DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND.
With a turn of the kaleidoscope is another pattern formed. Lying in
the great state bed with its ponderous carven canopy and heavy
curtains of deep blue velvet fringed with gold, Gabrielle wondered
whether she had awakened in a kinder world or whether she was dreaming
in the old rugose one. No. It was the same gorgeously gloomy chamber
in which she had so often wept, with its dim ancestors frowning from
the background of mouldering arras.
Yonder, by the tall emblazoned mantel, was the familiar ebony cabinet
in which a long bygone De Breze, who was an alchemist, had been wont
to lock his phials. To the left, was the mullioned window, with wide
sill, looking out upon the paved courtyard. On the sill was a row of
ponderous bronze pots of the Renaissance period, filled with gay
plants to hide out the blank wall opposite. Both Madame de Vaux and
Angelique had always shuddered when they crossed the threshold of this
room, vowing that the big bed, like a funereal catafalque, was a fit
resting-place for spectres, not for human beauty. When counselled to
move elsewhere, or do up the apartment in more cheerful fashion, the
chatelaine had smilingly shaken her head. The ladies of the castle had
always occupied this room, and she would follow their precedent, not
being afraid of ghosts.
"The precedents of Lorge were pretty ones to follow," retorted her
neighbour. "Many of the chatelaines were murdered, poor things! and
the rest so wretched that murder, however atrocious, would have been
hailed as a release."
Alas! The destiny of the present one was no brighter than that of the
others. She had been miserable enough in this tranquil chamber, and
had ofttimes prayed for death. But now, somehow, Fortune seemed to be
weary of persecution. Was it possible that out of the sinister tangle
content might yet be unwound?
There were voices whispering in the antechamber which Gabrielle
recognized as those of Jean and Toinon, watchers. Now and again,
Toinon would gently open the door and reconnoitre, and seeing the
invalid apparently asleep would quietly close it again, but not before
the sick lady had caught a glimpse of the chevalier behind, still
wearing an expression of dismay.
Wonder of wonders! Sometimes when she woke from fitful dozing, she
would see the figure of the marquis standing at the bed-foot anxiously
peering down at her. He looked haggard and careworn. Could it be on
her account? Hidden away somewhere in a remote recess could there be a
flame of affectionate esteem for her still flickering?
Simulating slumber, she would scan him narrowly. He was evidently
unhappy, had something on his mind, was unpleasantly preoccupied. Her
heart leapt with the thought that it was on her account, perhaps, that
he was troubled. He certainly was thinking a good deal about her, for
though he did not stop long he often visited the chamber. Although
well-nigh beyond belief, Gabrielle could hardly doubt that he was
unhappy for her sake. His eyes had been opened! It had come home to
him how cruel his neglect had been, and he was sorry. It needed but a
kind word of encouragement from her to bring about a tardy
reconciliation.
Choosing an opportunity, she gently put forth her hand and clasped
that of Clovis with a tender pressure, murmuring the while, "Husband!
I was driven to do that wicked thing by a mistake. God will forgive.
Can you, too, pardon?"
At sound of her feeble voice, the marquis started guiltily and hung
his head; and as he remained silent, his hand inert in hers, she
proceeded slowly--
"It is not you who are to blame, dear. Occupied as your mind is, you
are unable to conceive what to a loving woman are isolation and
indifference. I teased and annoyed you with my jealousy; but then, as
a girl, I was so pampered--steeped to the lips in love! Give me
confidence and perfect trust and you shall be vexed no more. Obedient
in all things, assuming no right to counsel or rebuke, I will be your
faithful life-companion, the half of your very self!"
Much more did she say in the same strain, without reproach, pleading
for a modest place within his heart.
