Madame Sans-Gene — s AN HISTORICAL ROMANCE FOUNDED ON THE PLAY BY VICTORIEN SARDOU TRANSLATED FROM THI FBRNCM LOUIE R. HELLER NEW YORK : HURST & COMPANY, Publishers. Copyrighted, 1895, BY HOME BOOK COMPANY. MADAME SANS-GENE. CHAPTER I. t THE FRICASSEE. In the Rue de Bondy lighted lamps smoked and showed the entrance to a popular ball, the Vaux-Hall. This ball, with its fantastic name, was directed by citizen Joly, an artist of the " Theatre des Arts." This was in the great days of July, 1792. Louis XVI. still held a nominal royalty ; but his head, destined to the axe since the twentieth of June, rested now uncertainly on his shoulders. Revolution thundered in the very streets. Robespierre, Marat, and Barbaroux, the handsome Marsellais, had held a secret conclave, in which, with- out being able to agree in their choice of a chief — a dictator who should stand as the "Friend of the Peo- ple," they had decided to make a decisive onset on the royal family, now confined in the palace of the Tuileries as in a fortress. Merr waited for the arrival of the Marseilles troops to give the signal for the insurrection. 2 gftadam* gm$-(&tM. The Prussian King and the Austrian Emperor made preparations, on their side, to throw themselves upon France, which they considered an easy prey, a nation overthrown : counting, too, upon treasons and internal dissensions for cutting a passage for their armies even to the capital. With unwarranted arrogance the Prince of Bruns- wick, generalissimo of the royal and imperial armies, had issued from Coblenz his famous manifesto, in which he said : " If the palace of the Tuileries be forced or insulted, if there be done the least violence, the least outrage, to their majesties, the King Louis XVI. and the Queen Marie-Antoinette, or to any member of the royal family ; if their security, preservation, and liberty be not immediately insured, the Emperor and the King will take such vengeance as shall be forever memo- rable, in delivering up the city of Paris to a military ex- ecution and to total overthrow, and the chief conspirators to such punishment as they shall richly deserve." Paris answered in wildly defiant tones by organizing the uprising of the tenth of August. But Paris is ever a volcano with two craters ; its joy ever alternates with passion. Men armed themselves in the suburbs. They talked in the clubs, at the Commune ; they distributed car- tridges to the national patriotic guards without in the least losing their taste for pleasure and their love of dancing. For people were much agitated in the days of the Revolution. Padame jgattl-Cftttte. 3 On the fresh ruins of the Ba'stille, at last demolished, a placard was placed, bearing the words : " Here one may dance." And this was not irony. The good fortune which could place in the hands of the patriots the melan- choly site where, through many centuries, the un- fortunate victims of monarchical caprice had groaned unheard, made that a place wherein to tune the violins. Strains of joy succeeded the melancholy hoot of the owl ; and it was, moreover, one way of proving the entire disappearance of the old regime. The revolution was accomplished amid the singing of the " Marseillaise " and the dancing of the " Car- magnole." To enumerate the many balls going on at that time in Paris would take much space. There was dancing at the H6tel d'Aligre", in the Rue d'Orleans-Saint- Honore" ; at the Hotel Biron, in the Hanoverian tent ; in the hall of the Exchequer ; at the Hotel de Longue- viHe ; in the Rue Filles-Saint-Thomas ; at la Modgstie ; at the dance of Calypso ; in the faubourg Montmartre, at Poncherons ; at la Courtille, and lastly, at the Vaux- Hall, whither we propose to take the readers. Like the costumes, the dances of the old school were blent with new steps ; the pavane", the minuet, and the gavotte were succeeded by the tre"nitz, the rigaudon, the monaco, and the popular fricassee. On the vast floor of the. Vaux-Hall one night, at the close of July, 1792, there was a great crowd, and people were amusing themselves mightily. The women w«r« 4 gHaflam* ^an^-(?5cne. young, agile, and well dressed, and the men were full of life. The costumes were varied. Short breeches, with stockings, wig, and French coat, stood side by side with revolutionary long trousers ; for let us remark, in passing, that the term " sans-culottes " which was used to designate the