William Sage

“ She did not wait for him to finish, but went on:—
"I place it in your power to serve the rightful cause, honorably and loyally,—the cause of the king; my cause, Robert Tournay, and you refuse to do so."
"Do you not see that what you propose would be my dishonor?" he asked gently.
"No," answered Edmé firmly. "You are a brave but obstinate man, who madly pursues a wicked course; because, having once espoused it, you think to desert it would be disloyal. You are mad, Robert Tournay, but I will rescue you from your folly. I will save you in spite of yourself. I command you to stay here!" ”

“ He rose and paced the floor savagely. "You talk of my power with the people. You say they listen to my voice. To keep that power I must remain in advance. If once I lag behind it is gone forever. We have given life to this terrible creature the Revolution, and we must march before it. If we falter it will crush us too."
"Let it crush us then," cried Tournay, springing to his feet. "I will no longer be driven by it."
Danton looked at him a moment with kindly eyes, then shook his head and said mournfully: "And France, what would she do without me? All I have done has been done for her sake. ”

“ La Liberté's eyes looked fixedly at Edmé, as if they would read her through and through.
"You are not what you pretend to be," she said finally; "you are no woman of the people." Then, suddenly flinging aside the torn paper, she rushed forward and seized Edmé's arm.
"I know who you are now!" she exclaimed excitedly. "You are an aristocrat! Don't deny it!" she continued passionately. "I came from La Thierry. I was a young girl when I left there, but my memory serves me well. Your name is Edmé de Rochefort. You are an aristocrat, and you love the republican colonel! You destroyed this warrant. ”

“ Although she was handsomely dressed in a riding-habit and assumed some of the airs of a lady, Tournay recognized her at once as a young girl who had disappeared some months before from the village of La Thierry, and whose handsome face and vivacious manner had caused her to be much admired. Near her stood the nobleman, calm and self-composed. Before men, de Lacheville had been known to flinch; but with a woman of the humbler class the marquis could always play the master.
"And now, Marianne," said the nobleman slowly, "you had better go,—and do not make the mistake of coming here again." ”

“ You would do best to yield before it is too late."
"Robespierre," cried Tournay, the blood mounting to his forehead, "you have played the tyrant too long! You are not 'in the habit of having your will opposed?' I have not learned to bend and truckle to your will, doing your bidding like a dog; and, by Heaven! I will not now. Bring your charges against me before your tribunal, packed as it is with your creatures, and I will answer them, but my answer shall be addressed to the Nation. My appeal will be to the People. I will denounce you for what you are, a tyrant. ”

“ He has been brave and devoted when others cravenly deserted me; and if he should be treated by you as a spy it would be as if I had decoyed him here only to destroy him."
"No, mademoiselle, no," said Robert Tournay in a low tone.
By a quick gesture she bade him be silent.
"General von Waldenmeer, you are a brave soldier. You have professed the greatest friendship for your old friend's daughter. She now asks you to release these gentlemen. As a soldier and a gentleman you are bound to grant her prayer." ”

“ It must come, Edmé; we should not be blind to that. I would gladly live, if only long enough to see France freed from the talons that rend it, and the true Republic rise from under the tyranny that is crushing it to death. I would gladly live for your love, a love I never dared to hope for either on earth or in heaven. Surely I ought to be the happiest of men to have tasted such bliss even for a moment; and to die with the firm belief that we shall meet beyond the grave. ”

“ Hilaire himself pulled a spotless ruffle below the sleeves of his well-worn coat.
"And so," mused Tournay, "they can find the heart to wear a gay exterior in such a place as this?"
"No revolution is great enough to change the feelings and passions of human nature," replied St. Hilaire. "They only adapt themselves to new conditions. Here, within these walls, under the shadow of the guillotine, Generosity, Envy, Love, and Vanity play the same parts they do in the outer world. ”

“ In every street in Paris their voices are heard. I can speak for them and I will; aye and fight for them too," and he lifted his massive arm with a gesture which in its force seemed to indicate that alone he could fight for and win the people's cause. "Throughout France there are millions of arms which like mine are ready to strike down tyranny. Have no fear, my friend. The nation has found a champion in itself! The people have taken up their own cause!" The power of the man, his earnestness and energy, stirred Tournay to the depths of his soul. ”