Ah me! What a mockery are these earthly unions for better or worse
till death do us part! The best are doomed to fling away their wealth
of tenderness upon recipients who do not crave for it. Is it a
punishment meted in subtle irony for the transgressions of a previous
life? For half a lifetime we persist in lavishing our love upon a
phantom, and, discovering by chance how evil is the wraith, lie down
despairing. A fool's paradise would be a charming residence, were we
not pretty certain, sooner or later, to be expelled from it with
violence. On this tiny dust grain of the universe--let us hope it is
not so in the more important worlds, wherein we hope to sojourn
later--we batter our pates at a tender age against the stone wall of
disillusion, become early familiar with broken promises. Fortunately,
the sustaining angel Hope has more lives than a cat. Pummelled,
stoned, and mangled beyond recognition, behold she sits up and rubs
herself, charming well again.
What the hapless Gabrielle took for the stir of dormant affection was
no more than an ignoble mixture of shame, remorse, and anxiety. The
conscience of Clovis had dinned into him long since that he was
behaving very ill; that he had espoused a beautiful woman with a fresh
and ardent temperament and a well-lined purse; that, thanks to the
last, he lived in gilded ease, and gave to its owner in exchange
nothing for which she yearned. People are vastly provoking, who
clamorously demand that we have not to bestow. How wearisome are those
who go on repeating, "I want your love and nothing else," when they
ought to know that we have no love to give. Then is sure to follow the
phase of reproaches and tears which is more tiresome still. Clovis,
when conscience pricked, was very sorry for his helpmeet; and sorry
for himself, too, that she should be so worrying. From his point of
view, he was justified in withdrawing from the dining-hall the light
of his comely countenance. How can a man have any appetite with so
rueful a visage opposite? Talk of skeletons at feasts! Here was one at
every meal, because speechless no less eloquent. That which is
unpleasant and can't be helped, it behoves us in self-defence to put
away and forget as quickly as possible. Clovis had (metaphorically)
plunged into the magic tub with Aglae in order to forget his skeleton.
He knew he was doing wrong, but was equally aware that it was not in
him to do right. Why could not Gabrielle be sensible? If people would
only cultivate that humble virtue common sense, how much more smoothly
life's wheels would run. Why could not she, realizing--perhaps with
pain--that Luna is not in the market as a purchaseable article, sit
quietly down with philosophy, and give up crying for the moon?
When the poor lady was impelled to shuffle off her coil, the
completeness of the desolation revealed due to her husband's fault,
came home to him with a mighty twinge; and he felt angry with her in
that she should be capable of inflicting so severe a nip. The
estrangement was not his fault, he argued with conscience. It was his
misfortune and hers, which it was in the province of neither to
remedy. Of course, it was all a pity; but are there not numberless
things in this life that are "a pity," but which we are powerless to
alter? The brief period of _tete-a-tete_ when they first came to live
at Lorge had been ghastly dull, and he, like a sensible man, had
sought refuge from it in his books. Then merciful Providence had sent
a set of people to make his situation more bearable--his and hers
also. Why could she not let herself drift in calm content, as he had
done? It always came back to that, and every time he was the more
convinced of it. His wife was an unreasonable creature, who persisted
in pining for what she could not get instead of making the best of
what she had. Perhaps he had not behaved quite nicely in the matter of
the prodigies. Yet after all, was it not essential that they should
receive trained instruction, and had they not of their own accord
turned from their mother to the governess? He had never said, "My
dears, you must care no longer for mamma, and adore your governess."
Was it not evident that mamma wearied them as much as she did him,
while their instructress was the most delightful comrade that ever
breathed, as well as abnormally clever?
With this course of argument conscience was convinced, or pretended to
be, and curled itself up and slept, and would have continued thus in
charmed repose, but for this new disturbance. There can be no denying
that there must be something radically wrong, when a woman who used to
be serene leaps with felonious intent out of a wherry. Though everyone
was told that the affair was an accident, nobody believed it. The
marquis was ashamed and dreaded a scandal.
Of course, when the story reached them, the Montbazon party came
trundling over in the shanderydan, with goggling eyes and ears acock,
to inquire into the extraordinary tale. Clovis received them with
scant courtesy, but the old baroness was not to be put off with a cold
shoulder, and Angelique took little trouble to cloak her suspicions.
