The Chevalier De Maison Rouge (56 page)

gendarmes, and a commissary entered at the same moment.

This visit was sufficiently significant, and Louis hastened to dress himself.

" Do you come to arrest me ? " said he.

"Yes, Citizen Louis.''

" What for ? "

" Because you are suspected. "

"Ah! all right."

The commissary muttered some words iu a low tone

about arrest by proems-verbal.

" Where is your friend ?" said he immediately.

" What friend ? "

"The Citizen Maurice Lindey."

"At home, probably."

" Xo ; he lodges here."

" He ! go along ! Search, and if you find- "

"Here is the denunciation/' said the commissary ; "it is plain enough," offering Louis a paper with vile writing and enigmatical orthography.

It stated that every morning the Citizen Lindey was

seen going out of the Citizen Louis' house, suspected,

874 THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE.

and ordered for arrest. The denunciation was signed

" Simon."

" Why, the cobbler will lose his practise, if he follows two trades at the same time a spy and boot-mender. He

is a Caesar, this Monsieur Simon/' and he burst into a fit

of laughter.

" The Citizen Maurice, where is the Citizen Maurice ? "

said the commissary. "We summon you to deliever

him up."

" When I tell you he is not here ? "

The commissary passed into the chamber adjoining,

then ascended to the loft where Louis' official slept, and at last opened a lower apartment, but found no traces of

Maurice. But upon the dining-room table a recently

written letter attracted the attention of the commissary.

It was from Maurice, who had deposited it there on

leaving in the morning (as they slept together) without

awakening his friend.

" I go to the tribunal," said Maurice ; " take breakfast without me. I shall not return till night."

" Citizens," said Louis, " however anxious I may feel to obey your commands, I cannot follow you en chemise.

Allow my official to assist me."

" Aristocrat," said a voice, " do you require assistance to put on your breeches ? "

"Ah, mon Dieu ! yes," said Louis; "I resemble the Citizen Dagobert mind, I did not say king."

" Well, dress," said the commissary ; " but make haste."

The official came down to help his master to dress.

However, it was not exactly that Louis required a valet de

chambrc, it was that nothing might escape the notice of

the official, and that, consequently, he might detail everything to Maurice.

" Xow, messieurs pardon, citizens. Xow, citizens, I

am ready, and will follow you ; but permit me^I beg, to

carry with me the last volume of ' Lettres a Emile,' by

Monsieur Demonstier, which has just appeared, and I

have not read. It will enliven the hours of my captivity."

THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE. 375

"Your captivity," said Simon, sharply, now become municipal in his turn, and entering, followed by four

sectionaries, " that will not last long. You figure in the proems of the woman who wanted to assist the Austrian to

escape. They try her to-day, and to-morrow your turn

will come."

" Cobbler/' said Louis, " you cut your soles too quickly."

" Yes ; but what a nice stroke from the leather-cutting knife I" replied Simon ; "you will see, you will see, my fine grenadier."

Louis shrugged his shoulders.

" "Well," said he, "let us go ; I am waiting for you."

As each one turned round to descend the staircase,

Louis bestowed on the municipal Simon so vigorous a kick

with his foot that he sent him rolling and howling down

the entire flight of stairs. The sectionaries could not re-

strain their laughter. Louis put his hands in his pockets.

" In the exercise of my functions/' said Simon, livid

with rage.

"Pardieu!" said Louis, "are we not all here in the exercise of our functions ? "

He got into the carriage, and was conducted by the

commissary to the Palais de Justice.

CHAPTER LI.

LOUIS.

IF for the second time the reader is willing to follow us

to the Revolutionary Tribunal, we shall find Maurice in

the same place where we have already seen him, only now

infinitely more pale and agitated. At the moment our

scene again opens upon the lugubrious theater, whither

we are led by a tissue of events rather than by our

own inclinations, the jury were deliberating, a cause

had just been tried ; two of the accused had already, by

one of those insolent precautions by which they ridiculed

the judges, attired themselves for the scaffold, and were

conversing with their counsel, whose words somewhat re-

376 THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE.

sembled those of a physician who despairs of the life of his patient. The people of the tribune were this day in a

ferocious mood, calculated to excite the severity of the

jury placed under the immediate surveillance of the

tricotenses and inhabitants of the suburbs. The juries

under these circumstances became more excited and

energetic, resembling an actor who redoubles his efforts

beneath the eyes of a censorious public. Since ten in

the morning five condemnations had already taken

place under the decisions of these harsh and insatiable

juries. The two individuals who now found themselves

on the bench of the accused awaited the decisive moment,

when " yes " or " no " would return them to life or doom them to death. The people of the nation, rendered savage

by the daily occurrence of these spectacles, now become

their favorite pastime, prepared themselves by exclama-

tions and anticipations for the awful moment.

" There ! there ! look at the tall one/' said a tricoteuse, who, not having a bonnet, wore a tricolored cockade,

large as a hand, on her breast "there ! is he not pale ?

they say he is almost dead now."

The condemned regarded the woman with a contempt-

uous smile.

"What do you say ?" said her neighbor; "why, he is smiling."

"Yes, the wrong side of his mouth."

One of the men looked at his watch.

"What is the time ?" inquired his companion.

" A quarter to one. This has lasted three quarters of

an hour."

" The same as at Dagobert, that unfortunate town,

where you arrive at noon, and are hung in an hour."

" And the short one ! the short one ! " cried another person, " will he not be ugly when he sneezes in the

sack ? "

" Bah ! it is done so quickly you will barely have time to perceive it."

