Alexandre Dumas

“ If Maurice wishes to recommence a declaration, laugh at the second as you did at the first. I know you, Geneviève, you are a worthy and noble woman. I can depend on you."
"Oh!" exclaimed the young woman, sinking on her knees, "how can one place confidence in others when one cannot place confidence in himself?"
Dixmer turned pale, as if all his blood had rushed back to his heart.
"Geneviève," said he, "I have done very wrong to cause you so much anguish of mind. I ought to have explained myself at once. Geneviève, we live in an epoch of self-sacrifice. ”

“ Till then, you are only a woman, and a woman who brings misery upon all, and kills all—"
"Oh, have pity, Madame!" cried Marie Antoinette; "you see my tears and distress," and she again made an attempt to pass, no longer from any hope of escape, but to free herself from this cruel attack.
"You shall not pass!" roared the old woman. "You want to escape, Madame Veto—I know it all, the man in the mantle told me; you want to go and rejoin the Prussians. But you shall not escape," continued she, clasping the robe of the queen; "I will prevent you. À la lanterne, Madame Veto! To arms, citizens! ”

“ Lorin opened his eyes wide, and looked at Maurice.
"Well," said Maurice, "I am weary of life."
Lorin burst into a roar of laughter.
"Ah! ah!" said he, "we have had a quarrel with our beloved, and that fills us with melancholy ideas. Come, my handsome Amadis! let us return to the man, and from that we shall pass to the citizen. As for me I am never a better patriot than when I am embroiled with Arthémise. Apropos, her Divinity the Goddess Reason charged me with a thousand gracious messages for you." ”

“ Maurice regarded him with astonishment.
"Upon my honor," said he to himself, "I shall really soon think that I myself am deceived. Is that the same man who, with flaming eyes and threatening voice, pursued me, gun in hand, and absolutely wished to kill me three quarters of an hour since? Then I should have taken him for either a hero or an assassin. Goodness! how the love of hides does transform a man."
While making these observations Maurice experienced a strange feeling of joy and grief, and felt unable to analyze his own emotions. ”

“ Suddenly a dull noise shook the courts of the Temple, and sounds were heard in the distance like the roaring of a hurricane.
"What is that?" asked Dixmer of Tison.
"Oh!" replied the jailer, "it is nothing; some little uproar these rascally Brissotins are making before they go to the guillotine."
The noise became more and more threatening, the roar of artillery was heard, and a crowd of people rushed past, near the Temple, shouting,—
"Long live the Sections!" "Long live Henriot!" "Down with the Brissotins!" "Down with the Rolandists!" "Down with Madame Veto!" ”

“ What could he desire more? Not only had he acquired the certainty that she did not love Morand, but also the hope that he possessed her affection. The glorious sun shone upon the world, the arm of Geneviève was reposing within his own, while the public criers, shouting at the top of their voices the triumph of the Jacobins and the defeat of Brissot and his party, announced that the country was saved.
There are truly moments in life when the heart of man seems too small to contain the joy or grief concentrated there.
"Oh, what a lovely day!" exclaimed Morand.
Maurice turned round in surprise. ”

“ A movement of general astonishment followed this assertion which Maurice had stated with so much confidence.
"This is only a supposition, Citizen, on your part," said Morand,—"merely a supposition, that is all."
"No; I affirm it as a positive fact."
"Ah!" said Geneviève; "I acknowledge, for my part, I cannot believe it is as you say; it would be such an unpardonable imprudence."
"You are a woman, Citizen; and can comprehend, then, what would outweigh, with a man of such a character as the Chevalier de Maison-Rouge, all considerations of personal security?" ”

“ At the end of Rue Sainte Avoie he met Lorin, who was bringing down his guard from duty. He left the ranks and came to meet Maurice, who still wore upon his countenance the impress of the happiness he had enjoyed in the society of the lovely Geneviève.
"Ah!" said Lorin, cordially shaking his friend by the hand,—
"In vain you seek your anguish
Within your heart to hide,
I know for whom you languish,
For whom so long you've sighed;
Within your heart, within your eyes,
Love reigns, and triumphs in his prize." ”