What could madame have been doing--navigating the Loire in the
middle of the night, and tumbling overboard? Why choose so strange an
hour for a solitary excursion, and why fall out of so clumsy and
broad-beamed a craft? Could the dear marquis explain? The dear marquis
became testy, and, shrugging his shoulders, advised the ladies to
visit madame who was in bed, but well enough to tell them all about
it. The ladies sat on either side of the great catafalque, under
shadow of the blue velvet curtains, and sniffed at one another with
meaning across the counterpane. Cross-questioned by the baron as they
drove home, the baroness pursed her lips in ominous silence, while
Angelique remarked, "If with those sad eyes welling with tears, she
persists that she is happy, and vows that on that night her foot
slipped, in courtesy we must pretend to believe her." To which the
baron pertinently replied, "Foot slipped, indeed! and in the middle of
the river, too. What was it doing on the gunwale?"
Clovis knew that the de Vaux family would spread damaging reports, but
he had yet another cause for anxiety. A certain remark had been
dropped by Mademoiselle Brunelle as the two were carrying their
burthen to the salon, which was like a douche of icy water. "If he had
let her drown, you would be free!" What an atrociously cold-blooded
sentiment from the lips of the good-natured Aglae! As to this the
marquis's conscience had no suggestion to make, for it had never
entered his head to desire his wife's demise.
It is another unpleasing fact with regard to our little earth, that
nothing can remain stationary. We must always be on the move--backward
if not forward. Clovis, pleased with the situation as it had chosen to
develop itself, wished for naught but the continuance of the _status
quo_; and now it came rudely home to him that mademoiselle, instead of
being satisfied, as he was, had been raising shadowy edifices in
cloudland. The glance which accompanied her regretful words had been
full of significance. She could look so far forward as to welcome the
departure of Gabrielle in order that she might occupy her place. And a
governess too--without a shred of a pedigree--who had never heard the
name of her grandfather! That a person of low birth, however
admirable, should presume to aspire to the coronet of a Marquise de
Gange took the breath away! The idea was as wildly fantastic as it was
revolting. And yet she had so wormed herself into his life that he
knew he could not tear her thence without an awful struggle. If that
poor thing had died, could he in course of time have been persuaded to
take the governess? Who might prophesy? Most fortunately there was no
question of such a possibility, as the lady had been saved and was
recovering. Mademoiselle must be his affinity--nor hope for anything
more lofty. And yet the more he thought of it, all the more shocked
did Clovis feel at the absurdity of such aspirations in one so lowly,
and the cold-bloodedness of that remark.
For her part the unlucky speech had been wrung from Aglae by genuine
surprise, for the boating catastrophe had opened to her mind's eye a
dazzling vista of actual possibilities as new as they were
astonishing. It had certainly occurred to her before that it would be
nice some day to be Marquise de Gange, but it had not struck her that
the present marquise could be induced to open the door herself to her
successor. It was merely in a spirit of casual spite that Aglae had
insolently invited Gabrielle, during their last interview, to retire
out of the world.
How surprising are the vagaries of the human animal! No one would have
guessed that a quiet reserved woman, who was so feeble as to suppose
she could buy the enemy with a bracelet, could be driven to take her
life! The discovery suggested for the future a new series of tactics.
Owing to vexatious interference the tragedy had miscarried this time,
but surely with deft management a similar condition of mind to that
which had led up to it could be brought about again? And the second
time precautions might be taken to ensure a different termination.
There was no hurry about it. When matters of serious import are under
consideration it is a woeful thing to hurry. The mawkish creature was
in bed, being fondled and caressed. By and by when she grew better, a
progressive series of cunningly-masked attacks would have to be
organized which should finally and completely rout the insignificant
foe and leave her prone upon the field.
Meanwhile there was something new that rather puzzled the governess.
Clovis was so thin-skinned that it was only by surpassing skill that
he could be managed. He was so beset with crotchets which required
coaxing. There was some bee worrying in his bonnet now, for instead of
frisking about the feet of his affinity, according to habit, he slunk
away from her approach with uneasy bashfulness, and bestowed his
attentions on the invalid.
