Taking the Bastile (34 page)

r Yes, I know all that.’

F ‘Consider, madame, that this Countess de Charny, were God to remove me from this world, could resume her maiden name, and the purest angel in heaven could not detect in her dreams, in her thoughts, a single unholy word or thought,’

‘Oh 1 yea, yes,’ said the queen. ‘I know that your Andre is an angel upon earth; I know that she deserves to be loved. That is the reason why I think she has a brilliant future before her, while mine is hopeless I Oh 1 no, no I Come, count, I beg of you, say not another word; I no longer speak to you as a queen forgive me, I forget myself; but what would you have? there is in my soul a voice which always sings happiness, joy, and love, although it is too often assailed by those sinister voices which speak of nothing but misfortune, war, and death. It is the voice of my youth, which I have survived. Charny, forgive me, I shall no longer be young, I shall no longer smile, I shall no longer love I’

And the unhappy woman covered her burning eyes with her thin and delicate hands, and the tear of a queen filtered, brilliant as a diamond, between each one of her fingers.

The count once more fell on his knees before her.

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‘Madame, in the name of Heaven !’ said he, ‘order me to leave you. to fly from you, to die for you, but do not let me see you weep I’

‘It is all over,’ said Marie Antoinette, raising her head, and speaking gently, with a smile replete with grace.

And, with a beautiful movement, she threw back her thick powdered hair, which had fallen on her neck, white as the driven snow.

^ ‘Yes, yes I it is over,’ continued the queen; ‘I shall not afflict yon any more; let us throw aside all these follies. Great God 1 it is strange that the woman should be so weak, when the queen so much needs to be firm. You come from Paris, dp you not? Let us converse about it. You told me some things that I have forgotten; and yet they were very serious, were they not, Monsieur de Charny?’

‘Be it so, madame; let in return to that fatal subject : for, as you observe, what I have to tell you is very serious. Yes, I have just arrived from Paris, and I was present at the downfall of the monarchy

‘ I was right to request you to return to serious matters, and most assuredly, count, you make them more than sufficiently gloomy. A successful insurrection, do you call that the downfall of the monarchy ? What ! is it because the Bastille has been taken, Monsieur de Charny, that you say the monarchy is abolished ? Oh I you do not reflect that the Bastille was founded in France only in the fourteenth century, while monarchy has been taking root in the world during the last six thousand years.’

‘ I should be well pleased to deceive myself in this matter, madame replied the count.

‘Let us see. let us see; I will sustain you, I, who am but a woman; I will put you on the right path. The Parisians have revolted, have they not?’

‘Yes

‘In what proportion?’

‘In the proportion of twelve to fifteen

‘How do you arrive at this calculation?’

‘Oh t very easily : the people form twelve-fifteenths of the body of the nation; there remain two-fifteenths for the nobility and one for the clergy

‘Your calculations are exact, count, and you have them at your fingers 1 ends; but here is my own calculation will you listen to it?’

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‘With all respect.’

‘Among these twelve-fifteenths there are six of women, are there not?’

‘Yes, your majesty. But ‘ ,

‘Do not interrupt me. We said there were six-fifteenths of women, so let us say six; two of indifferent or incapable old men is that too much?’

‘No.’

‘There still remains four-fifteenths, of which you will allow that at least two are cowards or lukewarm individuals I flatter the French nation. But finally, there remain two-fifteenths; I will grant you that they are furious, robust, brave, and warlike. These two-fifteenths, let us consider them as belonging to Paris only, for it is needless to speak of the provinces, is it not? It is only Paris that requires to be retaken?’

‘Yes, madame. But ‘

‘Always but : wait a moment. You can reply when I have concluded.’

M. de Charny bowed.

‘I therefore estimate,’ continued the queen, ‘the two-fifteenths of Paris at one hundred thousand men is that sufficient ? ‘

This time the count did not answer.

‘Well, then 1 to these hundred thousand men, badly armed, badly disciplined, and but little accustomed to battle, hesitating, because they know they are doing wrong, I can oppose fifty thousand men, known throughout Europe for their bravery, with officers like you, Monsieur de Charny; besides that sacred cause which is denominated divine right, and in addition to all this, my own firm soul, which it is easy to move, but difficult to break.’

