antoinette could speak to no one of her hopes and +fears. She must breathe her prayer in her own heart alone, for the +municipal officials were there, and the two servants who had been +forced upon the prisoners, Tison and his wife, the paid servants of +their enemies. + +Only the brave look and the clearer brow told the king of the hopes +and wishes of his wife, but he responded to them with a faint shrug +and a sad smile. + +All at once, after the royal family had sat down to take their +dinner at the round table--all at once there was a stir in the +building which was before so still. Terrible cries were heard, and +steps advancing up the staircase. The two officials, who were +sitting in the open anteroom, stood and listened at the door. This +was suddenly opened, and a third official entered, pale, trembling +with rage, and raising his clinched fists tremblingly against the +king. + +"The enemy is in Verdun," cried he. "We shall all be undone, but you +shall be the first to suffer!" + +The king looked quietly at him; but the dauphin, terrified at the +looks of the angry man and his loud voice, burst into a violent fit +of weeping and sobbing, and Marie Antoinette and the little Theresa +strove in vain to quiet the little fellow by gentle words. + +A fourth official now entered, and whispered secretly to his +colleagues. + +"Is my family no longer in safety here?" asked the king. + +The official shrugged his shoulders. "The report has gone abroad +that the royal family is no longer in the Temple. This has excited +the people, and they desire that you all show yourselves at the +windows, but we will not permit it; you shall not show yourselves. +The public must have more confidence in its servants." + +"Yes," cried the other official, still raising his fists--"yes, that +it must; but if the enemy come, the royal family shall die!" + +And when at these words the dauphin began to cry aloud again, he +continued: "I pity the poor little fellow, but die he must!" + +Meanwhile the cries outside were still louder, and abusive epithets +were distinctly heard directed at the queen. A fifth official then +came in, followed by some soldiers, in order to assure themselves, +in the name of the people, that the Capet family was still in the +tower. This official demanded, in an angry voice, that they should +go to the window and show themselves to the people. + +"No, no, they shall not do it," cried the other functionaries. + +"Why not?" asked the king. "Come, Marie." + +He extended his hand to her, and advanced with her to the window. + +"No, don't do it!" cried the official, rushing to the window. + +"Why not?" asked the king, in astonishment. + +"Well," cried the man, with threatening fist, "the people want to +show you the head of Lamballe, that you may see how the nation takes +vengeance on its tyrants." + +At that same instant there arose behind the window-pane a pale head +encircled with long, fair hair, the livid forehead sprinkled with +blood, the eyes lustreless and fixed--the head of Princess Lamballe, +which the people had dressed by a friseur, to hoist it upon a pike +and show it to the queen. + +The queen had seen it; staggering she fell back upon a chair; she +gazed fixedly at the window, even after the fearful phantom had +disappeared. Her lips were open, as if for a cry which had been +silenced by horror. She did not weep, she did not complain, and even +the caresses of the children, the gentle address of Princess +Elizabeth, and the comforting words of the king could not rouse her +out of this stupefying of her whole nature. + +Princess Lamballe had been murdered, and deep in her soul the queen +saw that this was only the prelude to the fearful tragedy, in which +her family would soon be implicated. + +Poor Princess Lamballe! She had been killed because she had refused +to repeat the imprecations against the queen, which they tried to +extort from her lips: "Swear that you love liberty and equality; +swear that you hate the king, the queen, and every thing pertaining +to royalty." + +"I will swear to the first," was the princess's answer, "but to the +last I cannot swear, for it does not lie in my heart." + +This was the offence of the princess, that hate did not lie in her +heart--the offence of so many others who were killed on that 3d of +September, that dreadful day on which the hordes of Marseilles +opened the prisons, in order to drag the prisoners before the +tribunals, or to execute them without further sentence. + +The days passed by, and they had to be borne. Marie Antoinette had +regained her composure and her proud calmness. She had to overcome +even this great grief, and the heart of the queen had not yet been +broken. She still loved, she still hoped. She owed it to her husband +and children not to despair, and better days might come even yet. +"We must keep up courage," she said, "to live till the dawn of this +better day." + +And it required spirit to bear the daily torture of this life! +Always exposed to scorn and abuse! Always watched by the eyes of +mocking, reviling men! Always scrutinized by Madame Tison, her +servant, who followed every one of her motions as a cat watches its +prey, and among all these sentinels the most obnoxious of all was +the cobbler Simon. + +Commissioned by the authorities to supervise the workmen and masons +who were engaged in restoring the partially ruined ancient portion +of the Temple, Simon had made himself at home within the building, +to discharge his duties more comfortably. It was his pleasure to +watch this humiliated royal family, to see them fall day by day, and +hear the curses that accompanied them at every step. He never +appeared in their presence without insulting them, and encouraging +with loud laughter those who imitated him in this. + +Some of the officials in charge never spoke excepting with dreadful +abuse of the king, the queen, and the children. + +One of them cried to his comrade in presence of Marie Antoinette: +"If the hangman does not guillotine this accursed family, I will do +it!" + +When the royal family went down to take their walk in the garden, +Santerre used to come up with a troop of soldiers. The sentries whom +they passed shouldered arms before Santerre; but as soon as he had +passed and the king came, they grounded their arms, and pretended +not to see him. In the door that led into the garden, Rocher, the +turnkey, used to stand, and take his pleasure in letting the royal +family wait before unlocking, while he blew great clouds of smoke +into their faces from his long tobacco-pipe. The National Guards who +stood in the neighborhood used to laugh at this, and hurl all sorts +of low, vile words at the princesses. Then, while the royal +prisoners were taking their walk, the cannoneers used to collect in +the allees through which they wandered, and dance to the music of +revolutionary songs which some of them sang. Sometimes the gardeners +who worked there hurried up to join them in this dance, and to +encircle the prisoners in their wild evolutions. One of these people +displayed his sickle to the king one day, and swore that he would +cut off the head of the queen with it. And when, after their sad +walk, they had returned to the Temple, they were received by the +sentinels and the turnkey with renewed insults; and, as if it were +not enough to fill the ear with this abuse, the eye too must have +its share. The vilest of expressions were written upon the walls of +the corridors which the royal party had to traverse. You might read +there: "Madame Veto will soon be dancing again. Down with the +Austrian she-wolf! The wolf's brood must be strangled. The king must +be hanged with his own ribbon!" Another time they had drawn a +gallows, on which a figure was hanging, with the expression written +beneath, "Louis taking an air-bath!" + +And so, even the short walks of the prisoners were transformed into +suffering. At first the queen thought she could not bear it, and the +promenades were given up. But the pale cheeks of her daughter, the +longing looks which the dauphin cast from the closed window to the +garden, warned the mother to do what the queen found too severe a +task. She underwent the pain involved in this, she submitted +herself, and every day the royal pair took the dear children into +the garden again, and bore this unworthy treatment without +complaint, that the children might enjoy a little air and sunshine. + +One day, the 21st of September, the royal family had returned from +their walk to their sitting-room. The king had taken a book and was +reading; the queen was sitting near him, engaged in some light work; +while the dauphin, with his sister Theresa, and his aunt Elizabeth, +were in the next room, and were busying each other with riddles. In +the open anteroom the two officials were sitting, their eyes fixed +upon the prisoners with a kind of cruel pleasure. + +Suddenly beneath their windows were heard the loud blast of trumpets +and the rattle of drums; then followed deep silence, and amid this +stillness the following proclamation was read with a loud voice: + +"The monarchy is abolished in France. All official documents will be +dated from the first year of the republic. The national seal will be +encircled by the words, 'Republic of France.' The national coat-of- +arms will be a woman sitting upon a bundle of weapons, and holding +in her hand a lance tipped with a liberty-cap." + +The two officials had fixed their eyes upon the king and queen, from +whose heads the crown had just fallen. They wanted to read, with +their crafty and malicious eyes, the impression which the +proclamation had made upon them. But those proud, calm features +disclosed nothing. Not for a moment did the king raise his eyes from +the book which he was reading, while the voice without uttered each +word with fearful distinctness. The queen quietly went on with her +embroidery, and not for a moment did she intermit the regular motion +of her needle. + +Again the blast of trumpets and the rattle of drums. The funeral of +the royalty was ended, and the king was, after this time, to be +known simply as Louis Capet, and the queen as Marie Antoinette. +Within the Temple there was no longer a dauphin, no longer a Madame +Royale, no longer a princess, but only the Capet family! + +The republic had hurled the crowns from the heads of Louis and Marie +Antoinette; and when, some days later, the linen which had been long +begged for, had been brought from the Tuileries, the republic +commanded the queen to obliterate the crown which marked each piece, +in addition to the name. + +But their sufferings are by no means ended yet. Still there are some +sources of comfort left, and now and then a peaceful hour. The +crowns have fallen, but hearts still beat side by side. They have no +longer a kingdom, but they are together, they can speak with looks +one to another, they can seek to comfort one another with smiles, +they can cheer each other up with a passing grasp of the hand, that +escapes the eye of the sentries! We only suffer half what we bear in +common with others, and every thing seems lighter, when there is a +second one to help lift the load. + +Perhaps the enemies of the king and queen have an instinctive +feeling of this, and their hate makes them sympathetic, in order to +teach them to invent new tortures and new sufferings. + +Yes, there are unknown pangs still to be felt; their cup of sorrows +was not yet full! The parents are still left to each other, and +their eyes are still allowed to rest upon their children! But the +"one and indivisible republic" means to rend even these bonds which +bind the royal family together, and to part those who have sworn +that nothing shall separate them but death! The republic--which had +abolished the churches, overthrown the altars, driven the priesthood +into exile--the republic cannot grant to the Capet family that only +death shall separate them, for it had even made Death its servant, +and must accept daily victims from him, offered on the Place de +Liberte, in the centre of which stood the guillotine, the only altar +tolerated there. + +In the middle of October the republic sent its emissaries to the +Temple, to tear the king from the arms of his wife and his children. +In spite of their pleadings and cries, he was taken to another part +of the Temple--to the great tower, which from this time was to serve +as his lodgings. And in order that the queen might be spared no +pang, the dauphin was compelled to go with his father and be +separated from his mother. + +This broke the pride, the royal pride of Marie Antoinette. She wrung +her hands, she wept, she cried, she implored with such moving, +melting tones, not to be separated from her son and husband, that +even the heart of Simon the cobbler was touched. + +"I really believe that these cursed women make me blubber!" cried +he, angry with the tears which forced themselves into his eyes. And +he made no objection when the other officials said to the queen, +with trembling voices, that they would allow the royal family to +come together at their meals. + +One last comfort, one last ray of sunshine! There were still hours +in these dismal, monotonous days of November, when they could have +some happiness--hours for which they longed, and for whose sake they +bore the desolate solitude of the remaining time. + +At breakfast, dinner, and supper, the Capet family were together; +words were interchanged, hands could rest in one another, and they +could delight in the pleasant chatter of the dauphin when the king +told about the lessons he had given the boy, and the progress he was +making. + +They sometimes forgot, at those meetings, that Death was perhaps +crouching outside the Temple, waiting to receive his victims; and +they even uttered little words of pleasantry, to awaken the bright, +fresh laugh of the dauphin, the only music that ever was heard in +those dismal rooms. + +But December took this last consolation from the queen. The National +Assembly, which had now been transformed into the Convention, +brought the charge of treason against the king. He was accused of +entering into a secret alliance with the enemies of France, and +calling the monarchs of Europe to come to his assistance. In an iron +safe which had been set into the wall of the cabinet in the +Tuileries, papers had been discovered which compromised the king, +letters from the refugee princes, from the Emperor of Germany, and +the King of Prussia. These monarchs were now on the very confines of +France, ready to enter upon a bloody war, and that was the fault of +the king! He was in alliance with the enemies of his country! He was +the murderer of his own subjects! On his head the blood should +return, which had been shed by him. + +This was the charge which was brought against the king. Twenty +members of the Convention went to the Temple, to read it to him, and +to hear his reply. He stoutly denied haying entertained such +relations with foreign princes; he declared, with a solemn oath, +that he had declined all overtures from such quarters, because he +had seen that, in order to free an imprisoned king, France itself +must be threatened. + +The chiefs of the revolution meant to find him guilty. Louis Capet +must be put out of the way, in order that Robespierre and Marat, +Danton, Petion, and their friends, might reach unlimited power. + +There may have been several in the Convention who shrank from this +last consequence of their doings, but they did not venture to raise +their voices; they chimed in with the terrorism which the leaders of +the revolution exercised upon the Convention. They knew that behind +these leaders stood the savage masses of the streets, armed with +hatred against monarchy and the aristocracy, and ready to tear in +pieces any one as an enemy of the country who ventured to join the +number of those who were under the ban and the sentence of the +popular hate. + +Still there were some courageous, faithful servants of the king who +ventured to take his part even there. Louis had now been summoned to +the bar as an accused person, and the Convention had transformed +itself into a tribunal whose function was to pass judgment on the +guilt or innocence of the king! + +In order to satisfy all the forms of the law, the king should have +had an advocate allowed him, and the benefit of legal counsel. The +Convention demanded that those who were ready to undertake this task +should send in their names. It was a form deemed safe to abide by, +because it was believed that there would be no one who would venture +to enter upon so momentous and perilous a duty. + +But there were such, nevertheless. There were still courageous and +noble men who pitied the forsaken king, and who wanted to try to +save him; not willing to see him atone for the debts of his +predecessors, and bleed for the sins of his fathers. And scarcely +had the consent of the Convention been announced, that Louis Capet +should have three advocates for his defence, when from Paris and all +the minor cities letters came in from men who declared themselves +ready to undertake the defence of the king. + +Even from foreign lands there came letters and appeals in behalf of +the deposed monarch. One of them, written in spirited and glowing +language, conjured France not to soil its noble young freedom by the +dreadful murder of an innocent man, who had committed no other +offence than that he was the son of his fathers, the heir of their +crown and their remissness. It was written by a German poet, +Frederick Schiller. [Footnote: Schiller's defence of the king is +preserved in the national archives--See Beauchesue vol. i., p. 366.] + +From the many requests to serve as his advocates, Louis chose only +two to defend him. The first of these was his former minister, the +philosopher Lamoignon des Malesherbes, then the advocate Trouchet, +and finally, at the pressing request of Malesherbes, the +distinguished young advocate Deseges. To those three men was +committed the trust of defending the king against the dreadful +charge of treason to his country, to be substantiated by hundreds +and hundreds of letters and documents. + +After the preliminary investigations were closed, the public charge +was made in the Convention, which still held its sessions in the +Manage. To this building, situated near the Tuileries, the king, +accompanied by his three defenders and two municipal defenders, and +surrounded by National Guards, was conducted from the Temple. The +people danced around the carriage with wild shouts of joy and curses +of the king. Within the vehicle sat Louis, completely calm and self- +possessed. + +"This man must be filled with a singular fanaticism," said +Colombeau, one of the leading officials, in the report which he gave +to the Convention of the ride. "It is otherwise inexplicable how +Louis could be so calm, since he had so much reason to fear. After +we had all entered the carriage, and were driving through the +streets, Louis entered upon conversation, which soon turned upon +literature, and especially upon some Latin authors. He gave his +judgments with remarkable correctness and insight, and it appeared +to me that he took pleasure in showing his learning. One of us said +that he did not enjoy Seneca, because his love for riches stood in +marked contrast with his pretended philosophy, and because it could +not easily be forgiven him that before the senate he apologized for +the crimes of Nero. This reflection did not seem to affect Louis in +the least. When we spoke of Livy, Capet said that he seemed to have +taken satisfaction in composing great speeches which were never +uttered to any other audience than that which was reached from his +study-table; 'for,' he added, 'it is impossible that generals really +delivered such long speeches in front of their armies.' He then +compared Livy with Tacitus, and thought that the latter was far +superior to the former in point of style." [Footnote: See +Beauchesne, vol. i., p. 396.] The king went on talking about Latin +authors while the carriage was carrying him through the roaring mob +to the Convention, which Desege addressed in his defence in these +courageous words: "I look for judges among you, but see only +accusers." + +The king was completely calm, yet he knew that his life was +threatened, and that he was standing before a tribunal of death. As +on the day when he was first taken to the Convention, he requested +Malesherbes to forward a note to the priest whose attendance he +desired, and who he believed would not deny his presence and +attentions. His name was Edgewarth de Pirmont. The time was not +distant when not the services of advocates were wanted by the king, +but exclusively those of the priest. + +The sentence of death was pronounced on January 26, 1793. Louis +received it calmly, and desired merely to see his family, to have a +confessor come to him, and to prepare himself for his death. + +During these dreadful weeks Marie Antoinette was separated from her +husband, alone with her children, who no longer were able to smile, +but who sat day after day with fixed eyes and silent lips. The queen +knew that the king had been accused, had made a private reply to the +charges brought against him, and had been brought before the +Convention. But not a word, not a syllable of the trial which +followed, reached her. Madame Tison, the female dragon who guarded +her, watched her too well for any tidings to reach her. + +At last, however, the word was brought which the heart of the queen +had so long anticipated tremblingly, for which she had prepared +herself during the long nights with tears and prayers, and which now +filled her with grief, anger, and despair. The king was condemned to +death! He wanted only to see his family, to take his leave of them! + +The Convention had granted this privilege to him, and had even gone +so far in its grace as to permit the family to be without the +presence of witnesses. The meeting was appointed, however, in the +little dining-room of the king, because a glass door led into the +adjoining room, and the officials could then look in upon the royal +family. The functionary had withdrawn in order to conduct the queen, +the children, and the king's sister from the upper tower. The king +was awaiting them, walked disquietly up and down, and then directed +Clery, who was arranging the little room, to set the round table, +which was in the middle of the apartment, on one side, and then to +bring in a carafe of water and some glasses. "But," he added, +considerately, "not ice-water, for the queen cannot bear it, and she +might be made unwell by it." + +But all at once the king grew pale, and, standing still, he laid his +hand upon his loudly-beating heart. He had heard the voice of the +queen. + +The door opened and they came in--all his dear ones. The queen led +the dauphin by the hand; Madame Elizabeth walked with the Princess +Theresa. + +The king went toward them and opened his arms to them. They all +pressed up to him and clasped him in their midst, while loud sobs +and heart-rending cries filled the room. Behind the door were the +officials, but they could not look in upon the scene, for their own +eyes were filled with tears. In the king's cabinet, not far away, +the Abbe Edgewarth de Firmont was upon his knees, praying for the +unfortunates whose wails and groans reached even him. + +Gradually the sobs died away. They took their places--the queen at +the left of her husband; Madame Elizabeth, his sister, at his right; +opposite to him, his daughter, Maria Theresa, and between his knees +the dauphin, looking up into his father's face with widely-opened +eyes and a sad smile. + +Louis was the first to speak. He told them of his trial, and of the +charges which they had brought against him. But his words were +gentle and calm, and he expressed his pity for the "poor, misled +men" who had condemned him. He asked his family, too, to forgive +them. They answered him only with sobs, embraces, tears, and kisses. + +Then all was still. The officials heard not a word, but they saw the +queen, with her children and sister-in-law, sink upon their knees, +while the king, standing erect in the midst of the group, raised his +hands and blessed them in gentle, noble words, which touched the +heart of the Abbe Edgewarth, who was kneeling behind the door of the +neighboring cabinet. + +The king then bade the family rise, took them again in his arms, and +kissed the queen, who, pale and trembling, clung to him, and whose +quivering lips were not able to restrain a word of denunciation of +those who had condemned him. + +"I have forgiven them," said the king, seriously. "I have written my +will, and in it you will read that I pardon them, and that I ask you +to do the same. Promise me, Marie, that you will never think how you +may avenge my death." + +A smile full of sadness and despair flitted over the pale lips of +the queen. + +"I shall never be in a situation to take vengeance upon them," she +said. "But," she added quickly, "even if I should ever be able, and +the power should be in my hands, I promise that I will exact no +vengeance for this deed." + +The king stooped down and imprinted a kiss upon her forehead. + +"I thank you, Marie, and I know that you all, my dear ones, will +sacredly regard my last testament, and that my wishes and words will +be engraven on your hearts. But, my son"--and he took the dauphin +upon his knee, and looked down into his face tenderly--"you are +still a child, and might forget. You have heard what I have said, +but as an oath is more sacred than a word, raise your hand and swear +to me you will fulfil my wish and forgive all our enemies." + +The boy, turning his great blue eyes fixedly on the king, and his +lips trembling with emotion, raised his right hand, and even the +officials in the next room could distinctly hear the sweet child's +voice repeating the words: "I swear to you, papa king, that I will +forgive all our enemies, and will do no harm to those who are going +to kill my dear father!" + +A shudder passed through the hearts of the men in the next room; +they drew back from the door with pale faces. It seemed to them as +if they had heard the voice of an angel, and a feeling of +inexpressible pain and regret passed through their souls. + +Within the king's room all now was still, and the abbe in the +cabinet heard only the gentle murmuring of their prayers, and the +suppressed weeping and sobs. + +At last the king spoke. "Now, go, my dear ones. I must be alone. I +need to rest and collect myself." + +A loud wail was the answer. After some minutes, Clery opened the +glass door, and the royal family were brought into the view of the +officials once more. The queen was clinging to the right arm of +Louis; they each gave a hand to the dauphin. Theresa had flung her +arms around the king's body, his sister Elizabeth clung to his left +arm. They thus moved forward a few steps toward the door, amid loud +cries of grief and heart-breaking sobs. + +"I promise you," said Louis, "to see you once more tomorrow morning, +at eight o'clock." + +"At eight! Why not at seven?" asked the queen, with a foreboding +tone. + +"Well, then," answered the king, gently, "at seven. Farewell, +farewell!" + +The depth of sadness in his utterance with which he spoke the last +parting word, doubled the tears and sobs of the weeping family. The +daughter fell in a swoon at the feet of her father, and Clery, +assisted by the Princess Elizabeth, raised her up. + +"Papa, my dear papa," cried the dauphin, nestling up closely to his +father, "let us stay with you." + +The queen said not a word. With pale face and with widely-opened +eyes she looked fixedly at the king, as though she wanted to impress +his countenance on her heart. + +"Farewell, farewell!" cried the king, once more, and he turned +quickly around and hurried into the next room. + +A single cry of grief and horror issued from all lips. The two +children, soon to be orphans, then clung closely to their mother, +who threw herself, overmastered by her sobbing, on the neck of her +sister-in-law. + +"Forward! The Capet family will return to their own apartments!" +cried one of the officials. + +Marie Antoinette raised herself up, her eye flashed, and with a +voice full of anger, she cried: "You are hangmen and traitors!" +[Footnote: Beauchesne, vol. 1., p. 49.] + +The king had withdrawn to his cabinet, where the priest, Abbe +Edgewarth de Firmont, addressed him with comforting words. His +earnest request had been granted, to give the king the sacrament +before his death. The service was to take place very early the next +morning, so ran the decision of the authorities, and at seven the +king was to be taken to execution. + +Louis received the first part of this communication joyfully, the +second part with complete calmness. + +"As I must rise so early," he said to his valet Clery, "I must +retire early. This day has been a very trying one for me, and I need +rest, so as not to be weak to-morrow." He was then undressed by the +servant, and lay down. When Clery came at five the next morning to +dress him, he found the king still asleep, and they must have been +pleasant dreams which were passing before him, for a smile was +playing on his lips. + +The king was dressed, and the priest gave him the sacrament, the +vessels used having been taken from the neighboring Capuchin church +of Marais. An old chest of drawers was converted by Clery into an +altar, two ordinary candlesticks stood on each side of the cup, and +in them two tallow candles burned, instead of wax. Before this altar +kneeled King Louis XVI., lost in thought and prayer, and wearing a +calm, peaceful face. + +The priest read the mass; Clery responded as sacristan; and even +while the king was receiving the elements, the sound of the drums +and trumpets was heard without, which awakened Paris that morning +and told the city that the King of France was being led to his +execution. Cannon were rattling through the streets, and National +Guardsmen were hurrying on foot and on horse along the whole of the +way that led from the Temple to the Place de la Concorde. A rank of +men, four deep and standing close to one another, armed with pikes +and other weapons, guarded both sides of the street, and made it +impossible for those who wanted to liberate the king during the +ride, to come near to him. The authorities knew that one of the +bravest and most determined partisans of the king had arrived in +Paris, and that he, in conjunction with a number of young and brave- +spirited men, had resolved on rescuing the king at any cost, during +his ride to the place of execution. The utmost precautions had been +taken to render this impossible. Through the dense ranks of the +National Guard, which to-day was composed of mere sans-culottes, the +raging, bloodthirsty men of the suburbs drove the carriage in which +was the king, followed and escorted by National Guardsmen on +horseback. The windows were all closed and the curtains drawn in the +houses by which the procession passed; but behind those curtained +windows it is probable that people were upon their knees praying for +the unhappy man who was now on his way to the scaffold, and who was +once King of France. + +All at once there arose a movement in this dreadful hedge of armed +men, through which the carriage was passing. Two young men cried: +"To us, Frenchmen--to us, all who want to save the king!" + +But the cry found no response. Every one looked horrified at his +neighbor, and believed he saw in him a spy or a murderer; fear +benumbed all their souls, and the silence of death reigned around. + +The two young men wanted to flee, to escape into a house close by. +But the door was closed, and before the very door they were cut down +and hewn in pieces by the exasperated sans-culottes. + +The carriage of the king rolled on, and Louis paid no more attention +to objects around him; in the prayer-book which he carried in his +hands he read the petitions for the dying, and the abbe prayed with +him. + +The coachman halted at the foot of the scaffold, and the king +dismounted. A forest of pikes surrounded the spot. The drummers beat +loudly, but the king cried with a loud voice, "Silence!" and the +noise ceased. On that, Santerre sprang forward and commanded them to +commence beating their drums again, and they obeyed him. The king +took off his upper garments, and the executioners approached to cut +off his hair. He quietly let this be done, but when they wanted to +tie his hands, his eyes flashed with anger, and with a firm voice he +refused to allow them to do so. + +"Sire," said the priest, "I see in this new insult only a fresh +point of resemblance between your majesty and our Saviour, who will +be your recompense and your strength." + +Louis raised his eyes to heaven with an indescribable expression of +grief and resignation. "Truly," he said, "only my recollection of +Him and His example can enable me to endure this new degradation." + +He gave his hands to the executioner, to let them be bound. Then +resting on the arm of the abbe, he ascended the steps of the +scaffold. The twenty drummers, who stood around the staging, beat +their drums; but the king, advancing to the very verge of the +scaffold, commanded them with a loud voice to be silent, and the +noise ceased. + +In a tone which was audible across the whole square, and which made +every word intelligible, the king said: "I die innocent of all the +charges which are brought against me. I forgive those who have +caused my death, and I pray God that the blood which you spill this +day may never come back upon the head of France. And you, unhappy +people--" + +"Do not let him go on talking this way," cried Santerre's commanding +voice, interrupting the king, then turning to Louis he said, in an +angry tone, "I brought you here not to make speeches, but to die!" + +The drums beat, the executioners seized the king and bent him down. +The priest stooped over him and murmured some words which only God +heard, but which a tradition full of admiration and sympathy has +transposed into the immortal and popular formula which is truer than +truth and more historical than history: "Son of St. Louis, ascend to +Heaven!" + +The drums beat, a glistening object passed through the air, a stroke +was heard, and blood spirted up. The King of France was dead, and +Samson the executioner lifted up the head, which had once borne a +crown, to show it to the people. + +A dreadful silence followed for an instant; then the populace broke +in masses through the rows of soldiers, and rushed to the scaffold, +in order to bear away some remembrances of this ever-memorable +event. The clothes of the king were torn to rags and distributed, +and they even gave the executioner some gold in exchange for locks +of hair from the bleeding head. An Englishman gave a child fifteen +louis d'or for dipping his handkerchief in the blood which flowed +from the scaffold. Another paid thirty louis d'or for the peruke of +the king. [Footnote: These details I take from the "Vossische +Zeitung," which, in its issue of the 5th of February, 1798, contains +a full report of the execution of King Louis XVI., and also +announces that the court of Prussia will testify its grief at the +unmerited fate by wearing mourning for a period of four weeks. The +author of this work possesses a copy of the " Vossische Zeitung " of +that date, in small quarto form, printed on thick, gray paper. In +the same number of the journal is a fable by Hermann Pfeffel, which +runs in the following strain: + + +First moral, then political freedom. + +A fable, by Hermann Pfeffel. Zeus and the Tigers. + +To Zeus there came one day +A deputation of tigers. "Mighty potentate," +Thus spoke their Cicero before the monarch's throne, +"The noble nation of tigers, +Has long been wearied with the lion's choice as king. +Does not Nature give us an equal claim with his? +Therefore, O Zeus, declare my race +To be a people of free citizens!" +"No," said the god of gods, "it cannot be; +You are deceivers, thieves, and murderers, +Only a good people merits being free." +[Footnote: "Marie Antoinette et sa Famine," par Lescure, p. 648.] + + +On the evening of the same day, the executioner Samson, shocked at +the terrible deed which he had done, went to a priest, paid for +masses to be said for the repose of the king, then laid down his +office, retired into solitude, and died in six months. His son was +his successor in his ghostly office, and, in a pious manner, he +continued what his father began. The masses for the king, instituted +by the two Samsons, continued to be read till the year 1840. + +On the morrow which followed this dreadful day, the "Widow Capet" +requested the authorities to provide for herself and her family a +suite of mourning of the simplest kind. + +The republic was magnanimous enough to comply with this request. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +TOULAN. + + +The citizen Toulan is on guard again at the Temple, and this time +with his friend Lepitre. He is so trustworthy and blameless a +republican, and so zealous a citizen, that the republic gives him +unconditional confidence. The republic had appointed him as chief of +the bureau for the control of the effects of emigres. Toulan is, +besides, a member of the Convention; and it is not his fault that, +on the day when the decision was made respecting the king's life or +death, he was not in the Assembly. He had been compelled at that +time to make a journey into the provinces, to attach the property of +an aristocrat who had emigrated. Had Toulan been in Paris, he would +naturally have given his voice in favor of the execution of the +king. He says this freely and openly to every one, and every one +believes him, for Toulan is an entirely unsuspected republican. He +belongs to the sans-culottes, and takes pride in not being dressed +better than the meanest citizen. He belongs to the friends of Marat, +and Simon the cobbler is always happy when Toulan has the watch in +the Temple; for Toulan is such a jovial, merry fellow, he can make +such capital jokes and laugh so heartily at those of others. They +have such fine times when Toulan is there, and the sport is the +greatest when his friend Lepitre is with him on service in the +Temple. Then the two have the grandest sport of all; they even have +little plays, which are so funny that Simon has to laugh outright, +and even the turnkey Tison, and his wife, forget to keep guard, and +leave the glass door through which they have been watching the royal +family, in order to be spectators at Toulan's little farces. + +"These are jolly days when you are both in the Temple," said Simon, +"and you cannot blame me if I like to have you here, and put you on +service pretty often." + +"Oh, we do not blame you for that," said Toulan, "on the other hand, +we particularly like being with you, you are such a splendid +fellow!" + +"And then," adds Lepitre to this, "it is so pleasant to see the +proud she-wolf and her young ones, and to set them down a little. +These people, when they were living in the Tuileries, have turned up +their noses at us often enough, and acted as if we were only dust +that they must blow away from their exalted presence. It is time +that they should feel a little that they are only dust for us to +blow away!" + +"Yes, indeed," chimed in Toulan, "it is high time that they should +feel it!" + +"And you both understood that matter capitally," said Simon, with a +laugh, "I always see that it particularly provokes the queen to have +you on service, and I like that, and I am especially glad to have +you here." + +"I've thought out a joke for to-day," said Toulan. "I will teach the +widow to smoke. You know, brother Simon, that she always pretends +not to be able to bear the smell of tobacco, she shall learn to bear +it. I will hand her a paper cigarette to-day, and tell her that if +she does not want us to smoke, she must smoke with us." + +"Splendid joke!" said Simon, with a loud laugh. "But there's one +thing to be thought of about that," said Lepitre, reflectively. "the +widow Capet might perhaps promise to smoke, if we would tell her +that we would never smoke afterward. But then we should not keep our +word, of course." + +"What! you say we should not keep our word!" said Toulan, in +amazement. "We are republicans; more than that, we are sans- +culottes! and shall we not keep our word? ought we not to be better +than the cursed aristocrats, that never kept their word to the +people? How can you disgrace us and yourself so much? Ask our noble +friend and brother Simon, whether he is of the opinion that a free +man ought not to keep his word, even if he has only given it to a +woman in prison." + +"I am of that opinion," said Simon, with dignity. "I swore to myself +that the king should lose his head, and I kept my word. I promised +the she-wolf that she should be hanged, and I hope to keep this +promise too. If I keep my word to her in what is bad, I must do so +also in what is good. If a republican promises any thing, he must +hold to it." + +"Right, Simon, you are a noble and wise man. It remains fixed, then, +that the queen shall smoke, but if we have our joke out, we shall +not smoke any more." + +"I will put up a placard on the door: 'Smoking forbidden in the +anteroom of the she-wolf.'" + +"Good," cried Toulan, "that is worthy of you." + +"Let us go up now," said Simon, "the two other sentries are up- +stairs already, they will wonder that you come so late, but I do +like to chat with you. Come on, let's go up. I'll stay there to see +the joke. But wait a moment, there is something new. It has been +proposed that not so many guards are needed to watch the Capets, and +that it has the appearance as if the government was afraid of these +howling women and this little monkey, whom the crazy royalists call +King Louis XVII. It is very likely that they will reduce the guard +to two." + +"Very good," said Toulan, approvingly.--"What's the use of wearying +out so many other men and condemning them to such idleness? We +cannot be making jokes all the time; and then again it is not +pleasant always looking on these people's long faces." + +"So only two guards," said Lepitre; "but that seems to me rather too +few, for what if the widow should succeed in winning them over and +getting them to help her escape?" + +"Impossible!" cried Simon, "she'll never come around me, and as long +as I have my eyes open, she and her brood will never get away. No +one can come down the staircase without my hearing and seeing it, +for you know my rooms are near the stairs, and the door is always +open and I am always there, and then there is the turnkey Ricard, +who watches the door that leads to the court like a cerberus. Then +there are three sentries at the doors leading from the inner court +to the outer one, and the four sentries at the doors leading from +the outer court to the street. No, no, my friends, if the she-wolf +wants to escape she must use magic, and make wings grow on her +shoulders and fly away." + +"That is good, I like that," said Toulan, springing up the +staircase. + +"And that settles my doubts too," said Lepitre. "I should think two +official guards would suffice, for it is plain that she cannot +escape. Simon is on the look-out, and it is plain that the she-wolf +cannot transform herself into an eagle." + +"Well said," laughed Simon; "here we are before the door, let's go +in and have our fun." + +He dashed the door open noisily, and went into the room with the two +men. Two officials were sitting in the middle of the room at the +table, and were actively engaged playing cards. Through the open +door you could look into the sitting-room of the Capet family. The +queen was sitting on the divan behind the round table, clothed in +her sad suit of mourning, with a black cap upon her gray locks. + +She was busy in dictating an exercise to the dauphin from a book +which she held in her hand. The prince, also clad in black and with +a broad crape about his arm, sat upon a chair by her side. His whole +attention was directed to his work, and he was visibly making an +effort to write as well as possible, for a glowing red suffused hia +cheeks. + +On the other side of the queen sat Madame Elizabeth; near her the +Princess Maria Theresa, both busy in preparing some clothing for the +queen. + +No one of the group appeared to notice the loud opening of the door, +no one observed the entering forms, or cast even a momentary glance +at them. + +But Toulan was not contented with this; he demanded nothing less +than that the she-wolf should look at him. He hurried through the +anteroom with a threatening tread, advanced to the door of the +sitting-room, and stopped upon the threshold, making such a deep and +ceremonious bow, and swinging his arm so comically, that Simon was +compelled to laugh aloud. + +"Madame," cried Toulan, "I have the inexpressible honor of greeting +your grace." + +"He is a brick, a perfect brick," roared Simon. + +Lepitre had gone to the window, and turned his back upon the room; +he was perhaps too deficient in spirit to join in the joke. Nobody +paid any attention to him; nobody saw him take a little packet from +his coat-pocket, and slide it slowly and carefully behind the wooden +box that stood beneath the window. + +"Madame," cried Toulan, in a still louder voice, "I fear your grace +has not heard my salutation." + +The queen slowly raised her eyes, and turned them to the man who was +still standing upon the threshold. "I heard it," she said, coldly, +"go on writing, my son." And she went on in the sentence that she +had just then begun to dictate. + +"I am so happy at being heard by Madame Veto that I shall have to +celebrate it by a little bonfire!"--said Toulan, taking a cigar from +his breast-pocket. "You see, my friends, that I am a very good +courtier, though I have the honor to be a sans-culottes. In the +presence of handsome ladies I only smoke cigars! Hallo! bring me a +little fire." + +One of the officials silently passed him his long pipe. Toulan +lighted his cigar, placed himself at the threshold, and blew great +clouds of smoke into the chamber. + +The ladies still continued to sit quietly without paying any +attention to Toulan. The queen dictated, and the dauphin wrote. The +queen only interrupted herself in this occupation, when she had to +cough and wipe her eyes, which the smoke filled with tears. + +Toulan had followed every one of her movements with an amused look. +"Madame does not appear to take any pleasure in my bonfire!" he +said. "Will madame not smoke?" + +The queen made no reply, but quietly went on with her dictation. + +"Madame," cried Toulan, laughing loudly, "I should like to smoke a +pipe of peace with you, as our brown brethren in happy, free America +do--madame, I beg you to do me the honor to smoke a pipe of peace +with me." + +A flash lightened in the eyes which the queen now directed to +Toulan. "You are a shameless fellow!" she said. + +"Hear that," said Simon, "that is what I call abusing you." + +"On the contrary, it delights me," cried Toulan, "for you will +confess that it would be jolly if she should smoke now, and I tell +you, she will smoke." + +He advanced some paces into the room, and made his deep bow again. + +"He understands manners as well as if he had been a rascally +courtier himself," said Simon, laughing. "It is a splendid joke." + +The two princesses had arisen at the entrance of Toulan, and laid +their sewing-work aside. A ball of white cotton had fallen to the +ground from the lap of one of them, and rolled through the room +toward Toulan. + +He picked it up, and bowed to the princesses. "May I view this +little globe," he said, "as a reminder of the favor of the loveliest +ladies of France? Oh, yes, I see in your roguish smile that I may, +and I thank you," said Toulan, pressing the round ball to his lips, +and then putting it into his breast-pocket. + +"He plays as well as the fellows do in the theatre," said Simon, +laughing. + +"Go into our sleeping-room," said Marie Antoinette, turning to the +princesses. "It is enough for me to have to bear these indignities-- +go, my son, accompany your aunt." + +The dauphin stood up, pressed a kiss upon the hand of his mother, +and followed the two princesses, who had gone into the adjoining +apartment. + +"Dear aunt," whispered the dauphin, "is this bad man the good friend +who--" + +"Hush!" whispered Madame Elizabeth, "hush! Madame Tison is +listening." + +And, in fact, at the glass-door, which led from the sleeping-room to +the little corridor, stood Madame Tison, looking with sharp, +searching glances into the chamber. + +After the princesses had left the room, Toulan approached still +closer to the queen, and taking a cigar from his breast-pocket, he +handed it to the queen. "Take it, madame," he said, "and do me the +honor of smoking a duet with me!" + +"I do not smoke, sir," replied the queen, coolly and calmly. "I beg +you to go into the anteroom. The Convention has not, so far as I +understand, ordered the officers of the guard to tarry in my +sitting-room." + +"The Convention has not ordered it, nor has it forbidden it. So I +remain!" + +He took a chair, seated himself in the middle of the room, and +rolled out great clouds of smoke, which filled Simon with +unspeakable delight when they compelled Marie Antoinette to cough +violently. + +"Madame Capet, you would not be so sensitive to smoke if you would +only join me. I beg you, therefore, to take this cigar." + +The queen repeated calmly, "I do not smoke." + +"You mistake, madame, you do smoke." + +"See the jolly fellow," exclaimed Simon, "that is splendid." + +"I will show you at once that you do smoke," continued Toulan. +"Madame, if you will do me the honor to join me in smoking a cigar, +I will give you my word as a republican and a sans-culottes, that +neither I nor my brothers will ever smoke here again." + +"I do not believe you," said the queen, shaking her head. + +"Not believe me? Would you believe it if the citizen Simon were to +repeat it?" + +"Yes," said the queen, fixing her great, sad eyes upon Simon, "if +the citizen Simon should confirm it, I would believe it, for he is a +trustworthy man, who I believe; never breaks his word." + +"Oh! only see how well the Austrian understands our noble brother +Simon," cried Lepitre. + +"Yes, truly, it seems so," said Simon, who had been flattered by +this praise to consent to what he had no inclination for. "Well, I +give my word to Widow Capet, as a republican and a sans-culottes, +that there shall be no smoking in the anteroom after this time, if +she will do my friend Toulan the favor of smoking a pipe of peace +with him." + +"I believe your word," said the queen, with a gentle inclination of +her head; and then turning to Toulan, she continued, "sir--" + +"There are no 'sirs' here, only 'citizens,'" interrupted the +cobbler. + +"Citizen Toulan," said the queen, changing her expression, "give me +the cigar, I see that I was wrong, I do smoke!" + +Simon cried aloud with laughter and delight, and could scarcely +control himself, when, kneeling before the queen, as the players do +in the grand plays at the theatre, he handed her a cigar. + +But he did not see the supplicatory look which Toulan fixed upon the +queen; he did not see the tears which started into his eyes, nor +hear her say, during his inordinate peals of laughter, "I thank you, +my faithful one!" + +"Is it enough if I take the cigar in my mouth, or must I burn it?" +asked the queen. + +"Certainly, she must burn it," cried Simon. "Light the cigar for +her, Citizen Toulan." + +Toulan drew a bit of paper from his pocket, folded it together, +kindled it, and gave it to the queen. Then, as soon as the dry cigar +began to burn, he put out the light, and threw it carelessly upon +the table. + +The queen put the little smoking cigarette into her mouth. "Bravo, +bravo!" shouted the officials and Simon. + +"Bravo, Citizen Toulan is a perfect brick! He has taught Widow Capet +how to smoke." + +"I told you I would," said Toulan, proudly. "Widow Capet has had to +comply with our will, and that is enough. You need not go on, +madame. You have acknowledged our power, and that is all we wanted. +That is enough, Simon, is it not? She does not need to smoke any +longer, and we, too, must stop." + +"No, she does not need to smoke any longer, and there will be no +more smoking in the antechamber." + +The queen took the paper cigarette from her mouth, put out the +burning end, and laid the remaining portion in her work-basket. + +"Citizen Toulan," said she, "I will keep this cigar as a +remembrancer of this hour, and if you ever smoke here again, I shall +show it to you." + +"I should like to see this Austrian woman doubting the word of a +sans-culottes," cried Simon. + +"And I too, Simon," replied Toulan, going back into the anteroom. +"We will teach her that she must trust our word. You see that I am a +good teacher." + +"An excellent one," cried Simon; "I must compliment you on it, +citizen. But if you have no objections, we will play a game or two +of cards with the citizens here." + +"All right," replied Toulan. "But I hope you have got the new kind +of cards, which have no kings and queens on them. For, I tell you, I +do not play with the villanous old kind." + +"Nor I," chimed in Lepitre. "It makes me mad to see the old stupids +with their crowns on that are on the old kind of cards." + +"You are a pair of out-and-out republicans," said Simon, admiringly. +"Truly, one might learn of you how a sans-culottes ought to bear +himself." + +"Well, you can calm yourselves about these, brothers," said one of +the officials; "we have no tyrant-cards--we have the new cards of +the republic. See there! instead of the king, there is a sans- +culottes; instead of the queen, we have a 'knitter,' [Footnote: The +market-women and hucksters had the privilege of claiming the first +seats on the spectators' platform, near the guillotine. They sat +there during the executions, knitting busily on long stockings, +while looking at the bloody drama before them. Every time that a +head was cut off and dropped into the basket beneath the knife, the +women made a mark in their knitting-work, and thus converted their +stockings into a kind of calendar, which recorded the number of +persons executed. From this circumstance the market-women received +the name of "knitters."] and for the jack, we have a Swiss soldier, +for they were the menials of the old monarchy." [Footnote: +Historical.-See "Memoires de la Marquise de Crequi," vol. III.] + +"That is good; well, we will play then," cried Toulan, with an air +of good-humor. + +They all took their places at the table, while the queen took up the +sewing on which the princesses had been engaged before. + +After some time, when the thread with which she was sewing was +exhausted, Marie Antoinette raised her eyes and turned them to the +men, who had laid their pipes aside, and were zealously engaged upon +their cards. The mien of the queen was no longer so calm and rigidly +composed as it had been before, and when she spoke, there was a +slight quivering discernible in her voice. + +"Citizen Toulan," she said, "I beg you to give me the ball of thread +again. I have no more, and this dress is in a wretched condition; I +must mend it." + +Toulan turned toward her with a gesture of impatience. + +"You disturb me, madame, and put me out in the game. What are you +saying?" + +"I asked you, Citizen Toulan, to give me the thread again, because, +without it, I cannot work." + +"Oh! the ball which little Miss Capet gave me a short time ago. And +so you won't let me keep a remembrance of the pretty girl?" + +"I must mend this dress," said the queen, gently. + +"Well, if you must, you must," growled Toulan, rising. + +"Wait a moment, brothers, till I carry her the ball." + +"What do you want to get up for?" asked Simon. + +"You can throw it from here." + +"Or give it a roll like a ball," added Lepitre. + +"That is a good idea," cried Toulan, "I'll have a little game of +nine-pins. I am quite at home there, and can do it well. Now look +sharp! I will contrive to roll the ball between the four feet of the +table, and strike the foot of the queen." + +"There is no queen," cried Lepitre, passionately. + +"I am speaking of the game, Citizen Lepitre; do me the pleasure of +not making yourself an ass. Now look, and see me roll it as I said!" + +"Well, go ahead; we should like to see you do it," cried Simon. + +"Yes, we would like to see you do it," chimed in the officials, +laying down their cards. + +Toulan now drew out of his breast-pocket a black ball of silk, and +counted "One, two, three!" He then gave it a skilful roll across the +floor. With attention and laughing looks, they all watched it take +its course across the waxed floor, as it moved just where Toulan had +said it would. + +"Bravo, bravo!" shouted the men, as the ball struck the foot of the +queen, who stooped down slowly and picked it up. + +"Toulan is a jolly good fellow," cried Simon, striking the table +with his fists in an ecstasy of delight. "But I declare it seems to +me that the ball is a good deal larger now than it was before." + +"It may be," answered Toulan, emphatically. "Every thing grows and +enlarges itself, that a true and genuine sans-culottes carries next +to his heart." + +"Well said," replied Lepitre. "But listen to me, I want to make a +proposition to you. I must say that it is hard work--playing cards +without smoking." + +"I find it so, too," sighed Toulan. + +"I rather think we all do," chimed in the others. + +"But we must keep our word, or else the she-wolf will think that we +republicans are no better than the aristocrats were!" + +"Yes, we must keep our word," said Lepitre, "and that is why I +wanted to make the proposition that we go out and establish +ourselves in the entry. We can put the table close to the door, and +then we are certainly safe--that no one can step in. What do you +say, brother Simon?" + +"I say that it is a very good plan, and that we will carry it into +execution directly. Come, friends, let us take up the table, and +carry it out. If the dogs are on the watch outside, the badger does +not creep out of his house. Come, it is much pleasanter out there, +and we are not ambitious of the honor of looking at Widow Capet all +the time. We are perfectly satisfied, if we do not see her. I hope +there will be an end of this tedious service, and that she will soon +go to the place whither Louis Capet has already gone." + +"Or," cried Toulan, laughing, "she must change herself into an +eagle, and fly out of the window. Come, brothers, I long for my +pipe. Let us carry the table out into the entry." + +Simon opened the door that led out upon the landing, the officials +took up the table, and Toulan and Lepitre the wooden stools. One +quick look they cast into the room of the queen, whose eyes were +turned to them. A sudden movement of Lepitre's hand pointed to the +bench beneath the window: a movement of Toulan's lips said "To- +morrow;" then they both turned away; went with their stools out upon +the landing, and closed the door. + +The queen held her breath and listened. She heard them moving the +chairs outside, and pushing the table up against the door, and +detected Simon's harsh voice, saying, "Now that we have put a +gigantic wooden lock on the door, let us smoke and play." + +The queen sprang up. "God bless my faithful one," whispered she; +"yes, God bless him!" + +She went hastily into the anteroom, pressed her hand in behind the +bench beneath the window, took out the package which Lepitre had +placed there, and with a timid, anxious look, stepped back into her +room. Here she unfolded the bundle. It consisted of a boy's soiled +dress, an old peruke, and an old felt hat. + +The queen looked at it with the utmost attention; then, after +casting one long, searching look through the room, she hastened to +the divan, pushed back the already loosened cover of the seat, +concealed the things beneath it, and then carefully smoothed down +the upholstery again. + +She now hurried to the door of the sleeping-room, and was going to +open it hastily. But she bethought herself in time. Her face showed +too much emotion, her voice might betray her. Madame Tison was +certainly lurking behind the glass door, and might notice her +excitement. Marie Antoinette again put on her ordinary sad look, +opened the door slowly and gravely, and quietly entered the +sleeping-room. Her great eyes, whose brightness had long since been +extinguished by her tears, slowly passed around the chamber, rested +for a moment on the glass door, descried behind it the spying face +of Tison, and turned to the two princesses, who were sitting with +the dauphin on the little divan in the corner. + +"Mamma," asked the boy, "are the bad men gone?" + +"Do not call them so, my child," replied Marie Antoinette, gently. +"These men only do what others order them to do." + +"Then the others are bad, mamma," said the boy, quickly. "Oh, yes, +very bad, for they make my dear mamma weep so much." + +"I do not weep about them," answered his mother. "I weep because +your father is no more with us. Think about your father, my son, and +never forget that he has commanded us to forgive his and our +enemies." + +"And never to take vengeance on them," added the boy, with a grave +look beyond his years, as he folded his hands. "Yes, I have sworn it +to my dear papa, and I shall keep my word. I mean never to take +vengeance on our enemies." + +"Sister," said the queen, after a pause, "I want to ask you to help +me a little in my work. You know how to mend, and I want to learn of +you. Will you come into the sitting-room?" + +"And we, too, mamma," asked the dauphin, "may we not stay here? +Theresa has promised to tell me an interesting story if I did my +examples in arithmetic correctly, and I have done them." + +"Well, she may tell you the story. We will leave the door open so +that we can see you; for you know, my children, you are now the only +comfort left to your aunt and me. Come, sister!" + +She turned slowly and went into the next room, followed by Madame +Elizabeth. + +"Why, what does this mean?" asked the princess, in amazement, as she +saw the anteroom deserted and the door closed. + +"All his work, Elizabeth--all the work of this noble, faithful +Toulan. He went through a whole farce in order to get the people out +of here, and to make them swear that they never would smoke after +this in the anteroom. Oh, I shall never be able to repay him for +what he has done for us at the peril of his life." + +"We will pray for him every morning and evening," replied the pious +Elizabeth. "But tell me, sister, did Toulon keep our ball of +thread?" + +"Yes, sister, and succeeded in giving me another in exchange for it. +Here it is. To-night, when the guards are asleep, we will unwind it +and see what it contains. But here are other important things which +we must examine. Here, this half-burned light and this cigarette! +Let us be on the watch that no one surprise us." + +She went again to the threshold of the sleeping-room. "Can you hear +me talk, children? Nod with your head if you heard me. Good. If +Tison comes in, speak to her loudly, and call her by name, so that +we may hear." + +"And now, sister," she continued, turning to the table, "let us see +what Toulan has sent us. First, the cigar-light!" + +She unfolded the paper, one side of which was burned, and showed a +black, jagged edge. + +"A letter from M. de Jarjayes," she said, and then, in a subdued +voice, she hastily read: "I have spoken with the noble messenger +whom you sent to me with a letter. He has submitted his plan to me, +and I approve it entirely, and am ready to undertake any thing that +is demanded of me in behalf of those to whom my life, my property, +and my blood belong, and who never shall have occasion to doubt my +fidelity. The 'true one' will bring you to-morrow every thing that +is needful, and talk the matter over with you.