With regard to the latter there was nothing to dread for the
blandishments of the wife invariably had the effect in the long run of
alienating the husband. On this score the mind of the schemer was
easy. But what if she were indeed to die in a not too distant future?
Clovis had shudderingly declared on the fateful night that had she
been drowned he would have considered himself a murderer. What a
stupid old adage it is which says the dead do not return! How many,
when they have passed from sight, are more formidable than when alive!
Would it be so with Gabrielle? Is not remorse a more formidable
barrier than the imperial wall of China? As it was, mademoiselle could
not deny that the marquis had taken to avoiding her, that in his eyes
there was a sinister expression, in which fear and distrust were
blended. He must have caught a glimpse under her ample skirt of a
cloven hoof instead of a substantial foot, and have been alarmed by
the spectacle. This alarm must be lulled to rest, or the influence of
the affinity might stand in actual peril. It would be odd if in the
end he crawled out of her clutches--very odd.
Pooh! She was strong, and he was weak. Had she not proved already that
she could bend him like a willow wand? And yet--in front there lay a
mist which even sharp-sighted Aglae was unable to penetrate. She
laughed with quiet cynicism when she considered what Clovis's feelings
would be if he could read the dark thoughts of his affinity. He had
read too much already, and the effect had not been good. Now that she
knew what she wanted, it behoved her to consider the attitude which
the marquis must be made to assume, for his conduct, whatever it might
be, would, of course, be influenced by another will than his own.
Gabrielle was to depart.
That much was settled in the mind of the governess. With regard to the
husband, two courses were open. Was he to be lulled into forgetting
the untoward remark which had so shocked him, or was he to grow
accustomed by degrees to its implied suggestion, and be induced
tacitly to approve by skilful wheedling? Her bringing-up had led the
governess to hold a low opinion of human nature. No one ever lived,
she fully believed, so devoid of the leaven of wickedness as to be
proof against temptation to crime. It was merely a matter of
surroundings and the amount of temptation employed. But then in the
case of Clovis, the inertness and hesitancy of his character called
for consideration. Moreover, his recent behaviour had shown that he
did not care as yet sufficiently warmly for his Aglae to go all
lengths with her. Alarmed for his own safety, he would shrink and run
off howling. It is wiser in dealing with some people to do a thing
without consulting them, and obtain consent to the act when it is
done--irrevocably and irremediably. Clearly, the first course was
the most judicious. Clovis must be amused and petted till the
temporary access of inconvenient remorse was past, the little speech
forgotten--and wake up some fine day in the not too far distant future
to find himself bereaved and a widower.
All this was mighty well in theory, but what of the plaguey abbe? He
would hear of the water episode and be seriously annoyed. The
governess was angered to think of the length of time which must elapse
ere her scheme could be brought to a head--and all through the idiotic
passion of Pharamond for the marquise! It would be dangerous to make
an open enemy of Pharamond, for were he so minded, he could place many
spokes in her wheel; all the more easily at this precise juncture when
Clovis was so shocked. As a matter of policy, whereby she might
herself benefit, she was quite ready to push Gabrielle into his arms,
as quickly as possible, for she reckoned that he was a fickle man,
who would soon tire of a toy attained, and so soon as he had done with
it, would not care how soon it was broken. But then she was not
without grave doubts of his ever succeeding in his suit. Mawkish,
milk-and-water women, such as this pale-faced creature, have no
passions worthy of the name, but exhale themselves in sighs and
prayer.
And here was another awkward point. Given that the abbe was rebuffed,
compelled to abandon the siege of the marquise, would he not lose all
motive for further assisting the governess? and that before she was
prepared to do without him? Of course, he would then cease to sing her
praises in the ears of Clovis; would even perhaps, to suit his own
interests, endeavour to divide those whom he had assisted in uniting?