patriots, signified simply that these went about without the customary covering for the legs ; the other faction would have said that the legs of the revolutionists were too much covered, for the citizens used more cloth and no longer wore breeches, but pantaloons. Many uniforms shone there, for many of the national guards were in the hall, ready to rush from the scene at the first drum-call to begin a dance about the throne, the overture to the Revolution. Among these, moving with the air of a victor, and showing to advantage as he passed around and before the pretty girls, was a tall, muscular youth, whose face was both energetic and gentle, and who wore the fop- pish costume of the French guard, with the red and blue cockade of the municipality of Paris. The silver braid on his sleeve indicated his rank ; he had, like many of his comrades, been a sergeant in the city mi- litia before the disbanding of the French guards. He passed again and again before a robust and pretty girl with honest blue eyes, who was not dancing. She eyed the fine French guardsman scornfully when he hesitated to approach her, despite the encourage- ment of his comrades. Padame £att0-fatt*. He made a movement to rise. " Do not kill me," he murmured in a supreme and instinctive effort, extending his arms before him, as if to parry the thrusts of invisible enemies. Making a great effort and collecting, by a supreme effort of will, all his forces, he was able to say : «« You are Catharine Upscher — of Saint-Amarin ? It was Mademoiselle de Laveline who sent me to you. She told me you were good — that you would help and succor me. I will explain to you later." " Mademoiselle Blanche de Laveline ? " asked Catha- rine, stupidly — " the daughter of the seigneur of Saint- Amarin — my protector. She who helped me to begin work — to buy my place. Do you, then, know her ? Ah ! for her, there is no peril I would not brave. You were right to come here. You are safe here ; come ; and he who finds your hiding-place must do so over my body ! " The wounded man tried to speak. Doubtless he wanted to call again upon the name of this Blanche de Laveline, who seemed to have so great an influence on Catharine. Catharine imposed silence on him, saying, " Be calm, dismiss your fears ; " and she added in a motherly tone, " no one will kill you. Mademoiselle Blanche will be pleased to know that you are in my care, though with a patriot." She stopped herself, and meditatively added : " What have I said to him ? These Austrians do not know what patriots are ? They are subjects, slaves. You Padam* ^ajtg-Gktt*. 37 are with a friend," Catharine resumed, raising her voice. Neipperg dropped to the ground. His senses, roused for a moment, had now left him. But he had heard Catharine's compassionate voice, and knew that he was safe. An expression of unspeakable joy and recognitioa crossed his wan face. He was with a friend — the name of Blanche de Laveline would protect him ; he had nothing to fear. With a further effort he half-opened his eyes, ex- tended his blood-stained and cold hand, seeking Catha- rine's warm one. " It is well — be calm ! — let me take care of you, Austrian," said Catharine, mastering her feelings. And, slowly, anxiously, she said to herself, " He must lie more comfortably, more softly — but I am not strong enough to carry him to the bed. Ah! ifLe- febvre were here — but he does not come. Oh, can he be " She did not finish the thought. The idea that Le- febvre might be lying, like this foreign officer, lifeless, and blood-stained, presented itself to her for the first time, and she shivered with fright. " How terrible is war ! " she murmured. But her energetic nature re-asserted itself, and she sighed. " Bah ! Lefebvre is too brave too strong to be like this little aristocrat. He is a receptacle for balls. Lefebvre ! he'd take half a dozen into his body with- Padame £an0-6enc. out so much as a cry ! He is not cut like these young sprigs. And this one volunteered to defend Madame Veto ! He dared to fire on the people ! " She shrugged her shoulders and looked again at the wounded man. " It is impossible to leave him here — he will die surely. What shall I do ? He is a friend of Made- moiselle Blanche. I cannot let him die so ! I must do my utmost to revive him." Then suddenly a thought struck her. " Maybe he is betrothed to Mademoiselle Blanche." " It were droll, indeed, if