--J." "And now the +cigarette," said the queen, taking it out of her basket. + +"Let us first tear the paper to pieces," said Princess Elizabeth, +warningly. + +"No, no, Tison would find the bits, and think them suspicious. I +will hide the paper in my dress-pocket, and this evening when we +have a light we will burn it. Quickly now, the cigar!" + +"A paper cigarette!" said Elizabeth. + +"Yes, and see on the outer paper, 'Unroll carefully!'" + +And with extreme caution Marie Antoinette removed the external +covering. Beneath it was another, closely written over; this the +queen proceeded to unfold. + +"What is it?" asked the Princess Elizabeth, impatiently. + +"See," said Marie Antoinette, with a faint smile: + +"'Plan for the escape of the royal family. To learn by heart, and +then to burn.' Oh! sister, do you believe that escape is possible +for us?" + +At this instant Simon was heard outside, singing with his loud, +coarse voice: + +"Madame a sa tour monte Ne salt quand descendra, Madame Veto la +dansera." [Footnote: "Madame will take her turn, She knows not when +it will come, But Madame Veto will swing."] + +The queen shuddered, and Madame Elizabeth folded her hands and +prayed in silence. + +"You hear the dreadful answer, sister, that this sans-culotte gives +to my question! Well, so long as there is a breath left within us we +must endeavor to save the life of King Louis XVII. Come, sister, we +will read this plan for our escape, which the faithful Toulan has +made." + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE PLAN OF THE ESCAPE. + + +Marie Antoinette and Madame Elizabeth listened again at the door, +and as Simon was just then beginning a new verse of his ribald song, +they carefully unrolled the paper and spread it out before them. + +"Read it to me, sister," said the queen. "My eyes are bad and pain +me very much; and then the words make more impression when I hear +them than when I read them; I beg you therefore to read it." + +In a light whisper the princess began to read "The Plan of Escape." +"The queen and Princess Elizabeth must put on men's clothes. The +necessary garments are already in their possession, for T. and L. +have within the last few days secreted them in the cushions and +mattresses. In addition, the queen receives to-day a dirty, torn +boy's suit and a peruke, and a pair of soiled children's shoes. +These are for the dauphin and Madame Royale; and if the queen looks +attentively at the things, she will find that they are exact copies +of the clothing in which the two children appear who always +accompany the lamplighter into the tower and assist him in lighting +the lamps. So much for the clothing. The plan of escape is as +follows: To-morrow evening, at six o'clock, the royal children will +change their dress in the little tower next to the chamber of the +queen. In their soiled costume they will remain within the tower, +whither it is known that Tison and his wife never come, and will +wait there until some one gives them a signal and calls them. Toulan +and Lepitre will arrange to have the watch again to-morrow in the +tower. At a quarter before seven in the evening, Toulan will give a +pinch of snuff to Madame Tison and her husband, who are both +passionately fond of it, and they will speedily take it as they +always do. This pinch of snuff will consist entirely of colored +opium. They will fall into a heavy sleep, which will last at least +seven hours, and during this times the flight of all the members of +the royal family must be accomplished--" + +"Wait a moment, sister," whispered the queen, "I feel dizzy, and my +heart beats violently, as if we were engaged now in the very +execution of the plan. It seems to me as if, in the darkness of the +dreadful night which surrounds us, a glimmer of hope was suddenly +appearing, and my eyes are blinded with it. Oh, sister, do you +really think it possible that we can escape this place of torment?" + +"Escape we will certainly, my dear sister," answered Elizabeth, +gently, "but it lies in God's hands whether it is our bodies or our +souls only that will escape. If we do not succeed, they will kill +us, and then our freed souls will ascend to God. Oh, my noble queen +and sister, let us pray that God would give us courage and +steadfastness to hope in Him and to conform to His will." + +"Yes, sister, let us pray," said the queen, folding her hands, and +reverentially bending her head. Then after a pause, in which they +could hear from without the noisy laughter of Simon and his +comrades, the queen raised herself up, and her countenance had +regained its wonted calm and grave expression. + +"And now, Elizabeth, read on further. Let us hear the continuation +of the plan." + +Madame Elizabeth took the paper and read on in a whispering voice: +"As soon as Tison and his wife have fallen asleep, the queen and +Madame Elizabeth will put on their clothes. Over the men's garments +they will throw the cloaks which Toulan brought yesterday, and these +cloaks will disguise their gait and size. But care must be taken +that the tri-colored sashes of the commissaries which Lepitre +brought yesterday with the admission-cards of the same authorities, +should peep out from beneath the cloaks so as to be visible to every +one. Thus arrayed, the two ladies will pass by the sentry, showing +him the card as they go out (meanwhile talking with Lepitre), leave +the Temple, and go with Lepitre to the Rue de la Conderie, where M. +de Jarjayes will be waiting to conduct the ladies farther." + +"But the children," whispered the queen, "do the children not +accompany us? Oh! they ought not to think that I would leave this +place while my dear children are compelled to remain here. What is +to be done with the children, Elizabeth?" + +"We shall soon learn that, sister; allow me to read on. 'At seven +o'clock, as soon as the guard is changed, a man disguised as a +lamplighter, with his tin filler in his hand, will appear at the +gate of the Temple, knock loudly and demand of the guard that his +children, who had this day been taking care of the lantern, should +be allowed to come out. On this, Toulan will bring the dauphin and +Madame Royale in their changed costume, and while delivering them +over to the supposed lamplighter he will scold him soundly for not +taking care of the lanterns himself, but giving it to the children. +This is the plan whose execution is possible and probable, if every +thing is strictly followed. Before the affair is discovered, there +will be at least seven hours' advantage and the royal family will be +able, with the passes already secured by M. Jarjayes, to be a long +way off before their flight will be discovered by Tison. In a secure +house, whither Toulan will lead them, the royal family will find +simple citizen's clothing. Without exciting any stir, and +accompanied by Messieurs Jarjayes and Toulan, they will reach +Normandy. A packet-boat furnished by an English friend lies in +readiness to receive the royal family and take them to their--' " + +"Good-day, Madame Tison!" cried the dauphin loudly, "good-day, my +dear Madame Tison!" + +Madame Elizabeth hastily concealed the paper in her bosom, and Marie +Antoinette had scarcely time to hide the ball of thread in her +pocket, when Tison appeared upon the threshold of the door, looked +with her sharp lynx-eyes around, and then fixed them upon the two +ladies. + +She saw that Marie Antoinette did not display her accustomed +dignified calmness, and that Elizabeth's pale cheeks were unusually +red. + +"Something is going on," said the spy to herself, "and what does it +mean that to-day the commissaries are not in the anteroom, and that +they let these women carry on their chattering entirely unwatched?" + +"Madame has been reading?" asked Tison, subjecting every object upon +the table before which the ladies were sitting, to a careful +scrutiny. "Madame has been reading," she repeated; "I heard paper +rattling, and I see no book." + +"You are under a mistake," replied Madame Elizabeth, "we have not +been reading, we have been sewing; but supposing we were reading, is +there any wrong in that? Have they made any law that forbids that?" + +"No," answered Tison, "no--I only wondered how people could rattle +paper and there be none there, but all the same--the ladies of +course have a right to read, and we must be satisfied with that." + +And she went out, looking right and left like a hound on the scent, +and searching every corner of the room. + +"I must see what kind of officials we have here to-day," said Tison +to herself, slipping through the little side-door and through the +corridor; "I shouldn't wonder if it were Toulan and Lepitre again, +for every time when they two--right!" she ejaculated, looking +through the outer door, "right! it is they, Toulan and Lepitre. I +must see what Simon's wife has to say to that." + +She slipped down the broad staircase, and passed through the open +door into the porter's lodge. Madame Simon, one of the most savage +of the knitters, had shortly returned from the guillotine, and was +sitting upon her rush chair, busily counting on a long cotton +stocking which she held in her hand. + +"How many heads to-day?" asked Tison. + +Madame Simon slowly shook her head, decorated with a white knit cap. + +"It is hardly worth the pains," she said dismally,--"the machine +works badly, and the judges are neglectful. Only five cars to-day, +and on every one only seven persons." "What!" cried Tison, "only +thirty-five heads to-day in all?" + +"Yes, only thirty-five heads," repeated Madame Simon, shaking her +head; "I have just been counting on my stocking, and I find only +thirty-five seam-stitches, for every seam-stitch means a head. For +such a little affair we have had to sit six hours in the wet and +cold on the platform. The machine works too slowly, I say-- +altogether too slowly. The judges are easy, and there is no more +pleasure to be derived from the executions." + +"They must be stirred up," said Tison with a fiendish look; "your +husband must speak with his friend, citizen Marat, and tell him that +his best friends the knitters, and most of all, Simon's wife, are +dissatisfied, and if it goes on so, the women will rise and hurry +all the men to the guillotine. That will stir them up, for they do +respect the knitters, and if they fear the devil, they fear yet more +his proud grandmother, and every one of us market-women and knitters +is the devil's grandmother." + +"Yes, they do respect us and they shall," said Madame Simon, setting +her glistening needles in motion again, and working slowly on the +stocking; "I will myself speak with citizen Marat, and believe me, I +will fire him up, and then we shall have better play, and see more +cars driven up to the guillotine. We must keep our eyes well open, +arid denounce all suspicious characters." + +"I have my eyes always open," cried Tison, with a coarse laugh, "and +I suspect traitors before they have committed any thing. There, for +example, are the two officials, Toulan and Lepitre, do you have +confidence in them?" + +"I have no confidence in them whatever, and I have never had any +confidence in them," answered Madame Simon, with dignity, and +setting her needles in more rapid motion. "In these times you must +trust nobody, and least of all those who are so very earnest to keep +guard over the Austrian woman; for a true republican despises the +aristocracy altogether too much to find it agreeable to be with such +scum, and shows it as much as he can, but Toulan is always wanting +to be there. Wait a moment, and I will tell you how many times +Toulan and Lepitre have kept guard the present month." + +She drew a little memorandum-book from her reticule, which hung by +black bands from her brown hairy arm, and turned over the leaves. +"There, here it is," she said. + +"To-day is the 20th of February, and the two men have already kept +guard eight times the present month. That is three times as many as +they need to do. Every one of the officials who were appointed to +keep guard in the Temple is obliged to serve only once a week, and +both of these traitors are now here for the eighth time. And my +husband is so stupid and so blinded that he believes this prattler +Toulan when he tells him he comes here merely to be with citizen +Simon; but they cannot come round me with their talk; they cannot +throw dust in my eyes. I shall keep them open, wide open, let me +tell you." + +"They are not sitting inside in the antechamber to-day," whispered +Tison, "but outside on the landing, and they have closed the door of +the anteroom, so that the Austrian has been entirely alone and +unobserved these hours." + +"Alone!" cried the knitter, and her polished needles struck so +violently against each other that you could hear them click. "My +husband cannot be to blame for that; Toulan must have talked him +into it, and he must have a reason for it; he must have a reason, +and if it is only from his having pity upon her, that is enough and +more than enough to bring him under suspicion and to build an +accusation upon. He must be removed, say I. There shall no such +compassionate worms as he creep into the Temple. I will clear them +out--I will clear them out with human blood!" + +She looked so devilish, her eyes glared so with such a cruel +coldness, and such a fiendish smile played upon her pale, thin lips, +that even Madame Tison was afraid of her, and felt as if a cold, +poisonous spider was creeping slowly over her heart. + +"They are sitting still outside, you say?" asked Madame Simon, after +a pause. + +"Yes, they are still sitting outside upon the landing, and the +Austrian woman is at this time alone unwatched with her brood, and +she will be alone for two hours yet, for there is no change of guard +till then." + +"That is true, yes, that is true," cried the knitter, and her +nostrils expanded like those of the hyena when on the scent of +blood. "They will sit up there two hours longer, playing cards and +singing stupid songs, and wheedling my monkey of a husband with +their flatteries, making him believe that they love him, love him +boundlessly, and they let themselves be locked into the Temple for +his sake, and--oh! if I had them here, I would strangle them with my +own hands! I would make a dagger of every one of my knitting-needles +and thrust it into their hearts! But quiet, quiet," she continued in +a grumbling tone, "every thing must go on in a regular way. Will you +take my place here for half an hour and guard the door? I have +something important to do, something very important." + +"It will be a very great honor," replied Madame Tison, "a very great +honor to be the substitute of one so well known and respected as you +are, of whom every one knows that she is the best patriot and the +most courageous knitter, whose eyelashes never quiver, and who can +calmly go on with her stitches when the heads fall from the +guillotine into the basket." + +"If I did tremble, and my eyelashes did quiver, I would dash my own +fists into my eyes!" said Madame Simon, with her hard coarse voice, +rising and throwing her thin, threadbare cloak over her shoulders. +"If I found a spark of sympathy in my heart, I would inundate it +with the blood of aristocrats till it should be extinguished, and +till that should be, I would despise and hate myself, for I should +be not only a bad patriot, but a bad daughter of my unfortunate +father. The cursed aristocrats have not only brought misery on our +country and people, but they murdered my dear good father. Yes, +murdered I say. They said he was a high traitor. And do you know +why? Because he told aloud the nice stories about the Austrian +woman, who was then our queen, which, had been whispered into his +ear, and because he said that the king was a mere tool in the hands +of his wife. They shot my good, brave father for what he had said, +and which they called treason, although it was only the naked truth. +Yet I will not work myself into a passion about it, and I will only +thank God that that time is past, and I will do my part that it +shall not come back. And that is why we must be awake and on our +guard, that no aristocrat and no loyalist tie left, but that they +all be guillotined, all! There, take your place on my chair, and +take my knitting-work. Ah! if it could speak to you as it does to +me--if it could tell you what heads we two have seen fall, young and +old, handsome, distinguished--it would be fine sport for you and +make you laugh. But good-by just now! Keep a strict lookout! I shall +come back soon." + +And she did come back soon, this worthy woman, with triumphant +bearing and flashing eyes, looking as the cat looks when it has a +mouse in its soft velvety paws, and is going to push its poisonous +claws into the quivering flesh. She took her knitting-work up and +bade Tison to go up again to her post. + +"And when you can," she said, "just touch the Austrian woman a +little, and pay her off for being so many hours unwatched. In that +way you will merit a reward from the people, and that is as well as +deserving one of God. Provoke her--provoke the proud Austrian!" + +"It is very hard to do it," said Tison, sighing--"very hard, I +assure you, for the Austrian is very cold and moderate of late. +Since Louis Capet died, the widow is very much changed, and now she +is so uniform in her temper that it seems as if nothing would +provoke or excite her." + +"What weak and tender creatures you all are!" said Simon's wife, +with a shrug. "It is very plain that they fed you on milk when you +were young. But my mother nursed me with hate. I was scarcely ten +years when they shot my father, and not a day passed after that +without my mother's telling me that we must avenge his murder on the +whole lineage of the king. I had to swear that I would do it. She +gave me, for my daily food, hatred against the aristocrats; it was +the meat to my sauce, the sugar to my coffee, the butter to my +bread! I lived and throve upon it. Look at me, and see what such +fare has made of me! Look at me! I am not yet twenty-four years old, +and yet I have the appearance of an old woman, and I have the +feeling and the experience of an old woman! Nothing moves me now, +and the only thing that lives and burns in my heart is revenge. +Believe me, were I in your place I should know how to exasperate the +Austrian; I should succeed in drawing out her tears." + +"Well, and how would you begin? Really, I should like to know how to +bring this incarnation of pride to weeping." + +"Has not she children?" asked Madame Simon, with a horrible +calmness. "I would torture and provoke the children, and that would +soon make the heart of the woman humble and pliable. Oh, she may +count herself happy that I am not in your place, and that her +children are not under my tender hands. But if it ever happens that +I can lay my fingers upon the shoulders of the little wolves, I will +give them something that will make them cry out, and make the old +wolf howl with rage. I will show her as little favor then as she +showed when my poor mother and I were begging for my dear father! Go +up, go up and try at once. Plague the children, and you will see +that that will make the Austrian pliable." + +"That is fine talk," muttered Tison, as she went up the staircase, +"but she has no children, while I have a daughter, a dear, good +daughter. She is not with me, but with my mother in Normandy, +because she can be taken better care of there than here. It is +better for the good child that she has not gone through these evil +days full of blood and grief with us. But I am always thinking of +her, and when one of these two children here looks up to me so +gravely with great, open eyes, it always makes me think of my +Solonge. She has exactly such large, innocent eyes, and that touches +my heart so that I cannot be harsh with the children. They, of +course, are not at all to blame for having such bad, miserable +parents, who have treated the people shamefully, and made them poor +and wretched. No, they have had nothing to do with it, and I cannot +be severe with the children, for I am always thinking of my little +Solonge! I will provoke the Austrian woman as much as I can, but not +the children--no, not the children!" + +Meanwhile, Mistress Simon had taken her place upon the chair near +the open door in the porter's lodge, and sat there with her cold, +immovable face staring into empty space with her great coal-black, +glistening eyes, while her hands were busily flying, making the +polished knitting-needles click against each other. + +She was still sitting there, when at last her husband came down the +stairs to open the outer door of the Temple, conduct his friends +past the inner court, and to bring back the two officials who were +to keep guard during the night. + +They passed the knitter with a friendly salutation and a bit of +pleasantry--Toulan stopping a moment to ask the woman after her +welfare, and to say a few smooth words to her about her courage and +her great force of character. + +She listened quietly, let him go on with his talk, and when he had +ended, slowly raised her great eyes from her knitting to him. + +"You are a traitor," she said, with coldness, and without any +agitation. "Yes, you are a traitor, and you, too, will have your +turn at the guillotine!" + +Toulan paled a little, but collected himself immediately, took leave +of the knitter with a smile, and hastened after the officials, who +were waiting for him at the open door--the two who were to hold the +watch during the night having already entered. + +Simon closed the door after them, exchanged a few words with them, +and then went into his lodge to join his rigid better half. + +"This has been a pleasant afternoon, and it is a great pity that it +is gone, for I have had a very good time. We have played cards, +sung, smoked, and Toulan has made jokes and told stories, and made +much fun. I always wonder where he gets so many fine stories, and he +tells them so well that I could hear him day and night. Now that he +is gone, it seems tedious and dull enough here. Well, we must +comfort ourselves that to-morrow will come by and by." + +"What do you mean by that?" asked his wife, sternly. + +"What sort of a day do you expect to-morrow to be?" + +"A pleasant day, my dear Heloise, for Citizen Toulan will have the +watch again. I begged him so long, that he at last promised to +exchange with Citizen Pelletan, whose turn regularly comes to- +morrow. Pelletan is not well, and it would be very hard for him to +sit up there all day, and, besides, he would be dreadfully stupid. +It is a great deal pleasanter to have Toulan here with his jokes and +jolly stories, and so I begged him to come and take Pelletan's +place. He is going to accommodate me and come." + +His wife did not answer a word, but broke out in a burst of shrill, +mocking laughter, and with her angry black eyes she scrutinized her +husband's red, bloated face, as though she were reading him through +and through. + +"What are you laughing at?" he asked, angrily. "I would like to be +beyond hearing when you give way in that style. What are you +laughing at?" + +"Because I wonder at you, you Jack," she answered sharply. "Because +you are determined to make an ass of yourself, and let dust be +thrown in your eyes, and put yourself at the disposal of every one +who soaps you over with smooth words." + +"Come," said Simon, "none of that coarseness! and if you--" + +"Hist!" she answered, commandingly. "I will show you at once that I +have told you the truth, and that you are making an ass of yourself, +or at least that you are on the point of doing so. Now, listen." + +The knitter laid her work aside, and had a long conversation in a +whisper with her husband. When it ended, Simon stood up wearing a +dark look, and walked slowly backward and forward in the little +room. Then he stopped and shook his fist threateningly at the room +above. "She shall pay for this," he muttered--" by God in heaven! +she shall pay for this. She is a good-for-nothing seducer! Even in +prison she does not leave off coquetting, and flirting, and turning +the heads of the men! It is disgraceful, thoroughly disgraceful, and +she shall pay for it! I will soon find means to have my revenge on +her!" + +During the whole evening Mistress Tison did not leave her place +behind the glass door for a moment, and at each stolen glance which +the queen cast thither she always encountered the malicious, glaring +eyes of the keeper, directed at her with an impudent coolness. + +At last came the hour of going to bed--the hour to which the queen +looked impatiently forward. At night she was at least alone and +unguarded. After the death of the king, it had been found +superfluous to trouble the officials with the wearisome night- +watches, and they were satisfied, after darkness had set in and the +candles were lighted, with locking the three doors which led to the +inner rooms. + +Did Marie Antoinette weep and moan at night, did she talk with her +sister, did she walk disconsolately up and down her room?--the +republic granted her the privilege. She could, during the night at +least, have a few hours of freedom and of solitude. + +But during the night Marie Antoinette did not weep or moan; this +night her thoughts were not directed to the sad past, but to the +future; for the first ray of hope which had fallen upon her path for +a long time now encountered her. + +"To escape, to be free!" she said, and the shadow of a smile flitted +over her face. "Can you believe it? Do you consider it possible, +sister?" + +"I should like to believe it," whispered Elizabeth, "but there is +something in my heart that reminds me of Varennes, and I only pray +to God that He would give us strength to bear all the ills they +inflict upon us. We must, above all things, keep our calmness and +steadfastness, and be prepared for the worst as well as the best." + +"Yes, you are right, we must do that," said Marie Antoinette, +collecting herself. "When one has suffered as we have, it is almost +more difficult to hope for good fortune than to prepare for new +terrors. I will compel myself to be calm. I will read Toulan's plan, +once more, and will impress it word for word upon my memory, so as +to burn the dangerous sheet as soon as possible." + +"And while you are doing that I will unwind the ball that Toulan +brought us, and which certainly contains something heavy," said the +princess. + +"What a grand, noble heart! what a lofty character has our friend +Toulan!" whispered the queen. "His courage is inexhaustible, his +fidelity is invincible, and he is entirely unselfish. How often have +I implored him to express one wish to me that I might gratify, or to +allow me to give him a draft of some amount! He is not to be shaken- +-he wants nothing, he will take nothing. Ah, Elizabeth, he is the +first friend, of all who ever drew toward me, who made no claims and +was contented with a kind word. When I implored him yesterday to +tell me in what way I could do him a service, he said: 'If you want +to make me happy, regard me always as your most devoted and faithful +servant, and give me a name that you give to no one besides. Call me +Fidele, and if you want to give me another remembrancer than that +which will always live in my heart, present me, as the highest token +of your favor, with the little gold smelling-bottle which I saw you +use in the Logograph box on that dreadful day.' I gave him the +trinket at once. He kneeled down in order to receive it, and when he +kissed my hand his hot tears fell upon it. Ah, Elizabeth, no one of +those to whom in the days of our happiness I gave jewels, and to +whom I gave hundreds of thousands, cherished for me so warm thanks +as Toulan--no, as Fidele--for the poor, insignificant little +remembrancer." + +"God is good and great," said the princess, who, while the queen was +speaking, was busily engaged in unwinding the thread; "in order that +we might not lose faith in humanity and confidence in man, He sent +us in His mercy this noble, true-hearted one, whose devotion, +disinterestedness, and fidelity were to be our compensation for all +the sad and heart-rending experiences which we have endured. And, +therefore, for the sake of this one noble man let us pardon the many +from whom we have received only injury; for it says in the Bible +that, for the sake of one righteous man, many sinners shall be +forgiven, and Toulan is a righteous man." + +"Yes, he is a righteous man, blessings on him!" whispered the queen. +Then she took the paper in her hand, and began to read the contents +softly, repeating every sentence to herself, and imprinting every +one of those hope-bringing words upon her memory; and while she +read, her poor, crushed heart gradually began to beat with firmer +confidence, and to embrace the possibility of realizing the plan of +Toulan and finding freedom in flight. + +During this time Princess Elizabeth had unwound the thread of the +ball, and brought to light a little packet enveloped in paper. + +"Take it, my dear Antoinette," she said, "it is addressed to you." + +Marie Antoinette took it and carefully unfolded the paper. Then she +uttered a low, carefully-suppressed cry, and, sinking upon her +knees, pressed it with its contents to her lips. + +"What is it, sister?" cried the princess, hurrying to her. "What +does Toulan demand?" + +The queen gave the paper to the princess. "Read," she said--"read +it, sister." + +Elizabeth read: "Your majesty wished to possess the relics which +King Louis left to you. They consist of the wedding-ring of his +majesty, his little seal, and the hair which the king himself cut +off. These three things lay on the chimney-piece in the closed +sitting-room of the king. The supervisor of the Temple took them +from Clery's hand, to whom the king gave them, and put them under +seal. I have succeeded in getting into the sitting-room; I have +opened the sealed packet, taken out the sacred relics, put articles +of similar character in their place, and sealed it up again. With +this letter are the relics which belong to your majesty, and I swear +by all that is sacred and dear to me--I swear by the head of my +queen, that they are the true articles which the blessed martyr, +King Louis XVI., conveyed to his wife in his testament. I have +stolen them for the exalted heir of the crown, and I shall one day +glory in the theft before the throne of God." [Footnote: Goncourt, " +Histoire de Marie Antoinette," p. 384.] + +"See, Elizabeth," said the queen, unfolding the little things, each +one of which was carefully wrapped in paper--"see, there is his +wedding-ring. There on the inside are the four letters, 'M. A. A. +A., 19th April, 1770.' The day of our marriage!--a day of joy for +Austria as well as for France! Then--but I will not think of it. Let +me look further. Here is the seal! The cornelian engraved on two +sides. Here on one side the French arms; as you turn the stone, the +portrait of our son the Dauphin of France, with his helmet on his +head. Oh! my son, my poor dear child, will your loved head ever bear +any other ornament than a martyr's crown; will God grant you to wear +the helmet of the warrior, and to battle for your rights and your +throne? How pleased my husband was when on his birthday I brought +him this seal! how tenderly his looks rested upon the portrait of +his son, his successor! and now--oh, now! King Louis XVI. cruelly, +shamefully murdered, and he who ought to be the King of France, +Louis XVII., is nothing but a poor, imprisoned child--a king without +a crown, without hope, without a future!" + +"No, no, Antoinette," whispered Elizabeth, who had kneeled before +the queen and had tenderly put her arms around her--" no, +Antoinette, do not say that your son has no hope and no future. +Build upon God, hope that the undertaking which we are to-morrow to +execute will lead to a fortunate result, that we shall flee from +here, that we shall be free, that we shall be able to reach England. +Oh, yes, let us hope that Toulan's fine and bold plan will succeed, +and then it may one day be that the son of my dear brother, grown to +be a young man, may put the helmet on his head, gird himself with +the sword, reconquer the throne of his fathers, and take possession +of it as King Louis XVII. Therefore let us hope, sister." + +"Yes, therefore let us hope" whispered the queen, drying her tears. +"And here at last," she continued, opening the remaining paper, +"here is the third relic, the hair of the king! --the only thing +which is left us of the martyr king, the unfortunate husband of an +unfortunate wife, the pitiable king of a most pitiable people! Oh, +my king! they have laid your poor head that bore this white hair-- +they have laid it upon the scaffold, and the axe, the dreadful axe-- +" + +The queen uttered a loud shriek of horror, sprang up, and raised +both her hands in conjuration to Heaven, while a curse just trembled +on her lips. But Princess Elizabeth threw herself into her arms, and +pressed on the cold, quivering lips of the queen a long, fervent +kiss. + +"For God's sake, sister," she whispered, "speak softly. If Tison +heard your cry, we are lost. Hush! it seems to me I hear steps, hide +the things. Let us hurry into bed. Oh, for God's sake, quick!" + +She huddled the papers together, and put them hastily into her +bosom, while Marie Antoinette, gathering up the relics, dashed into +her bed. + +"She is coming," whispered Elizabeth, as she slipped into her bed. +"We must pretend to be asleep." + +And in fact Princess Elizabeth was right. The glass-door, which led +from the sleeping-room of the children to the little corridor, and +from there to the chamber of Mistress Tison, was slowly and +cautiously opened, and she came with a lamp in her hand into the +children's room. She stood near the door, listening and spying +around. In the beds of the children she could hear the long-drawn, +calm breathing, which indicated peaceful slumbers; and in the open, +adjoining apartment, in which the two ladies slept, nothing was +stirring. + +"But I did hear a sound plainly," muttered Tison. "I was awaked by a +loud cry, and when I sat up in bed I heard people talking." + +She stole to the beds of the children, and let the light fall upon +their faces. "They are sleeping soundly enough," she muttered, "they +have not cried or spoken, but we will see how it is in the other +room." Slowly, with the lamp in her hand, she crept into the +neighboring apartment. The two ladies lay motionless upon their +beds, closing their eyes quickly when Mistress Tison crossed the +threshold, and praying to God for courage and steadfastness. + +Tison went first to the bed of Princess Elizabeth and let the lamp +fall full upon her face. The glare seemed to awaken her. "What is +it?" she cried, "what has happened? sister, what has happened? where +are you, Marie Antoinette?" + +"Here, here I am, Elizabeth," cried the queen, rising suddenly up in +bed, as if awakened. "Why do you call me, and who is here?" + +"It is I," muttered Tison, angrily. "That is the way if one has a +bad conscience! One is startled then with the slightest sound." + +"We have no bad conscience," said Elizabeth, gently, "but you know +that if we are awakened from sleep we cry out easily, and we might +be thinking that some one was waking us to bring us happy tidings." + +"I hope so," cried Tison, with a scornful laugh, "Happy news for +you! that means unhappy and sad news for France and for the French +people. No, thank God! I did not waken you to bring you any good +news." + +"Well," said the queen, gently, "tell us why you have wakened us and +what you have to communicate to us." + +"I have nothing at all to communicate to you," growled Tison, "and +you know best whether I wake you or you were already awake, talking +and crying aloud. Hist! it is not at all necessary that you answer, +I know well enough that you are capable of lying. I tell you my ears +are open and my eyes too. I let nothing escape me; you have talked +and you have cried aloud, and if it occurs again I shall report it +to the supervisor and have a watch put here in the night again, that +the rest of us may have a little quiet in the night-time, and not +have to sleep like the hares, with our eyes open." + +"But," said the princess gently, "but dear woman--" + +"Hush!" interrupted Tison, commandingly, "I am not your 'dear +woman,' I am the wife of Citizen Tison, and I want none of your +confidence, for confidence from such persons as you are, might +easily bring me to the scaffold." + +She now passed through the whole room with her slow, stealthy tread, +let the light fall upon every article of furniture and the floor, +examined all the objects that lay upon the table, and then, after +one last threatening look at the beds of the two ladies, went slowly +out. She stopped again at the cribs of the children, and looked at +them with a touch of gentleness. "How quietly they sleep!" the +whispered. "They lie there exactly as they lay before. One would +think they were smiling in their sleep--I suppose they are playing +with angels. I should like to know how angels come into this old, +horrid Temple, and what Simon's wife would say if she knew they came +in here at night without her permission. See, see," she continued, +"the boy is laughing again, and spreading out his hands, as if he +wanted to catch the angels. Ah! I should like to know if my dear +little Solange is sleeping as soundly as these children, and whether +she smiles in her sleep and plays with angels; I should like to know +if she dreams of her parents, my dear little Solange, and whether +she sometimes sees her poor mother, who loves her so and yearns +toward her so tenderly that" [Footnote: This Mistress Tison, the +cruel keeper of the queen, soon after this fell into lunacy, owing +both to her longings after her daughter and her compunctions of +conscience for her treatment of the queen. The first token of her +insanity was her falling upon her knees before Marie Antoinette, and +begging pardon for all the pain she had occasioned, and amid floods +of tears accusing herself as the one who would be answerable for the +death of the queen. She then fell into such dreadful spasms, that +four men were scarcely able to hold her. They carried her into the +Hotel Dieu, where she died after two days of the most dreadful +sufferings and bitter reproaches of herself.--See Goncourt, p. 280. +] + +She could not go on; tears extinguished her utterance, and she +hastened out, to silence her longings on the pillow of her bed. + +The ladies listened a long time in perfect silence; then, when every +thing was still again, they raised themselves up softly, and began +to talk to each other in the faintest of whispers, and to make their +final preparations for the flight of the morrow. They then rose and +drew from the various hiding-places the garments which they were to +use, placed the various suits together, and then tried to put them +on. A fearful, awful picture, such as a painter of hell, such as +Breugel could not surpass in horror!--a queen and a princess, two +tender, pale, harmless women, busied, deep in the night, as if +dressing for a masquerade, in transforming themselves into those +very officials who had led the king to the scaffold, and who, with +their pitiless iron hands, were detaining the royal family in +prison! + +There they stood, a queen, a princess, clad in the coarse, +threadbare garments of republican officials, the tri-colored sashes +of the "one indivisible republic" around their bodies, their heads +covered with the three-cornered hats, on which the tri-colored +cockade glittered. They stood and viewed each other with sad looks +and heavy sighs. Ah, what bright, joyous laughter would have sprung +from the lips of the queen in the days of her happiness, if she had +wanted to hide her beauty in such attire for some pleasant +masquerade at Trianon! What charming sport it would have been then +and there! How would her friends and courtiers have laughed! How +they would have admired the queen in her original costume, which +might well have been thought to belong to the realm of dreams and +fantasies! A tri-colored cockade--a figment of the brain--a tri- +colored sash--a merry dream! The lilies rule over France, and will +rule forever! + +No laughter resounded in the desolate room, scantily lighted with +the dim taper--no laughter as the queen and the princess put on +their strange, fearful attire. It was no masquerade, but a dreadful, +horrible reality; and as they looked at each other wearing the +costume of revolutionists, tears started from the eyes of the queen; +the princess folded her hands and prayed; and she too could not keep +back the drops that slowly coursed over her cheeks. + +The lilies of France are faded and torn from the ground! From the +palace of the Tuileries waved the tri-color of the republic, and in +the palace of the former Knights Templars is a pale, sad woman, with +gray hair and sunken eyes, a broken heart, and a bowed form. This +pale, sad shadow of the past is Marie Antoinette, once the Queen of +France, the renowned beauty, the first woman in a great kingdom, now +the widow of an executed man, she herself probably with one foot-- + +No, no, she will be saved! God has sent her a deliverer, a friend, +and this friend, this helper in her need, has made every thing ready +for her flight. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +THE SEPARATION. + + +Slowly and heavily the hours of the next day rolled on. Where was +Toulan? Why did he not come? The queen waited for him the whole of +that long, dreadful day in feverish expectation. She listened to +every sound, to every approaching step, to every voice that echoed +in the corridor. At noon Toulan had purposed to come to take his +post as guard. At six, when the time of lighting the lamps should +arrive, the disguises were to be put on. At seven the carefully and +skilfully-planned flight was to be made. + +The clock in the tower of the Temple had already struck four. Toulan +had not yet come, and the guards of the day had not yet been +relieved. They had had a little leisure at noon for dinner, and +during the interim Simon and Tison were on guard, and had kept the +queen on the rack with their mockery and their abusive words. In +order to avoid the language and the looks of these men, she had fled +into the children's room, to whom the princess, in her trustful +calmness and unshaken equanimity, was assigning them lessons. Marie +Antoinette wanted to find protection here from the dreadful anxiety +that tortured her, as well as from the ribald jests and scurrility +of her keepers. But Mistress Tison was there, standing near the +glass window, gazing in with a malicious grin, and working in her +wonted, quick way upon the long stocking, and knitting, knitting, so +that you could hear the needles click together. + +The queen could not give way to a word or a look. That would have +created suspicion, and would, perhaps, have caused an examination to +be made. She had to bear all in silence, she had to appear +indifferent and calm; she had to give pleasant answers to the +dauphin's innocent questions, and even compel a smile to her lips +when the child, reading in her looks, by the instinct of love, her +great excitement, tried to cheer her up with pleasant words. + +It struck five, and still Toulan did not come. A chill crept over +her heart, and in the horror which filled her she first became +conscious how much love of life still survived in her, and how +intensely she had hoped to find a possibility of escape. + +Only one last hour of hope left! If it should strike six, and he +should not come, all would be lost! The doors of her prison would be +closed forever--never opening again excepting to allow Marie +Antoinette to pass to the guillotine. + +Mistress Tison had gone, and her cold, mocking face was no longer +visible behind the glass door. The guards in the anteroom had also +gone, and had closed the doors behind them. The queen was, +therefore, safe from being watched at least! She could fall upon her +knees, she could raise her hands to God and wrestle with Him in +speechless prayer for pity and deliverance. She could call her +children to herself, and press them to her heart, and whisper to +them that they must be composed if they should see something +strange, and not wonder if they should have to put on clothing that +they were not accustomed to. + +"Mamma," asked the dauphin, in a whisper, "are we going to Varennes +again?" + +The queen shuddered in her inmost soul at this question, and hid her +quivering face on the faithful breast of the princess. + +"Oh, sister, I am suffocating with anxiety," she said. "I feel that +this hour is to decide the lives of us all, and it seems to me as if +Death were already stretching out his cold hand toward me. We are +lost, and my son, my unhappy son, will never wear any other than the +martyr's crown, and--" + +The queen was silent, for just then the tower-clock began to strike, +slowly, peacefully, the hour of six! The critical moment! The +lamplight must come now! If it were Toulan, they might be saved. +Some unforeseen occurrence might have prevented his coming before; +he might have borrowed the suit of the bribed lamplighter in order +to come to them. There was hope still--one last, pale ray of hope! + +Steps upon the corridor! Voices that are audible! + +The queen, breathless, with both hands laid upon her heart, which +was one instant still, and then beat with redoubled rapidity, +listened with strained attention to the opening of the door of the +anteroom. Princess Elizabeth approached her, and laid her hand on +the queen's shoulder. The two children, terrified by some cause +which they could not comprehend, clung to the hand and the body of +their mother, and gazed anxiously at the door. + +The steps came nearer, the voices became louder. The door of the +anteroom is opened--and there is the lamp-lighter. But it is not +Toulan--no, not Toulan! It is the man who comes every day, and the +two children, are with him as usual. + +A heavy sigh escaped from the lips of the queen, and, throwing her +arms around the dauphin with a convulsive motion, she murmured: + +"My son, oh, my dear son! May God take my life if He will but spare +thine!" + +Where was Toulan? Where had he been all this dreadful day? "Where +was Fidele the brave, the indefatigable? + +On the morning of the day appointed for the flight, he left his +house, taking a solemn leave of his Marguerite. At this parting hour +he told her for the first time that he was going to enter upon the +great and exalted undertaking of freeing the queen and her children, +or of dying for them. His true, brave young wife had suppressed her +tears and her sighs to give him her blessing, and to tell him that +she would pray for him, and that if he should perish in the service +of the queen, she would die too, in order to be united with him +above. + +Toulan kissed the beaming eyes of his Marguerite with deep fooling, +thanked her for her true-hearted resignation, and told her that he +had never loved her so much as in this hour when he was leaving her +to meet his death, it might be, in the service of another lady. + +"At this hour of parting," he said, "I will give you the dearest and +most sacred thing that I possess. Take this little gold smelling- +bottle. The queen gave it to me, and upon the bit of paper that lies +within it Marie Antoinette wrote with her own hand, 'Remembrancer +for Fidele.' + +Fiddle is the title of honor which my queen has given me for the +little service which I have been able to do for her. I leave this +little gift for you as that which, next to your love, is the most +sacred and precious thing to me on earth. If I die, preserve it for +our son, and give it to him on the day when he reaches his majority. +Tell him of the time when I made this bequest to him, in the hope +that he would make himself worthy of it, and live and die as a brave +son of his country, a faithful subject and servant of his king, who, +God willing, will be the son of Marie Antoinette. Tell him of his +father; say to him that I dearly loved you and him, but that I had +devoted my life to the service of the queen, and that I gave it +freely and gladly, in conformity with my oath. I have not told you +about these things before, dear Marguerite--not because I doubted +your fidelity, but because I did not want you to have to bear the +dreadful burden of expectation, and because I did not want to +trouble your noble soul with these things. And now I only tell you +this much: I am going away to try to save the queen. If I succeed, I +shall come back for a moment this evening at ten o'clock. If I +remain away, if you hear nothing from me during the whole night, +then--" + +"Then what?" asked Marguerite, throwing her arms around him, and +looking into his face anxiously. "Say, what then?" + +"Then I shall have died," he said, softly, "and our child will be an +orphan! Do not weep, Marguerite! Be strong and brave, show a +cheerful face to our neighbors, our friends, and the spies! But +observe every thing! Listen to every thing! Keep the outer door open +all the time, that I may be able to slip in at any moment. Have the +little secret door in my room open too, and the passageway down into +the cellar always free, that I may slip down there if need be. Be +ready to receive me at any time, to hide me, and, it may possibly +be, others who may come with me!" + +"I shall expect you day and night," she whispered, "so long as I +live!" + +"And now, Marguerite," he said, pressing her tenderly to his heart, +"one last kiss! Let me kiss your eyes, your beautiful dear eyes, +which have always glanced with looks of love, and which have always +given me new inspiration. Farewell, my dear wife, and God bless you +for your love and fidelity!" + +"Do not go, my precious one! Come once more to the cradle of our boy +and give him a parting kiss!" + +"No, Marguerite, that would unman me, and to-day I must be strong +and master of myself. Farewell, I am going to the Temple!" + +And, without looking at his wife again, he hurried out into the +street, and turned his steps toward his destination. But just as he +was turning the very next corner Lepitre met him, pale, and +displaying great excitement in his face. + +"Thank God!" he said, "thank God that I have found you. I wanted to +hasten to you. We must flee directly--all is discovered. Immediate +flight alone can save us!" + +"What is discovered?" asked Toulan. "Speak, Lepitre, what is +discovered?" + +"For God's sake, let us not be standing here on the streets!" +ejaculated Lepitre. "They have certainly sent out the constables to +arrest us. Let us go into this house here, it contains a passage +through to the next street. Now, listen! We are reported. Simon's +wife has carried our names to the Committee of Public Safety as +suspicious persons. Tison's wife has given out that the queen and +her sister-in-law have won us both over, and that through our means +she is kept informed about every thing that happens. The carpet- +manufacturer, Arnault, has just been publicly denouncing us both, +saying that Simon's wife has reported to him that we both have +conducted conversation with the prisoners in low tones of voice, and +have thereby been the means of conveying some kind of cheering +information to the queen. [Footnote: Literally reproduced here.--See +Concourt, "Histoire de Marie Antoinette," p. 290.] On that, our +names were stricken from the list of official guards at the Temple, +and we are excluded from the new ward committee that is forming to- +day." + +"And is that all?" asked Toulan, calmly. "Is that all the bad news +that you bring? Then the projected flight is not discovered, is it? +Nothing positive is known against us? Nothing more is known than the +silly and unfounded denunciations of two old women?" + +"For God's sake, do not use such idle words as these!" replied +Lepitre. "We are suspected, our names are stricken from the ward +list. Is not that itself a charge against us? And are not those who +come under suspicion always condemned? Do not laugh, Toulan, and +shake your head! + +Believe me, we are lost if we do not flee; if we do not leave Paris +on the spot and conceal ourselves somewhere. I am firmly resolved on +this, and in an hour I shall have started, disguised as a sans- +culotte. Follow my example, my friend. Do not throw away your life +foolhardily. Follow me!" + +"No," said Toulan, "I shall stay. I have sworn to devote my life to +the service of the queen, and I shall fulfil my oath so long as +breath remains in my body. I must not go away from here so long as +there is a possibility of assisting her. If flight is impracticable +to-day, it may be effected at some more favorable time, and I must +hold myself in readiness for it." + +"But they will take you, I tell you," said Lepitre, with a downcast +air. "You will do no good to the queen, and only bring yourself to +harm." + +"Oh, nonsense! they will not catch me so soon," said Toulan, +confidently. "Fortune always favors the bold, and I will show you +that I am brave. Go, my friend, save yourself, and may God give you +long life and a contented heart! Farewell, and be careful that they +do not discover you!" + +"You are angry with me, Toulan," said Lepitre. "You consider me +cowardly. But I tell you, you are foolhardy, and your folly will +plunge you into destruction." + +"I am not angry with you, Lepitre, and you shall not be with me. +Every one must do as best he can, and as his heart and his head +dictate to him. One is not the better for this, and another the +worse. Farewell, my friend! Take care for your own safety, for it is +well that some faithful ones should still remain to serve the queen, +and I know that you will serve her when she needs your help." + +"Then give me your hand in parting, my friend. And if at last you +come to the conclusion to flee, come to Normandy, and in the village +of Lerne, near Dieppe, you will find me, and my father will receive +you, and you shall be treated as if you were my brother." + +"Thanks, my friend, thanks! One last shake of the hand. There! Now +you are away, and I remain here." + +Toulan went out into the street, walked along with a cheerful face, +and repaired at once to the hall where the Committee of Safety were +sitting. + +"Citizens and brothers," he said, in aloud, bold voice, "I have just +been informed that I have been brought under suspicion and +denounced. Friends have warned me to betake to flight. But I am no +coward, I have no bad conscience, and therefore do not fly, but come +here and ask you is this true? Is it possible that you regard me as +no patriot, and as a traitor?" + +"Yes," answered President Hobart, with a harsh, hard voice, "you are +under suspicion, and we mistrust you. This shameful seducer, this +she-wolf Marie Antoinette has cast her foxy eyes upon you, and would +doubtless succeed if you are often with her. We have therefore once +for all taken your name from the list of the official guards in the +Temple, and you will no longer be exposed to the wiles of the +Austrian woman. But besides this, as the second denunciation has +been made against you to-day, and as it is asserted that you are in +relations with aristocrats and suspected persons, we have considered +it expedient, in view of the common safety, to issue a warrant for +your apprehension. An officer has just gone with two soldiers to +your house, to arrest you and bring you hither. You have simply +anticipated the course of law by surrendering yourself. Officer, +soldiers, here!" + +The persons summoned appeared, and put Toulan under arrest, +preparatory to taking him to prison. + +"It is well," said Toulan, with a noble calmness. "I know that the +time will come when you will regret having so abused a true patriot; +and I hope, for the peace of your consciences, that there will be a +time then to undo the evil which you are doing to me to-day, and +that my head will then be on my shoulders, that my lips may be able +to testify to you what my heart now dictates, that I forgive you! +You are in error about me, yet I know that you are acting not out of +enmity to me, but for the weal of the country, and out of love for +the great, united republic. As the true and tenderly loving son of +this noble, exalted mother, I forgive you for giving ear to my +unrighteous accusers, and, even if you shed my innocent blood, my +dying wish will be a blessing on the republic." + +"Those are noble and excellent words," said Hobart, coldly. "But if +deeds speak in antagonism to words, we cannot let the latter beguile +us out of our sense, but we must give heed to justice." + +"That is the one only thing that I ask," cried Toulan, brightly. +"Let justice be done, my brothers, and I shall very soon he free, +and shall come out from an investigation like a spotless lamb. I +make no resistance. Come, my friends, take me to prison! I only ask +for permission to be escorted first to my house, to procure a few +articles of clothing to use during my imprisonment. But I urge +pressingly that my articles may be sealed up in my presence. For +when the man of the house is not at home, it fares badly with the +safety of his property, and I shall be able to feel at ease only +when the seal of the republic is upon my possessions. I beg you +therefore to allow my paper and valuables to be sealed in my +presence. You will thus be sure that my wife and my friends have not +removed any thing which might be used against me, and my innocence +will shine out the more clearly. I beg you therefore to comply with +my wish." + +The members of the committee consulted with one another in low +tones, and the chairman then announced to Toulan that his wish would +be complied with, and that an escort of soldiers might accompany him +to his house, to allow him to procure linen and clothing, and to +seal his effects and papers in their presence. + +Toulan thanked them with cheerful looks, and went out into the +street between the two guards. As they were on the way to his house, +he talked easily with them, laughed and joked; but in his own +thoughts he said to himself, "You are lost! hopelessly lost, if you +do not escape now. You are the prey of the guillotine, if the gates +of the prison once close upon you; therefore escape, escape or die." +While he was thus laughing and talking with the soldiers, and +meanwhile thinking such solemn thoughts, his sharp black eyes were +glancing in all directions, looking for a friend who might assist +him out of his trouble. And fortune sent him such a friend!