If the abbe could only be got rid of! But there seemed, peer out into
the horizon as she would, no chance of getting rid of him. No. He must
be humoured--hoodwinked, if possible. The abbe for the present must be
endured, treated as a trusty ally, since it would not do to attack him
as an enemy. Mademoiselle guessed that the chevalier would report all
that had happened, so concealment was out of the question. When he
received tidings of the episode he would, of course, come home, and in
an evil mood. With a peevish sigh, she wrote an effusive letter to
Pharamond, begging him to return to Lorge, wishing the while that he
would break his neck upon the journey. In the letter she artfully
stated that she had been guilty of a little error. When you wish to
avert a scolding, it is well to be candid and confess; and rather make
the most of the peccadillo.
Thus she came vaguely to the conclusion that the alliance must stand
good for the present, that she and the abbe must maintain their
friendship, outwardly at least, and that, with regard to the fate of
Gabrielle, she must wait and watch events. Perhaps destiny in a
generous mood would point out some means of clearing the thorn-strewn
path by sweeping away the abbe. If he were got rid of, the course of
Aglae would be quite plain; the shrift of the marquise would be a
short one.
Pharamond received two letters by the same courier, and boiled
with displeasure at the contents of both. With what a culpable
stupidity had all of them been behaving in his absence! That the
chevalier--useless lump of carrion--should proclaim himself a fool was
only to be expected. It had been the height of folly to trust to the
discretion of a zany. By his own showing, Phebus had failed to watch
properly over the marquise, and the malignant Aglae had wreaked on
her, with impunity, the full venom of her spite. For that when the
chance arrived she should be punished, for he had plainly given his
instructions before he started, to the effect that the marquise must
be made to feel her lonely position so acutely, that she would be
inclined to look kindly on a lover. It was not at all a portion of his
programme that she should be hunted into a grave. Moreover, was she
not the golden goose that fed them? The regrettable catastrophe was
due to the governess's disobedience and malignity. Feminine spite is
unreasoning, as all the world knows.
"Not guessing that she was so sensitive, I went too far and am deeply
distressed," Aglae mendaciously wrote; "not but what the story you
will probably hear is much exaggerated. You have impressed on me more
than once that you are my friend. By an artful imposture of sham
suicide, the marquise has succeeded in frightening her husband back to
her side again. They bill and coo all day, which will not please you
any more that it does me. For your own sake, as well as mine, prove
that you are my friend, and come."
Yes. Both letters assured him that his presence at Lorge was urgently
needed to give form again to chaos; and Pharamond saw that he must
leave the capital, although occurrences in Paris were of daily
increasing interest. It was dawning on himself and others at last that
they stood on the threshold of an entirely new epoch, which was to
shatter and blot out the old; that what they had chosen to
contemptuously take for harmless effervescence was the commencement of
convulsion, from which a newly-cast society would spring. The daring
of the lower lieges grew as fast as did the fabled bean-stalk. A timid
contingent of the assailed upper class had already abandoned France,
dreading they knew not what, and the remainder were like sheep without
a shepherd. What if, though really the notion was too preposterous,
the bubbling scum should actually suffocate the elect in its foul and
fetid waters? In the world's story there have been many cataclysms.
Though the peasants of Touraine had done little damage as yet, they
would surely hear of the excesses of the south, and would probably be
urged to emulation.
Lorge was a strong place, but precautionary measures of defence must
be taken in view of prospective difficulties. For many reasons, then,
the return of the abbe to the country might no longer be delayed. It
would be a wise measure to summon a meeting of the rural seigneurie,
and form a league for mutual protection.
"Her friend!" the abbe laughed with a malevolent twitch of his thin
lips as he folded and pocketed his letters. "So long as she is useful,
yes--a dear trusty loyal friend--but not an instant longer! If she
cannot behave with decency and common prudence, we must unite and
sweep her into space."
Everyone was glad to see Pharamond home again, or affected to be so.
He assumed the highest spirits, although his news was little
reassuring, and he was privately much vexed at the changed positions
of his puppets.