The count still remained silent.

‘Do you think,’ continued the queen, ‘that in a battle fought in such a cause, two men of the people are worth more than one of my soldiers?’

Charny said nothing.

‘Speak answer me I Do you think so?’ exclaimed the queen, growing impatient.

‘Madame,’ answered the count, at last, throwing aside, on this order from the queen, the respectful reserve which he had so long maintained, ‘on a field of battle, where these hundred thousand men would be isolated.

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undisciplined, and badly armed as they are, your fifty thousand soldiers would defeat them in half an hour.’

‘Ah I’ said the queen, ‘I was then right.’

‘Wait a moment. But it is not as you imagine. And, in the first place, your hundred thousand insurgents, in Paris, are five hundred thousand.’

‘Five hundred thousand?’

‘Quite as many. You had omitted the women and children in your calculation. Oh I queen of France 1 oh ! proud and courageous woman, consider them as so many men, these women of Paris; the day will perhaps come when they will compel you to consider them as so many demons.’

‘What can you mean, count?’

‘Madame, do you know what part a woman plays in a civil war? No, you do not. Well 1 I will tell you; and you will see that two soldiers against each woman would not be too many. Did you see them at the Bastille?’ asked he, ‘in the midst of the fire, in the midst of the shot, crying to arms, threatening with their fists your redoubtable Swiss soldiers, fully armed and equipped, uttering maledictions over the bodies of the slain, with that voice that excites the hearts of the li ving. Have we not seen them boiling the pitch, dragging cannon along the streets, giving cartridges to those who were eager for the combat, and to the timid combatants a cartridge and a kiss. Do you know that as many women as men trod the drawbridge of the Bastille, and that at this moment, if the stones of the Bastille are falling, it is by pickaxes wielded by women’s hands I Ah 1 madame, do not overlook the women of Paris, take them into consideration; think also of the children who cast bullets, who sharpen swords, who throw paving-stones from a sixth story; think of them, for the bullet which was cast by a child may kill your best general from afar off, for the sword which it has sharpened will cut the hamstrings of your war horses, for the clouds of stones which fall as from the skies will crush your dragoons and your guards; consider the old men, madame, for if they have no longer the strength to raise a sword, they have still enough to serve as shields. At the taking of the Bastille, madame. there were old men; do you know what they did, those aged men whom you affect to despise ? They placed themselves before the young men, who steadied their muskets on

226 TAKING THE BASTILLE

their shoulders, that they might take sure aim, so that the balls of your Swiss killed the helpless aged man, whose body served as a rampart for the vigorous youth. Include the aged men, for it is they who for the last three hundred years have related to succeeding generations the insults suffered by their mothers the barrenness of their fields, caused by the devouring of their crops by the noblemen’s game the odium attached to their caste, crushed down by feudal privileges and then the sons seize a hatchet a club, a gun in short, any weapon within their reach, and sally out to kill, fully charged with the curses of the aged against all this tyranny, as the cannon is loaded with powder and iron at Paris, at this moment. Men, women, old men, and children, are all crying, ” Liberty, deliverance ! ” Count everything that has a voice, madame, and you may estimate the number of combatants in Paris at eight hundred thousand souls.’

The queen raised her head, her hands convulsively clenched, and her face burning with shame and anger.

‘Oh 1 let me fall from my throne,’ said she, ‘let me be torn to pieces by your five hundred thousand Parisians, but do not suffer me to hear a Charny, a man devoted to me, speak to me thus.’

‘If he speaks to you thus, madame, it is because it is necessary : for this Charny has not in his veins a single drop of blood that is unworthy of his ancestors, or that is not all your own.’

‘Then let him march upon Paris with me, and there we will die together.’

‘Ignominiously,’ said the count, ‘without the possibility of a struggle. We shall not even fight; we shall disappear like the Philistines or the AruaJekites; and you will leave in France a name which will be accursed, and your children will be killed like the cubs of a wolf.’