--Ricard, +Ionian's most trusted counsellor, the abettor of his plans. Toulan +called him with an animated face, and in loud tones told him that he +had been denounced, and therefore arrested; and that he was only +allowed to go to his house to procure some clothing. + +"Come along, Ricard," he said. "They are going to put my effects +under seal, and you have some papers and books on my writing-table. +Come along, and take possession of your own things, so that they may +not be sealed up as mine." + +Ricard nodded assent, and a significant look told Toulan that his +friend understood him, and that his meaning was, that Ricard should +take possession of papers that might bring Toulan under suspicion. +Continuing their walk, they spoke of indifferent matters, and at +last reached Toulan's house. Marguerite met them with calm bearing. +She knew that every cry, every expression of anxiety and trouble, +would only imperil the condition of her husband, and her love gave +her power to master herself. + +"Ah! are you there, husband?" she said, with a smile, how hard to +her no one knew. "You are bringing a great deal of company." + +"Yes, Marguerite," said Toulan, with a smile, "and I am going to +keep on with this pleasant company to prison." + +"Oh!" she cried, laughing, "that is a good joke! Toulan, the best of +patriots, in prison! Come, you ought not to joke about serious +matters." + +"It is no joke," said one of the guards, solemnly. "Citizen Toulan +is arrested, and is here only to procure some articles of clothing, +and have his effects put under seal." + +"And to give back to his friend Ricard the books and papers that +belong to him," said Toulan. "Come, let us go into my study, +friends." + +"There are my books and papers," cried Ricard, as they went into the +next room. He sprang forward to the writing-table, seized all the +papers lying upon it, and tried to thrust them into his coat-pocket. +But the two soldiers checked him, and undertook to resist his +movement. Ricard protested, a loud exchange of words took place--in +which Marguerite had her share--insisting that all the papers on the +table belonged to Ricard, and she should like to see the man who +could have the impudence to prevent his taking them. + +Louder and louder grew the contention; and when Ricard was +endeavoring again to put the papers into his pocket, the two +soldiers rushed at him to prevent it. Marguerite tried to come to +his assistance, and in the effort, overthrew a little table which +stood in the middle of the room, on which was a water-bottle and +some glasses. The table came down, a rattle of broken glass +followed, and amid the noise and outcries, the controversy and +violence, no one paid attention to Toulan; no one saw the little +secret door quietly open, and Toulan glide from view. + +The soldiers did not notice this movement, but Marguerite and Ricard +understood it well, and went on all the more eagerly with their +cries and contentions, to give Toulan time to escape by the secret +passage. + +And they were successful. When the two guards had, after long +searching, discovered the secret door through which the escape had +been effected, and had rushed down the hidden stairway, not a trace +of him was to be seen. + +Toulan was free! Unhindered, he hastened to the little attic, which +he had, some time before, hired in the house adjacent to the Temple, +put on a suit of clothes which he had prepared there, and remained +concealed the whole day. + +As Marie Antoinette lay sleepless upon her bed in the night that +followed this vain attempt at flight, and was torturing herself with +anxious doubts whether Fidele had fallen a victim to his devotion, +suddenly the tones of a huntsman's horn broke the silence; Marie +Antoinette raised herself up and listened. Princess Elizabeth had +done the same; and with suspended breath they both listened to the +long-drawn and plaintive tones which softly floated in to them on +the wings of the night. A smile of satisfaction flitted over their +pale, sad faces, and a deep sigh escaped from their heavy hearts. + +"Thank God! he is saved," whispered Marie Antoinette. + +"Is not that the melody that was to tell us that our friend is in +the neighborhood?" + +"Yes, sister, that is the one! So long as we hear this signal, we +shall know that Toulan is living still, and that he is near us." + +And in the following weeks the prisoners of the Temple often had the +sad consolation of hearing the tones of Toulan's horn; but he never +came to them again, he never appeared in the anteroom to keep guard +over the imprisoned queen. Toulan did not flee! He had the courage +to remain in Paris; he was constantly hoping that an occasion might +arise to help the queen escape; he was constantly putting himself in +connection with friends for this object, and making plans for the +flight of the royal captives. + +But exactly what Toulan hoped for stood as a threatening phantom +before the eyes of the Convention--the flight of the prisoners in +the Temple. They feared the queen even behind those thick walls, +behind the four iron doors that closed upon her prison! They feared +still more this poor child of seven years, this little king without +crown and without throne, the son of him who had been executed. The +Committee of Safety knew that people were talking about the little +king in the Temple, and that touching anecdotes about him were in +circulation. A bold, reckless fellow had appeared who called himself +a prophet, and had loudly announced upon the streets and squares, +that the lilies would bloom again, and that the sons of Brutus would +fall beneath the hand of the little king whose throne was in the +Temple. They had, it is true, arrested the prophet and dragged him +to the guillotine, but his prophecies had found an echo here and +there, and an interest in the little prince had been awakened in the +people. The noble and enthusiastic men known as the Girondists were +deeply solicitous about the young royal martyr, and the application +of this expression to the little dauphin, made in the earnest and +impassioned speeches before the Convention, melted all hearers to +tears and called out a deep sympathy. + +The Convention saw the danger, and at once resolved to be free from +it. On the 1st of July 1793, that body issued a decree with the +following purport: "The Committee of Public Safety ordains that the +son of Capet be separated from his mother, and be delivered to an +instructor, whom the general director of the communes shall +appoint." + +The queen had no suspicion of this. Now that Toulan was no longer +there, no news came to her of what transpired beyond the prison, and +Fidele's horn-signals were the only sounds of the outer world that +reached her ear. + +The evening of the 3d of July had come. The little prince had gone +to bed, and had already sunk into a deep sleep. His bed had no +curtains, but Marie Antoinette had with careful hands fastened a +shawl to the wall, and spread it out over the bed in such a manner +that the glare of the light did not fall upon the closed eyes of the +child and disturb him in his peaceful slumbers. It was ten o'clock +in the evening, and the ladies had that day waited unwontedly long +before going to bed. The queen and Princess Elizabeth were busied in +mending the clothing of the family, and Princess Theresa, sitting +between the two, had been reading to them some chapters out of the +Historical Dictionary. At the wish of the queen, she had now taken a +religious book, Passion Week, and was reading some hymns and prayers +out of it. + +Suddenly, the quick steps of several men were heard in the corridor. +The bolts flew back, the doors were opened, and six officials came +in. + +"We are come," cried one of them, with a brutal voice, "to announce +to you the order of the committee, that the son of Capet be +separated from his mother and his family." + +At these words the queen rose, pale with horror "They are going to +take my child from me!" she cried. "No, no, that is not possible. +Gentlemen, the authorities cannot think of separating me from my +son. He is still so young and weak, he needs my care." + +"The committee has come to this determination," answered the +official, "the Convention has confirmed it, and we shall carry it +into execution directly." + +"I cannot allow it," cried Marie Antoinette in desperation. "In the +name of Heaven, I conjure you not to be so cruel!" + +Elizabeth and Theresa mingled their tears with those of the mother. +All three had placed themselves before the bed of the dauphin; they +clung to it, they folded their hands, they sobbed; the most touching +cries, the most humble prayers trembled on their lips, but the +guards were not at all moved. + +"What is all this whining for?" they said. "No one is going to kill +your child; give him to us of your own free will, or we shall have +to take him by force." + +They strode up to the bed. Marie Antoinette placed herself with +extended arms before it, and held the curtain firmly; it however +detached itself from the wall and fell upon the face of the dauphin. +He awoke, saw what was going on, and threw himself with loud shrieks +into the arms of the queen. "Mamma, dear Mamma, do not leave me!" +She pressed him trembling to her bosom, quieted him, and defended +him against the cruel hands that were reached out for him. + +In vain, all in vain! The men of the republic have no compassion on +the grief of a mother! "By free will or by force he must go with +us." + +"Then promise me at least that he shall remain in the tower of the +Temple, that I may see him every day." + +"We have nothing to promise you, we have no account at all to give +you. Parbleu, how can you take on and howl so, merely because your +child is taken from you? Our children have to do more than that. +They have every day to have their heads split open with the balls of +the enemies that you have set upon them." + +"My son is still too young to be able to serve his country," said +the queen, gently, "but I hope that if God permits it, he will some +day be proud to devote his life to Him." + +Meanwhile the two princesses, urged on by the officials, had clothed +the gasping, sobbing boy. The queen now saw that no more hope +remained. She sank upon a chair, and summoning all her strength, she +called the dauphin to herself, laid her hands upon his shoulders, +and pale, immovable, with widely-opened eyes, whose burning lids +were cooled by no tear, she gazed upon the quivering face of the +boy, who had fixed his great blue eyes, swimming with tears, upon +the countenance of his mother. + +"My child," said the queen, solemnly, "we must part. Remember your +duties when I am no more with you to remind you of them. Never +forget the good God who is proving you, and your mother who is +praying for you. Be good and patient, and your Father in heaven will +bless you." + +She bent over, and with her cold lips pressed a kiss upon the +forehead of her son, then gently pushed him toward the turnkey. But +the boy sprang back to her again, clung to her with his arms, and +would not go. + +"My son, we must obey. God wills it so." A loud, savage laugh was +heard. Shuddering, the queen turned around. There at the open door +stood Simon, and with him his wife, their hard features turned +maliciously toward the pale queen. The woman stretched out her +brown, bare arms to the child, grasped him, and pushed him before +her to the door. + +"Is she to have him?" shrieked Marie Antoinette. "Is my son to +remain with this woman?" + +"Yes," said Simon, with a grinning smile, as he put himself, with +his arms akimbo, before the queen--" yes, with this woman and with +me, her husband, little Capet is to remain, and I tell you he shall +receive a royal education. We shall teach him to forget the past, +and only to remember that he is a child of the one and indivisible +republic. If he does not come to it, he must be brought to it, and +my old cobbler's straps will be good helpers in this matter." + +He nodded at Marie Antoinette with a fiendish smile, and then +followed the officials, who had already gone out. The doors were +closed again, the bolts drawn, and within the chamber reigned the +stillness of death. The two women put their arms around one another, +kneeled upon the floor and prayed. + +From this day on, Marie Antoinette had no hope more; her heart was +broken. Whole days long she sat fixed and immovable, without paying +any regard to the tender words of her sister-in-law and the caresses +of her daughter, without working, reading, or busying herself in any +way. Formerly she had helped to put the rooms in order, and mend the +clothes and linen; now she let the two princesses do this alone and +serve her. + +Only for a few hours each day did her countenance lighten at all, +and the power of motion return to this pale, marble figure. Those +were the hours when she waited for her son, as he went with Simon +every day to the upper story and the platform of the tower. She +would then put her head to the door and listen to every step and all +the words that he directed to the turnkey as he passed by. + +Soon she discovered a means of seeing him. There was a little crack +on the floor of the platform on which the boy walked. The world +revolved for the queen only around this little crack, and the +instant in which she could see her boy. + +At times, too, a compassionate guard who had to inspect the prison +brought her tidings of her son, told her that he was well, that he +had learned to play ball, and that by his friendly nature he won +every one's love. Then Marie Antoinette's countenance would lighten, +a smile would play over her features and linger on her pale lips as +long as they were speaking of her boy. But oh! soon there came other +tidings about the unhappy child. His wailing tones, Simon's threats, +and his wife's abusive words penetrated even the queen's apartments, +and filled her with the anguish of despair. And yet it was not the +worst to hear him cry, and to know that the son of the queen was +treated ill; it was still more dreadful to hear him sing with a loud +voice, accompanied by the laugh and the bravoes of Simon and his +wife, revolutionary and obscene songs--to know that not only his +body but his soul was doomed to destruction. + +At first the queen, on hearing these dreadful songs, broke out into +lamentations, cries, and loud threats against those who were +destroying the soul of her child. Then a gradual paralysis crept +over her heart, and when, on the 3d of August, she was taken from +the Temple to the prison, the pale lips of the queen merely +whispered, + +"Thank God, I shall not have to hear him sing any more!" + + + + +BOOK V. + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE DEATH OF THE QUEEN. + + +The Bartholomew's night of the murderous Catharine de Medicis, and +her mad son, Charles IX., now found in France its horrible and +bloody repetition; but the night of horror which we are now to +contemplate was continued on into the day, and did not shrink even +before the light. + +The sun shone down upon the streams of blood which flowed through +the streets of Paris, and upon the pack of wild dogs that swarmed in +uncounted numbers on the thoroughfares of the city, and lived on +this blood, which gave back even to the tame their natural wildness. +The sun shone down upon the scaffold, that rose like a threatening +monster upon the Place de la Revolution, and upon the dreadful axe +which daily severed so many noble forms, and then rose from the +block glittering and menacing. + +The sun shone on that day, too, when Marie Antoinette ascended the +scaffold, as her husband had done before, and so passed to her rest, +from all the pains and humiliations of her last years. + +That day was the 16th of October, 1793. For four months Marie +Antoinette looked forward to it as to a joyful deliverance. It was +four months from the time when she was transferred from the Temple +to the prison, and she knew that those who were confined in the +latter place only left it to gain the freedom, not that man gives, +but which God grants to the suffering--the freedom of death! + +Marie Antoinette longed for the deliverance. How far behind her now +lay the days of her happy, joyous youth! how long ago the time when +the tall, grave woman, her face full of pride and yet of +resignation, had been charming Marie Antoinette, the very +impersonation of beauty, youth, and love, carrying out in Trianon +the idyl of romantic country life--in the excess of her gayety going +disguised to the public opera-house ball, believing herself so safe +amid the French people that she could dispense with the protection +of etiquette--hailed with an enthusiastic admiration then, as she +was now saluted with the savage shouts of the enraged people! + +No, the former queen, Marie Antoinette, who, in the gilded saloons +of Versailles and in the Tuileries, had received the homage of all +France, and with a smiling face and perfect grace of manner +acknowledged all the tribute that was brought to her, had no longer +any resemblance to the widow of Louis Capet, sitting before the +revolutionary tribunal, and giving earnest answers to the questions +which were put to her. She arranged her toilet that day--but how +different was the toilet of the Widow Capet from that which Queen +Marie Antoinette had once displayed! At that earlier time, she, the +easy, light-hearted daughter of fortune, had shut herself up for +hours with her intimate companion, Madame Berthier, the royal +milliner, planning a new ball-dress, or a new fichu; or her Leonard +would lavish all the resources of his fancy and his art inventing +new styles of head-dress, now decorating the beautiful head of the +queen with towering masses of auburn hair; now braiding it so as to +make it enfold little war-ships, the sails of which were finely +woven from her own locks; now laying out a garden filled with fruits +and flowers, butterflies and birds of paradise. + +The "Widow Capet" needed no milliner and no hairdresser in making +her toilet. Her tall, slender figure was enveloped with the black +woollen dress which the republic had given her at her request, that +she might commemorate her deceased husband. Her neck and shoulders, +which had once been the admiration of France, was now concealed by a +white muslin kerchief, which her keeper Bault had given her out of +sympathy. Her hair was uncovered, and fell in long, natural locks on +both sides of her pale, transparent face. Her hair needed no powder +now; the long, sleepless nights and the sorrowful days have whitened +it more than any powder could do; and the widow of Louis Capet, +though but thirty-eight years old, had the gray locks of a woman of +seventy. + +In this toilet Marie Antoinette appeared before the revolutionary +tribunal, from the 6th to the 13th of October. Nothing royal was +left about her but her look and her proud bearing. + +The people, pressing in dense masses into the spectators' seats, did +not weary of seeing the queen in her humiliation and in her +mourning-robe, and constantly demanded that Marie Antoinette should +rise from the woven rush chair on which she was sitting, that she +should allow herself to be stared at by this throng, brought there +not out of compassion, but curiosity. + +Once, as she rose in reply to the demand of the public, she was +heard to whisper, as to herself: "Ah, will this people not soon be +satisfied with my sufferings?" [Footnote: Marie Antoinette's own +words.--See Goncourt, "Histoire de Marie Antoinette," p. 404.] At +another time, her pale, dry lips murmured, "I am thirsty!" but no +one around her dared to have compassion on this cry of distress; +every one looked perplexed at the others, and no one dared give her +a glass of water. At last one of the gens d'armes ventured to do it, +and Marie Antoinette thanked him with a look that brought tears into +his eyes, and that perhaps caused him to fall on the morrow under +the guillotine as a traitor. + +The gens d'armes who guarded the queen, they alone had the courage +to show her compassion. One night, when she was conducted from the +session-room to her prison, Marie Antoinette felt herself so +exhausted, so overcome, that she murmured to herself, as she +staggered on, "I cannot see, I cannot walk any farther." [Footnote: +Goncourt, p.416] The guard who was walking by her side gave her his +arm, and, supported by him, Marie Antoinette reeled up the stone +steps that led to her prison. + +At last, in the night intervening between the 14th and 15th of +October, at four o'clock in the morning, her sentence was +pronounced--"Death! execution by the guillotine!" + +Marie Antoinette received it with unshakable calmness, while the +tumult of the excited mob was hushed as by magic, and while many +faces even of the exasperated fish-wives grew pale! + +Marie Antoinette remained calm; gravely and coldly she rose from her +seat, and with her own hands opened the balustrade in order to leave +the hall to return to her prison! + +Finally, on the morning of the 16th of October, her sufferings were +allowed to end, and she was permitted to take refuge in the grave. +It almost made her joyful; she had suffered so much, that to die was +for her really blessedness. + +She employed the still hours of the night before her death in +writing to her sister-in-law, Madame Elizabeth, and her letter was +at the same time her testament. But the widow of Louis Capet had no +riches, no treasures to convey. She had nothing more that she could +call her own but her love, her tears, and her farewell greetings. +These she left to all who had loved her. She sent a special word to +her brothers and sisters, and bade them farewell. + +"I had friends," she says, "and the thought that I am to be forever +separated from them, and their sorrow for me, is the most painful +thing in this hour; they shall at least know that I thought of them +to the last moment." + +After Marie Antoinette had ended this letter, whose writing was here +and there blotted with her tears, she turned her thoughts to the +last remembrances she could leave to her children--a remembrance +which should not be profaned by the hand of the executioner. This +was her long hair, whose silver locks, the only ornament that +remained to her, was at the same time the sad record of her sorrows. + +Marie Antoinette, with her own hands, despoiled herself of this +ornament, and cut off her long back-hair, that it might be a last +gift to her children, her relations, and friends. Then, after a +period of meditation, she prepared herself for the last great +ceremony of her career--her death. She felt herself exhausted, worn +out, and recognized her need of some physical support during the +hard way which lay before her. She asked for nourishment, and ate +with some relish the wing of a fowl that was brought to her. After +that she made her toilet--the toilet of death! + +At the request of the queen, the wife of the turnkey gave her one of +her own chemises, and Marie Antoinette put it on. Then she arrayed +herself in the same garments which she had worn at her trial, with +this single change--that over the black woollen dress, which she had +often mended with her own hand, she now wore a cloak of white pique, +Around her neck she tied a simple kerchief of white muslin, and as +she would not be allowed to ascend the scaffold with uncovered head, +she put on a plain linen cap, such as was in general use among the +people. Black stockings covered her feet, and over these were shoes +of black woollen stuff. + +Her toilet was at last ended; she was done with all earthly things! +Ready to meet her death, she lay down on her bed and slept. + +She was still sleeping when it was announced to her that a priest +was there, ready to meet her, if she wanted to confess. But Marie +Antoinette had already unveiled her heart before God: she wanted +none of those priests of reason whom the republic had appointed +after it had banished or guillotined the priests of the Church. + +"As I am not mistress of my own will," she had written to her sister +Elizabeth, "I shall have to submit if a priest is brought to me; but +I solemnly declare that I will not speak a word to him, and that I +shall treat him as a person with whom I wish to have no relations." + +And Marie Antoinette kept her word; she did not refuse to allow +Geroid to enter; but when he asked her if she wished to receive the +consolations of religion from him, she declined. + +Then, in order to warm her feet, which were cold, she walked up and +down her little room. As it struck seven the door opened. It was +Samson, the public executioner, who entered! + +A slight thrill passed through the form of the queen. + +"You have come very early, sir; could you not delay a little?" When +Samson denied her request, Marie Antoinette put on her calm, cold +manner. She drank, without resistance, a cup of chocolate which was +brought to her; she remained possessed, and wore her wonted air of +dignity as they bound her hands behind her with thick cords. + +At eleven o'clock she left her room, passed through the corridor, +and ascended the car, which was waiting for her before the prison +door. No one accompanied her, no one bade her a last farewell, not a +look of pity or compassion was bestowed upon her by her keepers. + +Alone, between the rows of gens d'armes that were placed along the +sides of the corridor, the queen advanced, Samson walking behind +her, carrying the end of the rope with which the queen's hands were +bound, and behind him his two assistants and the priest. This is the +retinue of the queen, the daughter of an emperor, on the way to her +execution! + +It may be, that at this hour thousands are on their knees, offering +their fervent prayers to God in behalf of Marie Antoinette, whom, in +their hearts, they continued to call "the queen;" it may be that +thousands are pouring out tears of compassion for her who now mounts +the wretched car, and sits down on the board which is bound by ropes +to the sides of the vehicle. But those who are praying and weeping +have withdrawn to the solitude of their own apartments, and only God +can see their tears and hear their cries. The eyes which witnessed +the queen in this last drive were not allowed to shed a tear; the +words which followed her on her last way could express no +compassion. + +All Paris knew the hour of the execution, and the people were ready +to witness it. On the streets, at the windows, on the roofs, immense +masses had congregated, and the whole Place de la Revolution (now +the Place de la Concorde) was filled with a dark, surging crowd. + +And now the drums of the guards stationed before the Conciergerie +began to beat. The great white horse, (which drew the car in which +the queen sat, side by side with the priest, and facing backward,) +was driven forward by a man who was upon his back. Behind Marie +Antoinette were Samson and his assistants. + +The queen was pale, all the blood had left her cheeks and lips, but +her eyes were red! Poor queen, she bore even then the marks of much +weeping! But she could shed no tears then! Not a single one obscured +her eye as her look ranged, gravely and calmly, over the mass, up +the houses to the very roofs, then slowly down, and then away over +the boundless sea of human faces. + +Her face was as cold and grave as her eyes, her lips were firmly +compressed; not a quiver betrayed whether she was suffering, and +whether she shrank from the thousand and ten thousand scornful and +curious looks which were fixed upon her. And yet Marie Antoinette +saw it all! She saw a woman raise a child, she saw the child throw +her a kiss with its little hand! At that the queen gave way for an +instant, her lips quivered, her eyes were darkened with a tear! This +solitary sign of human sympathy reanimated the heart of the queen, +and gave her a little fresh life. + +But the people took good care that Marie Antoinette should not carry +this one drop of comfort to the end of her journey. The populace +thronged around the car, howled, groaned, sang ribald songs, clapped +their hands, and pointed their fingers in derision at Madame Veto. + +The queen, however, remained calm, her gaze wandering coldly over +the vast multitude; only once did her eye flash on the route. It was +as she passed the Palais Royal, where Philippe Egalite, once the +Duke d'Orleans, lived, and read the inscription which he had caused +to be placed over the main entrance of the palace. + +At noon the car reached its destination. It came to a halt at the +foot of the scaffold; Marie Antoinette dismounted, and then walked +slowly and with erect head up the steps. + +Not once during her dreadful ride had her lips opened, not a +complaint had escaped her, not a farewell had she spoken. The only +adieu which she had to give on earth was a look--one long, sad look- +-directed toward the Tuileries; and as she gazed at the great pile +her cheeks grew paler, and a deep sigh escaped from her lips. + +Then she placed her head under the guillotine,--a momentary, +breathless silence followed. + +Samson lifted up the pale head that had once belonged to the Queen +of France, and the people greeted the sight with the cry, "Long live +the republic!" + +That same evening one of the officials of the republic made up an +account, now preserved in the Imperial Library of Paris, and which +must move even the historian himself to tears. It runs as follows: +"Cost of interments, conducted by Joly, sexton of Madelaine de la +Ville l'Eveque, of persons condemned by the Tribunal of the +Committee of Safety, to wit, No. 1 . . . ." Then follow twenty-four +names and numbers, and then "No. 25. Widow Capet: + +For the coffin, . . . . . . . . . . . . .6 francs. +For digging the grave,. . . . . . . . . 25 francs." + +Beneath are the words, "Seen and approved by me, President of the +Revolutionary Tribunal, that Joly, sexton of the Madelaine, receive +the sum of two hundred and sixty-four francs from the National +Treasury, Paris, llth Brumaire. Year II. of the French Republic. +Herman, President." + +The interment of the Queen of France did not cost the republic more +than thirty-one francs, or six American dollars. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +KING LOUIS THE SEVENTEENTH. + + +The "one and indivisible republic" bad gained the victory over the +lilies of France. In their dark and unknown graves, in the Madelaine +churchyard, King Louis XVI. and Marie Antoinette slept their last +sleep. The monarchy had perished on the guillotine, and the +republicans, the preachers of liberty, equality, and fraternity, +repeated triumphantly: "Royalty is forever extinguished, and the +glorious republic is the rising sun which is to bring eternal +deliverance to France." + +But, in spite of this jubilant cry, the foreheads of the republican +leaders darkened, and a peculiar solicitude took possession of their +hearts when their eyes fell upon the Temple--that great, dismal +building, that threw its dark shadows over the sunny path of the +republic. Was it regret that darkened the brows of the regicides as +they looked upon this building, which had been the sad prison of the +king and queen? Those hearts of bronze knew no regret; and when the +heroes of the revolution crossed the Place de la Guillotine, on +which the royal victims had perished, their eyes flashed more +proudly, and did not fall even when they passed by the Madelaine +churchyard. + +No, it was not the recollection of the deed that saddened the brows +of the potentates of the republic when they looked at the dismal +Temple, but the recollection of him who was not yet dead, but who +was still living as a captive in the gloomy state-prison of the +republic. + +This prisoner was indeed only a child of eight years, but the +legitimists--and there were many of them still in the country-- +called him the King of France; and priests in loyal Vendee, when +they had finished the daily mass for the murdered king, prayed to +God, with uplifted hands, for grace and deliverance for the young +captive at the Temple, the young king, Louis XVII. + +"Le roi est mort--Vive le roi!" + +There were, it must be confessed, among the royalists and +legitimists many who thought of the young prisoner with bitterness +and anger, and who accused and blamed him as the calumniator of his +mother! As if the child knew what he was doing when, at the command +of his tormentor Simon, he wrote with trembling hand his name upon +the paper which was laid before him in the open court. As if the +poor innocent boy knew what meaning the dreadful questions had, +which the merciless judges put to him, and which he answered with +no, or with yes, according as his scrutinizing looks were able to +make out the fitting answer on the hard face of Simon, who stood +near him. For the unhappy lad had already learned to read the face +of the turnkey, and knew very well that every wrinkle of the +forehead which was caused by him must be atoned for with dreadful +sufferings, abuses, and blows. + +The poor boy was afraid of the heavy fist that came down like an +iron club upon his back and even on his face, when he said any thing +or did any thing that displeased Simon or his wife; and therefore he +sought to escape this cruel treatment, confirming with his yes and +no what Simon told the judges, and what the child in his innocence +did not understand! And therefore he subscribed the paper without +reluctance in which he unconsciously gave evidence that disgraced +his mother. + +With this testimony they ventured to accuse Marie Antoinette of +infamy, but the queen gave it no other answer than scornful silence +and a proud and dignified look, before which the judges cast down +their eyes in shame. Then after a pause they repeated their +question, and demanded an answer. + +Marie Antoinette turned her proud and yet gentle glance to the women +who had taken possession in dense masses of the spectators' gallery, +and who breathlessly awaited the answer of the queen. + +"I appeal to all mothers present," she said, with her sad, sonorous +voice--" I ask whether they hold such a crime to be possible." + +No one gave audible reply, but a murmur passed through the ranks of +the spectators, and the sharp ear of the judges understood very well +the meaning of this sound, this language of sympathy, and it seemed +to them wiser to let the accusation fall rather than rouse up the +compassion of the mothers still more in behalf of the queen. Her +condemnation was an event fixed upon, the "guilty" had been spoken +in the hearts of the judges long before it came to their lips, and +brought the queen to the guillotine. + +Marie Antoinette referred to this dreadful charge in the letter +which she wrote to her sister-in-law Elizabeth in the night before +her execution, a letter which was at the same time her testament and +her farewell to life. + +"May my son," she wrote, "never forget the last words of his father! +I repeat them to him here expressly: 'May he never seek to avenge +our death!' And now I have to speak of a matter which surely grieves +my heart, I know what trouble this child must have occasioned you. +Forgive him, my dear sister; think how young he is, and how easy it +is to induce a child to say what people want to have him say, and +what he does not understand. The day will come, I hope, when he +shall better comprehend the high value of your goodness and +tenderness to both of my children." [Footnote: Beauchesne, "Louis +XVII., sa Vie, son Agonie," etc., vol. i. ., p. 150, facsimile of +Marie Antoinette's letter.]* + +At the same hour when Marie Antoinette was writing this, there was a +dispute between Simon and his wife, who had been ordered by the +Convention to watch that night, in order that the enraged +legitimists might not make an effort to abduct the son of the queen. +They were contending whether the execution would really occur the +next day. Simon, in a jubilant tone, declared his conviction that it +would, while his wife doubted. "She is still handsome," she said, +gloomily, "she knows how to talk well, and she will be able to move +her judges, for her judges are men." + +"But Justice is a woman, and she is unshakable," cried Simon +emphatically, and as his wife continued to contradict, Simon +proposed a bet. The wager was, that if the Queen of France should be +guillotined the next noon, the one who lost should furnish brandy +and cakes the next evening for a jollification. + +The next morning Simon repaired with the little prisoner to the +platform of the tower, from which there was a free lookout over the +streets, and where they could plainly see what was going on below. + +His wife meanwhile had left the Temple at early dawn with her +dreadful knitting-work. "I must be on the spot early if I want a +good place to-day," she said, "and it would be a real misfortune for +me, if I should not see the miserable head of the she-wolf drop, and +not make a double stitch in my stocking." + +"But you forget, Jeanne Marie," said Simon, with a grin, "you forget +that you lose your bet if you make the mark in your stocking." + +"I would rather lose all the bets that were ever made than not make +the mark in my stocking," cried the knitter, grimly. "I would rather +lose my wedding-dress and my marriage-ring than win this bet. Go up +to the platform with the young wolf, and wait for me there. As soon +as I have made the mark in my stocking, I will run home and show it +to you." + +"It is too bad that I cannot go with you," said Simon, sighing. "I +wish I had never undertaken the business of bringing up the little +Capet. It is hateful work, for I can never leave the Temple, and I +am just as much a prisoner as he is." + +"The republic has done you a great honor," said the knitter, +solemnly. "She has confidence that you will make out of the son of +the she-wolf, out of the worthless scion of tyrants, a son of the +republic, a useful citizen." + +"Good talk," growled Simon, "and you have only the honor of the +affair, and the satisfaction besides of plaguing the son of our +tyrants a bit." + +"Of taking revenge," struck in the knitter--"revenge for the misery +which my family has suffered from the tyrants." + +"But I," continued Simon, "I have certainly the honor of the thing, +but I have also the burden. In the first place, it is very hard to +make a strong and useful citizen, of the republic out of this +whining, tender, and sensitive urchin. And then again it is very +unpleasant and disagreeable to have to live like a prisoner always." + +"Listen, Simon, hear what I promise you," said Jeanne Marie, laying +her hard brown hand upon Simon's shoulder. "If the Austrian atones +to-day for her crimes, and the executioner shows her head to the +avenged people, I will give up my place at the guillotine as a +knitter, will remain with you here in the Temple, will take my share +in the bringing up of the little Capet, and you yourself shall make +the proposition to the supervisor, that your wife like yourself +shall not be allowed to leave the Temple." + +"That is something I like to hear," cried Simon, delighted; "there +will then be at least two of us to bear the tedium of imprisonment. +So go, Jenne Marie, take your place for the last time at the +guillotine, for I tell you, you will lose your bet; you will have to +furnish brandy and cakes, and stay with me here at the Temple to +bring up the little Capet. So go, I will go up to the platform with +the boy, and wait there for your return." + +He called the little Louis Charles, who was sitting on the tottering +rush-chair in his room, and anxiously waiting to see whether "his +master" was going to take him that day out of the dismal, dark +prison. + +"Come, little Capet," cried Simon, pushing the door open with his +foot--" come, we will go up on the platform. You can take your ball +along and play, and I advise you to be right merry to-day, for it is +a holiday for the republic, and I am going to teach you to be a good +republican. So if you want to keep your back free from my straps, be +jolly to-day, and play with your ball" + +"Oh!" cried the child, springing forward merrily with his ball--" +oh! only be good, master, I will certainly be merry, for I like to +play with my ball, and I am ever so fond of holidays. What kind of +one is it to-day?" + +"No matter about your knowing that, you little toad!" growled Simon, +who in spite of himself had compassion on the pale face of the child +that looked up to him so innocently and inquiringly. "Up the +staircase quick, and play and laugh." + +Louis obeyed with a smile, sprang up the high steps of the winding +stairway, jumped about on the platform, throwing his ball up in the +air, and shouting aloud when he caught it again with his little thin +hands. + +Meanwhile Simon stood leaning on the iron railing that surrounded +the platform, looking with his searching eyes down into the street +which far below ran between the dark houses like a narrow ribbon. + +The wind now brought the sustained notes of the drums to him; then +he saw the street below suddenly filled with a dark mass, as if the +ribbon were turning into crape that was filling all Paris. + +"The people are in motion by thousands," cried Simon, delightedly, +"and all rushing to the Place de la Revolution. I shall win my bet." + +And again he listened to the sound that came up to him, now +resembling the beat of drums, and now a loud cry of exultation. + +"Now I think Samson must be striking the head off the wolf!" growled +Simon to himself, "and the people are shouting with pleasure, and +Jeanne Marie is making a mark in her stocking, and I, poor fellow, +cannot be there to see the fine show! And this miserable brat is to +blame for it," he cried aloud, turning suddenly round to the child +who was playing behind him with his ball, and giving him a savage +blow with his fist. + +"You are the cause, stupid, that I cannot be there today!" + +"Master," said the child, beseechingly, lifting his great blue eyes, +in which the tears were standing, up to his tormentor--" master, I +beg your forgiveness if I have troubled you." + +"Yes, you have troubled me," growled Simon, "and you shall get your +thanks for it in a way you will not like. Quick, away with your +tears, go on with your play if you do not want your back to make +acquaintance with my straps. Merry, I say, little Capet, merry!" + +The boy hastily dried his tears, laughed aloud as a proof of his +merriment, and began to jump about again and to play with his ball. + +Simon listened again, and looked down longingly into the streets, +which were now black with the surging masses of men. Steps were now +heard upon the stairway, and Jeanne Marie presently appeared on the +platform. With a grave, solemn air she walked up to her husband, and +gave him her stocking, on which three great drops of blood were +visible. + +"That is her blood," she said, calmly. "Thank God, I have lost the +bet!" + +"What sort of a bet was it?" asked the boy, with a smile, and giving +his ball a merry toss. + +"The bet is nothing to you," answered Jeanne Marie, "but if you are +good you will get something by and by, and have a share in the +payment of the bet!" + +That evening there was a little feast prepared in the gloomy rooms +of the Simons. The wife paid the wager, for the Queen of France had +really been executed, and she had lost. She provided two bottles of +brandy and a plum cake, and the son of the murdered queen had a +share in the entertainment. He ate a piece of the plum cake, and, +under the fear of being beaten if he refused, he drank some of the +brandy that was so offensive to him. + +From this time the unhappy boy remained under the hands of the +cobbler and his cruel wife. In vain his aunt and his sister implored +their keepers to be allowed to see and to talk with the prince. They +were put off with abusive words, and only now and then could they +see him a moment through a crack in the door, as he passed by with +Simon, on his way to the winding staircase. At times there came up +through the floor of their room--for Simon, who was no longer +porter, had the rooms directly beneath these occupied by the +princesses--the crying and moaning of the little prince, filling +their hearts with pain and bitterness, for they knew that the +horrible keeper of the dauphin was giving his pitiable ward a +lesson, i.e., he was beating and maltreating him. "Why? For what +reason? One day, perhaps, because he refused to drink brandy, the +next because he looked sad, or because he asked to be taken to his +mother or the princesses, or because he refused to sing the ribald +songs which Simon tried to teach him about Madame Veto or the +Austrian she-wolf. + +In this one thing the boy remained immovable; neither threats, +abuse, nor blows would force him to sing scurrilous songs about his +mother. Out of fear he did every thing else that his tormentor bade +him. He sung the Marseillaise, and the Caira, he danced the +Carmagnole, uttered his loud hurrahs as Simon drank a glass of +brandy to the weal of the one and indivisible republic; but when he +was ordered to sing mocking songs about Madame Veto, he kept a +stubborn silence, and nothing was able to overcome what Simon called +the "obstinacy of the little viper." + +Nothing, neither blows nor kicks, neither threats nor promises! The +child no longer ventured to ask after its mother, or to beg to be +taken to his aunt and sister, but once in a while when he heard a +noise in the room above, he would fix his eyes upon the ceiling for +a long time, and with an expression of longing, and when he dropped +them, again the clear tears ran over his cheeks like transparent +pearls. + +He did not speak about his mother, but he thought of her, and once +in the night he seemed to be dreaming of her, for he raised himself +up in bed, kneeled down upon the miserable, dirty mattress, folded +his hands and began to repeat in a loud voice the prayer which his +mother had taught him. + +The noise awakened Simon, who roused his wife, to let her listen to +the "superstitious little monkey," whom he would cure forever of his +folly. + +He sprang out of bed, took a pitcher of cold water, that was +standing on the table, and poured it upon the head of the kneeling +boy. Louis Charles awoke with a shriek, and crouched down in alarm. +But the whole bed was wet, only the pillow had been spared. The boy +rose carefully, took the pillow, carried it into a corner of the +room, and sat down upon it. But his teeth chattered with the cold in +spite of himself. This awakened Simon a second time, just as he was +dropping asleep. With a wild curse he jumped out of bed and dressed +himself. + +"That is right!" cried Jeanne Marie, "bring the brat to his senses. +Make little Capet know that he is to behave respectfully." + +And Simon did make the poor boy understand it, sitting on the +pillow, shivering in his wet shirt. He seized him by his shoulders, +shook him angrily from one side to another, and shouted: "I will +teach you to say your Pater Noster, and get up in the night like a +Trappist!" + +The boy remaining silent, Simon's rage, which knew no bounds when he +thought he was defied or met with stubbornness, entirely took +possession of him. He caught up his boot, whose sole was secured +with large iron nails, and was on the point of hurling it at the +head of the unoffending boy, when the latter seized his arm with +convulsive energy. + +"What have I done to you, master, that you should kill me?" cried +the little Louis. + +"Kill you, you wolf-brat!" roared Simon. "As if I wanted to, or ever +had wanted to! Oh, the miserable viper! So you do not know that if I +only took fairly hold of your neck, you never would scream again!" + +And with his powerful arm he seized the boy and hurled him upon the +water-soaked bed. Louis lay down without a word, without a +complaint, and remained there shivering and with chattering teeth +until morning. [Footnote: Beauchesne, "Louis XVII.," vol. ii., p. +185.] + +From this period there was a change in the boy. Until this time his +moist eyes had fixed themselves with a supplicating look upon his +tormentors when they threatened him, but after this they were cast +down. Until now he had always sought to fulfil his master's commands +with great alacrity; afterward he was indifferent, and made no +effort to do so, for he had learned that it was all to no purpose, +and that he must accept a fate of slavery and affliction. The face +of the child, once so rosy and smiling, now took on a sad, +melancholy expression, his cheeks were pale and sunken. The +attractive features of his face were disfigured, his limbs grew to a +length disproportionate to his age; his back bent into a bow, as if +he felt the burden of the humiliations which were thrown upon him. +When the child had learned that every thing that he said was +twisted, turned into ridicule, and made the cause of chastisement, +he was entirely silent, and only with the greatest pains could a +word be drawn from him. + +This silence exasperated Simon, and made him furiously command the +boy to sing, laugh, and be merry. At other times he would order +Louis to be silent and motionless for hours, and to have nothing to +do with the bird-cage, which was on the table, and which was the +only thing left that the little fellow could enjoy. + +This cage held a number of birds, and a piece of mechanism, an +automaton in the form of a bird, which ate like a living creature, +drank, hopped from one bar to another, opened his bill, and sang the +air which was so popular before the revolution, "Oh, Richard! oh, my +king!" + +This article had been found among the royal apparel, and a +compassion ate official guard had told Simon about it, and induced +him to apply to the authorities in charge of the Temple and ask for +it for the little Capet. + +Simon, who, as well as his wife, could no more leave the building +than their prisoner could, took this solitary, confined life very +seriously, and longed for some way to mitigate the tedium. He +therefore availed himself gladly of the official's proposition, and +asked for the automaton, which was granted by the authorities. The +boy was delighted with the toy at first, and a pleased smile flitted +over his face. But he soon became tired of playing with the thing +and paid no attention to it. + +"Does not your bird please you any longer?" asked Miller, the +official, as he came one day to inspect the Temple. "Do you have no +more sport with your canary?" + +The boy shook his head, and as Simon was in the next room and so +could not strike him, he ventured to speak. + +"It is no bird," he answered softly and quickly. "But I should like +to have a bird." + +The good inspector nodded to the boy, and then went out to have a +long talk with Simon, and so to avert any suspicion of being too +familiar with, or too fond of, the prince. But after leaving the +Temple he went to his friends and acquaintances, and told them, with +tears in his eyes, about the little prisoner in the Temple, the +"dauphin," as the royalists used always to call him beneath their +breath, and how he wanted a living bird. Every one was glad to have +an opportunity of gratifying the wish of the dauphin, and on the +next day Miller brought the prince a cage, in which were fourteen +real canaries. + +"Ah! those are real birds," cried the child, as he took them one +after the other and kissed them. The playing of the birds, which all +lived in one great cage, together with the automaton, was now the +only pleasure of the boy. He began to tame them, and among the +little feathered flock he found one to which he was especially +drawn, because he was more quiet than the others, allowed itself to +be easily caught, sat still on the finger of the prince, and, +turning his little black eyes to the boy, warbled a little, sweet +melody. At such moments the countenance of the boy beamed as it had +done in the days of his happiness; his cheeks flushed with color, +and out of his large blue eyes, which rested with inexpressible +tenderness upon the bird, there issued the rays of intelligence and +sensibility. He had now something to love, something to which all +his gentle sympathies could flow out, which hitherto had all been +suppressed beneath the harsh treatment of his keepers. + +He was no longer alone, he was no longer joyless! His little friend +was there in the great cage among the twittering companions who were +indifferent to the little prince. In order to know him at first +sight, and always to be able to recognize him, Louis took the rose- +colored ribbon from the neck of the automaton, and tied it around +the neck of his darling. The bird sang merrily at this, and seemed +to be as well pleased with the decoration as if it had been an order +which King Louis of France was hanging around the neck of a favorite +courtier. + +It was a fortunate thing for the boy that Simon himself was fond of +birds, else the objections of his wife would soon have robbed the +little fellow of his last remaining comfort. It was for the keeper a +little source of amusement, an interruption in the dreadful monotony +of his life. The birds were allowed to stay therefore, and their +singing and twittering animated a little the dark, silent rooms, and +reminded him of the spring, the fresh air, the green trees! + +But very soon this source of comfort and cheer was to be banished +from the dismal place! On the 19th of December, 1793, the inspectors +of the Temple made their rounds. Just at the moment when they +entered the room of the little Louis Capet, the automaton began to +sing with his loud, penetrating voice, "Oh! Richard, oh my king!" + +The officials came to a halt upon the threshold, as though petrified +at this unheard-of license, and fixed their cold, angry looks now +upon the bird-, now upon the boy, who was sitting upon his rush- +chair before the cage, looking at the birds with beaming eyes. + +A second time the automaton began the unfortunate air, and the +exasperated inspectors strode up to the cage. "What does this mean?" +asked one of them. "How does any one dare to keep up, in the +glorious republic, such worthless reminders of the cursed monarchy." + +"Only see," cried another--"see the order that one of the birds is +wearing. It is plain that the old passion of royalty still lurks +here, for even here ribbons are given away as signs of distinction. +The republic forbids such things, and we will not suffer such +infamy." + +The inspector put his hand into the cage, seized the little canary- +bird with the red ribbon, and squeezed him so closely that the poor +little creature gave one faint chirp and died. The man drew him out, +and hurled him against the wall of the room. + +The little boy said not a word, he uttered not a complaint; he gazed +with widely-opened eyes at his dead favorite, and two great tears +slowly trickled down his pale cheeks. + +The next day the inspectors gave a report of this occurrence, +couched in terms of worthy indignation, and all hearts were stirred +with righteous anger at the story of the automaton that sang the +royal aria, and of the living bird that wore the badge of an order +about its neck. They were convinced that the secret royalists were +connected with this thing, and it was registered in the communal +acts as "the conspiracy of the canary-bird." + +The little winged conspirators, the automaton as well as the living +birds, were of course instantly removed from the Temple; and Simon +had the double vexation of receiving a reprimand from the +authorities, and then the losing his little merry companions from +the prison. It was all the fault of this little, good-for-nothing +boy, who knew how to make long faces, and allowed himself to waken +and disturb his master in the night by his crying and sobbing. + +"The worthless viper has spoiled my sleep for me," growled Simon the +next morning. "My head is as heavy as a bomb, and I shall have to +take a foot-bath, to draw the blood away from my ears." + +Jeanne Marie silently carried her husband the leaden foot-bath, with +the steaming water, and then drew back into the corner, in whose +dismal shadow she often sat for hours, gazing idly at her "calendar +of the revolution," the long stocking, on which traces of the blood +of the queen were still visible. + +Meanwhile, Simon took his foot-bath, and while he did so, his +wicked, malicious eyes now fell upon his wife, who had once been so +cheerful and resolute, and who now had grown so sad and broken, now +upon the boy, who, since yesterday, when his canaries had been taken +from him, had spoken not a word, or made a sound, and who sat +motionless upon the rush-chair, folding his hands in his lap, and +gazing at the place where his dead bird lay yesterday. + +"This life would make one crazy," growled Simon, with the tone of a +hyena. "Capet," he cried aloud, "take the towel and warm it at the +chimney-fire, so as to wipe my feet." + +Louis rose slowly from his chair, took the towel and crept to the +chimney-fire to spread it out and warm it; but the glow of the coals +burned his little thin hands so badly, that he let the cloth fall +into the fire, and before the trembling, frightened child had time +to draw it back, the towel had kindled and was burning brightly. + +Simon uttered a howl of rage, and, as with his feet in the water he +was not able to reach the boy, he heaped curses and abuse upon him, +and not alone on him, but on his father and mother, till his voice +was hoarse, and he was exhausted with this outpouring of his wrath. + +Deceived by the quiet which followed, little Louis took another +towel, warmed it carefully at the chimney, and then cautiously +approached his master, to wipe his feet. Simon extended them to the +boy and let himself he served as if by a little slave; but just as +soon as his feet were dry he kicked the boy's head with such force +that without a cry Louis fell down, striking his head violently on +the floor. Perhaps it was this pitiful spectacle that exasperated +the cobbler still more. He beat the unconscious boy, roused him with +kicks and with the noise of his curses, raised his clinched fists +and swore that he would now dash the viper in pieces, when he +suddenly felt his hands grasped as in iron clamps, and to his +boundless astonishment saw before him the pale, grim face of his +wife, who had come out from her corner and fixed her black, +glistening eyes upon him, while she held his hands firmly. + +"What is it, Jeanne Marie?" said Simon, surprised! "why are you +holding me so?" + +"Because I do not want you to beat him to death," she said, with a +hoarse, rough voice. + +He broke out into loud laughter. "I really believe that the knitter +of the guillotine has pity on the son of the she-wolf." + +A convulsive quiver passed through her whole frame. A singular, +gurgling sound came from her chest; she put both her hands to her +neck and tore the little kerchief off, as if it were tied tight +enough to strangle her. + +"No," she said, in a suppressed tone, "no compassion on the wolf's +brood! But if you beat him to death, they will have to bring you to +the guillotine, that it may not appear as if they had ordered you to +kill the little Capet." + +"True," said Simon, "you are right, and I thank you, Jeanne Marie, +that you may remind me of it. It shows that you love me still, +although you are always so quiet. Yes, yes, I will be more careful; +I will take care to beat the little serpent only so much that it may +not bite, but cannot die." + +Jeanne Marie made no reply, but sat down in the corner again, and +took up her stocking, without touching the needles, however, and +going on with her work. + +"Get up, you cursed snake!" growled Simon, "get up and go out of my +sight, and do not stir me up again." + +The child rose slowly from the floor, crept to the wash-basin and +with his trembling, bruised hands wiped away the blood that was +flowing out of his nose and mouth. A loud, gurgling sound came from +the corner where Jeanne Marie sat. It seemed half like a cry, half +like a sob. When Simon looked around, his wife lay pale and +motionless on the floor; she had sunk from her chair in a swoon. + +Simon grasped her in his strong arms and carried her to the bed, +laid her gently and carefully down, and busied himself about her, +showing a manifest anxiety. + +"She must not die," he murmured, rubbing her temples with salt +water; "she must not leave me alone in this horrible prison and with +this dreadful child.