“ The sun shone gloriously in the Rue de la Monnaie, and the gossips were discoursing merrily at their doors, as if for the last ten months a mist of blood had not hung over the city, when Maurice returned home, bringing, as he had promised, the cabriolet with him. He gave the bridle of the horse to a shoeblack, on the pavement of Saint Eustache, and hastily ran upstairs, his heart filled with joy.
Love is a vivifying sentiment. ”

“ I am a Republican, and I say that nothing should make us quit good company, not even the guillotine; I feel very comfortable here, and here I will remain."
"My poor friend! my poor friend!" said Maurice.
Geneviève said nothing, but looked at them with eyes bathed in tears.
"You regret to lose your life, then?" said Lorin.
"Yes, on her account."
"I am not in the least sorry at losing mine, not even on account of the Goddess Reason, who, I had forgotten to tell you, has latterly behaved most shamefully to me; who will not take the trouble even to console herself, like the other Arthémise of old. ”

“ It contained an eulogium on the firmness of Marie Antoinette; and that which he recounted with the simplicity and faith of an evangelist cast sorrow and remorse over many hearts.
When he spoke of the little dauphin, and of Madame Royale; of this queen without a throne; of this wife without a husband; this mother bereft of her children; this woman alone and abandoned, without a friend, surrounded by executioners,—more than one face here and there assumed a sad expression, and more than one tear of regret was clandestinely wiped from eyes a moment before animated by hatred. ”

“ My queen is no more; she has died ignominiously on the scaffold. Now! now! I can think of revenge."
"Say of assassination."
"One cannot assassinate an adulteress; when she is killed, she is but punished for her crime."
"This sin you imposed upon her, therefore it was rendered lawful."
"You think so?" said Dixmer, with a sardonic smile. "Judge from her remorse if she believes she has acted lawfully."
"Those who punish strike openly. You, you do not punish; for while striking you fly, and while casting her head to the guillotine you conceal yourself." ”

“ What I feel is not remorse, perhaps it is a degradation of soul; but you will comprehend at least I love you far too much to feel any other emotion than the all-engrossing one, the fear of losing you. Let us go far away, Maurice, let us go far away where no one can ever reach us."
"Oh, thanks!" said Maurice, transported with joy.
"But how can we flee?" said Geneviève, trembling at the hazard. "It is not so easy to escape nowadays from the poniard of the assassins of the 2d of September, or the hatchet of the executioners of the 21st of January." ”

“ O great God! the drama we are acting is a dreadful one, and I at once blush and tremble to place the head of a woman at stake."
"The head of a woman," said Dixmer, "weighs as heavily as that of a man, where stratagem, candor, and beauty can do as much and sometimes even more than force, strength, power, or courage. Geneviève shares in our convictions and our sympathies. Geneviève shall also share our fate."
"Well, my friend," said Morand, "I have said all I ought to say. Geneviève is in every way worthy of the mission you have given her, or rather, that she has taken upon herself. ”

“ It animates hearts long deadened to every other sensation; it peoples the desert; it resuscitates before the eyes the shade of the beloved one; it causes the voice which sings in the soul of the lover to display before him the entire creation illumined by the brilliant rays of hope and happiness,—at the same time it is egotistical, blinding him who loves to all but the existence of the beloved object.
Maurice neither saw these women nor listened to their commentaries; he saw only Geneviève preparing for a departure which was at last to bring them durable happiness ”

“ Geneviève looked at him reproachfully.
"Oh, again!" said she.
"Why then did you, the other day, favor me with so high a eulogium of Monsieur Morand? It is your own fault."
"How long is it since, to people we esteem," demanded Geneviève, "we may not express our real opinion of an estimable man?"
"It must be a very lively esteem to cause you to accelerate your pace, as you at this moment are doing, for fear of being too late by a few minutes."
"You are to-day absolutely unjust, Maurice. Have I not passed part of the day with you?" ”

