‘What! Are you going to take an oath on it, Citizen Desmahis? You must be either very naïve, or else suppose I am.’
Desmahis found himself without a ready reply, and she congratulated herself on defeating him at his own game of witty repartee.
At the corner of the Rue de la Loi, they heard singing and shouting and saw shadows dancing wildly round a brazier. It was a gang of elegant young hooligans, who, on coming out of the Théâtre-Français, had set light to a guy representing Marat.
In the Rue Honoré, the driver of their cabriolet knocked his cocked hat against a burlesque effigy of Marat, hanging from a street lamp.
The driver took it as a great joke, and turning to his passengers told them how, only the night before, the tripe-seller in the Rue Montorgueil had smeared blood over a bust of Marat saying: ‘That’s the stuff he liked,’ and how some little boys, about ten years old, had thrown the bust into a sewer, and how wittily the citizens had then shouted: ‘That’s the right Panthéon for him!’
Meanwhile, from all the eating houses and lemonade-stalls people could be heard singing:
‘Peuple français, peuple defrires!’…
They arrived at the Amour Peintre.
‘Good-night,’ Élodie said, as she jumped from the cabriolet.
But Desmahis pleaded so tenderly and with such persuasive urgency, that she had not the heart to leave him at the door.
‘It’s late,’ she said. ‘You can only stay a moment.’
In the blue bedroom, she threw off her cloak and stood in her white dress àl’antique, which revealed all the warm shapeliness of her body.
‘Perhaps you need warming,’ she said. ‘I’ll light the fire. It’s all ready.’
She struck the flint and put a lighted match to the fire.
Philippe took her in his arms with that gentle finesse which reveals great strength, and she felt in it a sweetness she had never known before. Then, as she was yielding beneath his kisses, she pulled herself away, saying:
‘Wait’
Slowly she unwound her hair before the mirror on the mantelpiece; then she looked with great sadness, at her left hand, at the little silver ring bearing the face of Marat, now so battered and worn it could hardly be seen. She looked at it until she could no longer see it through the tears in her eyes. Then she took it off gently and threw it into the flames.
Tears and smiles, tenderness and love, gave brilliance to her, beauty as she turned and threw herself into Philippe’s arms.
Night had long fallen when the Citizeness Blaise opened the door of her apartment for her lover and said to him softly in the darkness:
‘Good-bye, my love! This is the time my father usually returns. If you hear any noise on the staircase, run up quickly to the top floor and don’t come down until you’re quite sure there’s no danger of being seen. To get the door on to the street opened, knock three times on the concierge’s window. Good-bye, dear heart! Good-bye, my soul!’
The last burnt-out logs were glowing in the fireplace. Élodie let her happy, tired head fall back again upon her pillow.
NOTES
Page 27. Jacques Louis David, the most famous artist of the period, was a supporter of Robespierre and a member of the Convention.
Page 27. Section Revolutionary Paris had been divided into 48 Sections each with considerable autonomy.
Page 27. Palais de Justice The Revolutionary Tribunal met in the Palais de Justice on the Ile de la Cité. Close to it was the prison, the Coneiergerie.
Page 27. The carmagnole, a short jacket, together with red, blue and white striped trousers, was the uniform of the sansculottes. (See note following.)
Page 28. Federalist The Girondins became known as the Federalists since they were suspected of wanting to destroy central government in Paris and establish a Federal system.
Page 28. Culottes (breeches) had been the respectable pre-revolutionary form of apparel. When the Revolutionaries adopted trousers they were contemptuously referred to as sansculottes, a name which they became proud to be known by.
Page 30. Ça ira! The repetitive refrain to one of the Revolutionary songs went ‘Ah ça ira ça ira ça ira ça ira.’ Its nearest equivalent would be: ‘Ah, things will start to hum, to hum, to hum.’
Page 34. collector of revenue and taxes The collection of taxes under the old régime had not been undertaken directly by the Government. It had been delegated to aristocrats, many of whom amassed vast fortunes.
Page 41. that Austrian woman The Austrian Archduchess Marie Antoinette, daughter of the Empress Maria Theresa, had married Louis XVI of France. As Queen of France she had, largely undeservedly, become an object of popular hatred long before the Revolution.
Page 43. Assignats were originally interest-bearing bonds. They gradually became a form of paper money and greatly depreciated in value owing to a flood of forged assignats, many from England. In this case, an assignat for five livres would be worthless.
Page 63. Place de la Révolution Now the Place de la Concorde.
Page 92. magistrate In the original, the word is ‘juryman’. ‘Magistrate’ has been substituted throughout this translation since Gamelin’s powers in this position went far beyond those of a member of a jury in this country. He and his colleagues were allowed, by decree of the Convention, to refuse to permit the defence to complete its case if they considered they had heard enough evidence to decide on their verdict. They were, in effect, both judge and jury.
Page 99. plot of the Capet Refers to the youngest son of Louis XVI. Though there were attempts to rescue him he had not escaped from the Temple prison. He probably died there.
Page 118. God-eaters This expression was contemptuously applied to Christians, and was in common usage, at the time.
Page 129. Madame Royale ‘Madame Royale’ was the title of Louis XVI’s eldest daughter. This rumour was rife at the time.
Page 137. Élodie uses the same words at the end of the book. (See Introduction.)
Page 148. Vendémiaire The new revolutionary calendar came into effect in 1790 on the first anniversary of the Republic. The 11 Vendémiaire was the 2 October.
Page 169. The Twenty-one The leaders of the Girondins.
Page 179. the 24 Frimaire the 14 December 1793.
Page 201. France ironically makes Brotteaux prophesy what would in fact be done by Napoleon.
Page 205. Danton had been the ally of Robespierre but when he began to advocate a more moderate policy and to oppose further shedding of blood Robespierre had him arrested and guillotined.
Page 205. Camille Desmoulins Another friend of Robespierre, Desmoulins was guillotined with Danton, for the same reason.
Page 208. The National Guard commanded by General Hanriot was Robespierre’s chief source of military power.
Page 209. Samson’s basket Samson and his son were the chief executioners.
Page 223. Barrière de Trône-Reversée The guillotine had been moved to the outskirts of Paris because the people were turning against public executions. It was taken back to the Place de la Révolution for the execution of Robespierre.
Page 229. So you must see … even life itself There is a striking parallel between these words of Gamelin’s and those uttered by by Macbeth (Act V, iii):
…honour, love, obedience, troops of friends,
I must not look to have; but, in their stead,
Curses,…
This is emphasized shortly after when Gamelin tells the child in the park that one day he will curse his, Gamelin’s, name.
Page 231. This meeting of Robespierre with the little Savoyard boy is based on fact: and Brount was, in fact, the name of Robespierre’s dog.
Page 244. Nivôse January 1795.
Page 248. muscadins The young men of the jeunesse dorée who ran riot in the streets of Paris after the death of Robespierre.
1. Madame Demont-Breton: Les Maisons que j’ai connues, p. 160, ‘Lettres d’Anatole France à Jules Breton’, Plon, 1927.
1. Maurice Barrés: M
es Cabieri, Plon, 1929.
2. F. Gregh: La Fentire ouverte, Paris, Fasquelle, 1901.
*Asterisked words are annotated at the back of the book, pp.252–54.
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