--Jeanne Marie, wake up, come to yourself!" She +opened her eyes, and gazed at her husband with wild, searching +looks. + +"What is the matter, Jeanne Marie?" he asked. "Have you pain? Are +you sick?" + +"Yes," she said, "I am sick, I am in pain." + +"I will go to bring you a physician, you shall not die! No, no, you +shall not die, you shall have a physician. The Hotel Dieu is very +near, they will certainly allow me to go as far as there, and bring +a doctor for my dear Jeanne." + +He was on the point of hastening away, but Jeanne Marie held him +fast. "Remain here," she murmured, "do not let me be alone with him- +-I am afraid of him!" + +"Of whom?" asked Simon, astonished; and as he followed the looks of +his wife, they rested on the boy, who was still busy in checking the +blood that was flowing freely from his swollen nose. + +"Of him!" asked Simon, in amazement. + +Jeanne Marie nodded. "Yes," she whispered, "I am afraid of him, and +I do not want to remain alone with him, for he would kill me." Simon +burst into a loud, hoarse laugh. "Now I see that you are really +sick, and the doctor shall come at once. But they certainly will not +let me leave this place, for this despicable brat has made us both +prisoners, the miserable, good-for-nothing thing!" + +"Send him away; let him go into his own room," whispered Jeanne +Marie. "I cannot bear to see him; he poisons my blood. Send him +away, for I shall be crazy if I have to look at him longer." + +"Away with you, you viper!" roared Simon; and the boy, who knew that +he was meant--that the term viper was applied only to him--hastily +dried his tears, and slipped through the open door into his little +dark apartment. + +"Now I will run and call the porter," said Simon, hurriedly; "he +shall send some one to the Hotel Dieu, and bring a physician for my +poor, dear, sick Jeanne Marie." + +He hastened out, and turned back, after a few minutes, with the +report that the porter himself had gone to bring a doctor, and that +help would come at once. + +"Nonsense!" cried Jeanne Marie; "no doctor can help me, and there is +nothing at all that I want. Only give me something to drink, Simon, +for my throat burns like fire, and then call little Capet in, for in +his dark room his eyes glisten like stars, and I cannot bear them." + +Simon shook his head sadly; and, while holding a glass of cold water +to her lips, he said to himself: "Jeanne Marie is really sick! She +has a fever! But we must do what she orders, else it will come to +delirium, and she might become insane." + +And with a loud voice he called, "Capet, Capet! come here, come +here! you viper, you wolf's cub, come here!" + +The boy obeyed the command, slowly crept into the room, and sat down +in the rush-chair in the corner. "He shall not look at me," shrieked +Jeanne Marie; "he shall not look into my heart with his dreadful +blue eyes, it hurts me--oh! so much, so much!" + +"Turn around, you viper!" said Simon. "Look round this way again, or +I'll tear your eyes out of your head! I--" + +The door leading to the corridor now opened, and an old man, leaning +on a cane, entered, wearing on his head a powdered peruke, his bent +form covered with a black satin coat, beneath which a satin vest was +seen; on his feet, silk stockings and buckled shoes; in his lace- +encircled hand, a cane with a gold head. + +"Well," cried Simon, with a laugh, "what sort of an old scarecrow is +that? And what does it want here?" + +"The scarecrow wants nothing of you," said the old man, in a kindly +way, "but you want something of it, citizen. You have sent for me." + +"Ah! so you are the doctor from the Hotel Dieu." + +"Yes, my friend, I am Citizen Naudin." + +"Naudin, the chief physician at the Hotel Dieu?" cried Simon. "And +you come yourself to see my sick wife?" + +"Does that surprise you, Citizen Simon?" + +"Yes, indeed, it surprises me. For I have been told so often that +Citizen Naudin, the greatest and most skilful physician in all +Paris, never leaves the Hotel Dieu; that the aristocrats and ci- +devants have begged him in vain to attend them, and that even the +Austrian woman, in the days when she was queen, sent to no purpose +to the celebrated Naudin, and begged him to come to Versailles. + +We heard that the answer was: 'I am the physician of the poor and +the sick in the Hotel Dieu, and whoever is poor and sick may come to +me in the house which bears the name of God. But whoever is too rich +and too well for that, must seek another doctor, for my duties with +the sick do not allow me to leave the H6tel Dieu.' And after that +answer reached the palace--so the great Doctor Marat told me--the +queen had her horses harnessed, and drove to Paris, to consult +Doctor Naudin at the Hotel Dieu, and to receive his advice. Is the +story really true, and are you Doctor Naudin?" + +"The story is strictly true, and, my friend, I am Doctor Naudin." + +"And you now leave the Hotel Dieu to come and visit my sick wife?" +asked Simon, with a pleasant look and a flattered manner. + +"Does your wife not belong to my poor and sick?" asked the doctor. +"Is she not a woman of the people, this dear French people, to whom +I have devoted my services and my life? For a queen Doctor Naudin +might not leave his hospital, but for a woman of the people he does +it. And now, citizen, let me see your sick wife, for I did not come +here to talk." + +Without waiting for Simon's answer, the physician walked up to the +bed, sat down on the chair in front of it, and began at once to +investigate the condition of the woman, who reached him her feverish +hand, and, with an almost inaudible voice, answered his professional +questions. + +The cobbler stood at the foot of the bed, and directed his little +cunning eyes to the physician in amazement and admiration. Behind +him, in the corner, sat the son of Marie Antoinette, humiliated, +still, and motionless. Yet, in spite of the injunction of Jeanne +Marie, he had turned around, and was looking toward the bed; but not +to the knitter of the guillotine were his looks directed, but to +this venerable old gentleman with his powdered peruke, his satin +coat, silk stockings, breeches, shoe-buckles, gold embroidered +waistcoat and lace ruffles. This costume reminded him of the past; +the halls of Versailles came back to him, and he saw before him the +shadowy figures of the cavaliers of that time, all clothed like the +dear old gentleman who was sitting before the bed there. + +"Why do you look at me in such a wondering way, Citizen Simon?" +asked Naudin, who was now through with his examination. + +"I really wonder--I really do wonder immensely," said Simon, "and +that is saying much, for, in these times, when there are so many +changes, a man can hardly wonder at any thing. Still I do wonder, +Citizen Naudin, that you can venture to go around in this costume. +That is the style of clothing worn by traitorous ci-devants and +aristocrats. Anybody else who dare put it on would have only one +more walk to take, that to the guillotine, and yet you venture to +come here!" + +"Venture?" repeated Naudin, with a shrug. "I venture nothing, +citizen. I wear my clothes in conformity with a habit of years' +standing: they fitted well under the monarchy, they fit just as well +under the republic, and I am not going to be such a fool as to put +by my soft and comfortable silk clothes, and put on your hateful, +uncomfortable thick ones, and strut about in them. I am altogether +too old to take up the new fashions, and altogether too well +satisfied with my own suit to learn how to wear your cloth coats +with swallow-tails, and your leather hose and top-boots. Defend me +from crowding my old limbs into such stuffs!" + +"Citizen doctor," cried Simon, with a laugh, "you are a jolly, good +old fellow, and I like you well. I do not blame you for preferring +your comfortable silk clothes to the new style that our +revolutionary heroes have brought into mode, that nothing might +remind us of the cursed, God-forsaken monarchy. I wonder merely that +they allow it, and do not make you a head shorter!" + +"But how would they go on with matters in the Hotel Dieu? Without a +head nothing could be done with the sick and the suffering, for +without a head there is no thinking. Now, as I am the head of the +hospital, and as they have no head to take my place, and as, in +spite of my old-fashioned clothes, my sick are cured, and have +confidence in me, the great revolutionary heroes wink at me, and let +me do as I please, for they know that under the silk dress of an +aristocrat beats the heart of a true democrat. But that is not the +question before us now, citizen. We want to talk about the health of +your wife here. She is sick, she has a fever, and it will be worse +yet with her, unless we take prompt measures and provide a cooling +drink for her." + +"Do it, citizen doctor," said Simon; "make my Jeanne Marie well and +bright again, or I shall go crazy here in this accursed house. +Jeanne Marie is sick just with this, that she is not accustomed to +be idle, and to sit still and fold her hands in her lap, and run +around like a wild beast in its cage. But here in the Temple it is +no better than in a cage; and I tell you, citizen, it is enough to +make one crazy here, and it has made Jeanne sick to have no fresh +air, no exercise and work." + +"But why has she no exercise and no work? Why does she not go out +into the street and take the air?" + +"Because she cannot," cried Simon, passionately. "Because the cursed +little viper there embitters our whole life and makes us prisoners +to this miserable, wretched prisoner, Look at him there, the +infernal little wolf! he is the one to blame that I cannot go into +the street, cannot visit the clubs, the Convention, or any meeting, +but must lire here like a Trappist, or like an imprisoned criminal. +He is the one to blame that my wife can no longer take her place at +the guillotine, and knit and go on with her work there." + +"Yes," cried Jeanne Marie, with a groan, raising her head painfully +from the pillow, "he is to blame for it all, the shameless rascal. +He has made me melancholy and sad; he has worried, and vexed, and +changed me! Oh! oh! he is looking at me again, and his eyes burn +into my heart!" + +"Miserable viper," cried Simon, dashing toward the boy with clinched +fists, "how dare you turn your hateful eyes toward her, after her +expressly forbidding it? Wait, I will teach you to disobey, and give +you a lesson that you will not forget." + +His heavy hand fell on the back of the boy, and was raised again for +a second stroke, when it was held as in an iron vice. + +"You good-for-nothing, what are you doing?" cried a thundering +voice, and two blazing eyes flashed on him from the reddened face of +Doctor Naudin. + +Simon's eyes fell before the angry look of the physician, then he +broke out into a loud laugh. + +"Citizen doctor, I say, what a jolly fellow you are," he said, +merrily. "You did that just as if you were in a theatre, and you +called out to me just as they call out to the murderers in a +tragedy. What do you make such a halloo about when I chastise the +wolf's cub a bit, as he has richly deserved?" + +"It is true," said Naudin, "I was a little hasty. But that comes +from the fact, citizen, that I not only held you to be a good +republican, but a good man as well, and therefore it pained me to +see you do a thing which becomes neither a republican nor a good +man." + +"Why, what have I done that is not proper?" asked Simon, in +amazement. + +"Look at him, the poor, beaten, swollen, stupefied boy," said +Naudin, solemnly, pointing to Louis, who sat on his chair, weeping +and trembling in all his limbs--"look at him, citizen, and then do +not ask me again what you have done that is not proper." + +"Well, but he deserves nothing better," cried Simon, with a sneer. +"He is the son of the she-wolf, Madame Veto." + +"He is a human being," said Doctor Naudin, solemnly, "and he is, +besides, a helpless boy, whom the one, indivisible, and righteous +republic deprived of his father and mother, and put under your care +to be educated as if he were a son of your own. I ask you, citizen, +would you have struck a son of your own as you just struck this +boy?" + +A loud, convulsive sob came from the bed on which Jeanne Marie lay, +and entirely confused and disturbed Simon. + +"No," he said, softly, "perhaps I should not have done it. But," +continued he eagerly, and with a grim look, "a child of my own would +not have tried and exasperated me as this youngster does. From +morning till evening he vexes me, for he does nothing that I want +him to. If I order him to sing with me, he is still and stupid, and +when he ought to be still he makes a noise. Would you believe me, +citizen, this son of the she-wolf leaves me no quiet for sleep. +Lately, in the night, he kneeled down in the bed and began to pray +with a loud voice, so as to wake both my wife and myself." + +"From that night on I have been sick and miserable," moaned Jeanne +Marie; "from that night I have not been able to sleep." + +"You hear, citizen doctor, my wife was so terrified with that, that +it made her sick, and now you shall have a proof of the disobedience +of the little viper. Capet, come here." + +The boy rose slowly from his chair, and stole along with drooping +head to his master. + +"Capet, we will sing," said Simon. "You shall show the doctor that +you are a good republican, and that you have entirely forgotten that +you are the son of the Austrian, the rascally Madame Veto. Come, we +will sing the song about Madame Veto. Quick, strike in, or I will +beat you into pulp. The song about Madame Veto, do you hear? Sing!" + +A short pause ensued. Then the boy raised his swollen face and fixed +his great blue eyes with a defiant, flaming expression upon the face +of the cobbler. + +"Citizen," he said, with clear, decided tones, "I shall not sing the +song about Madame Veto, for I have not forgotten my dear mamma, and +I can sing nothing bad about her, for I love my dear mamma so much, +so much, and--" + +The voice of the boy was drowned in his tears; he let his head fall +upon his breast, ready to receive the threatened chastisement. But, +before the fist of Simon, already raised, could fall upon the poor +head of the little sufferer, a thrilling cry of pain resounded from +the bed. + +"Simon, come to me," gasped Jeanne Marie. "Help me draw the dagger +out of my breast, I am dying--oh, I am dying!" + +"What kind of a dagger?" cried Simon, rushing to the bed and taking +the convulsed form of his wife in his arms. + +"Hush!" whispered the doctor, who also had gone to the bed of the +sick woman--"hush! she is speaking in her fever, and the dagger of +which she talks she feels in her heart and conscience. You must +spare her, citizen, if you do not want her to die. Every thing must +be quiet around her, and you must be very careful not to agitate her +nerves, lest she have an acute typhoid fever. I will send her some +cooling medicine at once, and to-morrow morning I will come early to +see how it fares with her. But, above every thing else, Simon, +remember to have quiet, that your good wife may get well again." + +"Who would have told me two weeks ago that Jeanne Marie had nerves?" +growled Simon. "The first knitter of the guillotine, and now all at +once nerves and tears, but I must be careful of her. For it would be +too bad if she should die and leave me all alone with this tedious +youngster. I could not hold out. I should run away. Go, Capet, get +into your room, and do not get in my way again to-day, else I will +strangle you before you can make a sound. Come, scud, clear, and do +not let me see you again, if your life is worth any thing to you." + +The child stole into his room again, sat down upon the floor, folded +his little hands in one another, fixed his great blue eyes on the +ceiling above, and held his breath to listen to every little sound, +every footfall that came from the room above. + +All at once he heard plainly the steps of some one walking up and +down, and a pleased smile flitted across the face of the boy. + +"That is certainly my dear mamma," he whispered to himself. "Yes, +yes, it is my mamma queen, and she is taking her walk in the +sitting-room, just as she has done since she has not been allowed to +go out upon the platform. Oh, mamma, my dear mamma, I love you so +much!" + +And the child threw a kiss up to the ceiling, not knowing that she +to whom he sent his greeting had long been resting in the silent +grave, and that with the very hand which was throwing kisses to her, +he had himself signed the paper which heaped upon his mother the +most frightful calumnies. + +Even Simon had not had the cruel courage to tell the boy of the +death of his mother, and of the unconscious wrong that he, poor +child, had done to her memory, and in his silent chamber his longing +thoughts of her were his only consolation. + +And so he sat there that day looking up to the ceiling, greeting his +dear mamma with his thoughts, and seeing her in spirit greeting him +again, nodding affectionately to him and drawing her dear little +Louis Charles to her arms. + +These were the sweet, transporting fancies which made the child +close his eyes so as not to lose them. Immovably he sat there, until +gradually thoughts and dreams flowed into each other, and not only +his will, but sleep as well, kept his eyes closed. But the dreams +remained, and were sweet and refreshing, and displayed to the +sleeping child, so harshly treated in his waking hours, only scenes +of love and tenderness. And it was not his mother alone who embraced +him in his happy slumbers; no, there were his aunt and his sister as +well, and at last even--oh how strange dreams are!--at last he even +saw Simon's wife advancing toward him with kindly and tender mien. +She stooped down to him, took him up in her arms, kissed his eyes, +and begged him in a low, trembling voice to forgive her for being so +cruel and bad. And while she was speaking the tears streamed from +her eyes and flowed over his face. She kissed them away with her hot +lips, and whispered, "Forgive me, poor, unhappy angel, and do not +bring me to judgment. I will treat you well after this, I will +rescue you from this hell, or I will die for you. Oh, how the bad +man has beaten your dear angel face! But believe me, I have felt +every blow in my own heart, and when he treated you so abusively I +felt the pain of hell. Oh, forgive me, dear boy, forgive me!" and +again the tears started from her eyes and flowed hot over his locks +and forehead. All at once Jeanne Marie quivered convulsively, laid +the boy gently down, and ran hastily away. A door was furiously +opened now, and Simon's loud and angry voice was heard. + +The tones awakened the little Louis. He opened his eyes and looked +around. Yes, it had really all been only a dream--he had heard +neither his mother nor Simon's wife, and yet it had been as natural +as if it had all really transpired. He had felt arms tenderly +embracing him and tears hot upon his forehead. + +Entirely unconscious he raised his hand to his brow and drew it back +affrighted, for his hair and his temples were wet, as if the tears +of which he dreamed had really fallen there. + +"What does this mean, Jeanne Marie?" asked Simon, angrily, "Why have +you got out of bed while I was away, and what have you had to do in +the room of the little viper?" + +"If you leave me alone with him I have to watch him, sick as I am," +moaned she. "I had to see whether he was still there, whether he had +not run away, and gone to report to the Convention that we have left +him alone and have no care for him." + +"Oh, bah! he will not complain of us," laughed Simon; "but keep +quiet, Jeanne Marie, I promise you that I will not leave you alone +again with the wolf's cub. Besides, here is the medicine that the +doctor has sent, and to-morrow he will come himself again to see how +you get on. So keep up a good heart, Jeanne Marie, and all will come +right again." + +The next morning, Dr. Naudin came again to look after the sick +woman. Simon had just gone up-stairs to announce something to the +two princesses in the name of the Convention, and had ordered the +little Capet to remain in the anteroom, and, if the doctor should +come, to open the door to him. + +Nobody else was in the anteroom when Dr. Naudin entered, and the +door leading into the next room was closed, so that the sick person +who was there could see and hear nothing of what took place. + +"Sir," whispered the boy, softly and quickly, "you were yesterday so +good to me, you protected me from blows, and I should like to thank +you for it." + +The doctor made no reply, but he looked at the boy with such an +expression of sympathy that he felt emboldened to go on. + +"My dear sir," continued the child, softly, and with a blush, "I +have nothing with which to show my gratitude to you but these two +pears that were given me for my supper last night. And just because +I am so poor, you would do me a great pleasure if you would accept +my two pears." [Footnote: The boy's own words.--See Beauchesne, vol. +ii., p. 180.] + +He had raised his eyes to the doctor with a gentle, supplicatory +expression, and taking the pears from the pocket of his worn, mended +jacket, he gave them to the physician. + +Then happened something which, had Simon entered the room just then, +would probably have filled him with exasperation. It happened that +the proud and celebrated Dr. Naudin, the director and first +physician of the Hotel Dieu, sank on his knee before this poor boy +in the patched jacket, who had nothing to give but two pears, and +that he was so overcome, either by inward pain or by reverence, that +while taking the pears he could only whisper, with a faint voice: "I +thank your majesty. I have never received a nobler or more precious +gift than this fruit, which my unfortunate king gives me, and I +swear to you that I will be your devoted and faithful servant." + +It happened further that Dr. Naudin pressed to his lips the hand +that reached him the precious gift, and that upon this hand two +tears fell from the eyes of the physician, long accustomed to look +upon human misery and pain, and which had not for years been +suffused with moisture. + +Just then, approaching steps being heard in the corridor, the doctor +rose quickly, concealed the pears in his pocket, and entered the +chamber of the sick woman at the same instant when Simon returned +from his visit above-stairs. + +Tne boy slipped, with the doctor, into the sick-room, and as no one +paid any attention to him, he stole softly into his room, crouched +down upon his straw bed, with fluttering heart, to think over all he +had experienced or dreamed of that day. + +"And how is it with our sick one to-day?" asked Doctor Naudin, +sitting down near the bed, and giving a friendly nod to Simon to do +the same. + +"It goes badly with me," moaned Mistress Simon. "My heart seems to +be on fire, and I have no rest day or night. I believe that it is +all over with me, and that I shall die, and that is the best thing +for me, for then I shall be free again, and not have to endure the +torments that I have had to undergo in this dreadful dungeon." + +"What kind of pains are they?" asked the doctor. "Where do you +suffer?" + +"I will tell you, citizen doctor," cried Simon, impatiently. "Her +pains are everywhere, in every corner of this lonely and cursed +building; and if it goes on so long, we shall have to pack and move. +The authorities have done us both a great honor, for they have had +confidence enough in us to give the little Capet into our charge; +but it is our misfortune to be so honored, and we shall both die of +it. For, not to make a long story of it, we both cannot endure the +air of the prison, the stillness and solitude, and it is a dreadful +thing for us to see nothing else the whole day than the stupid face +of this youngster, always looking at me so dreadfully with his great +blue eyes, that it really affects one. We are neither of us used to +such an idle, useless life, and it will be the death of us, citizen +doctor. My wife, Jeanne Marie, whom you see lying there so pale and +still, used to be the liveliest and most nimble woman about, and +could do as much with her strong arms and brown hands as four other +women. And then she was the bravest and most outrageous republican +that ever was, when it came to battling for the people. We both +helped to storm the Bastile, both went to Versailles that time, and +afterward took the wolf's brood from the Tuileries and brought them +to the Convention. Afterward Jeanne Marie was always the first on +the platform near the guillotine; and when Samson and his assistants +mounted the scaffold in the morning, and waited for the cars, the +first thing they did was to look over to the tribune to see if +Mistress Simon was there with her knitting, for it used to seem to +them that the work of hewing off heads went more briskly on if +Jeanne Marie was there and kept the account in her stocking. Samson +himself told me this, and said to me that Jeanne Marie was the +bravest of all the women, and that she never trembled, and that her +eyes never turned away, however many heads fell into the basket. And +she was there too when the Austrian--" + +"Hush!" cried Jeanne Marie, rising up hastily in bed, and motioning +to her husband to be silent. "Do not speak of that, lest the +youngster hear it, and turn his dreadful eyes upon us. Do not speak +of that fearful day, for it was then that my sickness began, and I +believe that there was poison in the brandy that we drank that +evening. Yes, yes, there was poison in it, and from that comes the +fire that burns in my heart, and I shall die of it! Oh! I shall burn +to death with it!" + +She put her hands before her face and sank back upon the pillows, +sobbing. Simon shook his head and heaved a deep sigh. "It is not +that," murmured he; "it is not from that, doctor! The thing is, that +Jeanne Marie has no work and no exercise, and that she is going to +wreck, because we are compelled to live here as kings and +aristocrats used to live, without labor and occupation, and without +doing any more than to nurse our fancies. We shall all die of this, +I tell you!" + +"But if you know this, citizen, why do you not give up your +situation? Why do you not petition the authorities to dismiss you +from this service, and give you something else to do?" + +"I have done that twice already," answered Simon, bringing his fist +down upon the table near the bed so violently that the bottles of +medicine standing there were jerked high into the air. "Twice +already have I tried to be transferred to some other duty, and the +answer has been sent back, that the country orders me to stand at my +post, and that there is no one who could take my place." + +"That is very honorable and flattering," remarked the physician. + +"Yes, but very burdensome and disagreeable," answered Simon. "We are +prisoners while holding these honorable and flattering posts. We can +no more leave the Temple than Capet can, for, since his father died, +and the crazy legitimists began to call him King Louis XVII., the +chief magistrate and the Convention have been very anxious. They are +afraid of secret conspiracies, and consider it possible that the +little prisoner may be taken away from here by intrigue. We have to +watch him day and night, therefore, and are never allowed to leave +the Temple, lest we should meet with other people, and lest the +legitimists should make the attempt to get into our good graces. +Would you believe, citizen doctor, that they did not even allow me +to go to the grand festival which the city of Paris gave in honor of +the taking of Toulan! While all the people were shouting, and having +a good time, Jeanne Marie and I had to stay here in this good-for- +nothing Temple, and see and hear nothing of the fine doings. And +this drives the gall into my blood, and it will make us both sick, +and it is past endurance!" + +"I believe that you are right, citizen," said the physician, +thoughtfully. "Yes, the whole trouble of your wife comes from the +fact that she is here in the Temple, and if she must be shut up here +always she will continue to suffer." + +"Yes, to suffer always, to suffer dreadfully," groaned Jeanne Marie. +Then, all at once, she raised herself up and turned with a +commanding bearing to her husband. "Simon," she said, "the doctor +shall know all that I suffer. He shall examine my breast, and the +place where I have the greatest pain; but in your presence I shall +say nothing." + +"Well, well, I will go," growled Simon. "But I think those are +pretty manners!" + +"They are the manners of a respectable and honorable woman," said +the doctor, gravely--"a woman who does not show the pains and +ailments of her body to any one excepting her physician. Go, go, +Citizen Simon, and you will esteem your good wife none the less for +not letting you hear what she has to say to her old physician." + +"No, certainly not," answered Simon, "and that you may both see that +I am not curious to hear what you have to say to one another, I will +go with the youngster up to the platform and remain a whole hour +with him." + +"You will beat him again, and I shall hear him," said Jeanne Marie, +weeping. "I hear every thing now that goes on in the Temple, and +whenever you strike, the youngster, I feel every blow in my brain, +and that gives me pain enough to drive me to distraction." + +"I promise you, Jeanne Marie, that I will not strike him, and will +not trouble myself about him at all. He can play with his ball.-- +Halloa, Capet! Come! We are going up on the platform. Take your ball +and any thing else you like, for you shall play to-day and have a +good time." + +The child stole out of his room with his ball, not looking +particularly delighted, and the prospect of "playing" did not give +wings to his steps, nor call a smile to his swollen face. He left +the room noiselessly, and Simon slammed the doors violently behind +him. + +"And now we are alone," said Doctor Naudin, "and you can tell me +about your sickness, and about every thing that troubles you." + +"Ah, doctor, I do not dare to," she whispered. "I am overpowered by +a dreadful fear, and I think you will betray me, and bring my +husband and myself to the scaffold." + +"I am no betrayer," answered the doctor, solemnly. "The physician is +like a priest; he receives the secrets and disclosures of his +patients, and lets not a word of them pass his lips. But, in order +that you may take courage, I will first prove to you that I put +confidence in you, by showing you that I understand you. I will tell +you what the disease is that you are suffering from, and also its +locality. Jeanne Marie Simon, you are enduring that with which no +pains of the body can be compared. Your sickness has its seat in the +conscience, and its name is remorse and despair." + +Jeanne Marie uttered a heart-rending cry, and sprang like an +exasperated tiger from her bed. "You lie!" she said, seizing the +doctor's arm with both hands; "that is a foul, damnable calumny, +that you have thought out merely to bring me under the axe. I have +nothing to be sorry for, and my conscience fills me with no +reproaches." + +"And yet it is gnawing into you with iron teeth, which have been +heated blood-red in the fires of hell," said the doctor, with a +compassionate look at the pale, quivering face of the woman. "Do not +raise any quarrel, but quietly listen to me. We have an hour's time +to talk together, and we want to use it. But let us speak softly, +softly, together; for what we have to say to each other the deaf +walls themselves ought not to hear." + +Simon had not returned from the platform with the boy, when Doctor +Naudin ended his long and earnest conversation, and prepared to +leave his patient, who was now quietly lying in her bed. + +"You know every thing now that you have to do," he said, extending +his hand to her. "You can reckon on me as I reckon on you, and we +will both go bravely and cheerfully on. It is a noble work that we +have undertaken, and if it succeeds your heart will be light again, +and God will forgive you your sins, for two martyrs will stand and +plead in your behalf at the throne of God! Now, do every thing +exactly as I have told you, and speak with your husband to-night, +but not sooner, that you may be safe, and for fear that in his first +panic his face would betray him." + +"I shall do every thing just as you wish," said Jeanne Marie, who +had suddenly become humble and bashful, apparently entirely +forgetful of the republican "thou." "It seems to me, now that I have +disburdened my heart to you, that I have become well and strong +again, and certainly I shall owe it to you if I do live and get my +health once more. But shall you come again to-morrow, doctor?" + +"No," he replied, "I will send a man to-morrow who understands +better than I do how to continue this matter, and to whom you can +give unconditional confidence. He will announce himself to you as my +assistant, and you can talk over at length every thing that we have +been speaking of. Hush! I hear Simon coming! Farewell!" + +He nodded to Jeanne Marie, and hastily left the room. Outside, in +the corridor, he met Simon and his silent young ward. + +"Well, citizen doctor," asked Simon, "how is it with our sick one? +She has intrusted all her secrets to you, and they must have made a +long story, for you have been a whole hour together. It is fortunate +that you are an old man, or else I should have been jealous of your +long tete-a-tete with my wife." + +"Then you would be a great fool, and I have always held you to be a +prudent and good man. But, as concerns your wife, I must tell you +something very serious, and I beg you, Citizen Simon, to mark my +words well. I tell you this: unless your wife Jeanne Marie is out of +this Temple in less than a week, and enjoys her freedom, she will +either lose her senses or take her life. I will say to you this, +besides: if Citizen Simon does not, as soon as possible, leave this +cursed place and give up his hateful business, it will be the same +with him as with his wife. He will not become insane, but he will +lapse into melancholy, and if he does not take his own life +consumption will take it for him, the result of his idle, listless +life, the many vexations here, and the wretched atmosphere of the +Temple." + +"Consumption!" cried Simon, horrified. "Do you suppose I am exposed +to that?" + +"You have it already," said the doctor, solemnly. "Those red spots +on your cheeks, and the pain which you have so often in the breast, +announce its approach. I tell you that if you do not take measures +to leave the Temple in a week, in three months you will be a dead +man, without giving the guillotine a chance at you. Good-by! +Consider well what I say, citizen, and then do as you like!" + +"He is right," muttered Simon, as he looked after the doctor with a +horrified look, as Naudin descended the staircase; "yes, I see, he +is right. If I have to stay here any longer, I shall die. The +vexations and the loneliness, and--something still more dreadful, +frightful, that I can tell no one of-have made me sick, and the +stitch in my side will grow worse and worse every day, and--I must +and will get away from here," he said aloud, and with a decided air. +"I will not die yet, neither shall Jeanne Marie. To-morrow I will +hand in my resignation, and then be away!" + +While Simon was walking slowly and thoughtfully toward his wife, +Doctor Naudin left the dark building, went with a light heart out +into the street, and returned with a quick step to the Hotel Dieu. +The porter who opened the door for him, reported to him that during +his absence the same old gentleman who had come the day before to +consult him, had returned and was waiting for him in the anteroom. + +Doctor Naudin nodded, and then walked, quickly toward his own +apartments. Before the door he found his servant. + +"Old Doctor Saunier is here again," he said, taking off his master's +cloak. "He insisted on waiting for you. He said that he must consult +you about a patient, and would not cease begging till you should +consent to accompany him to the sick person's house. For, if a case +seemed desperate, the great Naudin might still save it." + +"You are an ass for letting him talk such nonsense, and for +believing it yourself, Citizen Joly," cried Naudin with a laugh, and +then entering the anteroom. + +An old gentleman, clad in the same old-fashioned costume with Doctor +Naudin, came forward. Citizen Joly, as he closed the door somewhat +slowly, heard him say: + +"Thank God that you have come at last, citizen! I have waited for +you impatiently, and now I conjure you to accompany me as quickly as +possible to my patient." + +Naudin, opening the door of his study, said in reply, "Come in, +Citizen Saunier, and tell me first how it is with your sick one." + +Nothing more could Joly, Naudin's servant, understand, for the two +doctors had gone into the study, and the door was closed behind +them. After a short time, however, it was opened. Naudin ordered the +valet to order a tiacre at once, and a few minutes later Director +Naudin rode away at the side of Doctor Saunier. + +At a house in the Rue Montmartre the carriage stopped, and the two +physicians entered. The porter, opening the little, dusty window of +his lodge, nodded confidentially to Saunier. + +"That is probably the celebrated Doctor Naudin of the Hotel Dieu, +whom you have with you?" he asked. + +"Yes, it is he," answered Saunier, "and if anybody can help our +patient, it is he. Citizen Crage is probably at home?" + +"Certainly he is at home, for you know he never leaves his sick boy. +You will find him above. You know the way, citizen doctor!" + +The two physicians passed on, ascended the staircase, and entered +the suit of rooms whose door was only partially closed--left ajar, +as it seemed, for them. Nobody came to meet them, but they carefully +closed the door behind them, drew the bolt, and then walked silently +and quickly across the anteroom to the opposite door. + +Doctor Saunier knocked softly three times with a slight interval +between, and cried three times with a loud voice, + +"The two physicians are come to see the patient." + +A bolt was withdrawn on the inside, the door opened, and a tall +man's figure appeared and motioned to the gentlemen to come in. + +"Are we alone?" whispered Doctor Saunier, as they entered the inner +room. + +"Yes, entirely alone," answered the other. "There in the chamber +lies my poor sick boy, and you know well that he can betray no one, +and that he knows nothing of what is going on around him." + +"Yes, unfortunately, I know that," answered Doctor Saunier sadly. "I +promised you that I would bring you the most celebrated and skilful +physician in Paris, and you see I keep my word, for I have brought +you Doctor Naudin, the director of the Hotel Dieu and--the friend +and devoted servant of the royal family, to whom we have both sworn +allegiance until death. Doctor Naudin, I have not given you the name +of the gentleman to whom I was taking you. It is a secret which only +the possessor is able to divulge to you." + +"I divulge it," said the other, smiling, "Doctor Naudin, I am the +Marquis Jarjayes." + +"Jarjayes, who made the plan for the escape of the royal family in +the Temple?" asked Naudin eagerly. + +"Marquis Jarjayes, who lost his property in the service of the +queen, risked his life in her deliverance, and perhaps escaped the +guillotine merely by emigrating and putting himself beyond the reach +of Robespierre. Are you that loyal, courageous Marquis de Jarjayes?" + +"I am Jarjayes, and I thank you for the praises you have given me, +but I cannot accept them in the presence of him who merits them all +much more than I do, and who is more worthy of praise than any one +else. No, I can receive no commendation in the presence of Toulan, +the most loyal, the bravest, the most prudent of us all; for Toulan +is the soul of every thing, and our martyr queen confessed it in +giving him the highest of all titles of honor, in calling him +Fidele, a title which will remain for centuries." + +"Yes, you are right," said Dr. Naudin, laying his hand on the +shoulder of Dr. Saunier. "He is the noblest, most loyal, and bravest +of us all. On that account, when he came to me a few days ago and +showed me the golden salt* bottle of the queen in confirmation of +his statement that he was Toulan, I was ready to do every thing that +he might desire of me and to enter into all his plans, for Toulan's +magnanimity and fidelity are contagious, and excite every one to +emulate him." + +"I beg you, gentlemen," said Toulan softly, "do not praise me nor +think that to be heroism which is merely natural. I have devoted to +Queen Marie Antoinette my life, my thought, my heart. I swore upon +her hand that so long as I lived I would be true to her and her +family, and to keep my vow is simple enough. Queen Marie Antoinette +is no more. I was not able to save her, but perhaps she looks down +from the heavenly heights upon us, and is satisfied with us, if she +sees that we are now trying to do for her son what, unfortunately, +we were not able to accomplish for her. This is my hope, and this +spurs rue on to attempt every thing, in order to bring about the +last wish of my queen--the freeing of her son. God in His grace has +willed that I should not be alone in this effort, and that I should +have the cooperation of noble men. He visibly blesses our plans, for +is it not a manifest sign of His blessing that, exactly in those +days when we are trying to find a means of approaching the unhappy, +imprisoned son of the queen, accident affords us this means? Exactly +at the hour when I went to Dr. Naudin and disclosed myself to him, +the porter of the Temple came and desired in behalf of Simon's wife +that Dr. Naudin should go to the Temple." + +"Yes, indeed, it was a wonderful occurrence," said Naudin, +thoughtfully. "I am not over-blessed with sensibility, but when I +saw the son of the queen in his sorrow and humiliation, I sank on my +knee before the poor little king, and in my heart I swore that +Toulan should find in me a faithful coadjutor in his plan, and that +I would do every thing to set him free." + +"And so have I too sworn," cried Jarjayes, with enthusiasm. "The +queen is dead, but our fidelity to her lives and shall renew itself +to her son, King Louis XVII. I know well that the police are +watching me, that they know who is secreting himself here under the +name of Citizen Orage, that they follow every one of my steps and +perhaps suffer me to be free only for the purpose of seeing with +whom I have relations, in order to arrest and destroy me at one fell +swoop, with all my friends at the same time. But we must use the +time. I have come here with the firm determination of delivering the +unhappy young king from the hands of his tormentors, and I will now +confess every thing to you, my friends. I have gained for our +undertaking the assistance and protection of a rich and noble +patron, a true servant of the deceased king. The Prince de Conde, +with whom I have lived in Vendee for the past few months, has +furnished me with ample means, and is prepared to support us to any +extent in our undertaking. If we succeed in saving the young king, +the latter will find in Vendee a safe asylum with the prince, and +will live there securely, surrounded by his faithful subjects. The +immense difficulty, or, as I should have said a few days ago, the +impossibility, is the release of the young prince from the Temple. +But now that I have succeeded in discovering Toulan and uniting +myself with him, I no longer say it is impossible, but only it is +difficult." + +"And," cried Toulan, "since I am sure of the assistance of the noble +Doctor Naudin, I say, we will free him, the son of our Queen Marie +Antoinette, the young King Louis XVII. The plan is entirely ready in +my head, and in order to make its execution possible, I went a few +days ago to see Doctor Naudin at the Hotel Dieu, in order to beg him +to visit the sick boy that the marquis has here, and just at that +moment Simon's messenger came to the Temple. Doctor Naudin is now +here, and first of all it is necessary that he give us his last, +decisive judgment on the patient. So take us to him, marquis, for +upon Naudin's decision depends the fate of the young King of +France." + +The marquis nodded silently, and conducted the gentlemen into the +next room. There, carefully propped up by mattresses and pillows, +lay a child of perhaps ten years--a poor, unfortunate boy, with +pale, sunken cheeks, fixed blue eyes, short fair hair, and a stupid, +idiotic expression on his features. As the three gentlemen came to +him he fixed his eyes upon them in a cold, indifferent way, and not +a quiver in his face disclosed any interest in them. Motionless and +pale as death the boy lay upon his bed, and only the breath that +came hot and in gasps from his breast disclosed that there was still +life in this poor shattered frame. + +Doctor Naudin stooped down to the boy and looked at him a long time +with the utmost attention. + +"This boy is perfectly deaf!" he then said, raising himself up and +looking at the marquis inquiringly. + +"Yes, doctor, your sharp eye has correctly discerned it; he is +perfectly deaf." + +"Is it your son?" + +"No, doctor, he is the son of my sister, the Baroness of Tardif, who +was guillotined together with her husband. I undertook the care of +this unfortunate child, and at my removal from Paris gave him to +some faithful servants of my family to be cared for. On my return I +learned that the good people had both been guillotined, and find the +poor boy, who before had been at least sound in body, utterly +neglected, and living on the sympathy of the people who had taken +him on the death of his foster-parents. I brought the child at once +to this house, which I had hired for myself under the name of +Citizen Orage, and Toulan undertook to procure the help of a +physician. It has now come in the person of the celebrated Doctor +Naudin, and I beg you to have pity on the poor unfortunate child, +and to receive him into the Hotel Dieu." + +"Let me first examine the child, in order to tell you what is the +nature of his disorder." + +And Doctor Naudin stooped down again to the boy, examined his eyes, +his chest, his whole form, listened to his breathing, the action of +his heart, and felt his pulse. The patient was entirely apathetic +during all this, now and then merely whining and groaning, when a +movement of the doctor's hand caused him pain. + +After the careful investigation had been ended, the doctor called +the two gentlemen who had withdrawn to the window to the bed again. + +"Marquis," said he, "this unfortunate child will never recover, and +the least painful thing that could happen to him would be a speedy +release from his miserable lot. Yet I do not believe that this will +occur, but consider it possible that the boy will protract his +unfortunate life a full year after his mind has entirely passed +away, and nothing is left of him but his body. The boy, if you can +regard such a poor creature as a human being, is suffering from an +incurable form of scrofula, which will by and by consume his limbs, +and convert him into an idiot; he is now deaf; he will be a mere +stupid beast. If it were permitted to substitute the hand of science +in place of the hand of God, I should say we ought to kill this poor +creature that is no man and no beast, and has nothing more to expect +of life than pain and torture, having no more consciousness of any +thing than the dog has when he does not get a bone with which to +quiet his hunger." + +"Poor, unhappy creature!" sighed the marquis. "Now, I thank God that +He released my sister from the pain of seeing her dear child in this +condition. + +"Doctor Naudin," said Toulan, solemnly, "is it your fixed conviction +that this sick person will never recover?" + +"My firm and undoubted conviction, which every physician who should +see him would share with me." + +"Are you of the opinion that this child has nothing in life to lose, +and that death would be a gain to it?" + +"Yes; that is my belief. Death would be a release for the poor +creature, for life is only a burden to it as well as to others." + +"Then," cried Toulan, solemnly, "I will give this poor sick child a +higher and a fairer mission. I will make its life an advantage to +others, and its death a hallowed sacrifice. Marquis of Jarjayes, in +the name of King Louis XVI., in the name of the exalted martyr to +whom we have all sworn fidelity unto death, Queen Marie Antoinette, +I demand and desire of you that you would intrust to me this unhappy +creature, and give his life into my hands. In the name of Marie +Antoinette, I demand of the Marquis of Jarjayes that he deliver to +me the son of his sister, that he do what every one of us is +joyfully prepared to do if our holy cause demands it, that this boy +may give his life for his king, the imprisoned Louis XVII." + +While Toulan was speaking with his earnest, solemn voice, Jarjayes +knelt before the bed of the poor sobbing child, and, hiding his face +in his hands, he prayed softly. + +Then, after a long pause, he rose and laid his hand on the feverish +brow of the boy. "You have addressed me," he said, "in the name of +Queen Marie Antoinette. You demand of me as the guardian of this +poor creature that I give him to you, that he may give his life for +his king. The sons and daughters of my house have always been ready +and glad to devote their possessions, their happiness, their lives, +to the service of their kings, and I speak simply in the spirit of +my sister--who ascended the scaffold to seal her fidelity to the +royal family with her death--I speak in the spirit of all my +ancestors when I say, here is the last off-spring of the Baroness of +Tardif, here is the son of my sister; take him and let him live or +die for his king, Louis XVII., the prisoner at the Temple." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +THE CONSULTATION. + + +During the night which followed the second visit of Doctor Naudin, +Jeanne Marie Simon had a long and earnest conversation with her +husband. The first words which the wife uttered, spoken in a whisper +though they were, excited the cobbler so much that he threatened her +with his clinched fist. She looked him calmly in the face, however, +and said to him softly, "And so you mean to stay perpetually in this +hateful prison? You want to remain shut up here like a criminal, and +get no more satisfaction out of life than what comes from tormenting +this poor, half-witted boy to death?" + +Simon let his hand fall, and said, "If there were a means of +escaping from this infernal prison, it would certainly be most +welcome to me, for I am heartily tired of being a prisoner here, +after having prayed for freedom so long, and worked for it so much. +So, if there is a means--" + +"There is such a means," interrupted his wife. "Listen to me!" + +And Simon did listen, and the moving and eloquent words of his wife +at length found a willing ear. Simon's face gradually lightened up, +and it seemed to him that he was now able to release his wife from +an oppressive, burdensome load. + +"If it succeeds," he muttered--"if it succeeds, I shall be free from +the mountainous weight which presses upon me day and night and shall +become a healthy man again." + +"And if it does not succeed," whispered Jeanne Marie, "the worst +that can happen to us is what has happened to thousands before us. +We shall merely feed the machine, and our heads will tumble into the +basket, with this difference, that I shall not be able to make any +mark in my stocking. I would rather die all at once on the +guillotine and have it over, than be dying here day after day, and +hour after hour, having nothing to expect from life but pain and +ennui." + +"And I, too," said Simon, decidedly. "Rather die, than go on leading +such a dog's life. Let your doctor come to me to-morrow morning. I +will talk with him!" + +Early the next day the doctor came in his long, black cloak, and +with his peruke, to visit the sick Mistress Simon. The guards at the +gate leading to the outer court quietly let him pass in, and did not +notice that another face appeared in the peruke from that which had +been seen the day before. The two official guards above, who had +just completed their duties in the upper story, and met the doctor +on the tower stairs, did not take any offence at his figure. The +director of the Hotel Dieu was not personally known to them, and +they were familiar with but little about him, excepting that he took +the liberty of going about in his old-fashioned cloak, without +giving offence to the authorities, and that he had permission from +those authorities to come to the Temple for the purpose of visiting +the wife of Simon. + +"You will find two patients to-day up there," said one of the +officials as he passed by. "We empower you, doctor, to take the +second one, little Capet, under your charge. The boy appears to be +really sick, or else he is obstinate and mulish. He answers no +questions, and he has taken no nourishment, Simon tells us, since +yesterday noon. Examine into the case, doctor, and then tell us what +your opinion is. We will wait for you down in the council-room. So +make as much haste as possible." + +They passed on, and the doctor did really make haste to ascend the +staircase. At the open door which led to the apartment of the little +Capet and his "guardian," he found Simon. + +"Did you hear, citizen?" asked the doctor. "The officials are +waiting for me below." + +"Yes, I heard, doctor," whispered Simon. "We have not much time. +Come!" + +He motioned to the physician to pass along the corridor and to enter +the room, while he bolted and locked the outer door. As the doctor +entered, Mistress Simon lay upon her bed and looked at the new-comer +with curious, glowing eyes. + +"Who are you?" she asked, rising quickly from her bed. "You are not +Doctor Naudin whom I expected, and I do not know you!" + +Meantime the doctor walked in silence to her bed, and stooped over +Jeanne Marie, who sank back upon the pillow. + +"I am the one who is to help you escape from the Temple," he +whispered. "Doctor Naudin has sent me, to work in union with him and +you in effecting your release and that of the unfortunate Capet." + +"Husband," cried Jeanne Marie to the cobbler, who was just coming +in, "this is the man who is going to deliver us from this hell!" + +"That is to say," said the doctor, with a firm, penetrating voice, +"I will free you if you will help me free the dauphin." + +"Speak softly, for God's sake, speak softly," said Simon anxiously. +"If any one should hear you, we are all lost! We will do every thing +that you demand of us, provided that we can in that way escape from +this miserable, good-for-nothing place. The air here is like poison, +and to have to stay here is like being buried alive." + +"And then the dreams, the frightful dreams," muttered Jeanne Marie, +with a shudder. "I cannot sleep any more in this dreadful prison, +for that pale, fearful woman, with great, fixed eyes, goes walking +about through the Temple every night, and listens at the doors to +see whether her children are alive yet, and whether we are not +killing them. Lately, she has not only listened at the doors, but +she has come into my room, and passed my bed, and gone into the +chamber of little Capet. Simon was asleep, and did not see her. I +sprang up, however, and stole softly to the door; for I thought +somebody had crept in here in disguise, possibly Citizen Toulan, who +had already twice made the attempt to release the Austrian and her +children, and whom I then denounced at headquarters. There I saw-- +although it was entirely dark in the hall--there I saw little Capet +lying asleep on his mattress, his hands folded over his breast, and +with an expression of countenance more happy, altogether more happy, +than it ever is when he is awake. Near the mattress kneeled the +figure in white, and it seemed as if a radiance streamed out from it +that filled the whole room. Its face was pale and white, just like a +lily, and it seemed as if the fragrance of a lily was in the +apartment. Her two arms were raised, as if she would utter a +benediction, over her sleeping boy; around her half-opened lips +played a sweet smile, and her great eyes, which had the aspect of +stars, looked up toward heaven. But while I was there in a maze, and +watched the figure in a, transport of delight, there occurred, all +at once, something wonderful, something dreadful. The figure rose +from its knees, dropped its arms, turned itself around, and advanced +straight toward me. The eyes, which had been turned so purely +heavenward before, were directed to me, with a look which pierced my +breast like the thrust of a knife. I recognized that look-that sad, +reproachful glance. It was the same that Marie Antoinette gave me, +when she stood on the scaffold. I was sitting in the front row of +the knitters, and I was just going to make the double stitch for her +in my stocking, when that look met me; those great, sad eyes were +turned toward me, and I felt that she had recognized me, and her +eyes bored into my breast, and followed me even after the axe had +taken off her head. The eyes did not fall into the basket, they were +not buried, bat they remain in my breast; they have been piercing me +ever since, and burning me like glowing coals. But that night I saw +them again, as in life--those dreadful eyes; and as the figure +advanced toward me, it raised its hand and threatened me, and its +eyes spoke to me, and it seemed as if a curse of God were going +through my brain, for those eyes said to me--'Murder!'--spoke it so +loudly, so horribly, that it appeared as if my head would burst, and +I could not cry, and could not move, and had to look at it, till, at +last, I became unconscious." + +"There, see there, doctor," cried Simon, in alarm, as his wife fell +back upon the pillow with a loud cry, and quivered in all her limbs; +" now she has convulsions again, and then she will be, for a day or +two, out of her mind, and will talk strangely about the pale woman +with dreadful eyes; and when she goes on so, she makes even me sad, +and anxious, and timid, and I grow afraid of the white ghost that +she says is always with us. Ah! doctor, help us! See, now, how the +poor woman suffers and twists!" + +The doctor drew a bottle from his breast-pocket, and rubbed a few +drops upon the temples of the sick woman. + +"Those are probably the famous soothing-drops of Doctor Naudin?" +asked Simon, in astonishment, when he saw how quiet his wife became, +and that her spasms and groans ceased. + +"Yes," answered the doctor, "and the eminent physician sends them as +a present to your wife. They are very costly, and rich people have +to pay a louis-d'or for every drop. But Doctor Naudin. gives them to +you, for he wishes Jeanne Marie long to enjoy good health. How is it +with you now?" + +"I feel well, completely well," she said, as the doctor rubbed some +drops a second time on her temple. "I feel easier than I have felt +for a long time." + +"Give me your hand," said the doctor. "Rise up, for you are well. +Let us go into the chamber of the poor boy, for I have to speak with +you there." + +He walked toward the chamber-door, leading Jeanne Marie by the hand, +while Simon followed them. Softly and silently they entered the dark +room, and went to the mattress on which the child lay. + +The boy stared at them with great, wide-opened eyes, but they were +without expression and life, and only the breath, as it came slowly +and heavily from the half-opened lips, showed that there was +vitality still in this poor, little, shrunken form. + +The doctor kneeled down beside the bed, and, bending over it, +pressed a long, fervent kiss on the delicate, hot hand of the child. +But Charles Louis remained motionless; he merely slowly dropped his +lids and closed his eyes. + +"You see, doctor, he neither hears nor sees," said Simon, in a low, +growling voice. "He cares for nothing, and does not know any thing +about what is going on around him. It is a week since he spoke a +word." + +"Not since the day when you wanted to compel the child to sing the +song that makes sport of his mother." + +"He did not sing it?" asked the doctor, with a tremulous voice. + +"He is a mulish little toad," cried Simon, angrily. "I begged him at +first, then I threatened, and when prayers and threats were of no +use I punished him, as a naughty boy deserves when he will not do +what his foster-father bids him do. But even blows did not bring him +to it; the obstinate youngster would not sing the merry song with +me, and since then he has not spoken a word. [Footnote: Historical.- +-See Beauehesne'a "Histoirede Louis XVII.," vol. ii.] He seems as if +he had grown deaf and dumb as a punishment for not obeying his good +foster-father." + +"He is neither deaf nor dumb," said the doctor, solemnly. "He is +simply a good son, who would not sing the song which made sport of +his noble and unfortunate mother. See whether I am not right: see +these tears which run from his closed eyes. He has heard us, he has +understood us, and he answers us with his tears! Oh, sire," he +continued passionately, "by the sacred remembrance of your father +and your mother, I swear devotion to you until death; I swear that I +have come to set you free, to die for you. Look up, my king and my +darling one! I intrust to you and to both these witnesses my whole +secret; I let the mask fall to show myself to you in my true form, +that you may confide in me, and know that the most devoted of your +servants is kneeling before you, and that he dedicates his life to +you. Open your eyes, Louis of France, and see whether you know me!" + +He sprang up, threw off the great peruke, and the long black cloak, +and stood before them in the uniform of an official guard. + +"Thunder and guns!" cried Simon, with a loud laugh. "it is--" + +"Hush!" interrupted the other--"hush! He alone shall declare who I +am! Oh, look at me, my king; convince these unbelieving ones here +that your mind is clear and strong, and that you are conscious of +what is going on around you. Look at me, and if you know me, speak +my name!" + +And with folded hands, in unspeakable emotion, he leaned over the +bed of the child, that still lay with closed eyes. + +"I knew that he could hear nothing, and that he was deaf," growled +Simon, while his wife folded her trembling hands, and with tearful +eyes whispered a prayer. + +A deep silence ensued, and with anxious expectation each looked at +the boy. At length he slowly raised the heavy, reddened eyelids, and +looked with a timid, anxious glance around himself. Then his gaze +fixed itself upon the eloquent, speaking face of the man whose tears +were falling like warm dew-drops upon his pale, sunken features. + +A quiver passed over the coutenance of the boy, a beam of joy +lighted up his eyes, and something like a smile played around his +trembling lips. + +"Do you know me? Do you know my name?" + +The child raised his hand in salutation, and said, in a clear, +distinct voice: "Toulan! Fidele!" + +Toulan fell on his knees again and covered the little thin hand of +the boy with his tears and his kisses. + +"Yes, Fidele," he sobbed. "That is the title of honor which your +royal mother gave me--that is the name that she wrote on the bit of +paper which she put into the gold smelling-bottle that she gave me. +That little bottle, which a queen once carried, is my most precious +possession, and yet I would part with that if I could save the life +of her son, happy if I could but retain the hallowed paper on which +the queen's hand wrote the word 'Fidele.' Yes, you poor, pitiable +son of kings, I am Fidele, I am Toulan, at whom you have so often +laughed when he played with you in your prison." + +A flash like the sunlight passed over the face of the child, and a +smile illumined his features. + +"She used to laugh, too," he whispered--"she, too, my mamma queen." + +"Yes, she too laughed at our jests," said Toulan, with a voice +choked with tears; "and, believe me, she looks down from heaven upon +us and smiles her blessing, for she knows that Toulan has come to +free her dear son, and to deliver him from the executioner's hands. +Tell me now, my king and my dearly-loved lord, will you trust me, +will you give to your most devoted servant and subject the privilege +of releasing you? Do you consent to accept freedom at the hands of +your Fidele?" + +The child threw a timid, anxious glance at Simon and his wife, and +then, with a shudder, turned his head to one side. + +"You make no answer, sire," said Toulan, imploringly. "Oh! speak, my +king, may I set you free?" + +The boy spoke a few words in reply, but so softly that Toulan could +not understand him. He stooped down nearer to him, and put his ear +close to the lips of the child. He then could hear the words, +inaudible to all but him, + +"He will disclose you; take care, Toulan. But do not say any thing, +else he will beat me to death!" + +Toulan made no reply; he only impressed a long, tender kiss upon the +trembling hand of the child. + +"Did he speak?" asked Simon. "Did you understand, citizen, what he +said?" + +"Yes, I understood him," answered Toulan. "He consents; he allows me +to make every attempt to free him, and is prepared to do every thing +that we ask of him. And now I ask you too, are you prepared to help +me release the prince?" + +"You know already, Toulan," said Simon, quickly, "that we are +prepared for every thing, provided that our conditions are +fulfilled. Give me a tolerable position outside of the Temple; give +me a good bit of money, so that I may live free from care, and if +the new place should not suit me, that I could go into the country, +and not have to work at all; give my Jeanne Marie her health and +cheerfulness again, and I will help you set young Capet free." + +"Through my assistance, and that of Doctor Naudin, you shall have a +good place outside of the Temple," answered Toulan, eagerly. +"Besides this, at the moment when you deliver the prince into my +hands, outside of this prison, I will pay you in ready money the sum +of twenty thousand francs; and as for the third condition, that +about restoring her health to Jeanne Marie, I am sure that I can +fulfil this condition too. Do you not know, Simon, what your wife is +suffering from? Do you not know what her sickness is?" + +"No, truly not. I am no doctor. How should I know what her sickness +is?" + +"Then I will tell you, Citizen Simon. Your wife is suffering from +the worst of all complaints, a bad conscience! Yes, it is a bad +conscience that robs her of her sleep and rest; it is that which +makes her see the white, pale form of the martyred queen in the +night, and read the word 'murderer' in her eyes." + +"He is right!-oh, he is right!" groaned Jeanne Marie, falling on her +knees. "I am to blame for her death, for I denounced Toulan to the +authorities just when he was on the point of saving her. I tortured +her!