The Countess De Charny - Volume II (24 page)

“To the queen?” responded the druggist, laughing.

“You have noticed it, then?”

“Yes, a long while ago. In fact, it is historic. Don’t you recollect a certain Nicole Legay, sometimes called Mademoiselle Olivia, who personated tlie queen in that

198 LA COMTESSE DE CHARNY.

necklace affair, and who lived with an ex-gendarme, gambler, and spy, named Beausire?”

“Beausire?” exclaimed Maillard, starting as if a serpent had stung him.

” And is this Beausire the man she calls her husband? ” he added.

“Yes.”

“And was it for him that she wanted that medicine?”

“Yes.”

” Then I ‘ ve found my man ; that is, if I can ascertain where he lives.”

“I know.”

“Good! Where is it?”

“Number six, Eue de la Juiverie.”

“Near here?”

“Only just around the corner.”

“It doesn’t surprise me now that young Toussaint stole those two sous from his mother. He ‘s Beausire’s child, isn’t he?”

“I judge so. He ‘s the living image of him.”

“How long will it take for your medicine to operate?”

“Are you speakiug seriously?”

“Very seriously.”

“Not less than two hours.”

” That ‘s all the time I want.”

“You seem to take a great interest in Beausire.”

“Y’es, so deep an interest that, fearing he will not be well cared for, I am going at once for — “

“For what?”

“For a couple of nurses. Good-bye.”

And leaving the drug store with a quiet smile, — the only kind of a smile that ever illumined his serious visage, — Maillard returned to the Tuileries.

Pitou was absent. It will be remembered that he had departed with Andrée to find some trace of Charny, leaving Tellier and Maniquet in charge.

Both men recognised Maillard, and Maniquet said : —

THE PURGATIVE. 199

“Well, did you overtake your man?”

*‘No, but I am on his track.”

“That’s good; for though we found nothing on him, I should be willing to swear he had those diamonds.”

“And you ‘re right.”

” Do you think you ‘11 succeed in getting them back again?”

“I hope so, if you will help me.”

“In what way? We are at your service.”

“Pick me out two reliable men from your company.”

“For courage?”

“Xo, for honesty.”

“Oh, any of them will answer the purpose, then.” And turning to his men. Desire cried, “Two volunteers wanted ! “

A dozen men sprang forward.

“That will do. Boulanger, you come; and you, Molicar. Do you want another, Monsieur Maillard?”

“No, two will do. Come, my friends.”

The two members of the Haramont Life Guards followed Maillard, who conducted them to the Rue de la Juiverie, where he stopped before number six.

“This is the place,” he remarked. “Let us go up.”

The guardsmen followed him up four flights of stairs. Maillard tried the door, but it was bolted on the inside. He knocked.

“Who ‘s there?” drawled Olivia.

” Open in the name of the law ! ” responded Maillard.

A whispered colloquy went on for a minute or two in-side ; then , as Maillard was about to rap a second time, the occupants of the room concluded to open the door, and the three men entered, to the great consternation of Olivia, as well as of young Toussaint, who tried to hide behind an old wicker chair. Beausire was in bed. On a small stand by the bed, IMaillard, to his great relief, beheld an empty bottle, thus showing that the medicine had been taken; so there was nothing to do now but wait and see what the effect would be.

200 LA COMTESSE DE CIIARNY.

During their walk ^Maillard had tohl his companions all that had taken place at the pharmacy, so they understood the situation perfectly. Consequently, when he installed them, one on each side of the bed, he had only to say to them : ” Citizens, Monsieur de Beausire is in much the same situation as the princess we read of in the ‘ Arabian Nights, ‘ who would only speak when she was obliged to, but let fall a diamond every time she opened her mouth. I will go to the city-hall and wait for you there. When monsieur ceases to require your attention, you can conduct him to the Châtelet, where you will say that Citizen Maillard sent him there, and then bring whatever he may have given you to me, at the city -hall.”

The two men bowed their assent, and stationed themselves, one on each side of Beausire’s bed.

The apothecary was right. At the end of two hours the medicine operated. Its effects continued an hour or two, and could not have proved more satisfactory.

