The Chevalier De Maison Rouge (30 page)

THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE. 197

" Listen," said the unknown. "It is God who now punishes you."

" And for what ? "

"For the tortures you have inflicted so mercilessly on a poor mother as unhappy as yourself."

" Of whom do you speak ? What do you mean ? "

f< You have often driven the unhappy prisoner to the

very verge of despair, where you are yourself at this mo-

ment, by your revelations and brutalities. God now pun-

ishes you for all this by conducting this daughter, whom

you loved so much, to the scaffold."

" You said there was some man who could save her ;

where is this man ? what does he want ? what will he

demand ? "

" This man requires that you cease to persecute the

queen, that you demand pardon for the outrages already

committed against her, and if at any time you perceive

that this woman, who is also a weeping, despairing

mother, by any unforeseen circumstance, or by some

miracle from Heaven, is upon the point of saving herself,

instead of opposing her flight, you do all in your power

to aid and abet it."

" Listen, citizen," said the woman Tison. " You are the man is it not so ? "

"Well?"

" It is you who promise to save my child ? "

The unknown remained silent.

" Will you engage to do it ? Will you promise ? Will

you swear it ? Answer me."

' All that a man can do to save a woman I will do to

save your daughter."

" He cannot save her," cried the woman, uttering

piercing cries, "he cannot save her. When he promised

me he lied."

" Do what you can for the queen, and I will do all in

my power for your daughter."

" What care I for the queen ? She is not my daughter.

If they must decapitate some one, it shall not be my

daughter, it shall be her. They may cut my throat so

198 THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE.

that they spare my child's. They may lead me to the

guillotine, so that they do not harm a hair of her head,

and I will go there singing :

" Ah ! c.a ira, c.a ira, ga ira."

And she commenced singing in a frightful voice, then

suddenly stopped short, and burst into a fit of frenzied

laughter. The man in the mantle himself appeared

alarmed at this burst of folly, and retreated a step or two from her.

"Ah ! you shall not escape me thus," said the woman Tison, in despair, and retaining her hold of his mantle ;

" you shall not at one moment say, ' Do this and I will rescue your child/ and afterward say, ' perhaps.' Will

you save her ? "

' Yes."

"How ?*'

"The day she is conducted from the conciergerie to

the scaffold/'

"But why wait why not to-night ? this evening this

moment, even ? "

" Because I cannot do so."

" Ah ! you know you cannot ; you well I know you cnn-

not I" cried the woman Tison. " But as for mt, 1 can."

" What can you do ? "

" I can persecute the prisoner, I can watch the queen, as you term her, aristocrat as you are, and I can enter

the prison any hour of the day or night. All this will I do.

We will see how much she will escape ; we will see. Yes,

we shall see, since they will not save my daughter, who

ought to do so if they could. Head for head. Do you

like that ? Marie ATitoinette lias been queen. Heloise

Tison is only a poor girl. I know all this very well ; but

on the guillotine they are equals all distinction ceases

there."

"Well, it may bo so," said the man in the mantle.

" But you perform your part, and I will fulfil mine."

"Swear."

" I swear it."

THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE. 199

" But what do you swear ? "

" Anything you choose."

" Have you a child ? "

" No."

" Well, then," said the woman, in a disappointed tone,

"by what can you swear ?"

" Listen. I swear by God ! "

" Bah !" exclaimed the woman Tison, "you know very well they have demolished the ancient and have not yet

decided on the new."

" I .= r ear by the tomb of my father ! "

"Swear not by a tomb, for that is prophetic of evil.

Oh, my God ! my God ! "When I think that perhaps in

three days I may swear by the tomb of my child also. My

daughter ! My poor Heloise ! " cried the woman Tison,

frantically ; till at the sound of her voice, raised to a

shrill scream, several windows were opened. At sight of

the opened windows, another man, who seemed to detach

himself from the wall, advanced toward the first.

" There is nothing can be done with this woman," said he ; '' she is mud."

" Xo ; she is a mother," replied the former, and dragged his companion away. When she saw them leaving her,

the woman Tison again returned to the subject.

" Where are you going ? " cried she. " Are you going to rescue Heloise ? Wait for me, then I will go with you.

Wait for me ; do wait for me."

And the poor wretch followed them, screaming, till at

the corner of the nearest street she lost sight of them

altogether ; and not knowing which way to turn, she re-

mained for an instant undecided, looking on every side,

when seeing only in the silence and darkness of the night

a double symbol of death, she uttered a cry of horror and

ft'll on the pavement without sense or motion, The clock

struck ten. During this time, and while the same hour was

resounding from the Temple clock, the queen, as usual,

Bat in her chamber, between her daughter and her sister.

Kear her was a lighted lamp, concealed from the sight of

&he municipal, by Mine. Koyale, who pretended to eta-

200 THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE.

brace her mother, who was reading over again a email

billet written on the smallest piece of paper imaginable,

and in characters so minute that her eyes, already nearly

blinded by her scalding tears, scarcely retained strength

to decipher it. The billet contained the following lines :

" To-morrow, Tuesday, demand permission to walk in

the garden ; this will be accorded without any difficulty,

as an order has been issued to grant you this favor when-

erer you think proper to solicit it. After two or three

turns, feign to feel fatigued, approach the cabin, and ask

the widow Plumeau to allow you to sit down. Then, in

moment, pretend to feel worse, and faint away. They

will then close all the doors, that they may be able to

render you assistance, and you will remain with Madame

Elizabeth and Madame Royale. Immediately the trap-door

of the cellar will open. Precipitate yourself, your sister, and daughter through this aperture, and you are all three

saved."