--oh, cruelly tortured her, and I laughed when she ascended the +scaffold, and I laughed too, even when she gave me that dreadful +look. But I have bitterly regretted it since, and now she gnaws at +me like a scorpion. I wanted to drive her away from me at first, and +therefore I was cruel to her son, for I wanted to put an end to the +fearful remorse that was tormenting me. But it grew even more +powerful within me. The more I beat the boy, the more his tears +moved me, and often I thought I should die when I heard him cry and +moan. Yes, yes, it is a bad conscience that has made me sick and +miserable! But I will do right after this. I repent--oh, I repent! +Here I lay my hand on the heart of this child and swear to his +murdered mother I will do right again! I swear that I will free her +son! I swear by all that is sacred in heaven and on earth that I +will die myself, unless we succeed in freeing this child! I* swear +to you, Marie Antoinette, that I will free him. But will you forgive +me even then? Will you have rest in your poor grave, and not come to +my bedside and condemn me and accuse me with your sad, dreadful +eyes?" + +"Free her son, Jeanne Marie," said Toulan, solemnly, "and his mother +will forgive you, and her hallowed shade will no longer disturb your +sleep, for you will then have restored to her the peace of the +grave! But you, Citizen Simon, will you too not swear that you will +faithfully assist in releasing the royal prince? Do you not know +that conscience is awake in your heart too, and compels you to have +compassion on the poor boy?" + +"I know it, yes, I know it," muttered Simon, confused. "His gentle +eyes and his sad bearing have made me as weak and as soft as an old +woman. It is high time that I should be rid of the youngster, else +it will be with me just as it is with my wife, and I shall have +convulsions and see ghosts with daggers in their eyes. And so, in +order to remain a strong man and have a good conscience and a brave +heart, I must be rid of the boy, and must know that I have done him +some service, and have been his deliverer. And so I swear by the +sacred republic, and by our hallowed freedom, that I will help you +and do all that in me lies to release little Capet and get him away +from here. I hope you will be satisfied with my oath, Toulan, for +there is nothing for me more sacred than the republic and freedom." + +"I am satisfied, Simon, and I trust you. And now let us talk it all +over and consider it, my dear allies. The whole plan of the escape +is formed in my head, all the preparations are made, and if you will +faithfully follow all that I bid you, in one week's time you will be +free and happy." + +"So soon as a week!" cried Simon, delightedly. "Yes, in a week, for +it happens fortunately that one of the officials of the Public +Safety service is dangerously sick and has been carried to the Hotel +Dien. Doctor Naudin says that he can live but three days longer, and +then the post will be vacant. We must be active, therefore, and take +measures for you to gain the place. Now listen to me, and mark my +words." + +They had a long conversation by the bedside of the little prince, +and they saw that he perfectly understood the whole plan which +Toulan unfolded in eloquent words, for his looks took on a great +deal of expression; he fixed his eyes constantly on Toulan, and a +smile played about his lips. + +Simon and Simon's wife were also perfectly satisfied with Toulan's +communication, and repeated their readiness to do every thing to +further the release of the prince, if they in return could only be +removed from the Temple. + +"I will at once take the steps necessary to the success of my plan," +said Toulan, taking his leave with a friendly nod, and kissing the +boy's hand respectfully. + +"Fidele," whispered Louis, "Fidele, do you believe that I shall be +saved?" + +"I am sure of it, my dear prince. The grace of God and the blessing +of your exalted parents will be our helpers in bringing this good +work to a completion. Farewell, and preserve as long as you remain +here the same mood that I found you in. Show little interest in what +goes on, and appear numb and stupid. I shall not come again, for +after this I must work for you outside of the prison. But Doctor +Naudin will come every day to see you, and on the day of your flight +I shall be by your side. Till then, God bless you, my dear prince!" + +Toulan left the prison of the little Capet and repaired at once to +the H6tel Dieu, where he had a long conversation with Doctor Naudin. +At the end of it, the director of the hospital entered his carriage +and drove to the city hall, in whose largest chamber a committee of +the Public Safety officials were holding a public meeting. With +earnest and urgent words the revered and universally valued +physician gave the report about the visits which he had made at the +Temple for some days at the command of the authorities, and about +the condition of affairs there. Petion the elder, the presiding +officer of the committee, listened to the report with a grave +repose, and the picture of the low health of the "little Capet," +while he paid the most marked attention to that part of the report +which concerned the Simons. + +"Citizen Simon has deserved much of the country, and he is one of +the most faithful supporters of the one and indivisible republic," +said Petion, when Doctor Naudin ended his report. "The republic +must, like a grateful mother, show gratitude to her loyal sons, and +care for them tenderly. So tell us, Citizen Naudin, what must be +done in order to restore health to Citizen Simon and his wife." + +"They are both sick from the same cause, and, therefore, they both +require the same remedy. That remedy is, a change of air and a +change of location. Let Simon have another post, where he shall be +allowed to exercise freely out of doors, and where he shall not be +compelled to breathe only the confined air of a cell; and let his +wife not be forced to listen to the whining and the groaning of the +little sick Capet. In one word, give to them both liberty to move +around, and the free air, and they will, without any doubt, and +within a short time, regain their health." + +"It is true," said Petion, "the poor people lead a sad life in the +Temple, and are compelled to breathe the air that the last scions of +tyranny have contaminated with their poisonous breaths. We owe it to +them to release them from this bad atmosphere, in consideration of +their faithful and zealous service to the country. Citizen Simon has +always taken pains to repair the great neglect in Capet's education, +and to make the worthless boy prove some day a worthy son of the +republic." + +"But even if Simon should remain in the Temple, he would not be able +to go on much longer with the education of the boy," said the +hospital director, with a shrug. + +"What do you mean by that, citizen doctor?" asked Petion, with a +pleasant lighting up of his eyes. + +"I mean that the boy has not a long time to live, for he is +suffering at once from consumption and softening of the brain, and +the latter disease will soon reduce him to an idiot, and render him +incapable of receiving instruction." + +"You are convinced that the son of the tyrants will not recover?" +asked Petion, with a strained, eager glance. + +"My careful examination of his case has convinced me that he has but +a short time to live, and that he will spend the larger part of this +time in an idiotic state. On this account Simon ought to be removed +from the Temple, in order that his enemies may not be able to +circulate a report about this zealous and worthy servant of the +republic, that he is guilty of the death of little Capet--that +Simon's method of bringing him up killed him. And besides, in order +that the same charge should not be laid to the one and great +republic, and it be accused of cruelty to a poor sick child, kindly +attentions should be bestowed on him." + +Petion's countenance clouded, and his eyes rested on the physician +with a sinister, searching expression. + +"You have a great deal of sensibility, doctor, and you appear to +forget that the boy is a criminal by birth, and that the republic +can have no special sympathy with him." + +"For me," answered Naudin, with simplicity, "every sick person at +whose bed I am called to stand, is a poor, pitiable Iranian being, +and I never stop to think whether be is a criminal or not, but +merely that he is a sufferer, and then I endeavor to discover the +means to assist him. The hallowed and indivisible republic, however, +is an altogether too magnanimous and exalted mother of all her +children not to have pity on those who are reduced to idiocy, and in +sore sickness. The republic is like the sun, which pours its beams +even into the dungeon of the criminal, and shines upon the just and +unjust alike." + +"And what do you desire that the republic should do for the +offspring of tyrants?" asked Petion, peevishly. + +"I desire not much," answered Naudin, with a smile. "Let me be +permitted to visit the sick child from time to time, and in his +hopeless condition to procure him a little relief from his +sufferings at least, and let him be treated like the child he is. +Let a little diversion be allowed him. If it is not possible or +practicable for him to play with children of his age, let him at +least have some playthings for his amusement." + +"Do you demand in earnest that the republic should condescend to +provide playthings for her imprisoned criminals?" asked Petion, with +a scornful laugh. + +"You have commanded me to visit the sick boy in the Temple, to +examine his condition, and to prescribe the necessary remedies for +his recovery. I can offer no hope of recovery to the patient, but I +can afford him some relief from his sufferings. Some of my medicines +are called playthings! It lies with you to decide whether the +republic will refuse these medicines to the sick one." + +"And you say that the little Capet is incurable?" asked Petion, +eagerly. + +"Incurable, citizen representative." + +"Well, then," said Petion, with a cold smile, "the republic can +afford to provide the last of the Capets with toys. They have for +centuries toyed fearlessly with the happiness of the people, and the +last thing which the people of France give back to the tyrants is +some toy with which they may amuse themselves on the way to +eternity. Citizen doctor, your demands shall be complied with. The +first place which shall become vacant shall be given to Citizen +Simon, that he may be released from prison and enjoy his freedom. +The little Capet will be provided with playthings, and, besides, you +are empowered to give him all needful remedies for his relief. It is +your duty to care for the sick child until its death." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +THE HOBBY-HORSE. + + +In accordance with the instructions of Petion, playthings were +procured and carried into the gloomy chamber of the prince on the +very next day, and set by the side of the sick boy. But Mistress +Simon labored in vain trying to amuse the little Louis with them. +The men danced, the wooden cocks crowed, the dogs barked, and to all +these sounds the child paid no heed; it did not once open its eyes, +nor care in the least for the many-colored things which the +officials had brought him. + +"We must try something else," said the compassionate officer. "Do +you know any plaything which would be likely to please little Louis +Capet?" + +"Give him a riding-horse," cried Simon, with a coarse laugh. "I am +convinced if the obstinate youngster should hear that there was a +riding-horse outside, and that he might ride through Paris, he would +be well on the spot and get up. It is pure deceit, his lying there +so pale and without interest in any thing about him." + +"You are very cruel, citizen," muttered the official, with a +compassionate glance at the child. + +"Cruel? Yes, I am cruel!" said Simon, grimly. "But it is the cursed +prison air that has made me so. If I stay here a week longer, Jeanne +Marie will die, and I shall become crazy. The director of the +hospital told us this, and you know, citizen, that he is the most +clever doctor in all France. See if you would not be cruel if you +had such an idea as that in your head!" + +"Well, citizen, you have at least the satisfaction of knowing that +it will not last long," answered the officer, consolingly. "The +first vacancy is to be given to you." + +"Well, I hope it will come soon, then," said Simon, with a sigh. "I +will take a vow to you. If, in a week, I shall be released from this +place, and get a good situation, I will give little Capet a horse to +remember me by. That is, not a horse on which he might ride out of +prison, but a wooden one, on which he can ride in prison. Say, +little Capet," called Simon, stooping over the bed of the child, +"would you not like to have a nice wooden horse to play with?" + +Over the pale lips of the boy played the faint tint of a smile, and +he opened his eyes. "Yes," he said, softly" yes; I should like to +have a wooden horse, and I should have a good time with it." + +"Come, citizen," said Simon, solemnly, "I take you to witness my +vow. If I receive another place, I give a hobby-horse to little +Capet. You grant me the privilege, citizen?" + +"I allow you, Citizen Simon, and I will report the matter to the +Public Welfare Committee, that it shall surprise no one by and by, +and I am sure no one will gainsay you in your praiseworthy offer. +For it certainly is praiseworthy to prepare a pleasure for a sick +child; and the great republic, which is the gracious mother of all +Frenchmen, will pity the poor child, too. I wish you success, +citizen, in the fulfilment of all your hopes, and trust that you +will speedily be released from your trying imprisonment." + +And, in fact, this release did not have to be waited for long. A few +days brought the accomplishment of Doctor Naudin's prophecy, and the +official guard, who was then sick at the Hotel Dieu, died. The +director of the hospital hastened to inform the authorities of this +event, and on the same day Simon was appointed his successor. The +same official who had brought the sick prince the playthings, came +again to inform Simon, of his release, and was delighted at the +stormy outbreak of rapturous joy with which the tidings were +received. + +"We will be off directly," cried Simon. "Our things have all been +packed for three days, and every thing is ready." + +"But you must wait patiently till to-morrow, my friends," said the +official, with a smile. "Your successor cannot enter upon his duties +here in the Temple before tomorrow morning at ten o'clock, and till +then you must be content to wait quietly." + +"That is sad," sighed Simon. "The time between now and ten o'clock +to-morrow morning, will lie like lead upon my shoulders. I assure +you, citizen, the Temple could get along without me for one night. +The two Misses Capet above stairs are locked up, and as for the +little Capet down here, it is not necessary to lock him up, for he +will not run away, but lie quietly here upon his mattress." + +"So the child is really very sick?" asked the officer, with feeling. + +"Not exactly very sick," answered Simon, indifferently; "but Doctor +Naudin, who visits him every day. thinks that the youngster might +not be all right in the head, and he has ordered, on this account, +that his long thick hair should be cut off, that his head might be a +little cooler. So Jeanne Marie is going to cut it off, and that will +probably be the last service that she will have to do for him. We +are going to clear out of this--we are going to clear out of this!" + +"And have you really nothing more to do for the little Capet, than +merely to cut off his hair?" asked the officer with a fixed, +searching look. + +"No," answered Simon, with a laugh; "nothing but that. Oh! yes, +there is something else. I did not think of that. My vow to you! I +forgot that. I swore that, if I were to get away from here, I would +give little Capet a hobby-horse." + +"I am glad, Citizen Simon, that you remember your promise," said the +officer, gravely. "I must tell you that the Public Welfare +Committee, to which I communicated your intention, was very curious +to know whether Citizen Simon would remember to carry it into +effect. It is on this account that I was instructed to inform you of +your transfer, and to report to them whether you intended to keep +your promise. Your superiors will rejoice to learn that you are a +man of honor, with whom it is a sacred duty to keep his word; and +who, in prosperous days, does not forget to do what he promised to +do in less propitious times. So, go and buy for little Capet the +promised hobby-horse, and I will inform the Welfare Committee that +it was not necessary for me to remind you of your vow, and that you +are not only a good citizen, but a good man as well. Go and buy the +plaything, and make your arrangements to leave the Temple to-morrow +morning at ten o'clock, and to enter upon your new duties as +collector of customs at Porte Macon." + +"The great bell of Notre Dame will not have growled out its ten +strokes to-morrow morning, before Jeanne Marie and I, with our +goods, will have left the place," replied Simon, with a laugh. "And +now I will run and fulfil my promise." He clapped his red-flannel +cap upon his black, thick hair, and left the Temple with a hurried +step. As the porter opened the door of the court which led to the +street, for the worthy citizen and "man of honor," Simon stopped a +moment to chat, telling him of his new situation, and of the vow +which he was about to discharge. + +"Do not wonder, therefore, citizen," he said, "if you see me come +back, by-and-by, with a horse--with this distinction, that it will +not be the horse that carries me, but that it will be I that will +carry the horse. I was such a fool as to promise little Capet a +horse, and I must keep my word, particularly as the Committee of +Safety allows it." + +"Well, if that is so," said the porter, with mock gravity, "I shall +let you in, even if you do not make your appearance until night. +With the permission of the Safety Committee, every thing; without +it, nothing--for I want to keep my head a little longer on my +shoulders." + +"And I do not grudge you the privilege," said Simon, with a broad +grin. "We know very little about what we have here, but much less +about the place where the dear machine takes us. But, if you like, +you can ask Roger, the official guard, whether I have permission to +bring the wooden horse into the Temple. He is inside, and will +probably be there when I come back." + +He nodded to the porter, and went out into the street. As the door +closed behind him, Simon stopped a moment, and cast a quick glance +up and down the street. Above, at the corner of the little cross- +street, stood quietly a young commissioner in his blouse, apparently +waiting for some one to employ him. Simon crossed the street and +went up to him. + +"Well," asked the latter aloud, "have you any thing for me to do, +citizen?" + +"Yes," answered Simon, softly and quickly. "Yes, Toulan, I am all +ready for you. To-morrow morning, at ten o'clock, I leave the +Temple." + +"I know it," whispered Toulan. "But speak loudly. There stands a man +who seems to be watching us." + +"Come," cried Simon, loudly. "I want you to accompany me to a store +where they sell playthings, and afterward you must help carry back +what I buy, for it will be too large and too heavy for me alone." + +Toulan followed him without replying, and the two went quietly and +with an air of indifference through the busy crowd of men. At the +corner of a neighboring street the commissioner came in gentle +contact with another, who was standing on the curbstone, and was +looking earnestly down the street. + +"Beg pardon, citizen," said Toulan, loudly, and then added, softly, +"to-morrow morning, at ten o'clock. The washerwomen will take charge +of the dirty linen at the door. At exactly ten the wagons and the +boys must start. The hobby-horse will be filled." + +"Yes, it shall be filled," and, with an indifferent air, he passed +by the two, and walked down the Helder street. The farther he went +the more rapid became his steps, and when he at last entered a +narrow, solitary alley, where he might hope to be less observed, his +quick walk became a run, which he continued till he reached the Rue +Vivienne. He then moderated his pace, and went quietly into a toy- +shop, whose attractive windows and open door were directed to the +street. The clerk, who stood behind the counter, asked, with a quiet +air, what he desired. + +"First, allow me to sit down, citizen," answered the commissioner, +as he sank upon the rush-chair which stood before the counter. +"There, and now, if you want to do me a service, just give me a +glass of water." + +"Halloo, John," cried the clerk to the errand-boy, who was standing +in the hack part of the store. "Bring a glass of water from the +well! Hasten!" + +The boy took a glass and sprang out of the door into the street. + +"In a quarter of an hour they will be here," said the commissioner, +quickly. "Inform the marquis, if you please." + +"The cabinet-maker, Lamber, you mean," whispered the clerk. "He is +not as far away as you; he lives directly opposite, and he has been +standing all day at the house-door waiting for the sign." + +"Then give it to him, dear baron," said the commissioner; and as the +boy came in just then with the water, he hastily seized the glass, +and took a swallow so immense as to perfectly satisfy the boy, who +was looking at him. + +The clerk had, in the mean time, gone to the shop-door, and looking +across at the opposite house, he drew a blue handkerchief, with a +red border, from his pocket, and slowly raised it to his face. + +The man in the blouse, standing at the door of the low house across +the street, nodded slightly, and stepped back out of sight. + +"Well," cried the commissioner, "now that I have taken breath, and +have had a good drink, I will tell you why I have run so. I have +directed a citizen to you who wants to buy some playthings, and +something very fine, I suppose, as he brings a commissioner along +with him to carry the things home. Now I want to know what per cent, +of the profit you get from him you are willing to give me, for you +cannot expect, citizen, that I should give my recommendation +gratis." + +"I am not the owner of the store," replied the clerk, with a shrug. +"I have been here only a week, and manage the business merely while +the owner is absent for a short time on a necessary journey. So I +can give no fees. But ask the boy whether in such cases Mr. Duval +has paid money. He has been here longer than I." + +"Mr. Duval has paid every commissioner, who has brought him such +news, two centums on the franc," said the boy, with an important +air. + +"Well, then, I will give you two centums on the franc, provided that +the citizen buys more than a franc's worth." + +"Aha! there comes the man," cried the commissioner, pointing at +Simon, who just then entered the store with Toulan. "Well, citizen, +now make a very handsome purchase, for the more you buy, the better +I shall like it." + +"Yes, I believe you," replied Simon, laughing; "that is the way in +all stores. I want something nice; I want to buy a hobby-horse. But +mind you, citizen, show me one of your best ones, a real blood- +horse, for I tell you that he who is to ride it is of real blood +himself." + +"We happen unfortunately to have a limited supply of the article," +said the clerk, with a shrug. "They do not come exactly in our line. +But there has been so much demand for hobby-horses of late that we +have ordered some, and if you will wait a few days, citizen--" + +"A few days!" interrupted Simon, angrily. "Not a few hours, not a +few minutes will I wait. If you have no hobby-horses, tell me, and I +will go elsewhere to make my purchases." + +He turned to go, but the clerk held him back. "Wait only a minute," +he said. "I should not like to lose your custom, and I think it +possible that I can procure you a fine horse. The cabinet-maker, who +makes our horses, lives just opposite, and he has promised to +deliver them tomorrow. The boy shall go over and see if they are not +ready." + +"We would rather go over with him, citizen. If we find what is +wanted, we shall need to go no farther." + +"It is true, that will be the best course," said Simon. "Come, +commissioner." + +"I will go along to have the business all rightly done," said the +clerk. "Here, John, take my place behind the counter while I am +gone." + +Simon had already crossed the street by the side of Toulan. The +clerk followed with the second commissioner. + +"Why have you not got rid of the boy, Count St. Prix?" asked the +latter. + +"It was impossible, Count Frotte" answered the former in a whisper. +"Duval is a very nervous man, and he supposed that it would excite +suspicion if the boy, who is well known in the neighborhood, should +disappear at just the time when he should be away. He is right, +perhaps, and at any rate the thing is unavoidable. The sly chore-boy +has noticed nothing, I hope, and we shall reach our goal without any +hindrance. You are going to London tomorrow morning?" + +"Yes, count. And you? what is your direction?" + +"To Coblentz, to the royal princes," replied Count St. Prix. "Only I +suspect that we shall not both of us reach the end of our journeys." + +"At any rate not with the children that we shall take with us," +whispered the other, as they entered the house of the cabinet-maker. + +They found Simon and Toulan in the large workshop busily engaged in +bargaining with the cabinet-maker, who had shown them six tolerably +large hobby-horses, and was descanting on their beauties. + +"It seems tome they all look very much alike," said Simon. "Tell me, +commissioner, which of these race-horses pleases you best." + +"This with the red flanks," said Toulan, laying his hand upon the +largest one. + +"It is an immense creature," said Simon, with a laugh. "Still, the +red flanks are pretty, and if we can agree about the price I will +buy the animal." + +They did agree, and after Simon had gravely paid the twenty francs, +he and Toulan took the horse on their shoulders and marched down the +street. + +"Do all those people know about our secret?" asked Simon, as they +strode forward. + +"No, only the cabinet-maker knows about it, and he will leave Paris +to-morrow and carry the prince to a place of safety." + +"For God's sake, do not speak so loudly!" whispered Simon, casting +an anxious look around. "But why do you yourself not go away with +the boy and leave Paris, where you are constantly in danger?" + +"I cannot," answered Toulan, solemnly. + +"Cannot! what forbids you?" + +"The vow that I gave to Marie Antoinette, to rescue her children +from the Temple or to die." + +"Well, but to-morrow you hope to fulfil your vow, and then you can +go." + +"I shall fulfil to-morrow but the half of my vow. I shall, if you +help me, and my plan succeeds, release the son of the queen, but the +daughter will remain behind in prison. You see, therefore, that I +cannot leave Paris, for the daughter and sister-in-law of the queen +are still prisoners, and I must release them." + +"But I should rather that you would go away with the boy, and never +come back to Paris," said Simon, thoughtfully. + +"How so? Do you not trust me?" + +"I trust no one," replied Simon, gloomily. "You might some day, when +it might suit your humor, or in order to save yourself, betray me, +and report me to the Committee of Safety." + +"What, I! And ought I not to fear too? Could not you betray me as +well?" + +"You know very well that I shall take care not to disclose a word of +this whole history, for to disclose it would be to write my own +death-warrant. But hush, now; hush! there is the Temple, and it +seems to me as if the very walls looked at me maliciously, as if +they wanted to say, 'There comes a traitor!' Ah, Toulan, it is a bad +thing to have an accusing conscience!" + +"Help me faithfully to save the prince, Simon, and you will have a +good conscience all the rest of your life, for you will have done a +grand and noble deed." + +"In your eyes," whispered Simon, "but not in those of the +Convention, and when they learn about it--but here we are, and our +talk and reconsideration are too late." + +He struck three times with his fist against the closed gate of the +outer court. The porter opened, and let the two men in, only saying +that the guard had given his special consent to the bringing in of +the hobhy-horse. + +"But about the commissioner whom you bring with you," said the +porter, reflectively, "he did not make any mention, and I can only +allow him to take your plaything into the second court. He must not +go into the Temple." + +"It is no particular wish of mine to go into a prison," answered the +commissioner, carelessly. "It is a good deal easier to get in than +to get out again. Well, take hold, Citizen Simon; forward!" + +They walked on to the second court. "Now, then," whispered Toulan, +"for caution and thoughtfulness! Tomorrow at ten o'clock I will be +standing before the door, and you will call me in to help you in +your moving." + +"I wish it were all over," groaned Simon. "It seems to me as if my +head were shaking on my shoulders, and my heart beats as if I were a +young girl." + +"Courage, Simon, only courage! Remember that tomorrow you are to be +a free and a rich man. Then, as soon as you give your basket to the +washerwoman at the Macon gate, I will pay you the promised twenty +thousand francs. And--" + +"Halt!" cried the sentinel at the entrance to the Temple. "No one +can go in here without a pass." + +"You do not want a pass for my rocking-horse, brother citizen, do +you?" asked Simon, with a laugh. + +"Nonsense! I am speaking about the commissioner." + +"He is going of himself, and does not want to go in. But look him +square in the face, for he will come to-morrow morning again. I have +secured him in advance, to help me in moving out. Bring a wagon +along, commissioner, for the things will be too heavy to carry +without one. And now help put the horse on my shoulders. So! Well, +then, to-morrow morning at ten, commissioner." + +"To-morrow morning at ten," replied Toulan, nodding to Simon, and +slowly sauntering through the court. He stopped at the outer gate, +told the porter that he was going to assist Simon in his moving on +the morrow, and then asked in an indifferent tone whether Simon's +successor at the Temple was appointed. + +"Why, would you like the place?" asked the porter, gruffly. + +"No, indeed, not I! I have no taste for such work. It must be an +awful air in the prison." + +"It is that," replied the porter. "And so after Simon has moved out, +they are going to cleanse the place a little, and give it an airing, +and the successor will move in about noon." + +"Well, I don't envy the man who moves in," said Toulan, with a +laugh. "Good-by, citizen, we shall see each other to-morrow." + +He went out into the street, and slowly sauntered along. At the end +of it he stopped and gave a trifle to a beggar who, supported by a +crutch, was leaning against a house. + +"Is it all right thus far?" + +"Yes, marquis, thank God, thus far every thing has gone on well. The +horse is in the Temple, and nothing is discovered." + +"May the grace of God stand by us to-morrow!" whispered the beggar. +"You are sure that all the arrangements are carefully attended to?" + +"Entirely sure, M. de Jarjayes. While you are leaving Paris in the +garb of a washerwoman, our two allies will both be driving out of +two other gates, with the boy, in stylish carriages." + +"And it will be you, Toulan, who will have saved the King of +France," whispered the beggar. "Oh! be sure that all France will +thank you for it some day, and give you the title of savior of your +country!" + +"Baron," said Toulan, shaking his head, "for me there is but one +title of honor, that which the Queen of France gave me. I am called +Fidele, and I want no other name. But this one I will maintain so +long as I live. Good-by till we meet to-morrow at the Porte Macon!" + +Little Prince Louis Charles received the hobby-horse, which Simon +carried into the chamber, with a little more interest than in the +case of the other playthings. He even raised himself up a little on +his mattress, and directed a long, searching gaze at the tall, +handsome wooden creature. + +"Well," asked the official, who had gone with Simon into the +dungeon, and had watched the effect of the toy, "well, how does your +horse please you, little Capet?" + +The boy nodded slowly, but made no reply; he only reached out his +long, thin, right hand, and made a motion as if he wanted to rise. + +"To-morrow, little Capet," cried Jeanne Marie, holding him back. +"To-day you must keep entirely still, so the doctor said, and I will +cut your hair off directly, as the doctor ordered. But I should like +to have you here, citizen, and oversee the operation. The boy will +look much changed, when his long, yellow hair is cut off, and +afterward it might be supposed--" + +"Yes, certainly," interrupted Simon, with a laugh, "afterward it +might be supposed that it is not the stupid youngster who has +troubled us so long, that out of pure tenderness and love we had +taken him along with us." + +"No one would consider the republican Simon capable of such a +thing," replied the official, "and besides, the boy will stay here, +and no substitute for him can fall out of the clouds. Be free from +care, Simon. I myself shall recognize the boy to-morrow, and if he +should look changed in appearance, I shall know how it comes." + +"Yes, he will know how it comes," said Simon, with a grin, as he +watched the retreating form of the official, now leaving the prison. + +"Lock the door, Simon," whispered Jeanne Marie. "We must let the boy +out of this if he is not to be stifled!" + +"No, no," said Simon, motioning his wife to retreat from the hobby- +horse which she was approaching. "He will not be stifled, for +beneath the saddle-cloth there are nothing but air-holes, and he can +endure it a good while. We must above all things be cautious and +prepared for every thing. It would be a fine thing, would it not, if +the officials who are on guard in the Temple should conceive the +idea of making the rounds a second time for the purpose of +inspection. He cannot be carried out before it strikes ten from +Notre Dame. We will, however, give him a little more air." + +He removed the saddle with care, which was let into the back of the +wooden horse, and listened at the opening. + +"He breathes very peacefully and evenly," he then said, softly. "He +seems to be asleep. Jeanne Marie, hold the saddle in your hand, and +at the least approach fit it again in its place. I will now take +hold and pack our things." + +When the night came, and the last rounds had been made past the +closed doors of Simon's rooms, and the officials had withdrawn into +the great hall, where they stayed during the night-watch, there was +an unusual stir within Simon's apartments. Jeanne Marie, who had +thrown herself in her clothes upon the bed, slipped out from beneath +the coverlet. Simon, who was standing near the door listening, +advanced to the little prince, and bade him in a whisper to get up. + +The child, which now seemed to have recovered from its indifference +and stupidity, rose at once, and at Simon's further command made an +effort to remove his clothes, and to put on in their place the +coarse woollen suit and the linen trousers which Simon drew out of +his bed and handed to him. + +The toilet was soon completed, and the little prince looked with a +timid, inquiring glance at Simon, who was regarding him with a +searching eye. + +"And the stockings, master?" he asked. "Do not I have any +stockings?" + +"No," growled Simon--"no, the son of a washerwoman wants no +stockings. There are some wooden shoes which will be laid for you in +the basket, and you put them on afterward, if we are fortunate in +getting away. But you must cut his hair, Jeanne Marie. With long +hair he will not look like a boy from the people." + +Jeanne Marie shuddered. "I cannot," she whispered; "it would seem to +me as if I were cutting off his head, and the woman in white would +stand behind, and pierce me through with her great eyes." + +"Come, come, that old story again!" growled Simon. "Give me the +scissors, then; I will take care of it, for the boy must part with +his hair before he goes into the basket. Come, come, do not shrink +and curl up so; I was not speaking of the guillotine-basket, but of +your dirty-clothes basket. Come, Capet, I want to cut your hair." + +He took the great shears from the work-basket, and sat down on a +stool by the side of the table, on which burned a dim tallow candle, +throwing an uncertain light through the apartment. "Come, Capet!" + +The boy stole up with an insecure step, and shrank together when +Simon seized him and drew him between his knees. + +"Do not hurt him, Simon. Be careful of him," whispered Jeanne Marie, +sinking on the floor and folding her hands. "Remember, husband, that +she is here, and that she is looking at you, and that she bores into +my head with her eyes when you do any harm to the child." + +Simon looked around with a shy and anxious glance. "It is high time +that we were away from here," he growled--"high time, if I am not to +be crazy as well as you. Stoop down, Capet, so that I can cut your +hair off." The child let his head fall; but a faint, carefully +suppressed sob came from his breast, while Simon's shears went +clashing through his locks, severing them from his head. + +"What are you crying for, Capet?" asked Simon, zealously going +forward with his work. + +"I am so sorry, master, to have my locks cut off." + +"You probably suppose, you vain monkey, that your locks are +particularly beautiful?" + +"Oh, no, master! It is only," sighed the boy with his eyes full of +tears--" it is only because her hand has rested on them, and because +she kissed them when I saw her the last time." + +"Who is she?" asked Simon, roughly. + +"My mamma queen," replied Louis with such a tone of tenderness as to +bring tears into the eyes of Jeanne Marie, and even to move the +cobbler himself. + +"Hush!" he said, softly. "Hush! you must never call your mother by +such a name. After to-morrow morning you are to be the son of a +washerwoman. Remember that, and now be still! There, your hair is +done now. Pick up the locks from the floor and lay them on the +table, Jeanne Marie. We must leave them here, that the officer may +find them in the morning, and not wonder if he does not recognize +the urchin. Now we will bring the wash-basket, and see whether young +Capet will go into it. " + +He brought out of the chamber a high, covered basket, grasped the +boy, thrust him in, and ordered him to lie down on the bottom of the +basket. + +"He exactly fits!" said Simon to his wife. "We will now throw some +dirty clothes over him, and he can spend the night in the basket. We +must be ready for any thing; for there are many distrustful +officials, and it would not be the first time that they have made +examinations in the night. Little Capet must remain in the basket, +and now we will take his substitute out of the horse." + +He went to the hobby-horse, took out some screws which ran along the +edges of the upholstery, and then carefully removed the upper part +of the animal from the lower. In the hollow thus brought to light, +lay a pale, sick boy, with closed eyes--the nephew of the Marquis de +Jarjayes, the last descendant of the Baroness de Tarclif, now, as +all his ancestors had done, to give his life for his king. + +Jeanne Marie rose from her knees, took a light from the table, and +approached the child, which was lying in its confined space as in a +coffin. + +The little prince had raised himself up in his basket, and his pale +face was visible as he looked, out of his large blue eyes, with +curiosity and amazement at the sick child. + +"He does not look like the king's son," whispered Jeanne Marie, +after a long, searching study of the pale, bloated face of the +idiot. + +"We will put his clothes on at once, then he will look all right, +for clothes make the man. Stand up, little one, you need to get up. +You are not to stay any longer in your curious prison." + +"He does not understand you," said Jeanne Marie. "Do not you +remember that Toulan told us that the boy is perfectly deaf and +dumb?" + +"True; I had forgotten it, and yet it is fortunate for us, for a +deaf and dumb person cannot disclose any dangerous secrets. Come, +Jeanne Marie, give me the clothes; we will dress up the little mute +like a prince." + +They put upon him the velvet jacket, the short trowsers of black +cloth, the shoes and stockings of the prince, who still was looking +out of his basket at the pale, softly-moaning child, which was now +placed by Simon and his wife on the mattress. + +"There," said Simon, throwing the coverlet over the boy, "there, the +royal prince is ready, and we can say, as they used to do at St. +Denis, when they brought a new occupant into the royal vault, 'Le +roi est mort, vive le roi! ' Lie quietly in your basket, Capet, for +you see you are deposed, and your successor has your throne." + +"Master," whispered Louis, anxiously and timidly, "master, may I ask +you a question?" + +"Well, yes, you may, you little nameless toad. What is it?" + +"Master, will the sick child have to die, if I am saved?" + +"What do you mean, youngster? What are you at?" + +"I only mean, master--I only wanted to say that if the poor boy must +die, if he takes my place, why--I should rather stay here. For--" + +"Well, go on, stupid! what do you mean by your 'for?' You would +rather remain here?" + +"Yes, master, if another is to die and be beaten and tortured, for +blows hurt so much, and I should not like to have another boy +receive them instead of me. That would be wicked in me, and--" + +"And you are a stupid fellow, and do not know any thing you are +talking about," said Simon, shaking his fist at him. " Just put on +airs, and speak another such a foolish word, and I will not only +beat you to death, but I will beat this miserable, whining youngster +to death too, and then you will certainly be to blame for it. Down +with you into the basket, and if you venture to put your head up +again, and if to-morrow you are not obedient and do just what we bid +you, I will beat you and him, both of you, to pieces, and pack you +into the clothes-basket, and carry you away. Down into the basket!" + +The boy sank down out of sight; and when, after a little while, +Jeanne Marie cautiously looked to see whether he had fallen asleep, +she saw that Louis Charles was kneeling on the bottom of the basket, +and raising his folded hands up to heaven. + +"Simon," she whispered--" Simon, do not laugh at me and scold me. +You say, I know, that there is no God, and the republic has done +away with Deity, and the Church, and the priests. But let me once +kneel down and pray to Him with whom little Louis Charles is talking +now, and to whom the Austrian spoke on the scaffold." + +Without waiting for Simon's answer, Jeanne Marie sank upon her +knees. Folding her hands, she leaned her forehead on the rim of the +basket, and softly whispered, "Louis Charles, do you hear me?" + +"Yes," lisped the child, "I hear you." + +"I ask your forgiveness," whispered Jeanne Marie. "I have sinned +dreadfully against you, but remorse has taken hold of my heart, and +tears it in pieces and gives me no rest day or night. Oh, forgive +me, son of the queen, and when you pray, implore your mother to +forgive me the evil that I have done her." + +"I will pray to my dear mamma queen for you, and I know she will +forgive you, for she was so very good, and she always said to me +that we must forgive our enemies; and I had to swear to my dear papa +that I would forget and forgive all the wrong that men should do to +me. And so I forgive you, and I will forget all the bad things that +Master Simon has done to me, for my papa and my mamma wished me to." + +Jeanne Marie let her head sink lower, and pressed her hands firmly +against her lips to repress the outcries which her remorseful +conscience prompted. Simon seemed to understand nothing of this soft +whispering; he was busily engaged in packing up his things, and no +one saw him hastily draw his hand over his eyes, as if he wanted to +wipe away the dust which suddenly prevented his seeing. + +Gradually it grew still in the gloomy room. The whispering in the +basket ceased. Jeanne Marie had retired to her bed, and had wept +herself to sleep. Upon the mattress lay the sick, sobbing child, the +substitute of King Louis XVII., who was in the basket. + +Simon was the only one who was awake, and there must have been +dismal thoughts that busied him. He sat upon the stool near the +candle, which was nearly burned out, his forehead was corrugated and +clouded, his lips were closely pressed together, and the little, +flashing eyes looked out into the empty space full of anger and +threatenings. + +"It must be," he muttered at last, "it must be. I should otherwise +not have a moment's peace, and always feel the knife at my throat. +One of us must be away from here, in order that he may disclose the +other. I will not be that one, it must be Toulan." + +He stood up with the air of one who had made a fixed, unchangeable +resolve, and stretched his bony, crooked limbs. Then he threw one +last look at the stranger-child, that lay moaning and groaning on +his mattress, fell upon his bed, and soon his long-drawn, sonorous +breathing disclosed the fact that Master Simon was asleep. + +On the next morning there reigned in the lower stories of the Temple +a busy, stirring life. Master Simon was preparing to move, and all +his household goods were set out in the court, in order to be +transferred to the wagon that Commissioner Toulan had ordered. Close +to the wagon stood one of the officials of the Public Safety, and +examined every article of furniture that was put into it, opening +even the bandboxes and pillows to look into them. Not, as he said, +the Welfare Committee doubted the honesty of the faithful and +zealous servant of the republic, but only to satisfy the forms, and +to comply with the laws, which demanded that the authorities should +have a watchful eye on every thing that was at all connected with +the family of the tyrants. + +"And you will do me a great pleasure if you will examine every thing +with the utmost care. In the republic we are all alike, and I do not +see why I should not be served to-day as another would be on the +morrow. You know, probably, that I have been appointed collector at +Porte Macon, and after to-morrow I shall have to inspect the goods +of other people. It is all fair that I should have my turn to-day. +Besides, you will not have much more to examine, we are almost +through; I believe there is only a basket with the soiled clothes +yet to come. That is the sacred possession of my wife, and she was +going to bring it out herself, with the commissioner's help. Yes, +there they come." + +At that moment, Jeanne Marie appeared in the court, followed by +Toulan. They brought along, by two ropes which served as handles, a +large and longish basket, whose half-opened cover brought to view +all kinds of women's clothes. + +"Room there," cried Simon, with a laugh, "room for the Citoyenne +Simon and her costly dowry!" + +"Come, no joking, Simon," said his wife, threatening him with her +fist and laughing. "If my dowry is not costly enough, I will only +ask you to provide me with better things." + +"Your dowry is magnificent," said Simon, "and there is not a single +article lacking to make it complete. Come, I will help the +commissioner put the basket in the wagon, for it is too heavy for +you, my fairest one!" + +He took hold of the basket with his strong arm, and helped the +commissioner swing it into the wagon. + +"But let me look first into the basket, as my duty demands," said +the official. "You are too quick! You know, citizen, that I must +examine all your goods. The law compels me to." + +"Then I beg you to climb up into the wagon and open the basket," +said Simon, calmly. "You cannot want us to take the heavy thing down +again for you to examine it." + +"I do not ask that, citizen, but I must examine the basket." + +The official sprang into the wagon, but Jeanne Marie was quicker +than he, and stood close by the basket, whose cover was partly +opened. + +"Look in, citizen," she said, with dignity. "Convince yourself that +only the clothing of a woman is in it, and then tell the republic +that you found it necessary to examine the basket of the famous +knitter of the guillotine, as if Jeanne Marie was a disguised +duchess, who wanted to fly from the hand of justice." + +"I beg your pardon," said the official, "every one knows and honors +the knitter of the guillotine, but--" + +"But you are curious, and want to see some of my clothes. Well, look +at them!" She raised those which lay at the top, and held them up to +the official with a laugh. + +"And down below? What is farther down in the basket?" + +"Farther down," replied Jeanne Marie, with an expression of the +greatest indignation and the most outraged modesty, "farther down +are my dirty clothes, and I hope the republic will not consider it +necessary to examine these too. I would at least oppose it, and call +every female friend I have to my help." [Footnote: Madame Simon's +own words, reported from her own account, which she gave in the year +1810 to the Sisters of Mercy who cared for her in her last sickness. +The sisterhood of the female hospital in the rue Sevres publicly +repeated, in the year 1851, this statement of Jeanne Marie Simon, +who died there in 1819. It was in the civil process brought against +the Duke de Normandy, who was accused of giving himself out falsely +as King Louis XVII., and who could not be proved not to be he.] + +"Oh! you will not have to do that," replied the official, with a +friendly nod of the head. "It would be presumptuous to go farther +with the examination of your goods, and the republic regards with +respect the mysteries of an honorable wife." + +He jumped down from the wagon, while Jeanne Marie, still wearing an +angry look, laid the clothes back into the basket, and shut the +cover down. + +"Can we go now?" she asked, taking her seat on a low stool which +happened to be near the great basket. + +"Yes, if the official has nothing against it, we can go," answered +Simon. "Our goods are all loaded." + +"Then go on, I have nothing against it, and I wish you and your wife +much happiness and joy in your new career." + +The official waved them a last gracious adieu with the hand, and the +wagon started. Alongside of the great, hard-mouthed and long-haired +horse that drew the cart, walked the commissioner, in order, once in +a while, when they had to turn a corner, to seize the bridle and +give it a powerful jerk. At the side of the wagon strode Simon, +keeping a watchful eye upon his possessions, and carefully setting +every thing aright which was in danger of being shaken off upon the +pavement. Above in the carriage near the great basket sat Jeanne +Marie, the former knitter of the guillotine. Her naked brown arm +rested upon the basket, on whose bottom, covered with dirty linen +and Mistress Simon's clothes, was the son of Marie Antoinette, King +Louis XVII., making his entrance into the world which should have +for him only sufferings and illusions, shattered hopes and dethroned +ideals. + +This happened on the 19th of January, 1794, and on the very day in +which the unhappy King Louis XVII. was leaving the Temple, his +sister Theresa, who was still living with her Aunt Elizabeth in the +upper rooms, wrote in her diary (known subsequently by the title +"Recit des evenements arrives au Temple, par Madame Royale") the +following words: "On the 19th of January my aunt and I heard beneath +us, in the room of my brother, a great noise which made us suspect +that my brother was leaving the Temple. + +We were convinced of it when, looking through the keyhole of the +door, we saw goods carried away. On the following day we heard the +door of the room, in which my brother had been, opened, and +recognized the steps of men walking around, which confirmed us in +the belief that he had been carried away." + +The pitiful wagon, which gave its hospitality to the knitter of the +revolution, as well as to a king, drove slowly and carefully through +the streets, unnoticed by the people who hastily passed by. Now and +then they encountered a commissioner who came up to Toulan, greeted +him as an acquaintance, and asked after his welfare. Toulan nodded +to them confidentially and answered them loudly that he was very +well, and that he was helping Simon move out of the Temple and going +with him to Porte Macon. + +The commissioners then wished him a pleasant journey, and went their +way; but the farther they were from the wagon, the quicker were +their steps, and here and there they met other commissioners, to +whom they repeated Toulan's words, and who then went from there and +again told them over to their friends in the streets, in quiet, +hidden chambers, and in brilliant palaces. In one such palace the +tidings caused a singular commotion. Count Frotte, who lived there, +and whom the public permitted to live in Paris, ordered his +travelling carriage to be brought out at once. The postilion, with +four swift horses, had already stood in the court below half an +hour, waiting for this order. The horses were quickly harnessed to +the carriage, which was well filled with trunks; and scarcely had it +reached the front door, when the count hurried down the grand +staircase, thickly wrapped in his riding-furs. At his right sat a +little boy of scarcely ten years, a velvet cap, trimmed with fur, +upon his short, fair hair; the slender, graceful form concealed with +a long velvet cloak, that fell down as far as the shoes with golden, +jewelled buckles. + +Count Frotte seemed to bestow special care and attention upon this +boy, for he not only had him sit on his right, but remained standing +near the door, to give precedence to the boy, and then hastened to +follow him. He pressed the servants back who stood near the open +door, bowed respectfully, and gave his hand to the lad to assist him +in ascending. The youth received these tokens of respect quietly, +and seemed to take it as a matter of course that Count Frotte should +carefully put furs around his feet and body, in order to protect him +from every draft. As soon as this was done, the count entered the +carriage, and took his place at the left of the boy. The servant +closed the carriage-door with a loud slam, and the steward advanced +with respectful mien, and asked whither the count would order to go. + +"The road to Puy," said the count, with a loud voice, and the +steward repeated to the postilion just as loudly and clearly, "The +road to Puy." + +The carriage drove thunderingly out of the court-door, and the +servant looked after it till it disappeared, and then followed the +house-steward, who motioned him to come into the cabinet. + +"I have something to tell you, citizen," said the steward, with a +weighty air, "but first I must beg you to make me a solemn promise +that you will continue a faithful and obedient servant of the count, +and prove in no way false to your oath and your duty." + +The servant pledged himself solemnly, and the steward continued: +"The count has undertaken a journey which is not to be spoken of, +and is to remain, if possible, a secret. I demand of you, therefore, +that if any one asks where the count has gone, you answer that you +do not know. But above all things, you are not to say that the count +is not travelling alone, but in company with the young-gentleman, +whose name and rank I know just as little about as you. Will you +promise to faithfully heed my words?" + +The servant asserted it with solemn oaths and an expression of deep +reverence. The steward beckoned to him to go, and then looked at him +for a long time, and with a singular expression as he withdrew. + +"He is a spy of the Safety Committee," he whispered to himself. "I +am convinced that he is so, and he will certainly go at once and +report to the authorities, and they will break their heads thinking +what the count has to do in Puy, and who the boy is who accompanies +my lord. Well, that is exactly what we want: to put the bloodhounds +and murderers on a false scent. That is just the object of the +count, and for that purpose M. Morin de Gueriviere has lent his only +son, for all that we have and are, our lives, our children, and +every thing else, belong to our king and lord. I hope, therefore, +that the count's plan will succeed, and the Safety Committee be put +on a false scent." + +Meanwhile the pitiful carriage containing Simon's goods had slowly +taken its way through the streets and halted at its goal, the +custom-house near Porte Macon. Before the building stood a woman in +the neat and tasteful costume of the washerwomen from the village of +Vannes, which then, as now, was the abode of the washerwomen of +Paris. + +"Well," cried the woman, with a loud laugh, helping Mistress Simon +dismount from the wagon--" well, you have come at last. For two +hours I have been waiting for you, for you ordered me to be here at +eleven, and now it is one. What will my husband and my little boy +say about my coming home so late?" + +"I beg your pardon," said Jeanne Marie, with a kindly voice. "Our +ride was a good deal slower than I thought, for the things were +packed only loosely, and if we had ridden faster they would easily +have been injured. But, I will not detain you longer, and you shall +have my wash at once. There are a great many clothes this time, and +I have therefore thrown them all at once into the basket; so you can +put the basket right upon your wagon and bring the things back in +it. Halloa, Simon, and you, commissioner, take hold and lift the +basket down, and carry it out to the washerwoman's wagon that is +standing near the gate." + +The two men immediately lifted the great basket out, and carried it +to the open cart which stood there, in which lay arranged in regular +order great bundles of dirty linen. Near the gate stood the sub- +collector, whose superior Simon now was, and it therefore did not +occur to him to examine the basket which his new chief was putting +in the washerwoman's wagon. Some busybodies who stood around turned +their whole attention to the wagon which contained the furniture and +goods of the new collector, who was, of course, a very important +person in this remote quarter, and Jeanne Marie endeavored with her +loud words and choleric gesticulations to fasten the attention of +the idlers upon herself. Nobody regarded the two men, who had just +put the basket into the washerwoman's cart, and no one heard the +words that they softly spoke together. + +The washerwoman had raised the cover, and was rolling around the +clothes, as if she wanted to examine the contents of the basket. + +"Sire," she whispered, softly, as she did so--"sire, do you hear +me?" + +A weak, faint voice replied, "I hear you." + +"And shall you be able to bear it, if you stay a little longer in +your hiding-place?" + +"Oh yes, I shall be able to bear it; but I am anxious, and I should +like to be away from here." + +The washerwoman closed the cover of the basket, and sprang down from +the wagon. "Every thing is in order," she said, "and it is high time +that I should be off. I have a long way to go, and my husband and +child are expecting me." + +"Then go, with God's blessing," said the commissioner, shaking hands +with the washerwoman as if she were an old acquaintance." Go, with +God's blessing, and may He protect you from all calamity, and bless +you with happiness and joy!" + +He spoke loudly, as if this was intended for the ear of some person +besides the washerwoman. And another had heard the words of Toulan, +and a soft and tremulous voice called: "Farewell, Fidele; I thank +you, dear Toulan." + +The wagon was at once in motion, and drove quickly down the street +through the rows of small houses in the suburbs. The two men stood +and looked after it till the washerwoman's carriage disappeared in a +cloud of dust. + +Toulan raised his eyes slowly to heaven, and a pious expression +illumined his good, energetic countenance. + +"Thou lookest down upon me, my queen and mistress," he said, softly +and inaudibly." I feel the glance of thy heavenly eyes, and it rests +like a hallowed blessing upon my thankful heart. I know, my queen, +that thou art satisfied with me this hour, and it seems to me as if +thy loved voice were whispering above me in the air the word Fidele. +Give me now thy blessing, that I may end my work, and rescue the +daughter and the sister as I have rescued the son. My life is +devoted to thy service, and I shall save all thy dear ones or die!" + +"Well, Toulan," said Simon, softly, "I have kept my word, and little +Capet is released. Are you going to keep yours?" + +"Certainly I shall," said Toulan, whose glance slowly fell from +heaven, and whose face still glowed like one in a trance. "Yes, +Simon, I shall keep my word to you as you have yours to me. Come +into your house, that I may pay you." + +He withdrew quickly from the gate and entered the house which +thereafter was to be the house of the collector Simon. All was going +on busily there, for Jeanne Marie had impressed into her service not +only the sub-collector but some of the curious spectators, and she +scolded her husband, who was just coming in with Toulan, for talking +too long with the washerwoman instead of helping her. + +"Do you two take the heavy mattresses and carry them into the next +room." + +The two men quickly obeyed, and bore the mattresses into the +chamber. Then they locked themselves in. + +Toulan took several rolls from the great waistcoat which he wore +under his blue blouse, broke them asunder, and let the gold-pieces +fall out upon the mattress. + +"Count them, Simon," he said, "to see that there are exactly two +hundred and fifty double gold-pieces, all bearing the exalted +symbols of 'he one, great, and indivisible republic.' May they bring +you joy, and be a reward for the great good fortune which you have +brought to me, and to all who love the king and his house." + +"But will no one reveal me?" asked Simon, anxiously, while busily +engaged in collecting the gold-pieces, and hiding them between the +mattresses. "Say, Toulan, will no one divulge and report me to the +authorities?" + +"Be quiet, Simon, and fear nothing. To betray you, would be at the +same time to betray the great cause which we serve, and to surrender +the young king to the persecution of his enemies. But no one knows, +excepting me, that of your own free will you have helped save the +king. With express reference to your safety, I have made all the +other allies believe that I have deceived you, and that you know +nothing of the concealment of the child. So be entirely without +concern. Only Toulan knows your secret, and Toulan is silent as the +grave. But let us go out now and help your wife bring the things +into the house, and afterward you can let me go without any further +leave-taking. Farewell, citizen; may you be entirely successful in +your new field of labor." + +He nodded with a friendly air to Simon, and as Jeanne Marie just +then called the commissioner with a loud voice, Toulan hastily +opened the door and hurried to her. + +Simon followed him with a long, dark look. Then he slowly shook his +head, and his eye kindled. + +"It must be," he said to himself, softly. "I should otherwise have +no rest day or night, and it would be worse than in the Temple. He +said so himself: only Toulan knows my secret. So if Toulan dies, my +secret dies with Toulan, and is buried with him, and I cart then +enjoy my life, and shall not need to live in anxiety, and in +perpetual fear of being betrayed. But," he continued, after a brief +pause, "what is done, must be done quickly, otherwise I may fall +into the very pit I have digged for Toulan! If the little Capet is +fairly carried to a place of safety, and escapes out of the +republic, Toulan can avenge himself by reporting the whole story and +bringing me to misfortune. I must, therefore, while I am secure, +take away from the fellow the means of betraying me. Yes, yes, it +must be so; Toulan must die, that Simon may live. Look out for your +own self first, and then your neighbors." + +With a decided step, Simon left the room, and entered the chamber, +where Toulan was busy with Jeanne Marie in arranging the furniture. + +"I am glad to find you here still," said Simon, nodding to him; "for +I had entirely forgotten to tell you that I have a present for you, +which will certainly please you, and which I have saved and laid +away expressly for you." + +"What is it, Simon? What kind of a present have you for me?" + +"A very precious one, at least such as you and your like will +consider so, I think. I have the long, yellow locks which Jeanne +Marie cut yesterday from little Capet's head." + +"And will you give them to me?" asked Toulan, eagerly. + +"Yes, that will I, and it is for that purpose that I have brought +them along. They are lying, with all the letters, in my work-box. +But I cannot get at them to-day in all the confusion, for they are +at the very bottom of the box. But come to-morrow morning, and you +shall receive your costly treasure. If you like, you can come about +nine o'clock; and if I should happen to have any thing to do, and +not be here, I will give the hair to Jeanne Marie, and she will hand +it to you." + +"Be sure that I shall come," said Toulan, earnestly. "Give me your +hand, and let me thank you for your delicate act of kindness. I +certainly did you a wrong, for I did not hold you capable of such a +deed. I thank you, Simon, I thank you from my heart; and to-morrow +morning, punctually at nine, I shall be here to receive my precious +possession. Farewell till then, Simon! I have no quiet now, but must +run around and see whether every thing seems as usual in the Temple, +and our secret undiscovered." He hastened away, and disappeared +around the corner. + +The whole day Simon was busy with his own thoughts, and engaged in +arranging the furniture, with his mind clearly not on his work. In +the afternoon he declared that he must go to the Temple again, +because in the upper corridor he had left a chest with some utensils +in it which were his. + +"It seems to me, husband, you are homesick for the Temple," said +Jeanne Marie jestingly, "and you are sad because you are no longer +in the old, black walls." + +"Yes, I am homesick for the Temple," replied Simon, "and that is why +I go there." + +But he did not take the way to the Temple, but to the city hall, and +rang the bell so violently that the porter dashed to the door to +open it. + +"It is you, citizen," he ejaculated. "I thought something must have +happened." + +"Something has happened, and I have come to inform the Committee of +Safety," answered Simon, impetuously. + +"Has it met?" + +"Yes, it is in the little council-chamber. You will find an officer +at the door, and can let him announce you." + +Simon strode forward and found the sentinel before the door, who +asked him what his business there was. + +"Go in, citizen, and announce that Simon is here, and brings +important news, of great peril to the state." + +A minute later, Simon was ushered into the hall in which the Safety +Committee were assembled. All those stern-faced men of the republic +knew Simon as a faithful and zealous republican, upon whose devotion +they could reckon, and whose fidelity was immovable. + +"I am come," said Simon, slowly, "I am come to bring an accusation +against a certain person as a conspirator against the republic, and +a traitor to our liberties." + +"Who is it, and what has he done?" asked the chairman, with a cold +smile. + +"What has he done? He means to do something, and I mean to prevent +him. He means to release the wolf's whelp from the Temple. Who knows +but he may have done so already, for when I left the Temple this +morning, my successor had not come, and little Capet was alone. Who +is it that is able to release the boy and the two ladies? It is +Toulan, the traitor, the royalist Toulan!" + +"Toulan!" replied Petion, with a shrug. "We know very well that +Toulan is a traitor, and that the republic can expect