" Then we will demand the head from Sanson j one has

a right to see it."

THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE. 377

"Look! what a beautiful blue coat he hag on, the

tyrant ! It is rather a pleasant thing that the poor can

shorten the rich and well dressed people."

Indeed, as the executioner had told the queen, the poor

inherited the spoils of each victim ; they were carried im-

mediately to the Salpetriere, after the execution, and dis-

tributed among the indigent ; and there even the clothes

of the unfortunate queen had been conveyed.

Maurice heard this whirlwind of words without paying

any attention ; every moment was occupied by one en-

grossing thought, to the exclusion of all else. For several days his heart beat only at certain moments, and by fits

and starts, as from time to time hope or fear appeared to

suspend all vital action, and these perpetual oscillations

to bruise the most tender sensibilities of his soul.

The jury returned to their places, and, as had been fully

anticipated, the president pronounced the condemnation

of the two accused, who were directly removed, walking

with a firm and erect step ; for at this epoch every one

learned how to die boldly.

The solemn and sinister voice of the usher was again

heard.

"Citizen, the public accuser against the Citoyenne

Geuevieve Dixmer."

A shudder ran through Maurice's frame, and a cold

sweat bedewed his brow. The little door by which the ac-

cused entered suddenly opened, and Genevieve appeared.

She was dressed in white; -her ringlets were tastefully

arranged, instead of being cut short, hanging in long

masses of clustering curls. Doubtless, at the last Gene-

vieve wished to create a favorable impression on those who

would see her.

Maurice beheld Genevieve, and felt that all the strength

he had collected was inadequate to this occasion, notwith-

standing he had awaited this blow, since for twelve days

he had not omitted a single sitting, and three times

already had the name of Genevieve proceeded from the

mouth of the public accuser and reached . his ear ;

but there are certain griefs and miseries so profound

878 THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE.

that it is quite impossible to sound the depths of the

abyss.

All those who witnessed the appearance of this yonng

female, so lovely, so pale and innocent, uttered a simulta-

neous cry, some of fury for at this period there existed a

class of people who detested everything bordering on supe-

riority of beauty, riches, and even of birth others of ad-

miration, and some of pity. Genevie' ve, doubtless, among

all these cries had recognized one cry, amid all these voices had distinguished one voice, for she turned in the direction of Maurice, while the president, looking up from time

to time, turned over the law papers of the accused.

At the first glance she discovered Maurice, concealed as

his features were under the broad brim of a large hat

which he wore ; and, turning round with a sweet smile,

and a gesture still more engaging, she pressed her rosy

but trembling hands upon her lips, and depositing her

whole soul with her breath, she gave wings to a last kiss

which only one in that vast crowd had the right to appro-

priate to himself. A murmur of interest ran through the

hall. Genevieve recalled, turned toward her judges, but

stopping suddenly in the midst of this movement, her

eyes dilated, and fixed with an undefinable expression of

horror toward one point of the hall. Maurice in vain

raised himself on his toes ; he saw nothing, or, rather,

something of more consequence claimed his attention upon

this scene that is to say, the tribunal.

Fouquier Tinville had commenced reading the act of

accusation. This act stated that Genevieve Dixmer was

the wife of an obstinate conspirator, suspected of having

assisted the ex-Chevalier de Maison Rouge in all his suc-

cessive attempts to rescue the queen. She had, besides,

been surprised at the feet of the queen, entreating her to

exchange garments with her, and offering to die in her

stead. This absurd fanaticism, continued the act, merited,

no doubt, the admiration of the contre-revolutionists ;

but in our day every French citizen owes his life to the

nation ; it is, therefore, double treason to sacrifice it to the enemies of France.

THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE.

Genevi&ve, when interrogated as to having been recog-

nized on her knees before the queen, as stated by the

two gendarmes, Gilbert and Duchesne, and entreating her

to exchange vestments, simply replied :

"Yes."

" Then," said the president, " inform us of your plan, and what hope you entertained of its success."

Genevi^ve smiled.

"A woman might conceive hopes," said she, "but a woman could not form a plan like this of which I am the

victim."

" How came you here, then ? "

"Not of my own account. I was driven to it."

" Who compelled you ? " demanded the public ac-

cuser.

" Those who menaced me with death if I did not obey ; "

and again the agitated look of the young woman was

centered on that part of the hall invisible to Maurice.

" But to escape from this death which menaced you,

did you not face death which must result from your con-

demnation ? "

" When I consented, the knife was at my throat, while

the guillotine was only in perspective. I succumbed

under present violence."

" Why did you not call for assistance ? All good

citizens would have defended you/'

" Alas ! monsieur," said Genevieve, in a voice at once so sad and sweet that it caused Maurice's heart to beat

tumultuously, "I had no one near mo."

Commiseration succeeded to interest, as interest had

succeeded to curiosity. Many heads were lowered, some

to conceal their tears, many to allow them to flow freely.

Just then Maurice perceived on his left an immovable

head and an inflexible countenance. It was Dixmer,

standing dark, gloomy, and implacable, never for a

moment losing sight of Genevieve or of the tribunal.

The blood rushed to the young man's temples, rage

mounted from his heart to his forehead, filling his whole

being with an intense desire for vengeance. He flung at

380 THE CHEVALIER DE MAISON ROUGE.

Dixmer a look so replete with burning hatred, so con-

densed and powerful, that he, as if attracted by the

electric fluid, turned his head toward his enemy. Their

glances encountered like two flashes.

" Tell us the names of your instigators," said the president.