The chevalier, when rated for his drunken incapacity, excused himself
by swearing that but for his timely outcry, Gabrielle would have
perished. He wept alcoholic tears and babbled incoherent nonsense, in
which he deplored his numerous transgressions. "If only she could have
loved me," he whimpered with clasped hands more aspen than of yore,
"she would have been made so happy, and now she is plunged in misery,
and I can do nothing to prevent it. Console her, brother, since you
are the favoured one; make her smile again and I will be your slave
for life!" and so on, with trickling jeremiads and idle expressions of
penitence.
As for mademoiselle, she expressed herself so full of contrition, and
so anxious to promote the abbe's suit, and altogether made herself so
agreeable, that he pretended loftily to pardon her, registering a
private vow that she must be ousted at the earliest moment. A woman
who could act so foolishly as to frighten the admirer she intended to
cajole, was but a contemptible enemy to battle with in a game of
diamond cut diamond. For the achievement of his own plans he must put
up with her just now, and make good the incipient breach. Aglae must
be washed clean in the eyes of the remorseful marquis of having caused
his wife's rash act. Whatever might happen by-and-by, the neophyte and
his affinity must be brought close together again for a while, and to
that end Pharamond loyally exerted all his influence. He fairly
laughed his brother into the belief that he was a deluded simpleton;
that the suicide was a stage device got up by Phebus and the victim.
"What a ninny to be taken in!" He said, "A bit of jealous temper,
nothing more, for which she is sorry now, for she has gained naught by
the dramatic ducking except an attack of illness."
Aglae was gushing in her gratitude, which served only to increase the
contempt of Pharamond, who, like her, heartily despised the virtues.
She was a tool to be used and blunted, then carelessly thrown away.
Meanwhile, she was laughing in her sleeve in that he should so easily
be hoodwinked by her comedy. He never guessed what a new and
portentous idea was surging in her brain, and she was careful to drop
no hint of it.
We will not endeavour to excuse the error in judgment of so
accomplished a manipulator of marionnettes as the Abbe Pharamond, in
that he should have esteemed so lightly the talents of Mademoiselle
Brunelle. Perhaps he was led astray by the crafty display of
helplessness shown in her last epistle. You are not inclined to
suspect, when a lady candidly confesses weakness and craves help, that
she has a private set of schemes in the background, of which she tells
you nothing. As Aglae was prepared (since she could not help it) to
put up with Pharamond for a period, so was the abbe prepared to endure
Aglae until he had quite done with her, feeling less and less doubt
that when she was no longer useful he could administer the final push.
Thus schemed the schemers, labouring each for self, masking their
batteries one from the other till the propitious moment should come
for rupture. If the muse of history had not intervened as Marplot at
this moment, there is no telling which way the scale would have
turned, for it was nicely balanced. If Pharamond was being deceived,
so was Aglae, for she failed to gauge the extent of the shock she had
inflicted on the marquis. He was too timid to express his feelings
openly, to confess that he had become genuinely afraid of his
affinity, perceiving that on occasion she could be more unscrupulous
than his feeble soul was prepared to contemplate. Even strong-minded
men do not care to have a Lady Macbeth in the _menage_ who "lays the
daggers ready." He clung to Aglae because he could not do without her;
but at the same time he leaned heavily on Pharamond. But for that muse
of history this tale might have had a different ending. The schemes of
both conspirators required time. As it was, something happened which
awoke them with a start, and entirely changed the face of affairs, for
they became aware that what they intended to do must be done quickly
or be left undone. The shuttle of the muse flew apace across the loom.
An event occurred which came upon the country like a thunder-clap,
spreading terror and dismay in one camp, causing the wildest
exultation in the other. Rumour brought the news that their majesties
had fled from France.