About three o’clock in the morning Maillard saw his men come in. They brought with them one hundred thousand francs’ worth of diamonds of the first water, wrapped in a certificate of Monsieur de Beausire’s incarceration. These diamonds were deposited in the ofiice of the city solicitor, in the name of Maillard and of the two guardsmen, and that official gave them a certificate, declaring that citizens Maillard, Molicar, and Boulanger richly merited the thanks of their country.

THE FIEST OF SEPTEMBER. 201

CHAPTEK XXVII.

THE FIKST OF SEPTEMBER.

And now let us see the consequences of the half -tragical, half-ludicrous occurrence we have just described.

The case of Monsieur de Beausire was referred to tlie special jury appointed to take cognisance of the thefts committed on the tenth of August.

Denial was useless, the prisoner’s guilt being too clearly established; so Beausire was compelled to humbly confess his crime and implore the mercy of the court.

The tribunal instituted an examination into Beausire’s antecedents, and these proving anything but satisfactory, the prisoner was sentenced to the galley for five years, as well as to be publicly exposed in the pillory and branded.

In vain did Monsieur de Beausire plead that he had been actuated by the most laudable motives, — that is, by a hope of insuring his wife and child a comfortable future. His judges proved inexorable, and the court being specially appointed, there was no appeal from its decisions ; so the sentence was to be carried into execution the second day after the trial. It was unfortunate indeed for Beausire that the sentence was not executed at once, and the culprit sent away.

Fate decreed that the night before Beausire was to be placed in the pillory one of his former comrades was brought to the prison. The two men recognised each other, and mutual revelations followed.

The new prisoner claimed to know all about a carefully organised conspiracy for a dangerous outbreak either on the Place de Grève or in the square in front of the Palais de Justice.

202 LA COMTESSE DE CHARNY.

The conspirators were to assemble in great numbers under the })retext of witnessing the first public branding that took place. A shout of, “Long live the King! Hur-rah for the Prussians!” and “Death to the Nation!” was to serve as the signal for taking possession of the city-hall, summoning the National Guards — more than half of whom were Koyalists, or at least Constitutionalists — to their aid, and thus a counter-revolution in favour of royalty was to be effected.

Unfortunately, it was Beausire’s friend who was to give the signal, and as the other conspirators were not aware of his arrest, they would flock to the square at the appointed time ; but as there would be no one to give the signal, the outbreak would not take place.

This was the more to be regretted, according to Beausire’s friend, because no plot had ever been better planned, or seemed more certain to succeed; and his arrest was all the more unfortunate because, in the midst of the tumult that would ensue, the condemned man was almost sure to find an opportunity to escape.

Although he possessed no very decided political opinions, Beausire rather sympathised with the Koyalists, and consequently regretted — partly on the king’s account, but chiefly on his own — the failure of this scheme.

Suddenly a brilliant idea flashed through his brain.

” If some one gives the signal, the outbreak is sure to take place, you say?” he exclaimed.

” Yes ; but who will give the signal, now I ‘m locked up, and cannot communicate with any one outside?”

“I will,” responded Beausire, in tragic tones.

“You?”

“Yes, I! I shall be there, sha’n’t I? Very well; then I will shout, ‘ Long live the King ! Hurrah for the Prussians ! ‘ in your stead. That ‘s not a very difficult thing to do, it seems to me.”

“If you do that,” continued the Eoyalist prisoner, “you will not only secure your freedom and a full pardon, but

THE FIKST OF SEPTEMBER. 203

more; for I shall proclaim it far and wide that the success of the plot was due solely to you, so you may be sure of a handsome reward.”

” It is not the hope of a reward that actuates me in this matter,” responded Beausire, with the most disinterested air imaginable.

“That ‘s all right; but if the reward is offered, I advise you not to refuse it.”

” If this is really your opinion — “

“I not only advise it, but urge it. What is more, I even command you to accept it.”

“So be it,” said Beausire, meekly.

“Very well, then; to-morrow we will breakfast together, — for the superintendent will not refuse two old comrades this favour, — and drink to the success of the conspiracy ! “

To their great delight, the superintendent granted their request, and the two friends drank not only one, but two, three, and even four bottles.