“ Lorin did more. Before the wretch could lower his arm he darted forward and seized him by the wrist.
"Will you let me go?" roared Simon, purple with rage.
"Come, there is no harm," said Fouquier, "in a mother loving her child. Tell us in what way your mother loved you, Capet. It may be useful to her."
The young prisoner started at the idea of being useful to his mother.
"She loves me as a mother loves her son, sir," said he; "there are not two ways for mothers to love their sons, or sons to love their mothers." ”

“ This man had something fatal in his look."
"You are mistaken," said Lorin; "he always struck me as a brave man. He has taken her as a sacrifice. He will get himself arrested with her; and they will die together. Ah, there is the danger!"
These words redoubled Maurice's fury.
"I will find her! I will find her, or perish in the attempt!" cried he.
"Oh, as to that, we are certain to find her," said Lorin; "only calm yourself. They fail in success who do not reflect, and when agitated as you are, we reflect badly and unwisely."
"Adieu, Lorin, adieu!" ”

“ Maurice, trembling with emotion, had hardly opened the door, when the whole tableau at once presented itself to his view. He advanced three steps into the hall, and fell at Geneviève's feet. The unfortunate woman uttered a cry, which Maurice stifled on her lips.
Lorin, weeping, pressed his friend in his arms; these were the first tears he had shed.
Strange that all these unhappy individuals, assembled to die together, scarcely looked at the touching tableau presented to their view by their unfortunate fellow-creatures! Every one suffered too much himself to take part in the miseries of others. ”

“ The three females looked at each other with terror.
"But, Monsieur, this is worse than tyranny," said the queen; "we are women! women!"
"Do not mistake," said Maurice, with firmness; "we are neither judges nor executioners, we are overseers,—that is to say, your fellow-citizens,—commissioned to guard you. We have our order; to violate it is treason. Citizeness, I pray you to give me the letter you have concealed."
"Gentlemen," said the queen, with much hauteur, "since you are overseers, search, and deprive us of our rest to-night as usual."
"God forbid we should lay our hands upon women! ”

“ Nothing further was said that day respecting Morand, and Maurice quitted Geneviève more than ever in love, for he was jealous.
However blinded the young man might be by his passion, whatever turmoil might be in his heart, there were in the recital of Geneviève many gaps, much hesitation, and many concealments, to which at the moment he had paid no attention, but which now returned to his memory and strangely tortured him. ”

“ You are a man of honor, Citizen, and now that a night has passed since the occurrences of yesterday evening, you ought to comprehend that your presence at our house is no longer desirable. I leave it to you to excuse yourself in any way you think best to my husband. On the arrival this day of any letter from you to Monsieur Dixmer I shall be convinced that I have to regret the loss of a friend who has unfortunately been most imprudent, and whom all social propriety will deter me from meeting for the future. ”

“ After a long silence, Maurice, having during this silence followed the intelligent and holy eye of Geneviève as she watched the appearance of the stars in the azure vault of heaven, ventured to inquire concerning the great disparity between herself and husband. She so young, and he already past the middle age; she so refined in manner, while everything around announced him a man of inferior birth and education; she so sublime in her thoughts and aspirations, while her husband had not an idea beyond his manufactory. ”

“ To resign himself to such a fate for Geneviève, would be to grow weary in his battle against destiny.
Oh, if he had known beforehand of the imprisonment of Geneviève, how Maurice would have baffled the blind, human justice of this epoch; how easily and promptly would he have torn Geneviève from prison! Never were escapes more easy; and it may be said, never were they so rare. All the nobles, once placed in prison, installed themselves there as in a château, and died at leisure. To fly was like evading a duel ”

“ You fly from the air breathed here, and not without the greatest reluctance will you even approach the window."
"Alas!" said Geneviève, "I know I cannot conceal my thoughts from you, Maurice; you have divined rightly."
"It is nevertheless a fine country," said the young man; "life is here important, and well occupied now. This bustling activity of the Tribune, the clubs, the conspiracies, renders sweeter the hours spent by our own fireside. One loves it the more ardently, it may be, from the fear of not being able to love it on the morrow, for on the morrow one may have ceased to exist." ”