" Mon Dieu ! " said Mme. Royale, " our evil destiny tires in the pursuit."

" If this billet should prove only a trap/' said Mme.

Elizabeth.

" Xo, no," said the queen ; "these characters have always indicated to me the presence of a mysterious but

equally brave and faithful friend."

" Is it the chevalier ?" demanded Mme. Royale.

" He himself," replied the queen.

Mme. Elizabeth clasped her hands.

" Let us each read the billet again very softly," replied the queen, " so that if one of us forget any particulars, the others can supply them."

They all three reread the letter, and had just finished

so doing, when they heard the door of their chamber turn

slowly on its hinges. The two princesses turned round ;

the queen alone remained stationary, except by an imper-

ceptible movement, she, raised her hand to her hair and

hid the billet, in her head-dress. It was a municipal who

opened the door.

THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE. 201

" What is your business, monsieur ? " demanded Mme.

Elizabeth and Mme. Royale at the same moment.

"Hum " said the municipal, "it appears to me that you retire very late to-night."

" Is there, then," said the queen, with her usual dignity,

" a new decree from the Commune, stating the hour at

which I am to go to bed ? ''

" No, citoyenne," said the municipal ; " but, if necessary, they will make one."

" In the meantime, monsieur," said Marie Antoinette,

" respect I do not say the chamber of the queen but

that of a woman."

' Truly," growled the municipal, "these aristocrats always speak as if they were something."

But, in the meantime, subdued by the haughty dignity

of her prosperity, but which three years of suffering had

calmed down, he withdrew. An instant afterward the

lamp was extinguished, and the three females retired in

darkness, as usual.

The next morning, at nine o'clock, the queen having

reread the letter before she arose, in order that she might not misconstrue any of the instructions contained there,

tore it into almost invisible fragments. She then hastily

finished her toilet, awoke her sister, and entered the

chamber of the princess. A minute afterward she came

out and called the municipals on guard.

"What do you want, citoyenne ?" said one of them, appearing at the door, while the other did not even discontinue his breakfast to answer the royal appeal.

" Monsieur/' said Marie Antoinette, "I have just left my daughter's chamber, and found her very ill. Her

limbs are swollen for want of exercise ; and you know,

monsieur, it is I who have doomed her to this life of in-

action. I received permission to walk in the garden ;

but, in descending, I must necessarily pass before the

door of the room occupied by my husband in his lifetime.

When I made the attempt, my heart failed me, and 1 had

not courage to do so, and have since limited my walks to

the platform. Now, however, I find this exercise in-

202 THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE.

sufficient for my poor child. I therefore, entreat yon,

Citizen Municipal, m my name, to claim to General

Santerre the renewal of this privilege."

The queen had pronounced these words in a manner at

once so mild, yet dignified, had so strenuously avoided

all allusions to anything that could wound the feelings of

the Republican, that he who had entered her presence

with his head covered, as for the most part was the custom

of these men, gradually raised the bonnet-rouge, and

said, when she had finished, bowing respectfully to her :

" Rest assured, madame, your petition shall be laid

before the citizen general." Then, on retiring, as if to convince himself he had yielded to justice rather than

weakness: "It is just," said he; "after all, it is only right."

" What is just ? " demanded the other municipal.

" That this woman should be permitted to walk in the

garden with her child, who is an invalid."

" Bah ! " said the other ; " when she asks to be allowed to walk from the Temple to La Place de la Revolution, that

will be permitted her fast enough."

The queen heard these words, and turned very pale,

but still drew from them fresh courage for the great

attempt she meditated. The municipal finished his

breakfast, and descended. The queen requested she

might take hers in her daughter's room, which was

granted. Mmc. Royale, to confirm the statement con-

cerning her ill health, did not quit her bed ; the queen

and Mme. Elizabeth remained near her.

At one o'clock, as usual, Santerre arrived. His com-

ing was announced by the drums beating the march, and

by the entrance of a fresh battalion, and other munici-

pals, who came in their turn to relieve those on guard.

When Santerre had fully reviewed the battalion leaving,

and the OTIC about to take its place, and had paraded his

large, heavy-limbed horse round the court of the Temple,

he stood still for a moment. This was for the purpose

of receiving any claims, denunciations, or requests. The

municipal, availing himself of this halt, approached him.

THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE. 203

"Well, what do you want ?" said Santerre, brusquely.

"Citizen," said the municipal, "I come to entreat on the part of the queen "

" Who is the queen ? " interrupted Santerre.

" True ! " said the municipal, astonished at his own mistake. " What have I said ? I must be mad. I came

to speak on the part of Madame Veto."

" All in good time," said Santerre. "Now I understand you ; what have you to say to me ? "

" The young Veto is ill, it appears, from want of

proper air and exercise."

"Well, is it necessary again to bring this before the

public ? The nation granted her permission to walk in

the garden, and she refused it. Bon soir."

" That is exactly it. She regrets this now, and re-

quests you will permit her to do so."

" There is no difficulty about that. You all hear,"

said Santerre, " that Capet's wife will come down to walk in the garden. Now," addressing the whole battalion,

" take care she does not abuse this favor granted her by the nation, by making her escape over the walls ; for if

that happens I will cut off every one of your heads." A roar of laughter followed this pleasantry of the citizen

general. " Xow that is settled," said Santerre, "adieu.

I am going to the Convention. It appears they are

about to reunite Roland and Barbaroux, and the question