only the worst +from him that he can do. He was accused once, but escaped merited +punishment by flight, and he has unquestionably gone to Coblentz to +join the tyrant's brothers there. Our police are watchful, and have +discovered not a trace of him." + +"Then allow me to put the police on his track," said Simon, +laughing. "Be so good as to send a couple of officers to me +tomorrow, and I will deliver Toulan, the traitor, into their hands." + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +TOULAN'S DEATH. + + +The next morning, at the stroke of nine, Toulan, in the garb of a +commissioner, entered the house of the new collector at the Macon +gate. Simon received him at the door, and conducted him into the +sitting-room. + +"You see," said Toulan, "that I am punctual, and I must tell you +that I have been almost too impatient to wait. I hope you do not +regret your promise, and that you mean to give me the noble present +that you promised me." + +"Unfortunately I can not," answered Simon, with a shrug. "My wife +insisted on giving you the hair with her own hands, and she has just +gone out. You will have to wait for her, if you really are anxious +to possess the hair of little Capet." + +"Yes, I am anxious to own it," replied Toulan. "The hair of my dear +young king will be my most cherished possession, and--" + +"Come, come," interrupted Simon, "there you exaggerate. The gold +salt's-bottle, which the Austrian gave you, is a great deal dearer +to you, is it not? You still have that, have you not?" + +"Still have it?" cried Toulan. "I would sooner part with my life +than with this remembrancer of Marie Antoinette!" + +"Well, then, see which you would rather keep, your life, or the +bottle the Austrian gave you," said Simon, with a laugh, as he +sprang toward the door and opened it Two officials of the Safety +Committee, followed by armed men, entered. + +"Have you heard every thing?" asked Simon, triumphantly. + +"Yes, we have heard every thing, and we arrest you, Toulan, as a +traitor. Take him to the Conciergerie. The authorities will decide +what shall be done with him further." + +"Well," said Toulan, calmly, "the authorities will, perhaps, do me +the honor of letting me go the same way that my king--and my queen +have taken, and I shall follow the example of the noble sufferers, +and die for the hallowed cause of royalty. Let us go, that I may not +longer breathe the air which the blasphemer and traitor Simon has +poisoned. Woe upon you, Simon! In your dying hour think of me, and +of what I say to you now: You are sending me to death, that you may +live in peace. But you will find no peace on earth, and if no man +accuses you, your conscience will. On your dying bed you will see me +before you, and on the day of judgment you will hear my voice, +accusing you before the throne of God as a betrayer and murderer. +May my blood come on your head, Simon!" + +Simon lived to enjoy his freedom and his money only a short time. At +the expiration of a year he fell into lunacy, which soon made him +attempt his own life. He died in the Asylum of Bicetre. His wife +lived till 1821, in a hospital at Paris, and in her dying hour +asserted that little Capet was released in the way above related. + +On the next day, there was a great excitement within the Temple, and +the Safety Committee repaired thither in a body. The lamplighter, +who made his rounds on the evening of the day on which Simon left +the Temple, had asserted that the child that lay upon the mattress +was not the little Capet. "He must know this," he said, "for he had +seen the child daily when he lighted the lamp in the boy's room." + +The new keeper, Augustus Lasne, was very much excited at the +communication of the lamplighter, and at dawn of the next day +repaired to the city hall to report the statement. The Safety +Committee resolved on an immediate investigation of the Temple, +after pledging one another to the deepest secrecy, and enjoining the +same on all the servants at the Temple. + +The officials found on the mattress a moaning, feverish boy, in the +garments of the dauphin. These they recognized as the ones which the +republic had had made a month before for little Capet, but no one +could say whether this child, with a body covered with sores, a +swollen face, and sunken, lustreless eyes, was really little Capet +or not; no one knew whether sickness had so changed his looks that +this stupid, idiotic boy was the one whom they had all known when he +was well, as they saw him joyously flitting around. First of all +they summoned Doctor Naudin, the director of Hotel Dieu, to examine +the boy. He appeared without delay, and declared solemnly and +decidedly that this was the same boy whom he had seen there some +days before when he visited Simon's wife, only the English sickness +which afflicted the child had distorted his limbs, while the cutting +off of his hair gave him a changed look, and it was no wonder that +the lamplighter failed to recognize him. + +Simon, who was summoned to give evidence, asserted the same thing, +and affirmed that he recognized little Capet in the sick boy, and +that his wife had cut off his hair only the day before. He brought +the hair as a complete proof of the identity, and it was seen to +agree perfectly with that of the sick child. + +Yet some of the officials still doubted, and their doubts were +increased when on the same day the servant of Count Frotte reported +to the Safety Committee that his master had made a sudden and secret +journey, accompanied by a boy, whom the count had treated with great +deference. + +This boy might be the dauphin, whom Count Frotte, in conjunction +with Toulan, might have spirited out of the Temple in some secret +way, and who must be followed at all hazards. At the same time the +government were informed that the Count de St. Prix had left Paris +in company with a boy, and had taken the road to Germany. + +Chazel, a member of the Convention, was sent secretly to Puy to +arrest Frotte and the boy there; and Chauvaine, another member, was +ordered to follow the road to Germany, and, if possible, to bring +back Count St. Prix. + +After a while both of them returned, with nothing accomplished. +Chazel had, indeed, arrested Count Frotte and the boy in Puy, but +the count had given such undeniable proofs that the boy was not the +dauphin--he had summoned so many unimpeachable witnesses from Paris, +who recognized the boy as the son of M. de Gueriviere, who was in +Coblentz with the princes, that nothing more remained but to release +the count and his comrade. + +Chauvaine had not been able to arrest the Count de St. Prix, and had +only learned that in company with a boy he had crossed the Rhine and +entered Germany. + +It was of no use, therefore, to undertake farther investigations, +and the conclusion must be firmly held to that the boy in the +Temple, whose sickness increased from day to day, was the real +Capet, the son of Louis XVI. The suspicion which had been aroused +must be kept a deep secret, that the royalists should not take +renewed courage from the possibility that the King of France had +been rescued. [Footnote: Later investigations in the archives of +Paris have brought to light, among other important papers relative +to the flight of the prince, a decree of the National Convention, +dated Prairial 26 (June 14), 1704, which gave all the authorities +orders "to follow the young Capet in all directions." The boy who +remained a prisoner in the Temple, died there June 8, 1798, a +complete idiot.] + +But the secret investigations, and the efforts to draw something +from Toulan, caused the authorities to postpone his fate from week +to week, from month to month. On the 20th of January he was arrested +and taken to the Conciergerie, and not till the month of May did the +Convention sentence him to death. The charge was this: that he had +accepted presents from the Widow Capet, in particular the gold +salt's-bottle, and had made frequent plans to release the Capet +family from prison. + +On the same day Madame Elizabeth, the sister of Louis XVI., was +sentenced to death, on the charge of conducting a correspondence +with her brothers, through the agency of Toulan, having for its end +the release of the royal family. + +When the sentence was read to Madame Elizabeth, she smiled. "I thank +my judges that they allow me to go to those I love, and whom I shall +find in the presence of God." + +Toulan received his sentence with perfect composure. "The one, +indivisible, and exalted republic is just as magnanimous, is it not, +as the monarchy was in old times, and it will grant a last favor to +one who has been condemned to death, will it not?" + +"Yes, it will do that, provided it is nothing impossible. It will +gladly grant you a last request." + +"Well," said Toulan, "then I ask that I may be executed the same day +and the same hour as Madame Elizabeth, the sister of the king, and +that I may be allowed to remain by her side at her execution." + +"Then you have only till to-morrow to live, Citizen Toulan," replied +the presiding officer of the court, "for Elizabeth Capet will be +executed to-morrow." + +Early the next morning three cars drove away from the Conciergerie. +In each of these cars sat eight persons, men and women of the +highest aristocracy. They had put on their most brilliant court +attire for that day, and arranged themselves as for a holiday. Over +the great crinoline the ladies wore the richest silks, adorned with +silver and gold lace; they had had their hair dressed and decorated +with flowers and ribbons, and carried elegant fans in their hands. +The gentlemen wore velvet coats, brilliant with gold and silver, +while cuffs of the finest lace encompassed their white hands. Their +heads were uncovered, and they carried the little three-cornered hat +under the arm, as they had done at court in presence of the royal +family. + +All the aristocrats imprisoned in cells at the Conciergerie had +begged for the high honor of being executed on that day, and every +one whose request had been granted, had expressed his thanks for it +as for a favor. + +"What we celebrate to-day is the last court festival," said the +prisoners, as they ascended the cars to be carried to the +guillotine. "We have the great good fortune of being present at the +last great levee, and we will show ourselves worthy of the honor." +All faces were smiling, all eyes beaming, and when the twenty-four +condemned persons dismounted from their cars at the foot of the +scaffold, one would believe that he saw twenty-four happy people +preparing to go to a wedding. No one would have suspected that it +was death to whom they were to be united. + +There were only two persons in this brilliant and select society who +were less elegantly adorned than the others. One was the young girl, +with the pale angel face, who sat between the sister of Malesherbes +and the wife of the former minister, Montmorin, in a neat white +robe, with a simple muslin veil, that surrounded her like a white +cloud on which she was floating to heaven. The other was the man who +sat behind her, whose firm, defiant countenance gave no token that +an hour before he had wept hot, bitter tears as he took leave of his +wife and only child. But this was all past, and on that lofty, +thoughtful brow not the slightest trace remained of earthly sorrow. +The pains of each had been surmounted, and, even in death, Toulan +would do honor to the name which that woman had given him--whom he +had loved most sacredly on earth-and he would die as Fidele. + +The ladies and gentlemen of this unwontedly solemn company, who were +collected here in view of the scaffold, had dismounted from the +cars. Above stood the glistening instrument of death, and near it +the executioners. They were all left free to decide in what order +they would ascend and place the head beneath the axe. The Convention +had made the simple order that Madame Elizabeth should be the last +but one, and that Toulan should follow her. + +Joyous and bright was the countenance of the princess; joyous and +bright was the aspect of the improvised court, whose master of +ceremonies was Death. + +The gentlemen had begged the favor of preceding the ladies upon the +scaffold. One after another they ascended the staircase, and in +passing by they greeted the princess with the same deep bow that +would have been given at court. And Madame Elizabeth thanked them +with a smile that was not of this world. + +When the heads of the twelve gentlemen had fallen, the bodies laid +on one side, and the scaffold cleansed a little from blood, the +ladies' turn came. Every one of them asked the favor of embracing +Princess Elizabeth, and, with the kiss which she pressed upon their +lips, a heavenly joy seemed to spring up in their hearts. With +smiles they ascended the scaffold, with smiles they placed their +heads beneath the axe. + +The last of the ladies, the Marchioness de Crussol d'Amboise, had +received the parting kiss and ascended the steps of the guillotine. +Only Elizabeth and Toulan now remained at the foot. "Fidele," +whispered Elizabeth in gentle tones, "I shall soon be with my +brother and my sister. Give me your hand, my brother. You shall +conduct me to death, and I will give you my hand above, at the +opening of the new life, and conduct you to Marie Antoinette. +'Sister,' I will say to her, 'this is the one true and good heart +which beat on earth for you, and I bring it to you that you may +rejoice in it in heaven.' Toulan, there is only one title of honor +for all men, and that is Fidele. It is sanctioned even by the word +of God: 'Be thou faithful unto death, and I will give thee a crown +of life.'" + +Just at that moment the axe rattled, there was a muffled sound, and +the head of the Marchioness Crussol d'Amboise fell into the basket. + +"Elizabeth Capet, it is your turn--come up!" + +"I come." + +She ascended the scaffold. Arrayed, as she was, in this white robe, +her transparent face was like that of an angel. It seemed to Toulan +as if her foot no longer rested on the earth. He followed her to the +scaffold; and as she was about to ascend the steps, he laid his hand +upon her arm. + +"Princess, I have a secret to impart to you. I have promised with a +solemn oath that my lips should disclose it to no mortal; but you, +Elizabeth, belong already to the immortals, the peace of God +illumines your brow, and I want you to have one last joy before you +ascend into heaven. This is my secret: The boy who is confined in +the Temple is not the dauphin. I have fulfilled the promise which I +gave the queen. I have saved the dauphin, and he is now in Vendee, +under the safe care of Prince de Conde." + +"Elizabeth Capet, come up, or we must bring you by force." + +"I am coming. Farewell, Fidele! you have spoken the truth; you have +given me a last joy! I thank you; now kiss my lips; give your sister +a parting kiss, Fidele. Farewell, my brother!" + +He touched the lips that were illumined with a sad smile--"Farewell, +my sister!" + +She ascended the steps, and, reaching the scaffold, she calmly laid +aside the veil, and prepared her toilet for death. + +At the foot of the scaffold Toulan remained upon his knees; his +great eyes, which had been directed to Elizabeth, beamed with +rapture, and in his heart there were words written with a finger of +diamond--words hallowed and comforting, that Toulan read in +meditation and prayer: "Love vanquishes death; love is victorious +even over life; love, which is the highest friendship, and +friendship, which is the highest love, rise so far above every thing +earthly, that thou must surrender every thing for them, every thing +which thou hast valued upon earth, every thing which has stood to +thee in the most tender relations. In this love thou hast lived, and +in this love thou shalt die and ascend into heaven." + +"Toulan, come up! Do you not hear us calling you? Do you not see +that Elizabeth Capet has made place for you?" + +He had not seen when the noble head of the princess fell into the +basket, he had not heard the executioner call him; he had only read +in his heart the revelation of love. + +He ascended the steps, and his countenance beamed with the same +light of rapture which had surrounded Elizabeth's brow. + +A piercing scream came from the crowd, as a young wife fell +senseless into the arms of her neighbors, while the boy who stood +near her extended his hands to the scaffold, and called, loudly, +"Father, dear father!" + +Toulan did not turn to them. No earthly sorrow had place in this +soul, which had overcome pain, and received eternal joy into itself. + +Calmly he laid his head beneath the axe. "God is love," he said, +aloud. "He that abideth in love, abideth in God, and God--" + +The axe descended, and left Toulan's last words unspoken. + + + + +BOOK VI. + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +WITHOUT NAME AND RANK. + + +The Prince de Conde was walking with quick steps up and down his +apartment. His brow was cloudy, his eyes wore a sad look, and at +times he raised his hand, as if he would remove a veil that darkened +his sight. + +"It must he," he said, decisively, after a while. "Yes, it must be; +I see no other means of saving him from the snares of his enemies +and friends. He must leave, and that at once." + +He walked hastily to the table, pulled the bell violently, and +ordered the servant who came in to bring the boy who came yesterday +to him. + +A few minutes later, the door opened, and a boy of ten. or twelve +years, with great blue eyes, fair hair, graceful form, and delicate +complexion, came into the room. At his appearance the Prince de +Conde seemed deeply moved. He hastened with open arms to meet the +boy, pressed him closely to his heart, and kissed his fair hair and +eyes. + +"Welcome, a thousand times welcome!" he said, with trembling voice. +"How long have I desired to see this moment, and how happy I am that +it has come at last! You are saved, yon are restored to freedom, to +life, and there is in store for you, I hope, a great and brilliant +future!" + +"Then I shall have to thank you for it, my cousin," said the boy, +with his sweet, resonant voice. "You have released me from the +dreadful prison, and I thank you for life. I am glad, too, that I +see you at last, for I wanted so much to express my thanks, and +every evening I have prayed to God to grant me the happiness of +greeting my dear cousin, the Prince de Conde." + +The joyous light had long since faded from the face of the prince, +and a cloud was gathering on his brow, as, with a timid, searching +look, he glanced around, as if he feared that some one besides +himself might hear the words of the boy. + +"Do not call me your cousin," he said, softly; and even his voice +was changed, and became cold and husky. + +The boy fixed his great blue eyes with an expression of astonishment +on the gloomy countenance of the Prince de Conde. + +"You are no longer glad to see me here? Is it disagreeable to you +for me to call you my cousin?" + +The prince made no answer at once, but walked up and down with great +strides, and then stood still before the boy, who had calmly +observed his impatient motions. + +"Let us sit down," said the Prince de Conde--" let us sit down and +talk." + +He gave his hand to the boy, led him to the divan, and took his own +place upon an easy-chair, directly opposite to the child. + +"Let us talk," he repeated. "I should like to know, in the first +place, whether you have a good memory, for I have been told that +your head has suffered, and that you have no recollection of the +past." + +A gentle, sad smile played around the lips of the boy. + +"I have been silent about the past, as I have been commanded to," he +said, "but I have not forgotten it." + +"Do you remember your mother?" asked the prince. + +The boy trembled convulsively, a glowing red passed over his cheeks, +and a deep paleness followed. + +"Monsieur," he asked, with a tremulous voice, "would it be possible +for me to forget my dear mamma queen?--my mamma queen who loved her +little Louis Charles so much? Ah, sir, you would not have asked that +if you had known how much pain you give me." + +"I beg your pardon," said the prince, embarrassed. "I see you +remember. But let me try you once more. Will you tell me what +happened to you after being taken away from your cruel foster- +parents? What were those people's names, and what were they?" + +"My foster-parents, or my tormentors rather, were called Mr. and +Mistress Simon. The man had been a cobbler, but afterward he was +superintendent and turnkey in the Temple, and when I was taken away +from my mamma, sister, and aunt, I had to live with these dreadful +people." + +"Did you fare badly there?" + +"Very badly, sir; I was scolded and ill-treated, and the worst of +all was that they wanted to compel me to sing ribald songs about my +mamma queen." + +"But you did not sing these songs?" asked the Prince de Conde. + +The eyes of the boy flamed. "No," he said, proudly, "I did not sing +them. They might have beaten me to death. I would rather have died +than have done it," + +The prince nodded approvingly. "And how did you escape from these +people?" he asked. + +"You know, Prince de Conde," answered the boy, smiling. "It is you +who helped me escape." + +"Tell me about this matter a little," said the prince, "and how you +have fared since then. I contributed, as you suppose, to your +release, but I was not present In person. How did you escape from +the Temple?" + +"I was put into a basket with soiled clothes, which Mistress Simon +was taking away with her from the Temple. This basket she gave to a +washerwoman who was waiting for us at the Macon gate. She had a +little donkey-cart in readiness there, the basket was put into it, +and went on to a village, the name of which I do not know. There we +stopped; I was taken out of the basket and carried into a house, +where we remained a few hours to rest and change our clothes." + +"We? Whom do you mean by we?" + +"Me and the supposed washerwoman," replied the boy. "This woman was, +however, no other than M. de Jarjayes, whom I knew long ago, and +who, with Fidele--I should say, with Toulan--had thought out and +executed the plan of my escape. M. de Jarjayes changed his clothes, +as did I also, and after remaining concealed in the house all day, +in the evening we took a carriage and rode all night. On the next +day we remained concealed in some house, and in the night we +continued our journey." + +"Did he tell you where you were going?" + +"Jarjayes told me that the Prince de Conde was my protector and +deliverer, that the magnanimous prince had furnished the necessary +money, and that I should remain concealed in one of his palaces till +the time should arrive to acknowledge me publicly. Till then, said +M. de Jarjayes to me, I was never to speak of the past, nor +disclose--single word about any thing that concerned myself or my +family. He told me that if I did not follow his instructions +literally, I should not only be brought back to Simon, but I should +have to bear the blame of causing the death of my sister Therese and +my aunt Elizabeth. You can understand, my prince, that after that I +was dumb." + +"Yes. I understand. Where did M. de Jarjayes carry you?" + +"To one of the palaces of the Prince de Conde in loyal and beautiful +Vendee. Ah, it was very delightful there, and there were very +pleasant people about me. The story was that I was a nephew of the +prince, and that on account of impaired health, I was obliged to go +into the country and must be tended with great care. I had a +preceptor there who gave me instruction, and sometimes the brave +General Charette came to the palace on a visit. He was always very +polite to me, and showed me all kinds of attention. One day he asked +me to walk with him in the park. I did so, of course, and just as we +entered a dark allee he fell upon his knees, called me majesty, said +he knew very well that I was the King of France, and that the noble +and loyal Prince de Conde had rescued me from prison." + +"The devil!" muttered the prince to himself, "our dear friends are +always our worst enemies." + +The boy paid no attention to the words of Conde, and went on: "The +general conjured me to confess to him that I was the son of King +Louis, and I should follow him, remain with his little army, which +would acknowledge me at once, and proclaim me King of France." + +"And what did you answer?" asked Conde, eagerly. + +"My lord," replied the boy, with proud, grave mien, "I told you +that, I gave my word to M. de Jarjayes to divulge nothing till you +should tell me that the right time had arrived. I could therefore +confess nothing to Charette, and told him that he had fallen into a +great error, and that I have and can lay claim to no other honor +than of being the nephew of the Prince de Conde." + +"You said that?" asked Conde, in amazement. + +The boy raised his head with a quick movement, and something of the +proud and fiery nature of Louis XIV. flashed in his eyes. + +"I did not know then," he replied, "that my relationship to the +Prince de Conde was not agreeable to him." + +The prince looked troubled and perplexed, and dropped his eyes +before the piercing gaze of the boy. "Go on, if I may venture to ask +you," he said, softly. "What did General Charette do when you +repelled him?" + +"First he implored, and wept, and conjured me to trust him, and to +lay aside my incognito before him, the truest and best of royalists. +But as I continued steadfast, and disclosed nothing, he became angry +at length, pushed me away from him, threatened me with his fist, +swore he would have his revenge on those who had deceived him, and +declared that I was no Bourbon, for the son of my fathers would not +be so weak and cowardly as to conceal his name and lineage." + +"And you kept silent, in spite of this demand?" + +"Yes, my lord, I kept silent; and, notwithstanding his pain and +grief, I left him in the belief that he had deceived himself, or +rather, that he had been deceived." + +"Oh!" cried Conde, "it is plain that you have been steeled in the +school of suffering, and that the years of misfortune like yours +must each be reckoned double, for, in spite of your twelve years, +you have acted like a man!" + +"My lord," replied the boy, proudly, "the Bourbons attain their +majority at fifteen, and at that age they may, according to the law +of France, become independent sovereigns. They ought, therefore, to +begin to learn young. That was the opinion of Queen Marie +Antoinette, who taught me to read in my fifth year. You, my lord, +have, in your magnanimity, done every thing to make me able to +conform to the laws of my house, if it shall please God that the son +of my dear unfortunate father should one day ascend the vacant +throne of the Bourbons. Daring these two years which I have spent in +concealment in your palace in Vendee, you have laid a strong and +firm foundation, on which the superstructure of my life may rest. I +have, thanks to the excellent teachers you have given me, had an +opportunity to learn much, and to recall much which I had forgotten +during the years before my release from imprisonment." + +"Your teachers inform me that your industry was unceasing, and that +you learned more in months than some do in years. You are familiar +with several languages, and, besides, have been instructed, as I +desired, in the art of war and in mathematics." + +"In the studies of kings and soldiers," replied the boy, with a +proud smile. + +"I fear that you will prove not to have prosecuted those studies +with a view to their use among soldiers," said Conde, with a sigh. +"Your prospects are very dark--yes, darker even than when you left +the Temple. These two years have made your condition more perilous. +It was fortunate that you could spend them in solitude and secrecy, +and be able to finish your education, and it would be a great +blessing to you to be able to go on with your quiet studies for some +years longer. But your enemies had sought you without rest; they +were on your track, and had I left you there any longer, you would +have been found some day stabbed or shot in the park. The steward +informed me that all kinds of suspicious people had gathered in the +neighborhood of the palace and the garden, and I conjecture that +they were the emissaries of your enemies. On this I took you away +from that place, and have brought you here for your greater safety. +Now allow me one question. Do you know who your enemies are?" + +"I think I know them," replied Louis Charles, with a sad smile. "My +enemies are the self-same men who brought my father and my mother to +the scaffold, destroyed the throne, and in its place gave Prance a +red cap. My enemies are the republicans, who now rule in this land, +and whose great object must, of course, be to put me out of the way, +for my life is their death! France will one day be tired of the red +cap, and will restore the throne to him to whom it belongs, so soon +as it is certain that he who is entitled to the crown, is living to +wear it." + +"And who do you suppose is justified in wearing the crown of +France?" + +"You ask as if you did not know that I am the only son and heir of +the murdered King of France." + +"The only son, but not the only heir. Your inheritance will be +contested; and even if France should transform herself from a +republic to a monarchy, every attempt possible will be made to drive +you, the son of Louis XVI., from the throne, and put the crown on +the head of another." + +"Sir, if monarchy is uppermost again, the crown belongs to me. Who, +in that case, would venture to contend with me for it?" + +"Your enemies! Not those whom you have just named, but the other +half of your enemies, of whose existence you have no suspicion, it +seems-your enemies, the royalists." + +"How so?" cried Louis Charles, in amazement. "Do you call the +royalists my enemies?" + +"Yes, and they are so, your powerful, defiant, and untiring enemies. +Do you not see that even here in this room I do not dare to give you +the title that is your due, for fear that the walls may have ears +and increase the danger which threatens you? I will now name to you +the greatest of your enemies--the Count de Provence." + +"How! my uncle, the brother of my father, he my enemy?" + +"He is your enemy, as he was the enemy of your mother. Believe me, +young man, it is not the people who have made the revolution in +France; it is the princes who have done it. The Count de Provence, +the Count d'Artois, and the Duke d'Orleans--they are the chief +revolutionists; they it is who have put fire to the throne; they it +is who have sown the libels and lampoons broadcast over France, and +made the name of Marie Antoinette odious. They did it out of hate, +out of revenge, and out of ambition. Queen Marie Antoinette had won +her husband over to the policy of Austria, and in this way had set +herself in opposition to the Count de Provence, and the whole royal +family. The count never forgave her for this, and he will never +forgive you for being the son of your mother. The Count de Provence, +as he now styles himself, is your sworn enemy, and will do all he +can to bring you to ruin; he is ambitious, and his goal is, to be +the King of France!" + +"King of France? The Count de Provence, the brother of the king, +wants to be his successor, when I, the son of the king, am alive and +demand my inheritance ?" + +"Your demand will not be acknowledged: they will declare that you +are an impostor and a deceiver. Ah, the Count de Provence is a +selfish and a hard character. He means to make his own way, and if +you put hinderances in it, he will put you out of his path, without +compassion and without remorse; trust me for knowing this, who for +three years have been in the immediate neighborhood of the prince. I +was afraid to impart the plan of your escape to the princes, and, +after you were released, I was silent, for a secret is only safe +when a very few are conscious of it. But after the news came last +year from Paris, that the boy who had been placed as your substitute +in the Temple had died, after a long sickness, I ventured to inform +the Count de Lille about the real facts. I told him that I believed +that information I had received might be relied upon, that King +Louis XVII. had been released from the Temple by true and devoted +servants, and was then in a place of safety. Would you like to know +what reply the count made?" + +"I pray you, tell me," responded Louis Charles, with a sigh. + +"He answered me, 'I advise you, cousin, not to put any confidence in +such idle stories, and not to be duped by any sly rogues. My +unfortunate little nephew died in the Temple--that is a fact +acknowledged by the republic, universally believed, and denied by no +one. After long sufferings the son has fallen as a new victim to the +bloodthirsty republicans, and we are still wearing mourning for our +deceased nephew, King Louis XVII. And should any wise-head happen on +the thought of making the dead boy come to life again, I will be the +first to disown him and hold him as an impostor.' Those were the +words of the count, and you will now confess that I am right in +calling him your enemy, and in not daring to communicate to him the +secret of your release?" + +"I grant you," replied the prince, sadly, "I would rather bury the +secret forever." + +"Now, hear me further. A few weeks ago the prince summoned me, and I +saw on his sinister face and in his flashing eyes that he must have +received some unwelcome tidings. He did not make me wait long for +the confirmation of my conjectures. With a sharp, cutting voice he +asked me what kind of a nephew of mine that was whom I was educating +at my palace in Vendee. General de Charette had given him +information through one of his emissaries sending him word that the +report was current in Vendee that this alleged nephew of mine was +the rescued King Louis XVII., whom I had helped release from the +Temple. He, General Charette, had believed it at first. He had +therefore (so the prince went on to say) visited my palace recently, +for the purpose of discovering the supposed young king. There he +convinced himself that the boy bore no resemblance to the little +Louis Charles--whom he had once seen at the Tuileries--and that he +certainly was not the son of Louis XVI." + +"He told me only too truly that he would have his revenge," +whispered the young prince. + +"He has kept his oath, for he has loudly and publicly declared his +belief that Louis XVII. died in the Temple, and he has therefore +administered to his army an oath in favor of King Louis XVIII.--that +is, the Count de Provence. The count himself informed me of this, +and then added, threateningly, 'I advise, you, cousin, either to +acknowledge your young nephew, and treat him openly, or else put him +out of the way. I advise you further, not to let yourself be imposed +upon by adventurers and impostors. It is known that you were among +the most active adherents of Queen Marie Antoinette, and there may +be people who would work on your credulity and make you believe that +the poor little Louis Charles was really released from the Temple. +Do not deny that you parted with much money at that time, and +believed that it was wanted for the purpose of setting the young +King of France free. It was a trap, set in view of your loyalty and +devotion, and you fell into it. But you gave your money to no +effect, the poor, pitiable king could not be saved, and died in the +Temple as a prisoner of the republic. Take care how you trust any +idle stories, for, I tell you, you would never bring me to put +confidence in them. I am now the rightful King of France--I am Louis +XVIII.--and I am resolved not only to declare every pretender who +claims to be Louis XVII. an impostor, but to bring him to punishment +as a traitor. Mark this well, and therefore warn this mysterious +nephew of yours not to venture on playing out his comedy, for it +will assuredly change into tragedy, and end with his death.' These +were the words of the Count de Lille, and now you understand why I +have brought you so suddenly, and so secretly, away from my solitary +palace and have you here." + +"I understand every thing," said Louis Charles, with a sigh; "I +understand, that it would have been better if you had never released +me, and I had died like my father and mother." + +"We must postpone the accomplishment of our hopes," said Conde, +sadly, "for I confess to you, there is little to expect from the +present, and there is no place where you are safe from the +persecutions and the daggers of your enemies. The republicans desire +your death as much as the royalists. In France, two parties threaten +you, and would I now risk every thing, carry you to some European +court and acquaint the sovereign of your arrival, and ask for his +assistance, I should have no credence, for, not the French republic +alone, but the Count de Lille would protest against it, and disavow +you before all Europe. It is, therefore, absolutely necessary, in +order to secure you against your enemies, that you should disappear +for a season, and that we patiently await the time which shall +permit us to bring you back upon the scenes." + +"Do you believe that time will ever come?" asked the little prince, +with a shake of the head. + +"I believe it, and, above every thing, I hope it," replied Conde, +quickly. "The greatest difficulty is to find a place for you to +remain where you may not be suspected, and where yon may be safe +from assault. To my great regret I cannot entertain you here, for my +family are too well known for me to suddenly acknowledge a +legitimate nephew of your age, and the Count de Lille would be the +last to believe it. I confess that it has cost me a great deal of +disquiet and anxious thought to find a secure asylum for you." + +"And do you think you have found one at last?" asked Louis Charles, +indifferently. + +"Yes, I believe so, or rather, I know that I have found one. You +must be taken to a place which no one can suspect as that where you +would be likely to be." + +"And what place is this?" + +"It is called Mayence." + +The boy, who had sat with downcast eyes, perhaps in order not to let +some tears be seen, looked quickly up, and the greatest astonishment +was depicted in his expressive features. + +"Mayence?" he asked. "Is not that a fortress on the Rhine which the +troops of the French republic have taken possession of?" + +"Yes; and the commandant of Mayence, the head of the troops, is +General Kleber, one of the bravest and noblest soldiers of the +French republic." + +"And you, you want to send me to this General Kleber? Ah, my prince, +that would be thrusting me, for the purpose of rescuing me from +persecution, into the very crater of the volcano." + +"It is not so bad as you suppose, my young friend. General Kleber is +at heart a good and true royalist, and although he serves the +republic, he does so because he is first of all a soldier, a soldier +of his country, and because his country now has pressing need of +soldiers to defend the honor and glory of France. I have sent a +trustworthy man to General Kleber to impart this secret to him, and +to ask him for protection, and a place of refuge for you. General +Kleber is ready to grant both, and he has sent his adjutant to +Coblentz to escort his nephew to Mayence. You are that nephew, and +if you give your consent, you will set out at once and go to +Mayence." + +"And if I do not give my consent?" asked Louis Charles, with a +proud, flashing look. + +"I confess," said Conde, with a shrug--"I confess that I am not +prepared for that contingency, and cannot on the instant grasp all +the unfortunate results which would ensue on your refusal." + +"Be calmed, Conde, I do not refuse. I have only this one thing to +care for, to cause no danger, and bring nothing disagreeable to you, +for I see that they are in store for you if I do not disappear again +from view. The son of the king vanished from sight, to appear as the +nephew of Conde; and now the nephew of Conde is to vanish, to emerge +as the nephew of General Kleber. Ah,--who knows but I may yet be the +nephew of Simon the cobbler, preparatory to my last appearance on +the guillotine?" + +"I hope, on the contrary, that on the day when France shall rise +again, you will rise too, the acknowledged son of Louis XVI., and +the heir of the throne of France. At present the republic has sway, +and there is no hope of an immediate change. But that will not last +always; and in the decisive hour, when the monarchy and the republic +come to their last great battle for existence--at that hour you must +appear upon the field, must lift the lilies high in the air, and +summon the royalists to your side in the name of God, and of the +king your father." + +"And what if my uncle, the Count de Provence, then declares me to be +an impostor?" + +"Then you must publicly and solemnly appeal to France, lay the +proofs of your lineage before the nation, summon unimpeachable +witnesses, and demand your throne of the French nation. And believe +me, if the heart of France is compelled to choose between you and +the Count de Provence, it will not choose him, for the count has +never possessed the heart of the people, and God is just." + +"God is just," replied Louis Charles, sadly--"God is just, and yet +the King and Queen of France have perished on the guillotine, and +their brother calls himself King of France, while the son of Louis +XVI. must find shelter with a general of that French republic which +was the enemy of my parents." + +"It is true," said Conde, with a sigh, "it is very difficult at +times to see the justice of God, but we must always hope to see it, +and at length it will reveal itself in all its glory. And the hour +of judgment will come for you. Await it steadfastly and with +patience, and when it is come, call on me, and I will not neglect +your summons, but will support you, and will give you my +recognition. I have all the documents which relate to your flight, +all the testimony given by those who were engaged in assisting you, +and besides this, a detailed account of your flight, subscribed with +my name, and stamped with my seal. I have further the testimony of +the teachers who gave yon instruction at my palace of Chambord, and +the keeper of the palace recorded the day on which you arrived. I am +ready to give you these papers, if you will swear to me that you +will not misuse them, but give them to General Kleber, that he may +preserve them for you." + +"I swear to you that I will do so," said the prince, solemnly. + +Conde handed to him a small and closely-rolled package of papers. +"This contains your future," he said, "and out of these papers I +hope a crown will grow for you. Till then let the republic preserve +them for you. General Kleber is expecting you, and his adjutant is +waiting for you in the next room. Permit me to give you one more +piece of advice: remain steadfast, resist all tempters who would +beguile you with pleasant words to acknowledge yourself King of +France. For be persuaded these tempters are the emissaries of your +enemies, and if you should acknowledge to them that you are King +Louis XVII., you would be writing your own death-warrant. The balls +which I trust will spare the nephew of General Kleber would +certainly pierce the heart of the nephew of Count de Lille. Continue +to deny it as you denied it to General Charette. Swear to me that +you will faithfully keep the secret of your lineage till I release +you from the oath by which I now close your lips, and tell you that +the hour of action and of disclosures is come; swear it to me, in +view of the fidelity which I have shown to you, and which I shall +always be ready to show." + +"You have saved my life," said Louis Charles, solemnly. "My life, +therefore, belongs to you, and I give it into your hands in +swearing, by the memory of my dear parents, and especially my noble +and proud-spirited mother, Queen Marie Antoinette, that I will +faithfully and truly keep the secret of my parentage, and not feel +myself justified in revealing it to the world, till you, the Prince +de Conde, shall have given me permission, and empowered me to do +so." + +"I thank you," said Conde, "for I am now unconcerned about your +immediate future. General Kleber and the French republic will +protect you, for the present, from the dangerous pretender, Count +Lille, and, in God's providence, I trust there will come a day when +France will be prepared to raise the son of its kings to the throne +which belongs to him. Let us hope for this day, and be persuaded +that I shall neglect nothing which will help bring it about. And +now, as we part, I bow my knee to you, my young king; I now +acknowledge you solemnly as the son of my well-beloved cousin, King +Louis XVI., and the rightful heir of the throne of the lilies. May +the spirits of the murdered royal couple, may God and the ear of my +king take note of the oath which I now pronounce. I swear that I +will never acknowledge any other prince as King of France, so long +as you, King Louis XVII., are among the living. I swear that if I +ever break this vow, and acknowledge another King of France, you, +Louis XVII., may accuse me of high-treason, and condemn me to the +death which a traitor deserves. I swear that I will subject myself +to this death-penalty without opposition and complaint. And this I +swear by Almighty God, and by the memory of your royal parents, +whose spirits are with us at this hour." + +"And I, Prince de Conde, I accept your oath," said Louis Charles, +gravely. "I go away now into exile, but I carry your oath with me as +my hope for the future, and may God grant that I shall never be +compelled to remind you of it, but that you will faithfully and +truly keep it. Fare you well! My crown rests in your heart." + +"And in these papers, sire. Deliver them to the brave General +Kleber, and he will preserve them as his most sacred and cherished +possession." + +He kissed the hand of the prince, which was reached out for the +papers, and then hastened to summon the officer, who was waiting in +the adjoining room for the nephew of General Kleber, having no +suspicion what an important mission was intrusted to him. + +But General Kleber knew the secret better, and although not a word +and not an action disclosed it, yet the gentle friendliness, the +mild look, the subdued smile with which the general received his +young nephew in Mayence, testified that he was familiar with the +secret, and knew how to guard it. + +In Mayence, under the care of General Kleber, his nephew, Louis, as +he called him, remained during the subsequent time, and very soon +gained the heart of his uncle, and was his inseparable friend by day +and by night. They slept in one room, they ate at one table. The +nephew accompanied his uncle at all parades and military exercises; +and, in order to make his favorite a skilful soldier, the general +undertook the duties of teacher, gave him instruction in the art of +war, and taught him the more familiar duties of a soldier's life. +The nephew comprehended readily, and pursued zealously the studies +which his uncle assigned him. The pains and sorrows of the past were +forgotten, and only the recollections of his happy child-hood rested +silently at the bottom of his heart like pearls at the bottom of the +sea. + +"When shall I arise from this estate? When will the crown of the +future be linked with these pleasant recollections of the past?" +These were the questions which the growing boy repeated to himself +every morning and every evening. But his lips never uttered them; he +never gave the slightest indication that he was any thing else than +the nephew of General Kleber. The French garrison of Mayence +considered him to be so and no one thought of asking whether he bore +any other name. It sufficed that he was the nephew of the noble, +valiant, and heroic General Kleber. That was the name and rank of +the little prince. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +THE BARON DE EICHEMONT. + + +Thus passed weeks, months, and even years, and on the gloomy horizon +of France arose a new constellation, and from the blood-spotted, +corpse-strewn soil of the French republic sprang an armed warrior--a +solitary one!--but one to whom millions were soon to bow, and who, +like the divinity of battles, was to control the destinies of +nations and of princes. This one solitary man was General Bonaparte, +the same young man who in the first bloody days of the French +Revolution beheld the storm at the Tuileries, and expressed his +regret to his companion--the actor Talma--that the king did not +command his soldiers to mow down the canaille with grape-shot. The +young lieutenant of that day, who had been the friend of the actor, +dividing his loaf and his dinner with him, had now become General +Bonaparte. And this general was serving the same people which as a +lieutenant he had wanted to mow down with grape-shot. At the siege +of Toulon, in the close contests with the allies against the +republic and in the Italian campaign of 1794, Bonaparte has so +distinguished himself that the eyes of the French government were +already directed to him, and no one could be surprised at the action +of General Beauharnais' widow, the fair Josephine, in giving her +hand to the young and extraordinary man. This marriage had not only +brought happiness to Bonaparte, but it satisfied his ambition. +Josephine was the friend of Barras and Tallien, the chief +magistrates of the republic at that time, and through her influence +the young Bonaparte was sent to Italy to assume the chief command of +the French army there. A general of twenty-six years to have the +direction of an army, whose four corps were commanded by Generals +Massena, Augereau, Serrurier, and La Harpe! The father of Junot, the +late Duke de Abrantes, wrote at that time to his son, who was with +the French army in Italy: "Who is this General Bonaparte? Where has +he served? Does anybody know any thing about him?" And Junot, who +was then the faithful friend and the admirer of Bonaparte, replied +to his father: "You ask me who General Bonaparte is. I might answer, +in order to know who he is, you must be he. I can only say to you +that, so far as I am able to judge him, he is one of those men with +whom Nature groans, and only brings forth in a century." + +Had Junot not replied to his father, the deeds of the young general +would soon have done so. Presently, in all France, in all Italy, +yes, in all Europe, there was not a man who could ask, "Who is +General Bonaparte?" His name was in every mouth, and the soldiers +adored the man who had stood victoriously at their head at Lodi and +Milan, and borne the banner forward amid the murderous shower of +balls at the bridge of Arcoli. Diplomatists and statesmen wondered +at him who had taken Venice, and compelled proud and hated Austria +to make peace with the French republic, which had brought Marie +Antoinette to the scaffold. The republicans and the Directory of the +republic feared Bonaparte, because they recognized an enemy of the +republic in him, and dreaded his growing power and increasing +renown. + +On this account General Bonaparte was recalled from the Italian army +after peace had been made with Austria, and he returned to Paris. +Still he was so feared that the Directory of the republic, in order +to remove him, and at the same time to give occupation to his active +spirit and his splendid abilities, proposed to Bonaparte to go with +an army to Egypt, and extend the glory of France to the distant +East. + +Bonaparte entered with all his fiery nature into this idea which +Barras and Talleyrand had sought to inveigle him into, and all his +time, his thoughts, and his energies were directed to the one +purpose, to fit himself out with every thing that should be needful +to bring to a victorious end a long and stubborn war in a foreign +land. A strong fleet was collected, and Bonaparte, as the commander +of the many thousands who were to go to Egypt under him, called to +his aid the most skilful, valiant, and renowned generals of the +French army. + +It could not fail that one of the first and most eminent of these +was General Kleber, and, of course, his young adjutant and nephew +Louis accompanied him. + +On the 19th of April, 1798, the French fleet left the harbor of +Toulon, and sailed toward the East, for, as Bonaparte said, "Only in +the Orient are great realms and great deeds--in the Orient, where +six hundred millions of men live." + +But these six hundred millions have no army such as the French is, +no commander like Bonaparte, no generals like Murat, Junot, Desaix, +and, above all, Kleber. + +Kleber was the second in command. He shared his perils, he shared +his victories, and with him was united his nephew Louis, a youth of +fourteen years, who, from his tall, slim figure, his gravity, and +his ready understanding, would have passed at least for a youth of +eighteen, and who, trained in the school of misfortune, belonged to +those early-matured natures which destiny has steeled, that they may +courageously contend with and gain the victory over destruction. + +It was on the morning of the 3d of July. The French army had +disembarked, and stood not far from Alexandria, on the ancient +sacred soil of Egypt. Whatever was done must be done quickly, for +Nelson was approaching with a fleet, prepared to contend with the +French for the possession of Alexandria. Should the city not be +taken before the arrival of the English fleet, the victory would be +doubtful. Bonaparte knew this well. "Fortune gives us three days' +time at the most," cried he, "and if we do not use them we are +lost!" + +But he did use them! With fearful rapidity the disembarkation of the +troops was effected; with fearful rapidity the French army arranged +itself on Egyptian soil in three divisions, under Morand, Bon, and +Kleber. Above them all was he whose head had conceived the gigantic +undertaking, he whose heroic spirit comprehended the whole. This was +Bonaparte. + +After inspecting all the army and issuing his orders, he rode up the +hill in company with his staff to the pillar of Pompey, in order to +observe from that point the course of events. The army was advancing +impetuously, and soon the city built by Alexander the Great must +open its gates to his successor, Bonaparte the Great. + +After a short respite, the army advanced farther into the land of +the pyramids. "Remember," cried Bonaparte to his soldiers, pointing +to those monuments--"remember that forty centuries look down upon +you." + +And the pyramids of the great plain of Cairo beheld the glorious +deeds and victories of the French army, beheld the overthrow of the +Egyptian host. The Nile murmured with its blood-red waves the death- +song of the brave Mamelukes, and the "forty centuries" which looked +down from the pyramids were obliterated by the glorious victories +that Bonaparte gained at the foot of those sacred monuments. A new +epoch was to begin. The old epoch was buried for Egypt, and out of +the ruins of past centuries a new Egypt was to be born, an Egypt +which was to serve France and be tributary to it as a vassal. + +This was Bonaparte's plan, and he did every thing to bring it to +completion. He passed from battle to battle, from victory to +victory, and after conquering Egypt and taking up his residence in +Cairo, he at once began to organize the newly-won country, and to +introduce to the idle and listless East the culture of the earnest +and progressive West. But Egypt would not accept the treasures of +culture at the hand of its conqueror. It rose again and again in +rebellion against the power that held it down, and hurled its +flaming torches of revenge against the hated enemy. A token of this +may be seen in the dreadful revolt at Cairo, which began in the +night of the 20th of October, and, after days of violence, ended +with the cruel cutting down of six thousand Mamelukes. A proof of it +may be seen in the constantly renewed attacks of swarms of Bedouins +and Mamelukes on the French army. These hordes advanced even to the +gates of Cairo, and terrified the population, which had at last +taken refuge beneath the foot of the conqueror. But Bonaparte +succeeded in subjugating the hostile Bedouin tribes, as he had +already subjugated the population of the cities. He sent one of his +adjutants, General Croisier, with a corps of brave soldiers, into +the desert to meet the emir of the hostile tribes, and Croisier won +respect for the commands of his general. He succeeded in taking +captive the whole body. A fearful sentence was inflicted on them. +Before the eyes of their wives, their children, and their mothers, +all the men of the tribe, more than five hundred in number, were +killed and their heads put into sacks. The howling and weeping women +and children were driven to Cairo. Many perished of hunger on the +road, or died beneath the sabre-blows of their enemies; but more +than a thousand succeeded in reaching Cairo. They were obliged to +encamp upon the great square El Bekir, in the heart of Cairo, till +the donkeys arrived which bore the dreadful spoils of victory in +blood-dripping bags upon their backs. The whole population of Cairo +was summoned to this gigantic square, and was obliged to look on +while the sacks were opened and the bloody heads rolled out upon the +sacred soil of Egypt. + +After this time quiet reigned for a season. Horror had brought the +conquered into subjection, and Bonaparte could continue his +victorious course. He withdrew to Syria, taking with him Kleber and +Kleber's young adjutant, the little Louis. He saw the horrors of +war; he was there, the son of the Kings of France, when the army of +the republic conquered the cities El Arish and Gaza; he took part by +the side of Kleber in the storming of Jaffa. He was there when the +captured Jaffa had to open its gates to the victors. He was there +when, in the great caravansary, four thousand Turkish soldiers +grounded their arms and surrendered themselves as prisoners, after +receiving the promise that their lives should be spared. He was +there, too, the son of Marie Antoinette, when the unfortunates were +driven down to the sea-coast and shot, in order that their enemies +might be rid of them. He was there, the son of Louis XVI., when +Bonaparte visited the pest-house in Jaffa; he walked through the +sick-rooms at the side of his uncle Kleber, who noticed how the face +of the young man, which had so often been calm in meeting death on +the battle-field or in the storm of assault, now quivered, and the +paleness of death swept over his cheeks. + +"What was the matter, my son?" asked Kleber, as he returned home +from this celebrated visit to the pest-house. "Why did you turn pale +all at once, Louis?" + +"General," responded Louis, perplexed, "I know not how to answer." + +"You ought not to have gone with me to the hospital," said Kleber, +shaking his head. "You know I did not want you to go at first; but +you insisted on it, and begged and implored so long that at last I +had to yield and let you accompany us. But, I confess it myself, it +was a dreadful sight, these sick people with their swollen bodies +covered with blood and running sores. I understand now why you +trembled and turned pale--you were afraid of this dreadful +sickness?" + +"No, general," answered Louis, softly--"no, I have no fear. Did you +not notice that I sprang forward and assisted General Bonaparte, +when he lifted up the poor sick man who lay on the floor before the +door, and that I helped carry him into the room?" + +"I saw it, Louis, and I was much pleased with your courage, and was +therefore surprised afterward when you turned pale and trembled, and +I saw tears in your eyes. What agitated you all at once so much?" + +The young man slowly raised his head and looked at Kleber with his +great blue eyes. "General," he said, softly, "I myself do not know +what agitated me so much. We were both standing before the bed of a +sick man, to whom I handed a pitcher of water which he begged for +earnestly. He fixed his great eyes upon me, and his quivering lips +murmured: 'God bless you! all saints and angels protect you!' As he +spoke these words, there resounded in my heart the echo of a time +long since past. It seemed to me as if suddenly a dark curtain +parted, and I looked as in a dream at a wondrous, brilliant +spectacle. I saw a beautiful and dignified woman of princely figure, +of noble, majestic nature. With her I saw two children, a girl and a +boy, whom she led by the hand, and with whom she walked through a +long hall which was filled with rows of beds. And as she walked +there, it seemed as if the sun lightened up the dismal hall, and +illumined the pale faces of the sick ones. They raised themselves up +in their beds and extended their thin, emaciated hands to the tall +lady, and thanked her with earnest blessings for her visit and her +comforting words. There was only one of the patients who did not +rise, but lay stiff upon his bed and moaned and sighed and whispered +unintelligible words, which no one heeded, because the attention of +all was fixed upon the great visitor. But the boy who was walking by +the side of the tall lady had understood the sobs of the sick one. +He left his mother, took the jug which stood upon a table between +two beds, filled a glass with water from it, and held it to the dry, +quivering lips of the sick one. He drank greedily, and then fixed +his eyes upon the boy and lisped the words: 'God bless you! all +saints and angels protect you!' And all the people repeated aloud: +'God bless you, all saints and angels protect you!' The dignified +lady stooped with a heavenly smile to her son, pressed a tender kiss +upon his golden locks, and repeated the same words aloud. This, +general, was the fantasy which suddenly appeared before my eyes when +the patient spoke those words to-day. It seemed to me as if I +perceived all at once a long-silent song of home. I heard the +wonderful voice of the exalted lady who spoke those words. It seemed +to me as if I felt the kiss which she then imprinted on the head of +the five-year-old boy, felt it to my inmost heart, and it glowed +there with the fire of an undying love, and shook my whole being, +and filled my eyes with tears. You will not chide me for that, +general, for those were the lips of my mother who pressed that kiss +of blessing on her unhappy son." + +He ceased, tears choked his utterance, and, as if ashamed of his +deep emotion, he hid his face in his hands. + +General Kleber turned away too, and put his hand over his eyes, as +though a film had come over them. Then, after a long pause he gently +laid his hand upon the shoulder of the young man, who was still +sitting with covered face. + +"Such memories are holy," he said, "and I honor them, my dear, +faithful son. May the blessing which then fell from the lips of a +woman whom I too knew and honored, but whose name may never be +spoken between us, may it be fulfilled to you! May angels and saints +protect you when men shall no longer have the power, and when fate +shall separate you from those who have devoted their love and +fidelity to you!" + +The youth let his hands fall from his face, and looked at the +general with a startled, searching glance. + +"What do you mean, uncle? You do not mean to say that--" + +"That we must part? Yes, my dear nephew, that is what I must say," +interrupted Kleber, sadly. "This word has long been burning in my +soul, and it is necessary that I speak it. Yes, we must part, +Louis." + +"Why, oh why?" asked Louis, bitterly. "Why will you too drive me +away? You, the only one who loves me a little!" + +"Exactly because I love