The situation was so grave that it behoved the country seigneurie to
look to themselves in earnest and at once. Perforce dismissing for the
moment arrangements of a private nature, Pharamond galloped hither and
thither, vastly busy, suggesting, advising, arranging. The Marquis de
Gange, much as he disliked politics, was compelled to rouse himself
from his ease and his remorse. He became quite energetic; ceased to
worry about his wife, and even forgot the tub. Old de Vaux came
cantering over on his pony, followed by a multitude of booby squires,
who, grouped in solemn conclave in the banquet-hall of Lorge, sat dumb
before the wisdom of the governess. In important deliberations sage
counsellors of either sex are to be courted, and Aglae in all
emergencies shone forth with special brilliancy. Her mind worked so
nimbly and practically, that the eyes of the enraptured gentry were
round with awe. They vowed in chorus that the marquis was a lucky man
to have captured this pearl of price. All were agreed, and impressed
the fact on him. As there was no dissentient voice, his uneasy terrors
waned; suspicion gave place to a renewal of admiration, in which fear
was tempered with respect.
It never occurred to anyone to consult Gabrielle, and she had no
desire to be consulted. The white chatelaine knew too well that as a
leader she was a failure. It was enough to feel quite assured at last
with numbing, wearing pain, that Clovis cared no jot for her.
That illusion had been put to flight for ever, for she had perceived
that his courtesy was awkward and unreal, a mask assumed by sluggish
duty to conceal ennui. Well, however evil the fate which should pursue
her in the future, she deserved it all, and would accept it meekly as
a penance. It was wicked to have made a deliberate attempt upon the
life which was not her own to destroy. Each night and morning she
fervently prayed for pardon, vowing that she would try to endure all
henceforth by aid of such support as was vouchsafed.
Of a sudden there came a second thunder-clap, and the booby squires
shut themselves up, each in his own domain, unable to comprehend its
meaning.
Rumour had brought a second budget more disquieting in effect than the
first. Their majesties had not succeeded in escaping. They had been
caught at Varennes, to be conducted back to Paris by Barnave and
Petion, deputies. The King and Queen of France were prisoners!
Actually they were in custody of King Mob--a more powerful potentate
than they--who had locked them up in a gilded jail, yclept the Palace
of the Tuileries. For a moment all sections of society paused and held
their breath.
If Louis and Marie Antoinette had crossed the frontier it would have
been to return at the head of an avenging army, which would by force
have replaced their diadems. But prisoners!--for though not dubbed so
openly as yet, their power of free action had departed. The innocent
king, the unfortunate queen, the saintly Madame Elizabeth, had been
drawn through the streets of the capital, a helpless raree-show, for
the delectation of the populace, like the Parisian "B[oe]uf Gras" or
the London Guido Fawkes! The scum themselves were so taken aback by
the prodigious spectacle that many burst into tears, while others
stood dumbfoundered. Then, the shock of surprise over, there followed
inevitably excess, the boisterous stretching of untried limbs, for the
first time free. In some parts of the country this took the form of a
meaningless upheaval, just to test the new-found liberty. Chateaux of
unpopular proprietors were sacked and burnt. The dwelling of the de
Vaux family was somewhat injured, and its inmates alarmed for their
property; but, at a critical moment, Jean Boulot appeared upon the
scene and scornfully rated the rioters for their cowardice. "Shame!"
he cried, "ye are indeed worthy of liberty if your first use of it is
to slay or insult old men and women! Next, I suppose, you will pay us
a visit, and repay with brand and pitchfork the debt you all owe to
the marquise?" The crowd desisted from the work of destruction and
shamefacedly dispersed. No, no--they grumbled. Jean Boulot was a fine
fellow, to whose harangues they all liked to listen, but his tongue
sometimes was sharp, his sayings bitter. Attack Lorge? Never. What!
the home of the white chatelaine, whose hands were ever stretched
forth to do good, at sight of whose beautiful sad face everyone sighed
with pity?
People are naturally so perverse that they are ever apt to plume
themselves upon results that are due to others. The abbe and
Mademoiselle Brunelle, and with them the Marquis de Gange, were quite
assured that the impunity from attack enjoyed by Lorge was due to the
strength of its walls and the ingenuity of their tactics. Jean's
speech at Montbazon was not reported to them--he was not one to boast
of his own deeds, and they were too infatuated to realize that the
pale, weak, fragile woman, whose reserve and resignation daily
exasperated Aglae, was the real author of their safety.