‘How, then, should I fall, count?’ said the queen, with haughtiness; ‘teach me, I entreat you.’

‘As a victim, madame,’ respectfully replied M. de Charny; ‘as a queen, smiling and forgiving those who strike the fatal blow. Ah I if you had five hundred thousand men like me, I should say : ” Let us set out on our march I let us march to-night I let us march this very instant I ” And to-morrow you would reign at the Tufleries to-morrow you would have reconquered yout throne.’

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‘Oh I’ exclaimed the queen, ‘even you have given way to despair you, la whom I had founded all my hopes.’

‘Yes, I have despaired, madame; because all France thinks as Paris does; because your army, if it were victorious in Paris, would be swallowed up by Lyons, Rouen, Lisle, Strasburg, Nantes, and a hundred other devouring cities. Come, come, take courage, madame; return your sword into its scabbard.’

‘Ah t wa* it for this,’ cried the queen, ‘that I have gathered round me so many brave men ? was it for this that I have inspired them with so much courage?’

‘If that is not your opinion, madame, give your orders, and we will march upon Paris this very night. Say, what is your pleasure?’

There was so much devotion in this offer of the count, that it intimidated the queen more than a refusal would have done. She threw herself, in despair, on a sofa, where she struggled for a considerable tune with her haughty soul.

‘Count,’ said she at length, ‘do you desire me to remain inactive?’

‘I have the honour to advise your majesty to remain so.’

‘It shall be so. Come back. I must scold you,’ said Marie Antoinette, endeavouring to smile.

‘For what reason, madame?

‘How 1 you have a brother in the army, and I have only been accidentally informed of it.’

‘I do not comprehend ‘

‘This evening a young officer of the Hussars of Berchigny ‘

‘Ah I my brother George !’

‘Why have you never spoken to me of this young man? Why has he not a high rank in a regiment?’

‘Because he is yet quite young and inexperienced; because he is not worthy of command as a chief officer; because, in fine, if your majesty has condescended to look so low as upon me who am called Charny, to honour me with your friendship, it is not a reason that my relations should be advanced to the prejudice of a crowd of brave noblemen, more deserving than my brothers.’

‘Have you then still another brother?’

‘Yes, madame; and one who is as ready to die for your majesty as the two others.’

‘Does he not need anything?’

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‘Nothing, madamc. We have the happiness to have not only our lives, but also a fortune to lay at the feet of your majesty.’

While he was pronouncing these last words, the queen, who was much moved by a trait of such delicate probity, and he himself palpitating with affection caused by the gracious kindness of her majesty, they were suddenly disturbed in their conversation by a groan from the adjoining room. The queen rose from her seat, went to the door, and screamed aloud. She had just perceived a woman who was writhing on the carpet, and suffering the most horrible convulsions.

‘Oh 1 the countess,’ said she in a whisper to M. de Charny; ‘she has overheard our conversation?’

‘No, madame,’ answered he, ‘otherwise she would have warned your majesty that we could be overheard.

And he sprang towards Andre and raised her in his arms.

ANDR&E was gradually recovering her senses, without knowing from whom assistance came. But her mind did not recover as soon as her body; it still remained vacillating, stupefied, somnolent, during a few minutes. After having succeeded in recalling her to physical life, M. de Charny attempted to restore her moral senses. But he was struggling against a terrible and concentrated unconsciousness. Finally, she fastened her open, but haggard eyes upon him, and with her still remaining delirium, without recognising the person who was supporting her, she gave a loud shriek, and abruptly pushed him from her. During all this time, the queen turned her eyes in another direction; she, a woman; she, whose mission it was to console, to strengthen this afflicted friend, she abandoned her.

Charny raised Andre in his powerful arms, notwithstanding the resistance she attempted to make, and turning round to the queen, who was still standing, pale and motionless,

‘ Pardon me, madame,’ said he; something extraordinary must doubtless have happened. Madame de Charny is

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not subject to fainting, and this is the first time I have ever seen her in this state.

‘She must then be suffering greatly,’ said the queen, who still reverted to the idea that Andre had overheard their conversation.