“ Danton doubled up his arm once more till the muscles swelled into great knots upon it. "Ha, ha," he laughed, "I don't fear that, Tournay; he's too much of a coward to lay hands upon me."
"Do you never fear for your own safety when you see so many falling beneath the hand of this man who rules France?" asked Tournay.
Danton started at the words "rules France."
"Yes, he does rule France. He rules the tribunal. He rules me, curse him! But as for fearing him, Jacques Danton fears nothing in this world or the next." ”

“ The sight of Tournay's tall figure, his resolute face, above all his uniform, standing between him and the object of his search, made him hesitate.
"There she is! That's the aristocrat!" exclaimed Forgons, as Gardin hesitated. "Let me get my hands upon her." He rushed forward, but before he could touch Edmé, Tournay pushed him backward with a force that sent him reeling into the group of men behind.
"A thousand devils," cried Forgons, when he regained his equilibrium, "what is the meaning of this, citizen colonel? Are you defending the little aristocrat?" ”

“ You are over-zealous, good Haillon, to see an aristocrat in every shadow."
"She has disappeared," cried Gonflou.
Haillon raised his musket with finger on the trigger. St. Hilaire's hand struck upward just as the detonation echoed through the quiet street. Then the smoke, clearing away, revealed Haillon upon the pavement, while the sword in St. Hilaire's hand was red with blood.
"He has killed a citizen," bellowed Gonflou. "Comrades, cut him down. Avenge the death of a patriot." ”

“ He is fighting for that Republic which has made him what he is—a man! It is France against the world! and by the Republic alone will she triumph over her enemies. That is my answer, mademoiselle. The Republic has made a new France, and I am part of it. At her call I must leave everything and go to her defense."
While he spoke thus, Edmé saw his face animated with a light she had learned to know so well,—the same light that had shone from his eyes when he confronted the mob in her château; the same fire that flashed as he defended himself before General von Waldenmeer. ”

“ Again I advise you not to try to arrest her without a warrant."
"And I say again it is a lying trick," cried Gardin, beside himself with rage. "You cannot save your aristocratic sweetheart this way, citizen colonel. The Republic demands her arrest and I mean to take her."
"Citizen Ambrose," said Tournay, turning to the priest, "is not this woman my wife?"
"Most certainly," said the old priest, coming forward with dignity; "this lady is Madame Robert Tournay."
"Madame!" cried Gardin, repeating the word in a rage. "There are no ladies in France now, and all priests are liars. ”

“ Instead of complying with the request, Gaillard stood with head bent forward peering up the road into the night gloom.
"Gaillard! man, do you not hear me?"
"The carriage! I hear the rattle of its wheels," cried Gaillard joyfully. "Agatha can always be depended upon to do the right thing at the right moment!"
"Hurry to meet her," cried Tournay; "tell her we are here!"
Gaillard sprang rapidly forward, shouting as he ran.
"Courage but a little moment longer," whispered Tournay, and taking Edmé in his arms he followed Gaillard as fast as his burden permitted. ”

“ How can we all be well when the doors are broken in and the furniture strewn about the place in pieces? Can I call all well when"—
"Mademoiselle Edmé?" interrupted Robert, with impatience, "how about her?"
"She has gone," said Matthieu Tournay.
"Gone!" cried Robert, clutching his father by the shoulder. "Gone—how and where?"
"You need not be alarmed for her safety," said the old man; "she is with Agatha,—a brave, clever girl, capable of anything. They set out this very night to seek a refuge with some relatives of Agatha who will keep them in safety." ”

“ Wonderingly she approached and saw a brigade of infantry passing in review of the general of division. They marched with absolute precision, the sun reflecting on the polished barrels of their guns as on a solid wall.
"There go the best troops in the world," said Tournay. Edmé looked up in his face with surprise at his sudden change of manner.
"The soldiers of Prussia: at the command of their officers they will march like that to the batteries' mouth, closing up the gap of the fallen men with clock-work movements. There are two hundred thousand of them, and they are preparing to attack France. ”