By that time Monsieur de Beausire was a furious Royalist, and it was fortunate that the officers came to conduct him to the Place de Grève before the fifth bottle could be uncorked.

lie stepped into the cart as if it were a triumphal chariot, and gazed around disdainfully upon the crowd for which he was preparing such a tremendous surprise.

A woman and a little boy were waiting for him on Notre Dame bridge. Poor Olivia was bathed in tears; but young Toussaint, on seeing his father in the hands of the officers, shouted : ” Good ! good ! That ‘s what he got for beating me ! ” Por we neglected to state that on hearing of the theft of the two sous, Beausire had felt himself compelled to inflict condign punishment upon his son and heir. Beausire gave them a benignant smile, to which lie would doubtless have added a benignant gesture if his hands had not been tied behind his back.

The square in front of the Hôtel de Ville was thronged

204 LA COMTESSE DE CIIARNY.

with pcoi)le, aiul when the waggon stopped in front of the piUory, the otlicers had great difficulty in forcing back the popuhice.

AVhen Beausire mounted the platform there was a great commotion; but when the executioner bared the prisoner’s shoulder, and stooped to take the red-hot iron from the furnace, there came what always comes at such a time, — a breathless silence.

Beausire resolved to take advantage of the opportunity thus afforded; so, summoning up all his strength, he shouted in aloud, sonorous, penetrating voice, “Long live the King! Hurrah for the Prussians! Down with the Nation ! “

Great as was the commotion Beausire had expected to excite, the result far exceeded his expectations; for the crowd uttered a deafening roar, and rushed upon the pillory.

This time the guards found it impossible to protect Beausire. The pillory was invaded; the executioner was dragged from the platform, and the prisoner was torn from the post, — no one knew how, — and hurled into the seething mass of human beings below.

He would have been torn in pieces had not a man wearing an official’s scarf come running from the city-hall. This was Government-Procureur Manuel. He was an exceedingly humane man, and though he was generally obliged to conceal his feelings, any such great emergency as this was almost sure to bring them to light.

With great difficulty he made his way to Beausire, and, extending his hand over him, cried in stentorian tones, “I demand this man in the name of the law ! “

The populace did not seem inclined to yield, however; so, detaching his scarf and waving it over his head, he shouted, ” Help, help, all good citizens ! “

A score of men gathered around Manuel, and wrested Beausire, more dead than alive, from the hands of the mob. Meanwhile the city-hall was in great danger, so intense was the exasperation of the populace.

THE FIRST OF SEPTEMBER. 205

Manuel appeared upon the balcony.

“This man is guilty,” he said; “but he is guilty of a crime for which he has not been tried. Select a jury from among yourselves. The jury can convene in one of the rooms in this very building; and whatever their verdict may be, it shall be carried out.”

Is it not strange that on the eve of the terrible massacres in the prisons, one of the very men who is blamed for these massacres should utter such words as these, even at the peril of his life !

This promise pacified the crowd, and fifteen minutes afterwards the jury was introduced to Manuel. It consisted of twenty-one members, and, according to promise, Manuel installed them in a room in the city-hall.

Beausire was dragged before this impromptu court. He tried to defend himself, but his second offence was as incontestable as the first, and far more heinous in the eyes of the populace.

To shout ” Hurrah for the Prussians ! ” when the Prussians had just captured Longwy, and were not more than sixty leagues from Paris ; to yell, ” Down with the Nation ! ” when the nation was stretched upon the rack, — these were terrible crimes, deserving of the severest punishment.

The jury decided that the prisoner was guilty, and that he should be huiig upon the very spot where his offence had been committed; so the hangman was instructed to erect a scaffold at once upon the same platform where the pillory had stood, and the culprit met his death upon it the following day.

The next day was Sunday, — in itself an aggravating circumstance, as the populace had much more leisure at their disposal. The Assembly could not help seeing that everything was tending towards another massacre. The Commune was resolved to maintain itself at any cost, and massacre — or, in other words, terrorism — was the surest means of accomplishing this.