you--exactly for that reason must I separate +myself from you. Since we came to Egypt you have been sickly, your +cheeks have become pale. The fulness of your limbs has gone, and the +dry and hard cough that troubles you every morning has long made me +anxious, as you know. On that account, after all the appliances of +my physician failed, I applied, as you know, to the physician of the +commanding general, to Corvisart, and he has subjected you to a +thorough examination." + +"It is true," said Louis, thoughtfully, "he has investigated me with +the carefulness of a merchant who is about to buy a slave and means +to test him. He made a hearing-trumpet of his ear and laid it on my +breast, and listened while I had to breathe as if I were a volcano. +He put his ear to my heart, he told me that his father had been +physician at the French court, and that the murdered queen had a +great deal of confidence in him, and then he wondered that my heart +beat so violently while he told me this." + +"And the result of all these investigations is, that you must return +to Europe, Louis," said Kleber, sadly. "Corvisart had declared it an +unavoidable necessity for your constitution, and the command of the +physician must be obeyed as if it were the command of God. You +cannot endure the climate of Egypt, so says Corvisart, and if your +life is not to be shortened and you to be made a perpetual invalid, +you must return to Europe as quickly as possible, for only there +will you recover and grow strong. You see therefore, Louis, that I +must separate from you, although it is a sore thing for me to do, +for I love you as my own son, and I have no one in the world who is +nearly related to me." + +"And I, whom else have I in the world?" asked Louis, bitterly. "Who +has interest in me excepting you? Ah, general, do not drive me from +you. Believe me, it is better for me if for a few short and happy +years I live at your side, and then breathe my last sigh in your +faithful and tender arms, than if I have to wander solitary and +friendless through the strange, cold world, where no one loves me, +and where I shall always be surrounded by enemies, or by those who +are indifferent. It may be that my body will gain health and +strength in the air of Europe, but my heart will always be sick +there, for it will lose its home when it shall have lost you, my +fatherly friend." + +General Kleber slowly shook his head. "In youth one sorrows and +forgets it quickly." + +"General, do you say that to me, after seeing me weep in the +hospital because the word of a dying man called back the +recollection of my earliest childhood? Oh, believe me, my heart +forgets its sorrows never, and if I must return to France, to Paris, +it will seem to me as if I had always to be climbing the hill of +Calvary with bloody feet to reach the top where I might perish on +the cross. For, believe me, general, my whole life will be nothing +but such a wandering through scenes of pain if you drive me from the +refuge that your love has offered me. Leave me here, let me live in +secrecy and silence beneath the pinions of your love, and do not +believe what the physicians tell you. Man's life lies in the hands +of God, and if He will sustain it, it is as safe in the deserts of +Egypt as in Paris, the capital of the world." + +"Because God will sustain your life, Louis, for that very reason, He +instructs me, through the voice of the physician, what my duty is, +bids me conquer my own grief, and send the son of my heart to his +distant home. No, Louis, it is a decided thing, we must part; you +must return to France." + +"And if it is true," asked Louis, bitterly, "if I am then really to +return to France, why must we part? Why must I return without you? +Why, if you really love me, do you not accompany me? I heard you say +yesterday that several ships, with a part of our troops, were to +return to France. Why, then, can you not go back with me?" + +"Why?" asked Kleber, sadly. "I will tell you, Louis: because +Bonaparte will not allow it. Listen, my son, I will communicate a +secret to you: there has news come within the last few days, the +first that we have received for ten months. The newspapers which +have arrived bring very unwelcome intelligence; they inform us that +all the advantages gained in Italy by the French army have been +lost--that France is arrayed against Austria, Spain, and all the +European powers--that the French Government is threatened by +internal factions, which threaten to bring back the reign of terror. +I watched Bonaparte's face as he read these papers, and I saw there +what he was resolved to do. He will, as soon as he shall gain one +more great victory, leave Egypt and return to France." + +"He will not return without you, the faithfulest and boldest of his +generals. You know well that you are called the right-hand man of +Bonaparte." + +"Bonaparte means to show the world that he is not only the head, but +the right arm too, the heart, the foot, the soul of the French army! +And because he means to show this, he will return alone to France; +only a few of his faithful subordinates will accompany him; the men +who might even oppose him, and put hinderances in the path of his +growing ambition, will remain here. Now do you believe that +Bonaparte will select me to accompany him?" + +The young man let his head fall slowly on his breast. "No," he said, +softly, "no, I do not believe he will." + +"And I know he will not," replied Kleber. "I shall remain here in +Egypt, and die here! Hush! Do not contradict me; there are +presentiments which do not mislead us, and which God sends to us, +that we may shape our course by them, and set our house in order. My +house is set in order--my will is made; I have given it to +Bonaparte, and he has solemnly sworn to carry it into execution in +all respects. Only one care is left me--to provide for your +immediate future, and to arrange that yon may reach France." + +"You adhere to this?" asked Louis, sadly. + +"Yes, I abide by this; you must not run away from your own future, +and this will, I trust, be a brilliant one. All tokens indicate that +France is wearied with the republic, and that it is perhaps nearly +ready to restore the throne of the Lilies. Young man, shall this +reestablished throne fall into the hands of that man who contributed +so much to its downfall--who was the calumniator, the secret enemy +of Queen Marie Antoinette? Would you consent that the Count de +Provence should be King of France?" + +"No, never!" cried Louis, with blazing eyes and naming face. "That +never can be; for, before the brother of Louis XVI. can ascend the +throne as Louis XVIII., his rightful predecessor, Louis XVII., must +have died." + +"He has died, and the French government has placed in its archives +the certificate of the death of Louis Charles Capet, signed by the +physicians and the servants of the Temple. My son, in order to +prevent the Count de Provence acknowledging this certificate as +genuine, you must be prepared to place before him and the world +other testimonials that Louis XVII. is not dead. This is a sacred +offering which you must make to the manes of the unfortunate Marie +Antoinette, even if the stake were not a throne and a crown!" + +"You are right," cried Louis, with enthusiasm, "my whole life shall +be devoted to this sacred trust; it shall have no other aim than +this: to avenge Marie Antoinette of the most cruel of her enemies, +the Count de Provence, and to place the son, whom, after the death +of her husband, she acknowledged as King of France, on the throne +which really belongs to him, and not to the Count de Provence! You +are right, general, I must return to Europe; I must carry to Prance +the papers which show that Louis XVII. did not die in the Temple, +but was released. I am ready to go, and to endure the pain of +parting from you." + +"May God grant that we may both be compensated for this pain!" +replied Kleber, embracing the young man tenderly. "There remain to +us a few weeks to be together. Let us use them so that they shall +afford us many cheerful recollections. Bonaparte will not leave +Egypt before adding one more glory to his reputation. He does not +mean to return to France as the conquered, but as the conqueror!" + +General Kleber was right. He knew Bonaparte sufficiently well to be +able to read his countenance; he understood the dumb speech of the +Caesar of the age. + +Bonaparte wanted to gain one great battle, in order to return to +Europe with glory. He gained it at Aboukir, winning the day in a +contest with the united Turks and English--one of the most signal +victories that he had ever won. Eight thousand prisoners were taken +on that 21st of July, 1799. Four thousand lay dead upon the battle- +field, and as many were sunk in the captured and destroyed ships of +the English. On the day after the battle the foam of the waves was +tipped with blood along the shore. + +Bonaparte himself conducted the whole battle, and personally gained +the victory. At the moment when the contest seemed doubtful, he +assumed command of a cavalry regiment, advanced upon the Turkish +pacha, and by his heroic courage kindled all the army afresh. Even +General Kleber could not disguise his admiration of the hero of +Aboukir; and when, at the close of the battle, he met Bonaparte on +the field, he embraced him with passionate tenderness. "General," he +cried, with enthusiasm, "you are as great as the world; but the +world is not great enough for you!" [Footnote: Denon, Mtooires, vol. +i., p. 349.] + +The victory that Bonaparte desired was thus won, and he could return +with honor to Prance. He made secret preparations for his journey +thither, fitting up two ships, which were to carry him and his +companions. The army was to hear of his departure only after he had +gone; but, much as he desired to keep the thing secret, there were +some who had to know of it, and among them, happily, was General +Kleber. Bonaparte had chosen him as his successor, and therefore he +must be informed respecting the condition of affairs before the head +of the army should withdraw. On the same day when this communication +took place, Kleber repaired to General Desaix, who was his intimate +friend, and from whom he learned that he was to be one of +Bonaparte's companions on the return. The two generals had a +prolonged secret interview, and at the close of it they both went to +Kleber's house, and entered the room of his adjutant Louis. General +Desaix bowed with great deference to the young man, who, blushing at +the honor which so distinguished a general paid him, extended his +hand to him. Desaix pressed a kiss upon it, and from his eyes, +unused to tears, there fell a drop upon the young man's hand. + +"General," cried Louis, in amazement, "what are you doing?" + +"I am paying my homage to misfortune and to the past," said Desaix, +solemnly, "and the tear which I drop on your hand is the seal of my +fidelity and silence in the future. Young man, I swear to you that I +will cherish your secret in my heart as a hallowed treasure, and +will defend with my life's blood the papers which your uncle, +General Kleber, has intrusted to my care this day. I am a soldier of +the republic, I have pledged my fidelity to her, and must and shall +keep it. I cannot become a partisan; but I shall always be the +protector of misfortune, and a helper in time of need. Trust me in +this, and accept me as your friend." + +"I do accept you, general," said Louis, gently, "and if I do not +promise to love you just as tenderly as I love my uncle, General +Kleber, who has been to me father, brother, and protector, and to +whom I owe every thing, yet, I can assure you, that, after him, +there is no one whom I will love as I shall you, and there is no one +in Europe who can contend with you for my love. I am very poor in +friends, and yet I feel that my heart is rich in love that no one +desires now." + +"Preserve that possession well, my son," said Kleber, as he took +leave of his son, and laid his hand on the head of the young man. +"Preserve your heart tender and loving, for if Fate is just, it may +one day be for the advantage of a whole nation that you are so, and +the heart of the man be the mediator between the people and its +king! Farewell, my son; we see each other to-day for the last time, +for in this very hour you will go to your ship with Desaix. It may +be that the ships will sail this very night, and if so, well! A +quick and unlooked-for separation mitigates the pains of parting. +You will soon have overcome them, and when you reach Paris, the past +will sink behind you into the sea." + +"Never, oh, never!" cried Louis, with emotion. "I shall never forget +my benefactor, my second father!" + +"My son, one easily forgets in Paris, and especially when he goes +thither for the purpose of creating a new future out of the ruins of +the past! But I shall never forget you; and if my presentiment +should not deceive me, and I should soon die, you will learn after +my death that I have loved you as a son. Now go, and I say to you, +as another loved voice once said to you, and as the sick and the +dying once repeated it to you, 'God bless you! All saints and angels +protect you!'" + +They remained locked in their tender embrace, and then parted--never +to meet again! + +That very night, before the morning began to dawn, General Desaix +started, accompanied by his adjutant Louis, and a few servants. +Their first goal was Alexandria, whither the command of General +Bonaparte summoned them and a few others. + +The proposed journey of the commanding general was still a carefully +concealed secret, and the divan in Cairo had merely been informed +that Bonaparte was planning to undertake a short journey in the +Delta. + +On the 22d of August, 1799, an hour after midnight, two French +frigates left the harbor of Alexandria. On board of one of them was +Bonaparte, the emperor of the future;--on the other was Louis +Charles, the king of the past. Nameless and unknown, the descendant +of the monarchs of France, with his sixteen years, returned to +France --to France, that seemed no longer to remember its past, its +kings, and to have no thoughts, no love, no admiration for aught +excepting that new, brilliant constellation which had arisen over +France-Bonaparte. + +He had returned from Egypt to regain Italy, but he found other work +awaiting him in Paris. This he brought to completion with the energy +and boldness which characterized all his dealings. By a prompt +stroke he put an end to the constitution which had prevailed till +then, abrogated the Convention and the Council of Five Hundred, and +gave the French republic a new constitution, putting at the head of +the government three consuls, Sieyes, Roger Ducos, and himself. But +these three consuls were intended to be a mere transition, a mere +step forward in the victorious march of Bonaparte. After a few weeks +they were superseded, and Bonaparte became the First Consul and the +head of France. + +On the 25th of December, 1799, France hailed General Bonaparte as +the First Consul of the French republic. A new century was dawning, +and with the beginning of this new century the gates of the +Tuileries, the deserted palace of kings, opened to a new possessor. +Bonaparte, the First Consul, took up his residence there; and in the +first spring of the new century the consul, accompanied by +Josephine, removed to St. Cloud for summer quarters. The park of +Queen Marie Antoinette was given by the French nation to the First +Consul; and in the apartments where the queen with her son Louis +Charles and her daughter Theresa once dwelt, Josephine, with her son +Eugene and her daughter Hortense, now abode. + +"I would I had remained in Egypt," sighed the dauphin often, when in +the silence and solitude of his apartment he surrendered himself to +his recollections and dreams. "It had been better to die young in a +foreign land, while all the stars of hope were beaming above me, +than to protract a miserable, obscure life here, and see all the +stars fade out one by one!" + +Yes, the stars of hope were paling one by one for the son of King +Louis. No one thought of him, no one believed in him. He had died in +the Temple, that was all that any one wanted to know. The dead was +lamented by all, the living would have been unwelcome to any. He had +died and been buried, little King Louis XVII., and no one spoke of +him more. + +The only subject of men's talk was the glory and greatness of the +First Consul. The beauty and grace of Josephine were celebrated in +the same halls which had once resounded with the praises of fair +Queen Marie Antoinette. The half million lovers who had once bowed +to Marie were now devoted to Josephine, and paid their homage to her +with the same enthusiasm with which they had before worshipped the +queen. The son of the general who once had given the oath of +fidelity to King Louis XVI., the son of General Beauharnais, is now +the adopted son of the ruler of France; while the son of the king +must secrete himself and remain without name, rank, and title. It is +his good fortune that Desaix is there to pity the forsaken one, and +to give him a place in his home and his heart. No one else knows +him; he is the adjutant of General Desaix, that is his only rank and +title. + +But he still remained the nephew of General Kleber, who had been +left in Egypt, and who, at the end of the century, gained a decisive +victory at Heliopolis over the Turks and Mamelukes. He remained the +nephew of General Kleber, and at the end of the year 1800 the +frigate l'Aigle, on its return from Egypt, brought a great packet +for General Desaix. It contained many papers of value, many rolls of +gold-pieces, besides gems and pearls. But; it also contained a +sealed black document directed to the adjutant of General Desaix. +This document contained the will of Kleber, commander-in-chief of +the French army in Egypt. He had given it to General Menou, together +with his papers and valuables, with the intimation that directly +after his death they should all be sent to General Desaix in France. +General Menou followed this instruction, for Kleber was dead. The +murderous bullet of a Mameluke killed him on the 14th of June, 1800. +His will was the last evidence of his love for his nephew Louis, +whom he designated as his only heir, and Kleber was rich through +inherited wealth as well as the spoils of war. + +But Louis Charles took no satisfaction, and it made no impression on +him, when Desaix informed him that he was the possessor of a +million. "A million! What shall I do with it?" answered Louis, +sadly. "Were it a million soldiers, and I might put myself at their +head and with them storm the Tuileries and make my entrance into St. +Cloud, I should consider myself fortunate. But what advantage to me +are a million of francs? I can begin nothing with them; I should +have to establish a store and perhaps have the custom of the First +Consul of the republic!" + +"Hush! young man, hush!" replied Desaix, "you are bitter and sad, +and I understand it, for the horizon is dark for you, and offers you +no cheerful prospect; but a million francs is a good thing +notwithstanding, and one day you will know how to prize it. This +million of francs makes you a rich man, and a rich man is a free and +independent man. If you do not wish to live longer as a soldier, you +have the power to give up your commission and live without care, and +that is something. My next business will be to assure you your +fortune against all the uncertainties of the future, which are the +more to be guarded against, as we are soon to advance into Italy +again for the next campaign. I can, therefore, not put your property +and your papers into your hands, for they constitute your future, +and we must deposit them with some one with whom they shall be safe, +and that must be with a man of peace. Do you know who this man is?" + +"I know no one, general, excepting yourself," replied Louis, with a +shrug, "whom I should dare to trust." + +"But, fortunately, I know an entirely reliable man; shall I tell you +who he is?" + +"Do so, I beg you, general." + +"His name is Fouche." + +Louis started, and a deathly paleness covered his cheeks. + +"Fouche, the chief of police! Fouche, the traitor, who gave his +voice in the Convention for the death of King Louis--to him, the red +republican, a man of blood and treachery, do you want to convey my +papers and my property?" + +"Yes, Louis, for with him alone are they secure. Fouche will protect +you, and will stand by you with just as much zeal as he once +displayed in the persecution of the royal family. I know him well, +and I vouch for him. Men must not always be judged by their external +appearance. He who shows himself our enemy to-day, lends us to- +morrow, it may be, a helpful arm, and becomes our friend, sometimes +because his heart has been changed, and sometimes because his +character is feeble. I cannot with certainty say which of these +reasons has determined Fouche, but I am firmly convinced that he +will be a protector and a friend to you, and that in no hands will +your property and your papers be safer than in his." [Footnote: +Desaix's own words--See "Memoires du Due de Nonuandie," p. 61.] + +Louis made no reply; he dropped his head with a sigh, and submitted. + +On, in the new century, rolled the victorious car of Bonaparte, down +the Alps, into the fertile plains of Italy. The conqueror of Lodi +and Arcole meant to take revenge on the enemies who had snatched +back the booty--revenge on Austria, who had broken the peace of +Campo Formio. And he did take this revenge at Marengo, where, on the +14th of June, he gained a brilliant victory over Austria, and won +all Italy as the prize of the battle. + +But the day was purchased at a sacrifice. General Desaix paid with +his death for his impetuous onset. In the very thick of the fight, +mortally wounded by a ball, he fell into the arms of his adjutant +Louis, and only with extreme peril could the latter, himself +wounded, bear the general away from the melee, and not. be trampled +to death by the horses of his own soldiers. + +Poor Louis Charles! He now stood entirely alone--the last friend had +left him. Death had taken away every thing, parents, crown, home, +name, friends. He was alone, all alone in the world--no man to take +any interest in him, no one to know who he was. + +Sunk in sadness, he remained in Alessandria after the battle of +Marengo, and allowed his external wound to heal, while the internal +one continued to bleed. He cursed death, because it had not taken +him, while removing his last friend. + +And when the wound was healed, what should he do?--under what name +and title should he be enrolled in the army? His only protector was +dead, and the adjutant was reported to have died with him. He put +off the uniform which he had worn as the soldier of the republic +which had destroyed his throne and his inheritance, and, in simple, +unpretending garments, he returned to Paris, an unknown young man. + +Desaix was right; it was, indeed, something to possess a million of +francs. Poor as he was in love and happiness, this million of francs +made him at least a free and independent man, and therefore he would +demand his inheritance of him whom he formerly shunned because he +was one of the murderers of his father. + +Fouche received the young man exactly as Desaix had expected. He +showed himself in the light of a sympathizing protector; he was +touched with the view of this youth, whose countenance was the +evidence of his lineage, the living picture of the unfortunate Louis +XVI., whom Fouche had brought to the scaffold. Perhaps this man of +blood and the guillotine had compunctions of conscience; perhaps he +wanted to atone to the son for his injuries to the parents; perhaps +he was planning to make of the son of the Bourbons a check to the +ambitious consul of the republic; perhaps to humiliate the grasping +Count de Lille, who was intriguing at all the European courts for +the purpose of raising armies against the French republic. The son +of Louis XVI. could be employed as a useful foil to all these +political manoeuvres, and subsequently he could either be publicly +acknowledged, or denounced as an impostor, as circumstances might +determine. + +At present it suited the plans of the crafty Fouche to acknowledge +him, and to assume the attitude of a protector. He put on a very +respectful and sympathetic air to the poor solitary youth; with +gentle, tremulous voice he called him your Majesty; he begged his +pardon for the past; he spoke with such deep emotion and so solemn a +tone of the good, great, and gentle Louis XVI., that the heart of +the son was powerfully touched. And when Fouche, with flaming words +of enthusiasm, began to speak of the noble, unhappy Queen Marie +Antoinette, when with glowing eloquence he celebrated her beauty and +her gentleness in time of good-fortune, her greatness and +steadfastness in ill-fortune, all the anger of the young man melted +in the tears of love which he poured out as he remembered his +mother. + +"I forgive you, Fouche; yes, I forgive you," he cried, extending +both his hands. "I see plainly the power of political faction +hurried you away; but your heart cannot be bad, for you love my +noble mother. I forgive you, and I trust you." + +Fouche, deeply moved, sank upon his knee before the dauphin, and +called himself one of his loyal subjects, and promised to take all +means to restore the young king to the throne of his fathers. He +conjured Louis to trust him, and to enter upon no plan without +asking his counsel. + +Louis promised this. He told Fouche that he was the only man who had +talked with him about the past without using ambiguous language; +that he was surprised at this, and compelled to recognize as true +what formerly had been fettered on his tongue. He told him that he +had promised his rescuer, with a solemn oath, never to acknowledge +himself as the son of Louis XVI., and King of France, till this +rescuer and benefactor empowered him to do so, and released him from +his vow of silence. He made it, therefore, the first condition of +his confidence that Fouche should disclose his secret to no one, but +carry it faithfully in his own breast. + +Fouche promised all, and took a sacred oath that he would never +reveal the secret confided to him by the King of France. But he +confessed at the same time that the First Consul knew very well that +the son of the king had been released from the Temple, and that +among the posthumous papers of Kleber there was a letter directed to +Bonaparte, stating that he, Kleber, knew very well that the little +Capet was still living, and imploring Bonaparte to restore the +orphan to the throne of the Lilies. The consul had, therefore, +quietly, made investigations, and learned that Louis had taken part +as the adjutant of General Desaix in the battle of Marengo, that he +had been wounded there, and remained in the hospital of Alessandria +till his recovery. Since then all trace of the young man had been +lost, and he had commissioned Fouche to discover the adjutant of +Kleber and Desaix and bring him to him. + +"You will not do that?" cried Louis, eagerly; "you will not disclose +me?" + +"Are you afraid of him?" asked Fouche, with a suspicious smile. + +The young man blushed, and a cloud passed over his clear forehead. + +"Fear!" he replied with a shrug. "The sons of my ancestors have no +fear; and I have shown on the battle-fields of Aboukir and Marongo, +and in the pest-houses of Jaffa, that I know not the word. But when +one meets a blood-thirsty lion in his path he turns out of the way, +and when a tiger extends its talons at one he flies; that is the +duty of self-preservation, and not the flight of a coward." + +"Do you believe, then, that this lion thirsts for royal blood?" + +"I believe that he thirsts for royal rank, and that he will neglect +no means to vanquish all hinderances that might intervene between +himself and the throne. Do you believe, sir, that the man who, after +the battle of Aboukir, sentenced five thousand prisoners to death, +would hesitate a moment to take the life of a poor, defenceless +young man such as I am? He would beat me into the dust as the lion +does the flea which dares to play with his mane." + +"It appears you know this aon very well," said Fouche with a smile, +"and I really believe you judge him rightly. But be without concern. +He shall not know from me that I am aware of you and your abiding- +place. In order that Bonaparte shall not take me to be a bad +detective, I shall show him in all other things that I am on the +alert. In case of necessity, it may be that I shall have to resort +to deception, and, in order to save your life, inform the consul +that you are dead. There were a great many young officers who fell +at Marengo, or afterward died as the result of their wounds. Why +should not the adjutant of General Desaix have met this fate? Yes, I +believe this will be the best. I will give you out as dead, in order +to save your life. I will cause a paper to be prepared which shall +testify that the adjutant of General Desaix, who lay there in the +hospital, died there of his wounds and was buried." + +"And so I shall disappear from life a second time?" asked Louis, +sadly. + +"Yes, sire, in order to enter anew upon it with greater splendor," +replied Fouche, eagerly. + +"Who knows whether this shall ever be?" sighed Louis. "How shall I +be able to establish my identity if I die and am buried twice? Who +will be my pledge that I shall be able to convince men that I am not +a deceiver, and that my whole existence is not an idle tale? There +are only a few who know and believe that little Capet escaped from +the Temple, and went to Egypt as Kleber's adjutant. If, now, these +few learn that the adjutant fell in battle, if the paper that +testifies to his death is laid before them, how shall I subsequently +be believed if I announce that I am alive, and that I am the one for +whom I give myself out? The seal of royalty is impressed on no man's +brow, and we know from history that there have been false +pretenders." + +"You shall show with your papers that you are none such," said +Fouche, eagerly, "and God will grant that I, too, shall be living +when the time shall be in which you may come forward with raised +voice and demand your inheritance and your throne. Hope for that +time, and meanwhile preserve your papers well. Carry them always +with you, part with them neither day nor night, for in these papers +rest your future and your c rown. No other man besides yourself can +take care of them These papers are worth more to you than a million +of fras, although oven that should not be scorned. Here are the +documents that give you possession of your wealth. I have deposited +your funds in the Bank of France, and you can draw out money at any +time by presenting these checks that I give you, simply writing your +name upon them." + +"By simply writing my name upon them!" cried Louis, bitterly. "But, +sir, what is my name? How shall I be called? I was formerly +designated as the nephew of Kleber, Colonel Louis, the adjutant of +Desaix. But Colonel Louis can no longer acknowledge that he is +alive, and you propose to convince the First Consul that the nephew +of Kleber is dead. Who, then, am I? What name shall I subscribe to +those papers? By what name shall the nameless, the dead and buried, +the resurrected, the again dead and buried one--by what name shall +he draw money from the bank?" + +"Very true," said Fouche. "A name, or rather the mask of a citizen's +or nobleman's name, must be your disguise, and it is imperatively +necessary that we give you such, and provide you with papers that +cannot be forged, which shall prove your existence, and secure you +against every assault." + +"Very good; then tell me how I shall be called," said Louis, sadly. +"Be the godfather of the solitary and nameless." + +"Well, I will," cried Fouche. "In the glamour of political passions +I have raised my voice against the life of your father; full of +regret I will raise my voice for the life of the son, and assist him +to enter afresh upon life and into the society of men. Young man, I +will give you a name and rank, till the French nation restore to you +your true name and rank. You shall henceforth be called the Baron de +Richemont. Will you accept it?" + +"Yes, I will accept it," said Louis, gently. "To be the Baron de +Richemont is better than to be a dead and buried person without any +name." + +"Very good, my lord baron," cried Fouche, "I will have the necessary +certificates and papers made out, and enter your property in the +Bank of France under the name of the Baron de Richemont. If you +please, come to-morrow to me, and I will deliver to you the papers +of Monsieur de Richemont." + +"I shall come, be sure of that," said Louis, giving him his hand; +"it seems to me my fate to go incognito through life, and God alone +knows whether I shall ever abandon this incognito." + +He saluted Fouche with a sad smile, and went out. The minister +listened to the resounding footstep, and then broke out into loud, +mocking laughter. + +"Foolish boy!" he said, raising his hand threateningly, "foolish +boy! You suppose that only God knows whether you will ever come out +of your incognito. You mistake--besides God, Fouche knows it. Yes, +Fouche knows that this incognito extends over you like a net, from +which you never will escape. No, the Baron de Richemont shall never +be transformed into King Louis XVII. But he shall be an instrument +with which I will hold in check this ambitious Consul Bonaparte, who +is striving; for the throne, and this grasping Count de Lille, who +in his exile calls himself King Louis XVIII.--the instrument with +which I threaten when I am threatened. Only, my little Baron de +Richemont, I do not know what I can make out of you, but I know that +you shall make out of me a rich, dangerous, and dreaded man. Poor, +credulous fool! How easily you fall into the piti The Baron de +Richemont shall never escape from it. I vouch for it--I, Fouche!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +FOUCHE. + + +The First Consul was walking with hasty steps up and down his +cabinet. His eyes flashed, and his face, which elsewhere was +impenetrable, like that of the brazen statues of the Roman emperors, +disclosed the fiery impatience and stormy passions which raged +within him. His lips, which were pressed closely together, opened +now and then to mutter a word of threatening or of anger, and that +word he hurled like a poisoned arrow directly at the man who, in a +respectful attitude and with pallid cheeks, stood not far from the +door, near the table covered with papers.--This man was Fouche, +formerly the chief of police in Paris, and now a mere member of the +senate of the republic. He had gone to the Tuileries in order to +request a secret audience of Bonaparte, who had now forgotten the +little prefix of "First" to his consular title, and now reigned +supreme and alone over France. + +Bonaparte suddenly paused in his rapid walk, coming to a halt +directly in front of Fouche, and looked at him with flaming eyes, as +if they were two daggers with which he meant to pierce deep into his +heart. But Fouche did not see this, for he stood with downcast eyes, +and appeared not to be aware that Bonaparte was so near him. + +"Fouche," cried the consul, violently, "I know you, and I am not to +be deceived by your indifferent, affected air! You shall know that I +do not fear you--you and all the ghosts that you can conjure up. You +think that you frighten me; you wish that I should pay you dearly +for your secret. But you shall know that I am not at all of a +timorous nature, and that I shall pay no money for the solution of a +riddle which I may perhaps be able to solve without your help. I +warn you, sir, you secret-vender, be well on your guard! You have +your spies, but I have my police, and they inform me about every +thing out of the usual course. It is known, sir, that you are +carrying on a correspondence with people out of the country-- +understand me, with people out of the country!" + +"Consul," replied Fouche, calmly, "I have certainly not known that +the republic forbids its faithful servants to send letters abroad." + +"The republic will never allow one of its servants to correspond +with its enemies," cried Bonaparte, in thundering tones. "Be silent, +sir! no evasions, no circumlocutions! Let us speak plainly, and to +the point. You are in correspondence with the Count de Lille." + +"You know that, consul, for I have had the honor to give you a +letter myself, which the pretender directed to you, and sent to me +to be delivered." + +"A ridiculous, nonsensical letter," replied Bonaparte, with a shrug; +"a letter in which this fool demands of me to bring him back to +France, and to indicate the place which I wish to occupy in his +government. By my word, an idiot could not write a more crazy +document! I am to indicate the place which I wish to occupy in his +government! Well, I shall do that; but there will be no place left +near me for the Bourbons, whom France has spewed out, as one spews +out mortal poison. These hated and weak Bourbons shall never attain +to power and prestige again. Prance has turned away from them. +France abhors this degenerate race of kings; it will erect a new +edifice of power and glory, but there will be no room in it for the +Bourbons! Mark that, intriguer, and build no air-castles on it. I +demand of you an open confession, for I shall accuse yon as a +traitor and a royalist." + +"Consul, I shall not avoid this charge," replied Fouche, calmly, +"and I am persuaded that Prance will follow with interest the course +of a trial which will unveil an important secret--which will inform +it that the rightful King of France, according to the opinion of +Consul Bonaparte, did not die in the Temple under the tender care of +Simon the cobbler, but is still alive, and is, therefore, the true +heir of the crown. That would occasion some joy to the royalists, +surely!" + +The consul stamped on the floor with rage, his eyes shot flames, and +when he spoke again, his voice rang like peals of thunder, so +angrily and so powerfully did it pour forth. + +"I will change the paecans and the joy of these royalists to +lamentations and wailings," he cried. "All the enemies of France +shall know that I hold the sword in my hands, and mean to use it, +not only against foes without, but foes within. France has given me +this sword, and I shall not lay it down, even if all the kings of +Europe, and all the Bourbons who lie in the vaults of St. Denis, +leave their graves, to demand it from me! I am the living sword of +France, and never shall this sword bow before the sceptre of a +Bourbon. Fresh shoots might sooner spring from the dead stick which +the wanderer carries through the desert, than a Bourbon sceptre +could grow from the sword of Bonaparte; and all the same, whether +this Bourbon calls himself Louis XVII. or Louis XVIII.! Mark that, +Fouche, and mark also that when I once say 'I will,' I shall know +how to make my will good, even if the whole world ventures to +confront me." + +"I know that, consul," said Fouche, with deference. "God gave you, +for the weal of France, an iron will and a brain of fire, and +destined you to wear not only laurels, but crowns." + +A flame glared from the eyes of the consul and played over the face +of Fouche, but the latter appeared not to notice it, for he cast +down his eyes again, and his manner was easy and unconstrained. + +"You now speak a word which is not becoming," said Bonaparte, +calmly. "I am the first servant of the republic, and in a republic +there are no crowns." + +"Not citizens' crowns, general?" asked Fouche, with a faint smile. +"I mean, that this noblest of crowns can everywhere be acceptable, +and no head has merited such a crown more than the noble Consul +Bonaparte, who has made the republic of France a worthy rival of its +sister in North America." + +Bonaparte threw his head proudly back. "I am not ambitious of the +honor," he said, "of being Washington of France." + +"Yet you are he, general," replied Fouche, with a smile. "Only the +Washington of France does not live in the White House which a +republic has built, but in the Tuileries, which he has received as +the heir of the French kings. General, as the worthiest, the +greatest, the most powerful, and the most signally called, you have +come into the possession of the inheritance of the kings of France. +For to this inheritance belongs also the crown of France. Why do you +refuse this, while accepting all the rest?" + +"And what if I show you that I do not want it?" asked Bonaparte. +"And what if I should tell you that I do not feel myself worthy to +assume the whole, undivided inheritance of the Bourbons? Would you +be foolish and senseless enough to believe such an idle tale?" + +"Consul, you have already done so many things that are wonderful, +and have brought so many magic charms to reality, that I no longer +hold any thing to be impossible, as soon as you have laid your hand +upon it." + +"And therefore you hold a concealed magician's wand, which you +propose to draw forth at some decisive moment, and present to me, as +the cross is presented to Beelzebub in the tale?" + +"I do not understand you, consul," replied Fouche, with the most +innocent air in the world. + +"Well, then, I will make myself intelligible. The magician's wand, +which you are keeping concealed, is called Louis XVII. Oh! do not +shake your cunning head; do not deny with your smooth lips, which +once uttered the death-sentence of Louis XVI., and which now are +used to teach a fool and a pretender that he is the son of the +murdered king. Truly, it is ridiculous. The regicide wants to atone +for his offence by hatching a fable, and making a king out of a +manikin." + +"General, no fable, and no manikin," cried Fouche, with a +threatening voice. "The son of the unfortunate king is alive, and--" + +"Ah!" interrupted Bonaparte, triumphantly, "so you confess at last, +you reveal your great secret at length! I have driven the sly fox +out of his hole and the hunt can now begin. It will be a hot chase, +I promise you, and I shall not rest till I have drawn the skin over +the ears of the fox, or--" + +"Until he says his pater peccavi?" asked Fouche, with a gentle +smile. + +"Until he delivers to me the changeling whom he wants to use as his +Deus ex machina," replied Bonaparte. "My dear sir, it helps you not +at all to begin again this system of lies. Your anger has betrayed +you, and I have succeeded in outwitting the fox. The so-called 'son +of the king is alive;' that has escaped you, and you cannot take it +back." + +"No, it cannot be taken back," replied Fouche, with a sigh. "I have +disclosed myself, or rather I have been outwitted. You are in all +things a hero and a master, in cunning as much as in bravery and +discretion. I bow before you as before a genius whom God Himself has +sent upon the earth, to bring the chaotic world into order again; I +bow before you as before my lord and master; and instead of opposing +you, I will henceforth be content with being your instrument, +provided that you will accept me as such." + +"That is, Fouche, provided that I will fulfil your conditions," +cried Bonaparte, with a shrug. "Very well name your conditions! +Without circumlocution! What do you demand?" + +"Consul, in order that we may understand one another, we must both +be open and unreserved. Will you permit me to be free with you?" + +"Certainly," replied Bonaparte, with a condescending nod. + +"Consul, you have thrust me aside, you have no longer confidence in +me. You have taken from me the post of minister of police, and given +it to my enemy Regnier. That has given me pain, it has injured me; +for it has branded me before all the world as a useless man, whom +Bonaparte suspects. Your enemies have believed that my alienation +from you would conduce to their advantage, and that out of the +dismissed police prefect they might gain an enemy to Bonaparte. +Conspirators of all kinds have come to me--emissaries of Count de +Lille, deputies from the royalists in Vendee, as well as from the +red republicans, by whom you, Bonaparte, are as much hated as by the +royalists, for they will never forgive you for putting yourself at +the head of the republic, and making yourself their master. All of +these parties have made propositions to me, all of them want me to +join them. I have lent my ear to them all, I have been informed of +all their plans, and am at this hour the sworn ally of both the +republicans and the royalists. Oh! I beg you," continued Fouche, as +Bonaparte started up, and opened his lips to speak--"I beg you, +general, hear me to the end, and do not interrupt me till I have +told you all.--Yes, I have allied myself to three separate +conspiracies, and have become zealous in them all. There is, first, +that of the republicans, who hate you as a tyrant of the republic; +there is, in the second place, the conspiracy of the royalists, who +want to put the Count de Lille on the throne; and third, there is +that of the genuine Capetists, who want to make the 'orphan of the +Temple' Louis XVII. These three conspiracies have it as their first +object to remove and destroy Consul Bonaparte. Yes, to reach this +end the three have united, and made a mutual compromise. Whichever +party succeeds in murdering you, is to come into power, and the +others are to relinquish the field to it: and so if Bonaparte is +killed by a republican dagger, the republic is to remain at present +the recognized form of government; and if the ball of a royalist +removes you, the republicans strike their banner, and grant that +France shall determine, by a general ballot, "whether it shall be a +republic or a kingdom." + +"Well," asked Bonaparte, calmly, as Fouche closed, and cast an +inquiring glance at the consul's face, which was, notwithstanding, +entirely cold and impenetrable--" well, why do you stop? I did not +interrupt you with a question. Go on!" + +"I will, consul. I have made myself a member of these three +conspiracies; for, in order to contend with the heads of Cerberus, +one must have them all joined; and in order to be the conqueror in a +great affair, one must know who all his enemies are, and what are +all their plans. I know all the plans of the allies, and because I +know them, it is within my power to bring discontent and enmity +among them, using for this end the third conspiracy--that of the +dependants of Louis XVII., the orphan of the Temple. Through +sympathy with him, I have divided the party of royalists; I have +withdrawn from the Count de Lille many of his important dependants, +and even some of the chief conspirators, who came to Paris to +contend for Louis XVIII., have recently in secret bent the knee to +Louis XVII., and sworn fidelity to him." + +"That is not true," cried Bonaparte, vehemently. "You are telling me +nurses' stories, with which children may be frightened, but men not. +There are no secret meetings in Paris!" + +"General, if your minister of police, Regnier, has told you so, he +only shows that he is no man to be at the head of the police, and +knows nothing of the detective service. I tell you, general, there +are secret societies in Paris, and I ought to know, for I am a +member of four separate ones." + +"Ah! sir," sneered Bonaparte, "you are out of your head! Before, you +spoke of three conspiracies, and now they have grown to be four." + +"I am speaking now of secret societies, consul, for not every secret +society can be called a conspiracy. Before, when I was giving +account of conspiracies, I mentioned three; now, when we speak of +secret societies, I have to mention a fourth. But this does not +deserve the name of a conspiracy, for its object is not murder and +revolution, nor does it arm itself with daggers and pistols." + +"I should be curious to know the name of your fourth society," cried +Bonaparte, impatiently. + +"I will satisfy your curiosity, general. This fourth secret society +bears the name 'the Bonapartists,' or--allow me to approach you +closer, that the walls of the old palace may not hear the word--or +'the Imperialists.' " + +Bonaparte shrank back, and a glow of red passed for a moment over +his cheeks. "What do you mean by that?" + +"I mean by that, general, what I have already said: your brow is +made not to wear laurels alone, but a crown, and there is only one +way to destroy the other three conspiracies--the way proposed by the +fourth secret society. In order to make the efforts of the +republicans and royalists ineffective, and to tread them under your +feet, France needs an emperor." + +"And do you want to make your manikin, Louis XVII., Emperor of +France?" + +"No, general," answered Fouche, solemnly--"no; I want to make Consul +Bonaparte Emperor of the French!" + +The consul trembled, and his eyes flashed through the apartment, the +former cabinet of Louis XVI., as if he wanted to convince himself +that no one had heard this dangerous word of the future. Then he +slowly bent forward without meeting Fouche's looks, which were +intently fixed upon him. + +A pause ensued--a long, anxious pause. Then Bonaparte slowly raised +his eye again, and now it was filled as with sunlight. + +"Is your fourth secret society numerous?" he asked, with that +magical smile which won all hearts. + +"It comprises artists, poets, scholars, and above every thing else, +officers and generals," replied Fouche. "It grows more numerous +every day, and as fortunately I have only been deposed from my place +of minister of police, but still remain a member of the senate of +the republic, it has been my effort to gain over in the senate +influential members for my secret society of imperialists. If my +hopes are crowned with success, the secret society will soon become +an open one, and the senate will apply to you with a public request +to put an end to all these conspiracies and intrigues, to place +yourself at the head of France, and accept the imperial crown which +the senate offers you. But--" + +"I comprehend your 'but,' Fouche," interrupted Bonaparte, eagerly. +"You want to make your conditions. An imperial crown does not fall +direct from heaven upon the head of a man; there must be hands there +to take it, and it might happen that they would be crushed by the +falling crown. They must be paid for their heroism, therefore. Let +us suppose, then, that I give credence to all your stories, even +that about the empire of the future--tell me, now, what you demand." + +"General, if I show you and all France by facts that the country is +rent by conspiracies, that the cancer of secret societies is eating +into the very marrow of the land, and imperilling all its +institutions, will you confess to me then that I am better adapted +to be the head of the police than M. Regnier d'Angely, who insists +and dares to say to you that there are no secret societies in +France?" + +"Prove to me by facts the existence of your conspiracies, and I will +commission you to help me destroy this hydra's head. Give me the +proofs, and you shall be head of police again." + +Fouche bowed. "You shall have the proofs, general, to-day--at once, +provided that we thoroughly understand each other. I am ambitious, +general, and I have no wish to be driven back for a single day into +nothingness, as I should be, if my enemies withdraw their confidence +in me. Now I am, at least, a member of the senate; but if the senate +is dissolved, and I should subsequently be deposed again from the +head of the police, I should be nothing but Fouche--Fouche fallen +out of favor. Voila tout!" + +"No, not so," said Bonaparte, with a smile. "You will always be +known as the murderer of the king; that is a fine title for a +republican, is it not?" + +"Ah, general, I see that you understand me," cried Fouche. "We are +now talking about a name, a position, a title for me. Provided that +here in the Tuileries a throne is reestablished, we must have a +court again, men with orders, titles, and dignities." + +"It is true," said Bonaparte, thoughtfully. "The world continues to +revolve in the same circles of folly and vanity, and after making an +effort to withdraw from them, it falls back again into the old ruts. +Men are nothing but actors, and every one wants to adorn himself +with glistening rags, in order to take the first part, and have his +name go upon the poster of history. Well, how would you be called, +Fouche, if the drama of an empire should really be brought forward +upon the great stage of the world? " + +"I should like the title of a prince or duke, sire." Bonaparte could +scarcely suppress the smile of satisfaction that played over his +face. It was the first time that he had ever been addressed as king +or emperor, and this "sire" which Fouche dropped into the ear of +Bonaparte like a sweet poison, flattered his senses and soothed him +like delightful music. But the strength of his genius soon resumed +its sway, and he broke out into a loud, merry laugh. + +"Confess, Fouche," he cried, "that it is comical to hear the consul +talking with a senator of the republic about an empire and ducal +titles. Truly, if the strict republicans of your conspiracy number +one should hear this, they would be justified in accusing us as +traitors and conspirators." + +"We must get the start of them--we must accuse them." + +"If we possess secure means to do so." + +"I possess them, and I will give them to you, Consul Bonaparte, as +soon as the emperor of the future assures me of a princely title, in +addition to the chieftaincy of police." + +"Very well," said Bonaparte, laughing, "the emperor of the future +promises you that as soon as he is able to bake a batch of these +delicacies, he will put his chief of police in the oven and draw him +out as a prince or a duke. The emperor of the future gives you his +word of honor that he will do it. Are you satisfied now, my lord +republican?" + +"Sire, completely satisfied," said Fouche, bowing low. + +"And now let us talk together seriously," said Bonaparte. "You have +spoken of conspiracies; you assert that they exist, but do not +forget that you have promised me tangible proofs--understand me +well, tangible proofs; that is, it is not enough for me to see the +papers and the lists of conspirators who have escaped into foreign +lands--I want persons, men of flesh and blood--traitors whom I may +hang, not in effigy, but in reality, and who may serve as a warning +example to the whole herd of conspirators, and put an end forever to +this nonsense. I am wearied of being perpetually threatened by +traitors, poisoned daggers, air-guns, plots, and intrigues, of all +kinds. It is time to hunt down the chief men of these bravoes who +have been sent here from England, Germany, Russia, and Italy, and I +have had enough of illustrating the old proverb, 'Hang the little +thief and let the great one run.' I mean to have the great thief and +to hang him, for that is the only way of intimidating these fellows +and inspiring them with respect." + +"Sire, you shall have your great thieves," said Fouche, with a +smile. + +"Give them into my hands, and I promise you they shall never +escape," cried Bonaparte, eagerly. "It is high time to make an +example, and show these people at last that I claim the right of +paying back. The Count de Lille and the Duke d'Enghien are always +egging their conspirators upon me; they appear to have no other aim +than to get rid of me, and are unwearied with their daggers, +infernal machines, and counter-plots. But their own persons, and +those of their highest helpers, always remain beyond reach. They +arrange their plans always at a safe distance, and risk nothing by +this; for, if we take some of their subordinate tools and punish +them, they make an outcry about barbarity and cruelty, and appeal to +their sacred right of using all means to regain their inheritance, +and reestablish the throne in France. They do not deny that they +would have no conscientious scruples about shedding my blood. Now, +why should I have any about shedding theirs? Blood for blood, that +is the natural and unavoidable law of retaliation, and woe to him +who lays claim to it! These Bourbons do so. I have never injured one +of them personally; a great nation has placed me at its head; my +blood is worth as much as theirs, and it is time at last that I make +it al pari with theirs. I will no longer serve as a target for all +murderers, and then afterward only find the dagger, instead of +seizing the hands that ply it. Let me once have hold of the hands, +and all the daggers will disappear forever!" + +"I will give these hands into your power, or, at least, some fingers +of them." + +"I want them all," cried Bonaparte, eagerly,--"all the fingers, all +the hands. You have spoken of three different conspiracies. I want +the leaders of them, and then all others may run. If the hydra loses +its three heads, it must at last die. So give me the three heads, +that of the republicans and of the two royalist parties. The head of +conspiracy number two I know; it is the Count de Lille. He is the +sly spider who always withdraws behind his nets, but I know the +hand, too, that is set in motion by this head; it is the Duke +d'Enghien. He is an untiring conspirator, wholly occupied with +infernal machines and daggers for me. Ah! let him take care of +himself, the little Duke d'Enghien. If I take him, I will exercise +the right of retaliation upon him, for I am determined to have +peace. "We now come to your conspiracy number three, to your Deus ex +machina, the so-called Louis XVII. This Deus really exists?" + +"Yes, general, he exists." + +Bonaparte laughed aloud, but his laughter sounded like a threat. "I +have heard of this story," he said. "The good-natured Kleber +believed it, and, after his death, a paper was given to me, written +by him, and directed to me, which stated that his so-called nephew +Louis was the heir of the King of France, and implored me earnestly +to take the orphan of the Temple under my protection. I instituted +inquiries for him at once; it was after the battle of Marengo, and +this Monsieur Louis was, till then, adjutant of General Desaix." + +"Yes, general, adjutant of Desaix, down to the battle of Marengo-- +that is, to the death of Desaix." + +"If I mistake not, his adjutant was wounded in the battle, and lay +at the hospital in Alessandria." + +"It is so, general. I wonder how closely you have been informed +respecting the fortunes of this young man." + +"From that time all trace of him has been lost, and all my inquiries +have proved in vain. The adjutant of Desaix, who fought so bravely, +and who bore my dying comrade in his arms, deserved advancement, and +I wanted to give it to him, and therefore searched for him, but in +vain. I believed him dead, and now you come and tell me about a +conspiracy in favor of Louis XVII. This young pretender is still +alive, then, and there are childlike souls who believe his story, +are there?" + +"General, he says little, for he is very silent and reticent, but he +has testimonials which speak for him, and which show that his story +is not an idle tale, but a fragment of history. His papers give +clear and undeniable evidence cf his lineage and the course of his +life." + +"I should like to see these papers once," said the consul. + +"He never lets them go out of his hands, for he knows very well that +they are his security for a crown." + +"Then bring me the man himself, and then I shall have him and his +papers," said Bonaparte, with a growl like a lion's. "Is not he the +head of the conspiracy?" + +"Yes, general, the head of a conspiracy which I have conducted, +because I meant to have all the threads in my hands, if I was to see +clearly. In order to prove the royalists, I threw them this bait, +and many of them have taken the hook and come over to the young +king. In this way I have made a division in the ranks of the +royalists, and the Count de Lille already sees the consequences. The +so-called orphan of the Temple has at this hour no enemy who hates +him more than the Count de Lille." + +"But this enmity of the Count de Lille vanishes like a glow-worm in +the darkness. I want tangible proofs by which I can arrest my +enemies. Can you give them to me?" + +"General, it will not be difficult to do this. We will speak of it +hereafter. Allow me first a word about this dangerous adjutant of +Desaix, Colonel Louis. You said, general, that you made futile +efforts to gain information about this interesting and brave young +man. Those efforts were made in the years when M. Regnier d'Angely +was chief of police, in which my enemies succeeded in withdrawing +the confidence of the First Consul from me. But had I been chief of +police at that time, I should have been able to tell you that the +young man whom you were seeking, and respecting whom you obtained no +information, was living here in Paris." + +"What!" cried Bonaparte, in amazement. "This so-called Louis XVII. +in Paris, then?" "General, he is still here; he has been living in +Paris for about four years--about as long as M. Regnier has been +head of police." + +"And Regnier has told me nothing about it! Has he not known that so +dangerous a person was living in Paris?" + +Fouche shrugged his shoulders. "Monsieur Regnier--who doubts the +existence of secret societies in France, and tells you that the +assassins who have so often of late imperilled your life have all +been sent hither from foreign parts by the pretenders to the crown, +and that there are no conspirators in France--Monsieur Regnier could +not of course know the head of this secret society. He left them to +follow their own pleasures unhindered here in Paris. But I know +them, and I give you my word of honor, general, that the so-called +nephew of Kleber is living here in Paris. Directly after his arrival +he came to me, and I handed to him the papers and documents which +Desaix intrusted to me, and which I had solemnly sworn to deliver to +his adjutant Louis. The young man gave me his confidence, and when I +spoke to him regretfully and with enthusiasm about his father and +his mother, and addressed him as 'his majesty,' I won his love. He +opened his heart to me, confessed that he was Louis XVII., and asked +my counsel and help. I promised him both, and showed myself to him +in a very compliant and devoted mood. My first counsel was, that he +should live incognito under a borrowed name. In order that this +might be possible, I gave him the name for his incognito, and had +all the necessary documents prepared, the certificate of his birth, +baptism, the marriage of his parents, and the will of his +relatives." + +"And all these documents were false and forged?" said Bonaparte, in +amazement. + +"There are everywhere pliable public officials in France," replied +Fouche, with a smile. "I did not content myself with procuring for +my protege the papers which insured him an honorable name, +respectable family position, and a life without care; I did much +more for him. I followed the efforts already related with others. I +had a certificate of the death of M. Louis prepared, so as to give +him a passport out of life. In order to protect himself from every +injury, I told him that he, as the adjutant of Desaix, must pass as +dead. He approved of it, and I took the pains to procure from the +hospital at Alessandria a duly signed and sealed certificate that +Colonel Louis, the adjutant of General Desaix, died of his wounds +there." + +"Good God!" cried Bonaparte, "is every thing in life to be bought +and sold thus?" + +"Yes, general, every thing--loyalty and love, life and death. I have +caused the son of the King of France to die, and then rise again-- +and all with gold. But, when the certificate arrived, a change had +occurred in my relations. I had been removed from office, and +Regnier was my successor. I kept the certificate in my possession; +but, in order to secure my protege against what might befall me in +case of my death, I wrote to him that I had received the papers, and +that he would live without danger in Paris, under his assumed name. +This letter I signed with my whole name, and set my seal to it, that +in case of need it might be of service to him." + +"Fouche, you are a sly fox," said Bonaparte, with a laugh. "It is +easier to get out of the way of a cannonball than out of your +snares. One might say to you, in the words of the King of Prussia, +'God defend mo from my friends, from my enemies I can defend +myself!' According to this you have caused Colonel Louis to die for +friendship's sake, and rise again under another name." + +"Yes, general, that is it! Colonel Louis--that is, the rightful +king, Louis XVII.