“ Unwittingly the count turned with a start, to see Blaise standing behind him in the act of filling his glass with wine. There was a general laugh.
"Madame de Rémur will bare her white shoulders to the rude grasp of the executioner. De Lacheville will escape. No, he will not. He will die by his own hand to cheat the scaffold."
"And I," interrupted the Countess d'Arlincourt, "shall I share their fate?"
The chevalier looked at her with a peculiar expression in his eyes. "My sight fails here," he said. "I cannot foretell your fate. Yet you may live; your beauty should save you. ”

“ The spirit of her race was roused within her. Had she been a man she would have charged alone, sword in hand, against the mob; but being only a woman she stood waiting the issue. Trembling slightly, she stood with her small hands clenched and white teeth firmly set. At her elbow was Agatha, her maid. She was paler than her mistress, but it was not for herself she feared. Her devotion made her fear more for Edmé's safety than for her own.
As the shouts redoubled Edmé saw the two old men turn, pallid and trembling, towards her. ”

“ My name is Gonflou!" and the fellow grinned good-naturedly over the shoulder of his companion, as if he recognized an old friend.
"Ah yes, good citizen Gonflou!" repeated St. Hilaire. "Restrain the ardor of this patriot who handles his musket so carelessly, while I question the little citizeness."
"Lower that musket, Haillon, or I'll beat your head with this," said Gonflou, rattling his heavy sabre threateningly.
Haillon muttered an oath and lowered the muzzle of his weapon.
"We can't be all night at this," he growled. "Better let me take a shot at the woman; she's an aristocrat, that's flat." ”

“ You may become its victim; you, who are so brave and strong and noble. Yes," she continued, "I will give the word its full meaning, Robert Tournay, you are noble—too noble to become a martyr in such a cause. I entreat you not to go. I fear for your safety."
Tournay's head swam. For a moment he felt that he must fold her in his arms and tell her that for her sake he would give up everything in the world for which he had striven,—country, liberty, and honor; the Republic itself. ”

“ Edmé retorted calmly. "I never willfully wronged you. Your hatred cannot harm me."
"No?" demanded the frenzied La Liberté. "It can restore this paper. I can denounce you. I can send you with your lover to the guillotine."
"That does not terrify me," replied Edmé. "You can send the woman you hate and the man you profess to love into another world together. That is all you can do. I am above your hatred."
La Liberté started to speak, then checked herself.
"You say you love him. Love," repeated Edmé in a tone of deep disdain. "You dare to call that love which would destroy its object? ”

“ I, Edmé de Rochefort, called a wife of a Republican—one of their number. Oh, the shame of it! What would my father have said if he had heard that I owed my life to a man steeped in the blood of the Revolution? That his daughter consented to be called the wife of her steward's son! a man of ignoble birth, a servant"—
"Stop!" cried Tournay, the blood mounting to his forehead. "Stop! It is true that those of my blood have served your family for generations. ”

“ The door behind de Lacheville was closed by the Count de Beaujeu, who was the last to enter, and the marquis, drawing a deep breath between his set teeth, stepped forward as one who suddenly resolves to take a desperate chance.
"Cousin Edmé!" he exclaimed, coming up to where she was seated and endeavoring to take her hand. "Thank Heaven you have escaped!"
"Yes, I am in a place of safety, thanks to a brave gentleman," she replied, drawing back her hand. "But do not call me cousin. I ceased to be your kinswoman when you deserted me at Rochefort. There are no cowards of our blood." ”

“ She was seated carelessly on the truck of the gun-carriage, with a cup of wine in one hand and a half-loaf in the other, her face flushed with excitement. Unlike most of the women who stood about her, she was of graceful form, with hands and arms unblackened by hard toil, and the skin of her throat soft and white. She wore her red cap in a rakish manner on the side of her head, its tassel falling down over her forehead between her eyes. Every little while she would throw it back by a quick toss of the head.
Tournay took the cup from her outstretched hand, and put it to his lips. ”