--is a tool in my hands, which I hold as a check to +all parties, and which I can hold up or withdraw according as it +pleases me. At present my game is not merely to bring disunion and +hatred into the ranks of the royalists, but to bring over many +republicans who have a soft heart, to be zealous partisans of the +young and unfortunate king." + +"And afterward," said Bonaparte, with a sterner tone, "you might +make use of this instrument to intimidate that fourth party of which +you spoke before--the Bonapartists. But you have been mistaken, +Fouche; this reckoning does not do--your cunning has overreached +itself. You do not terrify me; and if it could really happen that +the French nation should offer me an imperial crown, at the same +time that I should accept it, I should put my foot on the neck of +all rebels and pretenders. With a single tread I would crush them +all. I want no parties, no political factions; I want to bring all +these risings and agitations to silence. There shall be no secret +societies in France; and against each and every conspirator, +whatever his rank may be, I will bring from this time forth the +whole weight of the law. Mark this, Fouche! I mean to make an end of +all parties, and only when you shall give their chiefs into my hand- +-not for my personal vengeance, for I cherish no vengeance against +those cowardly worms of conspirators, but for the righteous +punishment and retaliatory laws of France--only when you are able, +by one grand coup, and one well-founded charge, to destroy all +conspiracies, and bring all secret coalitions to the light, only +then shall you become chief of police--only then will the future +emperor give you the title of duke." + +"General, I build on your word, and I am sure of becoming chief of +police and duke. We will put an end to all conspiracies." + +"And to the Monsieur Louis, too," cried Bonaparte, eagerly. "It is a +disagreeable and troublesome figure. So long as he lives he would +live in the ermine of the imperial cloak like a troublesome insect, +which always stings and pricks. One must not allow such insects to +find their way into his fur, and this Monsieur Louis must be put out +of the way once for all. I hope he has entered deeply enough into +the conspiracy, not to come out of it again with a whole skin!" + +"General, I have told you already, that day before yesterday his +dependants saluted him, in a secret gathering, as their king. It is +true, indeed, that the poor little fellow strongly opposed it, and +obstinately refused to accept all honors, but the fact remains +unchanged." + +"And on the ground of this fact shall he be apprehended," cried +Bonaparte, with a threatening voice. + +"There must be an example made, and this Louis is a suitable person +for it. He must be the bete de souffrance for all the rest. He is +the head of a conspiracy; we will crush this head, and the limbs +will fall of themselves. Besides the sensitive souls who love +nurses' stories and believe in every thing, there will be no one who +will weep for him. No one will lament his death, but he will be a +warning to all. Direct yourself to this, Fouche, and set all the +infernal machines of your intrigues in operation that we may put an +end to conspiracy." + +"General, only one thing is wanting; it is that I be at the head of +the police, and have the power in my hands to make my infernal +machines effectual." + +"But I have told you that I will appoint you as minister only when +you give me incontrovertible proofs that your conspiracies are not +the fabric of your own phantasy." + +"Very well, general, now that we are at one, I am prepared to give +you these proofs. I have told you that the royalists and republicans +have united for the purpose of taking your life. They have chosen +fifty men by ballot, in foreign parts, who are to come to Paris and +accomplish here the great work of your destruction. These fifty +assassins have arrived in Paris, and their chief men had an +interview yesterday with the chiefs of the conspiracies here." + +"Fouche!" cried Bonaparte, with a threatening voice, "think well +what you are saying. You are playing for the stake of your own head! +If these fifty assassins are creatures of your own imagination, it +is you who will have to pay for it." + +"These fifty men have been in Paris since the day before yesterday," +rejoined Fouche, quietly. "They came hither by different roads, and +appearing like simple travellers, and yesterday they had their first +interview with the chief of the republican party." + +"Who is this chief? Name him, or I will call you a liar and +impostor!" + +"This chief," said Fouche, slowly, and measuring every word, "this +chief is General Moreau." + +Bonaparte uttered a low cry, an ashy paleness suffused his cheeks; +he pressed his lips together, and his eyes flamed out such darts of +rage that even Fouche trembled and lowered his gaze. + +"Moreau," muttered Bonaparte, after a long pause, "Moreau a +conspirator, a traitor! Moreau in an alliance with assassins whom +the royalists are sending out against me! I knew very well that he +was my enemy, but I did not think that his enmity would lead him to +be a murderer!" + +He walked up and down with quick steps, his hands folded behind his +back, then stopped short before Fouche and looked him full in the +face. + +"Fouche, do you abide by your assertion, that Moreau is a +conspirator?" + +"I abide by it, general." + +"And those fifty assassins, whom the royalists have sent, are in +Paris?" + +"Yes, general, they are in Paris, and Georges and Pichegru are at +their head." + +"Fouche," cried Bonaparte, clinching his fist and raising it +threateningly, "Fouche, so sure as God lives, I will have you hanged +as a traitor if you have lied!" + +"General, as surely as God lives, I have spoken the truth. I came +here to show you what I am, and what Regnier is. I have waited here +till the whole net of these conspiracies should be spread out and be +fully complete. The time has come when I must speak; and now I say +to you, general, take some steps, for there is danger on foot!" + +Bonaparte, trembling with emotion, had thrown himself into an arm- +chair, and took, as was his custom in moments of the greatest +excitement, his penknife from the writing-desk, and began to whittle +on the back of the chair. + +Fouche stood leaning against the wall, and looked with complete +calmness and an invisible smile at this singular occupation of the +general, when the door of the cabinet was opened, and the Mameluke +Roustan appeared at the entrance. + +"Consul," he said, softly, "Councillor Real is again here, and +pressingly desires an audience." + +Bonaparte rose, and threw away the knife. "Real!" he cried in a loud +tone. + +The man who was summoned immediately appeared at the open door--a +tall, grave personage, with a face so pale and distorted that +Bonaparte noticed it, despite his great agitation. + +"What is it, Real?" he asked, eagerly. "Have you spoken with the +condemned man?" + +"Yes, general, I have spoken with him," whispered Real, with pale +lips. + +"And it is as I said, is it not? This Doctor Querolle has only +pretended to be able to make great disclosures, only to prolong his +own life a few hours. He has poisoned his wife, in order to marry +his mistress, and the poisoner is executed." + +"General," cried Fouche, almost with an air of joy, "I knew +Querolle, and I knew that his wife poisoned herself. Querolle is not +a poisoner." + +"What is he then, M. Omniscience?" + +"General, he is a conspirator!" + +"A conspirator!" repeated Bonaparte, and now his troubled face +turned again to the councillor. "Real, what do you know? What did +the condemned man say to you?" + +"Consul, he swore that he was innocent of the death of his wife, but +he acknowledged himself a member of a conspiracy, the object of +which is to murder General Bonaparte. He asserts that the royalists +and republicans have allied themselves; that fifty emissaries of the +Count de Lille and the Duke d'Enghien, Pichegru and Georges at their +head, have crept into Paris; that they had an interview yesterday +with General Moreau, and with the so-called King Louis XVII., who is +secreted in Paris, and that at this hour those fifty men are +prowling around the streets of the city, and are watching the +Tuileries, waiting for an opportunity to kill the First Consul." + +The troubled eye of Bonaparte turned slowly from the pale face of +Councillor Real to the calm, sagacious face of Fouche, which guarded +itself well from expressing any token of triumph and satisfaction. +The consul then walked slowly through the room, and with his foot +pushed open the door leading into the great reception-room, in +which, at this hour every day, all the dignitaries of the republic +were assembled, to receive the orders of Bonaparte. + +"Murat!" cried Bonaparte, loudly; and at once the person summoned, +General Murat, at that time governor of Paris, appeared at the door +of the cabinet. + +"Murat," said Bonaparte, in the tones in which he issued his +commands on the battle-field, "give orders at once that the gates of +Paris be closed, and that no stranger be allowed to go out of the +city till you have further orders. You will come to me in an hour, +and receive a proclamation to your soldiers, which you will sign; +have it printed and posted at the street-corners of Paris. Make all +these preparations! Go!" + +Murat withdrew from the room with a salutation of deference, and now +the commanding voice of Bonaparte summoned his chief adjutant from +the reception-room. + +"Duroc," said the First Consul, with calm, almost solemn voice, "you +will go with twelve soldiers in pursuit of General Moreau, and +arrest him wherever you find him." + +The noble, open face of Duroc grew pale, and put on an expression of +horror and amazement. "General," he whispered, "I beg that-" + +But this time Bonaparte would not listen to the soothing words of +his favorite. + +"No replies!" he thundered. "You have only to obey! Nothing more!" + +Duroc, pale and agitated, withdrew, and Bonaparte closed the door of +the cabinet. "Real," he said, "return to the prison of the condemned +man; take him his pardon, and bring him to me, that I may hear him +myself. Hasten!" + +Real withdrew, and Bonaparte and Fouche remained alone. + +"You have given your proofs, Fouche, and now I believe you. When +wolves are to be hunted down you are a good bloodhound, and we will +begin the chase. I make you from this moment chief of the secret +police; your first duty will be to bring this matter to an end, and +help me to tear to pieces the whole murderous web, your reward being +that I will nominate you again minister of police. [Footnote: The +appointment of Fouche as the chief of police took place in June of +the year 1804.] I will fulfil my promise so soon as you shall have +made good yours, and put me in possession of the chief +conspirators." + +"You have just arrested Moreau, general," replied Fouche, +deferentially. "I give you my word that in a few hours Pichegru and +Georges will be apprehended." + +"You forget the chief person," cried Bonaparte, over whose brazen +forehead a thunder-cloud seemed to pass. "You forget the caricature +of buried royalty, the so-called King Louis XVII. Hush! I tell you I +will have this man. I will draw out the fangs of this royal adder, +so that he cannot bite any more! Bring the man before me. The +republic is an angry goddess, and demands a royal offering. Give +this impostor into my hands, or something worse will happen! Go, and +I advise you to bring me, before the sun goes down, the tidings that +this fabled King Louis is arrested, or the sun of your good fortune +is set forever! Now away! Go out through the little corridor, and +then through the secret gate-you know the way. Go!" + +Fouche did not dare to contradict the imperative order, but softly +and hastily moved toward the curtain which led to the gloomy +anteroom, and thence through a door, which only those initiated knew +how to open, and which led to the little corridor. + +But scarcely had Fouche entered this little dismal room, when a hand +was laid upon his arm, and a woman's voice whispered to him: + +"I must speak to you--at once! Come! this way!" + +The hand drew him forward to the wall, a door sprang open without +sound, and the voice whispered: "Four stairs down. Be careful!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +JOSEPHINE. + + +Fouche did not hesitate; he followed his guide down the little +staircase, along the dark corridor, and up another short staircase. +He had recognized the voice, and knew that his leader was no other +than Josephine, the wife of the First Consul. + +Through the secret door at the end of the corridor they entered a +small and gloomy antechamber, exactly like the one which adjoined +the cabinet of the consul, and from it Josephine ushered Fouche into +her cabinet. + +"You will say nothing to Bonaparte about this secret way, Fouche," +said Josephine, with a gentle, supplicatory tone. "He does not know +of it. I have had it made without his knowledge while he was in +Boulogne last year. Will you swear to me that you will not reveal +it?" + +"I do swear, madame." + +"God knows that I have not had it made out of curiosity to overhear +Bonaparte," continued Josephine. "But it is necessary sometimes for +me to know what is going on, and that when the general is angry I +should hasten to him to calm him and turn aside his wrath. I have +warded off many a calamity since this private way was opened, and I +have been able to overhear Bonaparte. But what have I been compelled +to listen to to-day! Oh, Fouche, it was God Himself who impelled me +to listen! I was with him when you were announced, and I suspected +that your visit purported something unusual, something dreadful. I +have heard all, Fouche--all, I tell you! I know that his life is +threatened, that fifty daggers are directed toward him. 0 God! this +perpetual fear and excitement will kill me! I have no peace of mind, +no rest more! Since the unhappy day when we left our dear little +house to live in the Tuileries, since that day there has been an end +to all joy! Why did we do it? why did we not remain in our little +Luxembourg? why have we been persuaded to live in the palace of the +kings?" + +"It is proper for the greatest man in France to live in the house +where the departed race of kings once had their home," replied +Fouche. + +"Oh, yes," sighed Josephine. "I know these tricks of speech, with +which you have turned the head of my poor Bonaparte. Oh! you, you, +his flatterer, you who urged him on, will bear the blame if +misfortune breaks in upon us! You have intoxicated him with the +incense of adulation; you pour into his veins daily and hourly the +sweet poison which is to destroy our happiness and our peace! He was +so good, so cheerful, so happy, my Bonaparte! He was contented with +the laurels which victory laid upon his brow, but you continued to +whisper in his ear that a crown would add new grace to his laurels. +You flattered his ambition; and what was quietly sleeping at the +bottom of his heart, and what I hushed with my kisses and with my +hand, that you took all efforts to bring out into the light: his +vanity--his love of power! Oh, Fouche! you are wicked, cruel, and +pitiless! I hate, I abhor you all, for you are the murderers of my +Bonaparte!" + +She spoke all this softly, with quick breath, while the tears were +streaming over her beautiful face, and her whole frame trembled with +emotion. She then sank, wholly overcome, upon a lounge, and pressed +her small hands, sparkling with jewels, over her eyes. + +"Madame, you are unjust," replied Fouche, softly. "If you have +overheard my conversation with the First Consul, you are aware that +the direct object of my coming was to save him from murderers, and +to insure his precious life." + +"And, moreover, to pour into his ear the poison of a future imperial +crown!" said Josephine, indignantly. "Oh, I know it! With talk of +conspiracies and of daggers you urged him on. You want him to be an +emperor, that you may be a prince or duke! I see it all, and I +cannot prevent it, for he no longer listens to me, he no longer +heeds the voice of his Josephine, only that of his ambitious +flatterers, and he will put on the imperial crown and complete our +misfortune! Oh! I knew it! This imperial crown will ruin us. It was +prophesied to me in my youth that I should be an empress, but it was +added that it would be for no long time. And yet I should like to +live, and I should like to be happy still!" + +"You will be so, madame," said Fouche, with a smile. "It is always +good fortune to wear an imperial crown, and your beautiful head is +worthy to bear one." + +"No, no," she cried, angrily. "Do not try me with your flatteries! I +am contented with being a beloved and happy wife; I desire no crown. +The crowned heads that have dwelt in the Tuileries have become the +prey of destruction, and the pearls of their diadems have been +changed to tears! But what advantage is it that I should say all +this to you? It is all in vain, in vain! I did not bring you to talk +of this. It was something entirely different. Listen, Fouche, I +cannot prevent Bonaparte's becoming an emperor, but you shall not +make him a regicide! I will not suffer it! By Heaven, and all the +holy angels, I will not suffer it!" + +"I do not understand you, madame. I do not know what you mean." + +"Oh, you understand me very well, Fouche. You know that I am +speaking of King Louis XVII." + +"Ah, madame, you are speaking of the impostor, who gives himself out +to be the 'orphan of the Temple.' " + +"He is it, Fouche. I know it, I am acquainted with the history of +his flight. I was a prisoner in the Conciergerie at the same time +with Toulan, the queen's loyal servant. He knew my devotion to the +unhappy Marie Antoinette; he intrusted to me his secret of the +dauphin's escape. Later, when I was released, Tallien and Barras +confirmed the story of his flight, and informed me that he was +secreted by the Prince de Conde. I have known it all, and I tell you +I knew who Kleber's adjutant was; I inquired for him after he +disappeared at the battle of Marengo, and when my agents told me +that the young king died there, I wore mourning and prayed for him. + +And, now that I learn that the son of my beautiful queen is still +alive, shall I suffer him to die like a traitor? No, never! Fouche, +I tell you I will never suffer it; I will not have this unfortunate +young man sacrificed! You must save him--I will have it so!" + +"I!" cried Fouche, in amazement. "But you know that it is +impossible, for you have heard my conversation with the consul. He +himself said, 'The republic demands a royal victim. If it is not +this so-called King Louis, let it be the Duke d'Enghien, for a +victim must fall, in order to intimidate the royalists, and bring +peace at last." + +"But I will not have you bring human victims," cried Josephine; "the +republic shall no longer be a cruel Moloch, as it was in the days of +the guillotine. You shall, and you must, save the son of Queen Marie +Antoinette. I desire to have peace in my conscience, that I may live +without reproach, and be happier perhaps than now." + +"But it is impossible," insisted Fouche. "You have heard yourself +that if, before the sun goes down, Louis be not imprisoned, the sun +of my good fortune will have set." + +"And I told you, Fouche, that if you do this--if you become a +regicide a second time--I will be your unappeasable enemy your whole +life long; I will undertake to avenge on you the death of the queen +and her son; I will follow your every step with my hate, and will +not rest till I have overthrown you. And you know well that +Bonaparte loves me, that I have influence with him, and that what I +mean to do, I accomplish at last by prayers, tears, and frowns. So +do not exasperate me, Fouche; do not make me your irreconcilable +enemy. Save the son of the king whom you killed, conciliate the +shades of his unhappy parents. Fouche, we are in the cabinet of the +queen! Here she often tarried, here she often pressed her son to her +heart, and asked God's blessing on him. Fouche, the spirit of Marie +Antoinette is with us, and she will know it if you in pity spare the +life of her son. Marie Antoinette will accuse you at the throne of +God, and plead with God to show you no compassion, if you refuse to +be merciful to her son. Fouche, in the name of the queen--on my +knees--I implore you, save her son!" + +And Josephine, her face bathed in tears, sank before him and raised +her folded hands suppliantly to Fouche. The minister, deeply moved, +pale with the recollections which Josephine awakened within him, +stooped down to her, and bade her arise; and when she refused, and +begged and threatened, and wept, his obstinacy was at last touched, +or perhaps his prudence, which counselled him to make a friend, +rather than an enemy, out of the all-powerful wife of the future +emperor. + +"Rise, madame," he said. "What mortal is able to resist your +requests, since Bonaparte himself cannot? I will save your protege, +whatever shall come to me afterward from it." + +She sprang up, and in the wildness of her joy threw her beautiful +arms around Fouche's neck, and kissed him. + +"Fouche," she said, "I give you this kiss in the name of Queen Marie +Antoinette. It is a kiss of forgiveness, and of blessing. You swear +to me that you will save him?" + +"I swear it, madame!" + +"And I swear to you that as soon as he is saved, and Bonaparte's +anger can no longer reach him, I will confess all to my husband, and +put it in such a Light that Bonaparte shall thank and reward you. +Now tell me, how you will save him." + +"I shall only be able if you will help me, madame." + +"I am ready for any thing--that you know well. Tell me what I shall +do." + +"You must yourself direct a few lines to the young man, conjuring +him in the name of his mother to fly, to save himself from the anger +of the First Consul--to leave Europe." + +"Oh! Fouche, how sly you are!" said Josephine, sadly. + +"You want my handwriting, in order to justify yourself to the First +Consul in case of emergency, very good. I will write the billet." + +She hastened to her table, dashed a few words upon paper, and then +passed the note to Fouche. "Read it," she said; "it contains all +that is necessary, does it not?" + +"Yes, madame; and you have written in such beautiful and moving +words, that the young man will be melted, and will obey you. Will +you now have the goodness to put the note in an envelope and to +address it?" + +She folded it, and put it into an envelope. "To whom shall I address +it?" she then asked. + +"Address it to King Louis XVII." + +She did so with a quick stroke of the pen and handed the letter to +Fouche. "Take it," she said, "it is your justification. And in order +that you may be entirely secure," she continued, with a slight +smile, "retain this letter yourself. What I would say to this young +man I would rather communicate by word of mouth." + +"How," cried Fouche, " you want--" + +"To see and speak with the king," she said, sorrowfully, "to beg his +forgiveness for myself and Bonaparte. Hush! do not oppose me, I am +resolved upon it. I want to see the young man." + +"But he cannot come here, madame--here, into the very den of the +lion." + +"No, not here, into the desecrated palace of the kings," she +answered, bitterly. "No, he cannot come here--I shall go to him." + +"You are jesting, madame, it is impossible. You, the wife of the +First Consul, you will--" + +"I want to fulfil a duty of gratitude and of loyalty, Fouche. In my +heart I still feel myself the subject of the queen. Let me follow +the call of my heart! Listen! My carriage stands ready. I was +intending to drive to my friend Madame Tallien. I will take a +pleasure-drive instead. In the Bois de Boulogne I will cause the +carriage to stop, send it away, and return on foot. You will await +in there with a fiacre and take me to the king." + +"It shall be so," said Fouche. "Your will shall be my law. I only +ask that you hasten, for you know well that I have much to do to- +day. I shall take advantage of the time to procure for the young man +the necessary passports for travel. But, madame, you must help him +leave the city. For you know that the gates are all closed." + +"I will tell Bonaparte that I am troubled to be in the city, now +that it is so shut in. I will drive out to St. Cloud. His carriage +can follow mine, and if the gate-keeper puts hinderances in the way, +I will command him to let Louis pass. Now let us hasten!" + +An hour later Josephine, after dismissing her equipage with the +servants, entered the fiacre which was waiting for her near the +fountain. Fouche received her there, and was unwearied in his +complaints of the poor carriage which the wife of the First Consul +must use. + +Josephine smiled, "My dear sir," she said, "there have been times +when I should have been very proud and very happy to have had such a +fiacre as this, and not to have been compelled to walk through the +muddy streets of Paris. Let it be as it is! The present days of +superfluity have not made me proud, and I have a vivid recollection +of the past. But tell me, Fouche, whither are we driving, and where +does the young king live?" + +"We are driving, if you graciously approve of it, to my house, and I +have brought the young man there, for in his own house he is no +longer safe. I have had it surrounded by agents of the secret +police, with orders to arrest him on his return. He will, of course, +not return, and it will be easier to assume the appearance that he +received an intimation of his peril and escaped in season. But here +we are before my door, and if you will draw the thick veil which +happily you have fastened to your bonnet, carefully before your +face, I hope that no one will see that the most beautiful lady in +Paris honors my house with her distinguished presence." + +Josephine made no reply to this flattery, but drew the black lace +veil closely over her face, and hastened to leave the fiacre, and +entered the house. + +"Fouche," she whispered, as she ascended the staircase, "my heart +beats as violently as it did when I drove to the Tuileries to be +presented to Marie Antoinette. It was the first time that I spoke +with the Queen of France." + +"And now, madame," said Fouche, with a smile, "you will speak with +the last King of France." + +"Does he know who I am?" + +"No, madame; I have left it to you to inform him. Here we are at the +saloon--he is within!" + +"Wait only a moment, Fouche. I must collect myself. My heart beats +dreadfully. Now, now you may open the door!" + +They entered the little saloon. Josephine stood still near the door, +and while she hastily removed her bonnet and the thick veil and +handed them to Fouche, her large, brilliant, brown eyes were turned +to the young man who stood in the window-niche, his hands calmly +folded over his breast. In this attitude, with the calm look of his +face, the gentle glance of his blue eyes, he bore so close a +resemblance to the pictures which represented Louis XVI. in his +youth, that Josephine could not repress a cry of surprise, and +hastened forward to the young man, who now advanced out of the +window recess. "Madame," he said, bowing low before this beautiful +and dignified lady whom he did not know, but whose sympathizing face +made his heart tremble--"madame, doubtless you are the lady whom M. +Fouche said I might expect to meet here." + +"Yes, I am she," replied Josephine, with a voice trembling with +emotion, her eyes, flooded with tears, all the while being fixed on +the grave, youthful face which brought back so many memories of the +past. "I have come to see you and to bring you the greetings of a +man whom you loved, who revered you, and who died blessing you." + +"Of whom do you speak?" asked Louis, turning pale. + +"Men called him Toulan," whispered Josephine. "Queen Marie +Antoinette termed him Fidele." + +"Fidele!" cried Louis, in a tone of anguish. "Fidele is dead!--my +deliverer, he whose fidelity and bravery released me from my +dreadful prison. Oh, madame, what sad thoughts do you bring back +with his name!" + +Josephine turned with a triumphant look to Fouche, who was still +standing behind her in the neighborhood of the door. Her look said, +"You see he is no traitor, he has stood the proof." + +Fouche understood the language of this look perfectly, and a smile +played over his features. Then Josephine turned again to the young +man. + +"You did not know that Toulan was dead?" she asked, softly. + +"How could I know it?" he cried, bitterly. "I was taken at that time +to a solitary castle, where I remained several years, and then I +went to Germany, and from that time I have always lived in foreign +parts. Since I have been in Paris I have made the effort to learn +something about him, but no one could inform me, and so I solaced +myself with the hope that he had really gone to America, for that +was his object, as the other gentleman who assisted me in my release +informed me at that time." + +"This other gentleman," said Josephine, softly, "was the Baron de +Jarjayes, and the child who was carried into the Temple was the--" + +"The son of the Count de Frotte," rejoined Louis. + +"Fouche, it is he!" cried Josephine. "It is the son of my noble, +unfortunate Queen Marie Antoinette.--Oh, sire, let me testify my +homage to you, as becomes a subject when she stands before her king. +Sire, I bow my knee before you, and I would gladly pour out my whole +life in tears, and with each of these tears beg your forgiveness for +France, for us all." + +And the beautiful, passionate creole sank upon her knee, and raised +her tearful eyes to the young man who, perplexed and blushing, gazed +at her, then hastily stooped to her and conjured her to rise. + +"Not, sire," she cried, "until you tell me that you have forgiven +me--that you have forgiven us all." + +"I forgive you? What have I to forgive in you? Monsieur Fouche, who +is this lady who knows me and my destinies, and who brings me +greetings from Fidele? What have I to forgive in her? Who is she? +Tell me her name?" + +"Monsieur," said Fouche, slowly approaching, "this lady is--" + +"Hush! Fouche, I will tell him myself," interrupted Josephine. +"Sire, when your beautiful, exalted mother was still living in +Versailles, I had the honor to be presented to her, both at the +grand receptions and at the minor ones. One day--it was already in +the unhappy Reign of Terror--when the queen had left Versailles and +Trianon, and was already living in the Tuileries, I went thither to +pay my respects." + +"That is to say, madame," cried Louis, "you were a brave and loyal +woman, for only the brave and the loyal ventured then to go to the +Tuileries. Oh, speak on! speak on! You wanted to pay your respects +to the queen, you were saying; she received you, did she not? You +were taken into the little saffron saloon?" + +"No, sire, the queen was not there, she was in the little music- +hall; and, because at that time etiquette was no longer rigidly +enforced, I was allowed to accompany the Marchioness de Tourzel into +the music-room. The queen did not notice our entrance, for she was +singing. I remained standing at the door, and contemplated the +wondrous picture that I saw there. The queen, in a simple white +dress, her light brown, slightly powdered hair concealed by a black +lace head-dress, sat at the spinet on which her white hands rested. +Near her in the window-niche sat madame, engaged with her +embroidery. Very near her sat, in a little arm-chair, a boy of five +years, a lovely child, with long golden locks, with large blue eyes, +and looking like an angel. The little hands, surrounded by lace +wristbands, leaned on the support of the chair, while his looks +rested incessantly upon the countenance of the queen, and his whole +child's soul was absorbed in the gaze which he directed to his +mother. The queen was singing, and the tones of her soulful voice +resound still in my heart. The song was this: + +'Dors, mon enfant, clos ta paupiere, Tes cris me dechirent le coeur: +Dors, mon enfant, ta pauvre mere A bien assez de sa douleur.' + +And while she sang she turned her head toward her son, who listened +to her motionless and as if enchanted. 'See,' cried madame, the +sister of the pretty boy, 'I believe Louis Charles has fallen +asleep.' The child started up, and a glowing redness suffused his +cheeks. 'Oh! Theresa,' he cried, 'how could any one go to sleep when +my mamma queen was singing'?' His mother stooped down to him, +pressed a long kiss upon his brow, and a tear fell from her eyes +upon his golden hair. I saw it, and involuntarily my eyes filled; I +could not hold back my tears, aud went softly out to compose myself. +Sire, I see you still before me--this beautiful queen and her +children--and it is with me to-day as then, I must weep." + +"And I!--oh, my God!--and I!" whispered Louis, putting both his +hands before his quivering face. Even Fouche seemed moved, his lips +trembled and his cheeks grew pale. + +A long pause ensued. Nothing was heard but the convulsive sobbing of +the young man, who still held his hands before his face, and wept so +violently that the tears poured down in heavy drops between his +fingers. + +"Sire," cried Josephine, with supplicatory voice--" sire, by the +recollection of that hour, I conjure you, forgive me that I now live +in those rooms which Marie Antoinette once inhabited. Ah! it has not +been my wish, and I have done it only with pain and grief. Believe +me, sire, and forgive me that I have been compelled to live in the +palace of the kings." + +He took his hands from his face, and gazed at her. + +"You live in the Tuileries? Who are you? Madame, who are you?" + +"Sire, I was formerly Viscountess Beauharnais; now I am--" + +"The wife of the First Consul!" exclaimed the prince, drawing back +in terror--" the wife of him who is pursuing me, and who, as Fouche +says, means to bring me to the scaffold." + +"Oh, sire, forgive him!" implored Josephine; "he is not wicked, he +is not cruel; but circumstances compel him to act as he does. God +Himself, it would seem, has chosen him to restore, with his heroic +sword and his heroic spirit, peace and prosperity to this +unfortunate land, bleeding from a thousand wounds. He was the savior +of France, and the grateful nation hailed him with paeans, and full +of confidence laid the reins of government in his hands. Through his +victories and his administration of affairs, France has again grown +strong and great and happy; and yet he is daily threatened by +assassins, yet there are continual conspiracies whose aim is to +murder the man to whom France is indebted for its new birth. What +wonder that he at last, to put an end to these conspiracies, and +these attempts upon his life, will, by a deed of horror, inspire the +conspirators with fear? He is firmly resolved on this. The lion has +been aroused from his calmness by new conspiracies, and the shaking +of his mane will this time annihilate all who venture to conspire +against him. Sire, I do not accuse you; I do not say that you do +wrongly to make every attempt to regain the inheritance of your +fathers. May God judge between you and your enemies! But your +enemies have the power in their hands, and you must yield to that +power. Oh, my dear, unfortunate, pitiable lord, I conjure you, save +yourself from the anger of the First Consul, and from the pursuers +who have been sent out to seek you. If you are found, you are lost, +and no one in the world will then be able to save you. Fly, +therefore--fly, while there is still time!" + +"Fly!" cried the young prince, bitterly, "evermore fly! My whole +life is a perpetual flight, a continuous concealment. Like the +Wandering Jew, I must journey from land to land--nowhere can I rest, +nowhere find peace. Without a home, without parents, without a name, +I wander around, and, like a hunted wild beast, I must continually +start afresh, for the hounds are close behind me. Well, be it so, +then; I am weary of defying my fate longer; I surrender myself to +what is inevitable. The First Consul may send me as a conspirator to +the scaffold. I am prepared to die. I shall find that peace in death +at least that life so cruelly denies me. I will not fly--I will +remain. The example of my parents will teach me how to die." + +"Oh, speak not so!" exclaimed Josephine. "Have pity on me, have pity +on yourself. You are still so young, life has so much for you yet, +there remains so much to you yet to hope for. You must live, not to +avenge the death of your illustrious parents, but to make its memory +less poignant. Son of kings, you have received life from God, and +from your parents, you may not lightly throw it away, but must +defend it, for the blessing of your mother rests upon your head, +which you must save from the scaffold." + +"You must live," said Fouche, "for your death would bring joy to +those who were the bitter enemies of Queen Marie Antoinette, and who +would be your mocking heirs. Will you grant to the Count de Lille +the uncontested right of calling himself Louis XVIII.?--the Count de +Lille, who caused Marie Antoinette to shed so many tears." + +The prince flamed up at this, and his eyes flashed. + +"No," he cried, "the Count de Lille shall not have this joy. He +shall not rest his curse-laden head upon the pillow with the calm +consciousness that he will be the king of the future. My vision +shall disturb his sleep, and the possibility that I shall return and +demand my own again, shall be the terror that shall keep peace far +from him. You are right, madame, I must live. The spirit of Marie +Antoinette hovers over me, and demands that I live, and by my life +avenge her of her most bitter enemy. Let it be so, then. Tell me, +Fouche, whither shall I go? Where shall the poor criminal hide +himself, whose only offence lies in this, that he is alive, and that +he is the son of his father? Where is there a cave in which the poor +hunted game can hide himself from the hounds?" + +"Sire, you must away, away into foreign lands. The arm of the First +Consul is powerful, and his eagle eye scans all Europe, and would +discover you at any point." + +"You must for the present find a home beyond the sea," said Fouche, +approaching nearer. "I have already taken measures which will allow +you to do so. There are ships sailing southward from Marseilles +every day, and in one of these you must go to America. America is +the land of freedom, of adventures, and of great deeds. You will +there find sufficient occupation for your spirit and for your love +of work." + +"It is true," said Louis, with a bitter smile; "I will go to +America. I will find a refuge with the savages. Perhaps they will +appoint me as their chieftain, and adorn my head with a crown of +feathers instead of the crown of gold. Yes, I will go to America, In +the primeval forests, with the children of nature, there will be a +home for the exile, the homeless one. Madame, I thank you for your +sympathy and your goodness, and my thanks shall consist in this, +that I subject myself wholly to your will. You loved Queen Marie +Antoinette. A blessing on you, and all who love you." + +He extended both his hands to Josephine, and, as she was about to +press them to her lips, he stooped toward her with a sad smile. + +"Madame, bless my poor brow with the touch of those lips which once +kissed the hand of my mother." + +Josephine did as she was asked, and a tear fell from her eyes upon +his fair hair. + +"Go, sire," she said, "and may God bless and protect you! If you +ever need my help, call upon me, and be sure that I will never +neglect your voice." + +An hour later the wife of the First Consul drove out to St. Cloud. +At the corner of the Rue St. Honore a second carriage joined her +own, and a young man who sat in it greeted Josephine deferentially +as she leaned far out of the carriage to return his salute. + +At the barriers the carriage stopped, for the gates of the city were +still closed. But Josephine beckoned the officer of the guard to her +carriage, and, fortunately, he knew the wife of the First Consul. + +"It is not necessary," said Josephine, with a charming smile, "it is +not necessary that I should procure a permit from the First Consul +to allow myself and my escort to pass the gate? You do not suppose +that I and my secretary, who sits in the next carriage, belong to +the villains who threaten the life of my husband?" + +The officer, enchanted with the grace of Josephine, bowed low, and +commanded the guard instantly to open the gate and allow the two +carriages to pass. + +And so the son of the queen was saved. For the second time he left +Paris, to go forth as an exile and an adventurer to meet his fate. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +AFTER LONG WANDERINGS. + + +For the city of Paris the 16th of February, 1804, was a day of +terror. The gates remained closed the whole day, military patrols +passed through the streets, at whose corners the proclamations were +posted, by which Murat, the governor of Paris, announced to the city +that fifty assassins were within the walls, intent on taking the +life of the First Consul. + +The condemned surgeon, Querolle, had, meantime, made his confession, +and named the heads of the conspiracy and their accomplices, and, +only after all the persons mentioned by him were arrested, were the +gates of the city opened. + +A great trial then commenced of the men who had been sent by the +Bourbons for this nefarious purpose. Among the accused were General +Pichegru, the abettor of Georges, and General Moreau, the most +prominent of all. + +The history of this trial was enveloped in obscurity, and it was +faintly whispered that Pichegru had taken his own life in prison, +and more faintly yet was it rumored that he was secretly dispatched +in prison. And then, on one of these days, there were to be seen +through all Paris only pale, sad faces, and a murmur of horror ran +through all the streets and all the houses. + +The story was current that the Duke d'Enghien, the grandson of the +Prince de Conde, had been arrested by French soldiers at Baden, +beyond the frontier, and had been brought to Vincennes; that he was +accused there that same night of being an accomplice in a plot to +take the life of the First Consul, and to disturb the peace of the +republic; that he was quickly condemned by a court-martial, and shot +before morning within the fortress of Vincennes. + +The report was only too true. Bonaparte had kept his word; he had +sacrificed a royal victim to the threatened cause of the republic; +he would, by one deed of horror, fill the conspirators with fear, +and cause them to abandon their bloody plans. + +The means employed were cruel, but the end was reached which +Bonaparte hoped to attain, and thenceforth there were no more +conspiracies against the life of the First Consul, who, on the 18th +of May, that same year, declared himself emperor. + +A few days after this, the public trial of the accused began, which +Fouche attended as the reinstalled minister of police, and over +which Regnier presided in his new capacity of chief judge. + +Seventeen of those indicted were condemned to death, others to years +of imprisonment, and among these was General Moreau. But the popular +voice declared itself so loudly and energetically for the brave +general of the republic, that it was considered expedient to heed +it. Moreau was released from prison, and went to the Spanish +frontier, whence he sailed to North America. + +On the 25th of June, twelve of the conspirators, Georges at their +head, were executed; the other five, who had been condemned to +death, had their sentence commuted to banishment. + +The gentle, kind-hearted Josephine viewed all these things with +sadness, for her power over the heart of her husband was waning, and +the sun of her glory had set. Her prayers and tears had no longer a +prevailing influence over Bonaparte, and she had not been able to +avert the death of the Duke d'Enghien. + +"I have tried all means," she said, with tears, to Bourrienne, the +chief secretary of the emperor; "I wanted at any cost to turn him +aside from his dreadful intention. He had not apprised me of it, but +you know in what way I learned it. At my request he confessed to me +his purpose, but he was steeled against my prayers. I clang to him, +I fell on my knees before him. 'Do not meddle with what is none of +your business!' he cried, angrily, as he pushed me away from him. +'These are not women's affairs--leave me in peace.' And so I had to +let the worst come, and could do nothing to hinder it. But +afterward, when all was over, Bonaparte was deeply affected, and for +several days he remained sad and silent, and scolded me no more when +he found me in tears." [Footnote: Bourrienne, "Memoires du Consulat +et de l'Empire."] + +The days passed by, the days of splendor, and then followed for +Josephine the days of misery and grief. Repelled by Napoleon, she +mourned four years over her spurned love and her ruined fortunes; +but then, when Napoleon's star went down, when he was robbed of his +imperial crown and compelled to leave France, Josephine's heart +broke, and she hid herself in her grave, in order not to witness +Napoleon's humiliation. + +And thus the empire was abolished, and the Count de Lille called +back by foreign potentates, and not by the French nation, in order, +as Louis XVIII., to reerect the throne of the Lilies. + +And where, all this time, was the son of Queen Marie Antoinette? +Where was Louis XVII.? + +He had kept his word which he gave to Josephine. He had gone to the +primeval forests and to the savages, and they had given him a crown +of feathers and made him their king.[Footnote: "Memoires du Due de +Normandie," pp. 89-102.] For years he lived among them, honored as +their king, loved as their hero. Then a longing for his country +seized him, and going to Brazil in the service of his people, he +made use of the opportunity to enter into a contract with Don Juan, +and not return to his copper-colored tribe. The precious treasure +which he possessed, his papers, he had been able to preserve during +all the journeys and amid all the perils of his life, and these +papers procured him a hospitable and honorable reception with Don +Juan. From him the king without name or inheritance learned the +changes that had meanwhile taken place in France, and, at the first +opportunity which offered, he returned to Europe, arriving at Paris +in the middle of the year 1816. + +The Prince de Conde, now the Duke de Bourbon, received the wanderer +with tenderness, but with deep regret, for now it was too late, and +his hope for a restoration of the returning prince could rest on no +basis. The Count de Provence was now King Louis XVIII., and never +would he descend from his throne to give back to the son of Marie +Antoinette that crown which he wore with so much satisfaction and +pride. + +Much more simple and easy was it to treat the pretender as a lunatic +or as an adventurer, and to set his claims aside forever. Useless +were all the letters which the Baron de Richemont, the name that +Louis still bore, addressed to his uncle the king, to his sister the +Duchess de Angouleme, imploring them for an interview. No answer was +received. No audience was granted to this adventurer, whose claims +could not be recognized without dethroning Louis XVIII., and +destroying the prospects of the crown for the duchess's son, the +Duke de Berri. Louis XVII. had died and he could not return to the +living. He saw it, he knew it, and a deep sorrow took possession of +him. But he rose above it--he would not die; he would live, a terror +and an avenger to his cruel relatives. + +But it was a restless life that the son of the queen must lead, in +order to protect himself from the daggers of his powerful enemies. +The Prince de Conde conjured him to secure himself against the +attacks which were made more than once upon the Baron de Richemont, +and Louis gave heed to his requests and tears. He travelled abroad; +but after returning in two years from a journey in Asia and Africa, +on landing on the Italian coast, he was arrested in 1818, at the +instigation of the Austrian ambassador at Mantua, and confined in +the prison of Milan. + +Seven years the unhappy prince spent in the Austrian prison, without +once being summoned before a judge--seven years of solitude, of +darkness, and of want. But the son of Marie Antoinette had learned +in his youth to bear these things, and his prison-life in Milan was +not so cruel as that in the Temple under Simon. Here there were at +least sympathizing souls who pitied him; even the turnkeys of the +prison were courteous and kind when they entered the cell of the +"King of France;" and one day, beyond the wall of his apartment, was +heard a voice singing, in gentle, melodious tones, a romanza which +Louis had composed, and written on the wall when he occupied the +neighboring cell. + +This voice, which sounded like a greeting from the world, was that +of Silvio Pellico. The celebrated author of "Le Mie Prigioni," +relates in touching words this salutation of his neighbor: + +"My bed was carried," he said, "into the new cell that was prepared +for me, and as soon as the inspectors had left me alone, my first +care was to examine the walls. There were to be seen there some +words, recollections of the past, written with chalk, with pencil, +or with a sharp tool. I found there also two pretty French lines, +which I am sorry I did not copy. I began to sing them to my melody +of 'The Poor Mugdalen,' when a voice near me responded with another +air. When the singer ended, I called out, 'Bravo!' He replied with a +polite salutation, and asked me if I was French. + +"'No, I am Italian, and am called Silvio Pellico.' + +"'The author of Francesca da Rimini?' + +"'Yes, the same.' + +"And now there followed a courtly compliment, with the usual regrets +for my imprisonment. He asked in what part of Italy I was born, and +when I told him in Saluzzo, in Piedmont, he awarded the Piedmontese +some words of high praise, and spoko particularly of Bodoni (a +celebrated printer, director of the national printing establishment +at Parma). His compliments were brief and discriminating, and +disclosed a finely cultivated mind. + +"'And now, sir,' said I, 'allow me to ask you who you are.' + +"'You were just singing a song that I wrote.' + +"'These pretty verses here upon the wall, are they yours?' + +"'Yes, they are.' + +"'You are therefore--' + +"'The Duke de Normandie.' + +"The watchman was just then walking past my window and so I was +still. After some time we resumed our conversation. When I asked +whether he was Louis XVII., he responded in the affirmative, and +began to declaim hotly against Louis XVIII. his uncle, the usurper +of his rights. + +"I implored him to give me his history in brief outlines. He did so, +and related to me all the details connected with the life of Louis +XVII., which I knew only in part. He told me how he had been +imprisoned with Simon the cobbler, been compelled to sign a +calumniating charge against his mother, etc. He then related to me +the story of his escape and his flight to America, of his return to +reclaim the throne of his fathers, and his arrest in Mantua. + +"He portrayed his history with extraordinary life. All the incidents +of the French Revolution were present before him; he spoke with +natural eloquence, and wove in piquant anecdotes very apropos. His +manner of expression smacked once in a while of the soldier, but +there was no lack of the elegance that disclosed his intercourse +with good society. + +"'Will you allow me,' I asked him, 'to treat you as a friend and +leave off all titles?' + +"'I want exactly that, 'he answered. 'Misfortune has taught me the +good lesson to despise all the vanities of earth. Believe me, my +pride does not lie in this, that I am a king, but that I am a man.' + +"After this we had long conversations mornings and evenings, and I +recognized in him a noble, beautiful soul, sensitive to all that is +good. He knew how to win hearts, and even the turnkeys were kind to +him. One of them said to me on coming from the cell of my neighbor: +'I have strong hopes that he will make me chief porter when he is +king; I have had the boldness to ask him for the position, and he +has promised it.' + +"To the veneration of the turnkeys for the king of the future I owe +it that one day when I was led to trial, and had to pass by his +cell, they opened the doors that I might see my illustrious friend. +He was of medium size, from forty to forty-five years of age, +somewhat embonpoint, and had a thoroughly Bourbon physiognomy." +[Footnote: Silvio Pellico, "Le Mie Prigioni," p. 51 et seq. An +examination of Silvio Pellico's work will convince the reader that +Silvio Pellico was by no means a believer in the genuineness of his +companion's claims. Miss Muhlbach seems to have been scarcely just +in leaving the impression conveyed in the text.-TB.] + +After seven years of imprisonment, the gates opened at last for the +Baron de Richemont; and he who had been placed there without the +sentence of a judge, was released with as little show of authority. +The son of the queen was free again; the death of King Louis XVIII. +had restored him to the walks of men. But another King of France +assumed his place at once; the Count d'Artois ascended the throne +under the title of Charles X. + +The poor Baron de Richemont bore his sorrows and his humiliation +into the valleys of Switzerland. But when, in the year 1830, King +Charles X. abdicated the throne, the son of Marie Antoinette again +came forth from his solitude, issued a proclamation to the French +people, and, in the presence of all Europe, demanded his +inheritance. + +Yet, amid the clash of weapons and the roar of revolutions, the +voice of the unfortunate prince was overborne. He had no soldiers, +no cannon, to enforce silence and make himself be heard. But the +Duke d'Orleans, Louis Philippe, had soldiers and cannon; and the +arms of his dependants, and the magic of his wealth, placed him upon +the throne in July, 1830. [Footnote: It was the 9th of August.--Tr.] + +The poor Baron de Richemont, the son of kings, the last of the +Bourbons in France, had now a single friend, who, perhaps, would +receive him. This friend was the Duke de Bourbon--Conde, now an old +man of eighty years. One day, some weeks after the accession of +Louis Philippe, the Duke de Bourbon received at his palace of St. +Leu a gentleman whom nobody knew, who announced himself as the Baron +de Richemont. + +The duke went out into the anteroom, greeted his guest with the +greatest deference, and led him into his cabinet. There the two +gentlemen carried on a long and earnest conversation, and the +secretary of the duke, who was at work in the library hard by, +distinctly heard his master say, with trembling tones: "Sire, I +implore you, forgive me. The circumstances were stronger than my +will. Sire, go not into judgment with me--forgive me." + +To this an angry voice replied: "No, I will not forgive you, for you +have dealt perfidiously with the son, as you did once with the +mother! You have not redeemed the oath that you once gave me. I +leave you. May God be gracious to you, and pardon you. Take care +that He does not punish you for the treachery that you have shown to +me. You swore that you would acknowledge no other king but me, and +yet you have taken your oath to the third king. Farewell! May the +Almighty protect you! We shall see each other, perhaps, in a better +world, and there you will have to give your account to a Judge whom +nothing can mitigate. Be happy, and may the dead sleep in peace!" +[Footnote: The very words of Richemont.--See "Memoires du Duc de +Normandie," p. 243.] + +The secretary then heard the forcible closing of a door, and all +became still. After an hour he entered the duke's cabinet, because +the silence troubled him. The old duke sat in his arm-chair, pale, +and gazing with constant looks at the door through which the +stranger had departed. He was reticent the whole day, and in the +night following his valet heard him softly praying and weeping. On +the next morning, August 27th, 1830, on entering the sleeping-room +of his master, he found him dead and already rigid. The duke had +hanged himself at the window of his own room. + +The last dependant of the unhappy king, who still bore the name of +the pretender, was dead, as were all his relations, including his +sister, the Duchess d'Angouleme. + +But from the dead there came a greeting. She had ordered a large sum +to be paid yearly to the Baron de Richemont, and the report was that +she had wished to recognize him on her death-bed as her brother. But +her confessor had counselled her that such a recognition would +introduce new contentions among the Bourbons, and give the pretender +Henry V. equal claims with Louis XVII. + +Yet the Duke de Normandie was not silent; he spoke so loudly of his +rights that Louis Philippe at last held it advisable to arrest him +and bring him to trial. The preliminary investigation continued +fifteen months; then he was brought before the court, and accused of +conspiracy against the safety of the state. + +The Gazette des Tribunaux of the 3d, 4th, and 5th of November, 1834, +gave the details of this trial. Spectators poured in from all sides, +and also, in an unexpected manner, witnesses who declared themselves +ready to prove the identity of the Baron de Richemont with the Duke +de Normandie, son of Louis XVI. The accused appeared entirely calm +and dignified before the bar, and when the counsel for the +government accused him of appropriating a name that did not belong +to him, he asked quietly, + +"Gentlemen, if I am not Louis XVII., will you tell me who I am?" + +No one knew how to reply to this question; but many eminent +legitimists had come to solemnly declare that the accused was in +truth their king, and that he was the rescued orphan of the Temple. + +Even the president of the court seemed to be convinced of this, and +his closing words in addressing the jury were these: "Gentlemen, who +is the accused who stands before you to-day? What is his name, his +lineage, his family? What are his antecedents, his whole history? Is +he an instrument of the enemies of France, or is he, much more, an +unfortunate who has miraculously escaped the horrors of a bloody +revolution, and, laid under bans by his birth, has now no name and +no refuge for his head?" + +The jury, however, were not called upon to answer this question; +they had simply to reply to the question whether the accused was +guilty of a conspiracy against the state. This they answered with a +"Guilty," and condemned the accused to an imprisonment of twelve +years. + +The Duke de Normandie, or King Louis Charles, as we may choose to +call him, was taken to St. Pelagic; but during the next year, +through the assistance of powerful friends, which his trial had +gained over to him, he was released from prison, and again spent +some quiet years in Switzerland. + +Then came the year 1848, the year of revolutions, whose storm-waves +drove Louis Philippe to England, never to ascend again the throne of +France. + +Again Louis Charles issued from his solitude, and this time not +alone. A swarm of rich and powerful legitimists thronged around him, +a journal--L'Iflexible--was secured to the interests of the Duke do +Normandie, and La Vendee, with a thousand loyal voices, summoned +King Louis XVII. to herself. There, as he was on the point of +hastening to his faithful ones, God laid his hand upon him and held +him back; a stroke of paralysis crippled his limbs. After recovering +from this attack, the strength of his mind was taken away, and the +decided, fiery, indefatigable pretender became a gentle, pious monk, +who fasted and prayed, and wandered to Rome to have an interview +with Pope Pius IX., and received absolution from him for all his +sins. + +The pope met the Duke de Normandie at Gaeta on the 20th of February, +1849, and had a long and secret conversation with him; and, when +Louis Charles withdrew, it was as a quiet, pious, smiling man, who +never denied his high extraction, but who had no longer a wish to be +restored to the inheritance of his fathers. More and more he +withdrew from the world, and lived only in the circle of a few +noble-born legitimists, who never addressed him excepting as "sire." +He accepted the title as one that was his due, and never refused it +even when approached by many adherents of the new Napoleonic +dynasty. At that time he wrote to his friends: + +"You ask me what I wish, what the end of my struggle is, which has +now lasted more than a half century? I will tell you. You do not +suppose, I trust, that I am still determined to ascend the throne of +France: to do this would be a great misfortune for me, but it would +certainly be a greater one for France, and it would rightly be said +of both of us that we merit our misfortune; still less do I hope to +attain to wealth and high station by being recognized. You know that +I need very little for my support, and that this little is amply +provided for. What else should I strive for? To avenge myself? My +friend, I am at an age when the blood flows slower through the +veins, and when one finds an inexpressible charm in forgiving. What, +then, do I wish? What could I have? Why do I incessantly strive? +This is the reason, my friend: I should like, before my death, to +convince all who have disinterestedly believed in me, that it is not +a political adventurer, but the royal 'orphan of the Temple,' who +owes them his friendship, and gives them his gratitude." + +And this last goal of his life was within his reach. The friends and +legitimists who surrounded him believed in him, and when he died his +dependants and servants mourned for him as for a departed king. They +bore him with solemn pomp to his grave, at the dead of night. + +Some fifty persons followed his coffin, and a priest went before it. +He was buried in the churchyard of Villefranche, and his tombstone +bears the following inscription: + +Here rests Louis Charles of France Born at Versailles, March 27, +1785. Died in the Chateau of Vaux-Renaud, August 10, 1858. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext Marie Antoinette And Her Son, by Muhlbach + diff --git a/3451.zip b/3451.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8bbad5c --- /dev/null +++ b/3451.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d740fff --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #3451 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/3451) |