I should help her to marry, when she promised me a dowry ! Oh, I must save the young man ! Yet my Lefebvre does not come ! " she repeated anxiously, seeking for a means of carrying the Austrian. Then she reflected, " It is, perhaps, better that Lefebvre is not here. Oh, it is not that he would be angry or reproach me for sparing an aristocrat ; when he found him to be a friend of my best friend, he would say nothing — and, besides, after the battle, a French soldier knows no enemies. Lefebvre has told me that often ; but he's as jealous as a tiger. It would dis- please him to see me dressing the wound of this aristo- crat ; then he might demand to know how this young man happened to seek refuge with me. 'To demand a shelter of you, he must have known you ; ' that is what he would say — but I know well how I would answer him — nevertheless, I'd rather he should not see him." And once more she tried to lift the body of the young Austrian, now become heavy through unconscious- ness. Just then some one struck the street door. Catharine trembled. She listened, as pale now as the wounded man. " Who can it be ? " she asked herself. " My work- room is closed and no one would come to bring or take away linen on such a day." The sound of muskets was heard on the stones. Some one struck, at the same time, on the alley door. Voices were raised confusedly. ** He is safe by this time." " He is hidden here." Catharine shuddered. " They are seeking him," she murmured, looking with the utmost pity upon the unconscious man beside her. The voices growled two ways — an impatient shuffling of feet gave witness to the anxiety of the crowd. " Let us force the door," cried an impatient voice. *' How shall I save him ? " groaned Catharine, and shaking the dying man, she said : " Come — citizen — sir — courage — try to walk " He opened his eyes and said in a stifled voice, '* I cannot. Let me die ! " " He's anxious to die," growled Catharine. '* See — have a little energy — heavens ! Remember, I must render you alive to Mile, de Laveline — she never sent you here to die — get up — so — that's it — you see it is not hard — only a little will " ♦o §Radam* £m$-(8tnt. Neipperg staggered like a drunken man. Catharine could hardly support him. The cries, the threats, the adjurations redoubled without. Then the blows of the bayonets directed against the door, made it shake. Then a voice was heard — " Stop, citizens — let me pass — that door will be opened to me." And the same voice cried loudly : " Catharine, it is I — have no fear — come ! " ** Lefebvre,"said Catharine, trembling, happy to know that he was safe and sound, but still afraid for her charge. " Yes ; I'm coming," she called. " You see, citizens — she will open — a little patience — pshaw ! you have frightened her by demanding an opening in such fashion," said Lefebvre, proudly, when he saw that Catharine recognized his voice. " Did you hear ? " she said quickly to the wounded man. " They want to come in — I must open to them — come ! " «• How far is it ? " " Try to get up these stairs. I will hide you in the garret." " Oh, I cannot — see, I fall." " Well, in my bedroom, then." And Catharine helped him into her room and locked the door. Then, blushing, breathless, happy, she hastened to open to Lefebvre and the crowd, saying with great glee to herself, " Now he is safe." gjMami £an.$-(Dcnc. 41 CHAPTER V. CATHARINE'S BED-CHAMBER. The bar removed and the bolts drawn, the door opened, giving admittance to Lefebvre, and three or four National Guards, together with a crowd of neighbors and idlers, among whom women and children were in great numbers. " You were slow in opening to us, my sweet Catha- rine," said Lefebvre, kissing her on both cheeks. " Well, such a noise — such yells ! " " Yes, I know, you were frightened ; but they were patriots, friends, who knocked. Catharine, we are vic- tors on every side ! The tyrant is a prisoner of the nation ; the fortress of despotism is taken ; the people are masters to-day." " Long live the nation ! " cried several voices. " Death to traitors ! " " To perdition with the. Swiss and the Chevaliers du Poignard," cried others in the crowd, which now surged to the very door of Catharine's rooms. " Yes, death to those who fired upon the people,'* said Lefebvre in a loud voice. " Catharine, do you know why they came so rudely to your rooms ? " •' No — I was afraid — I have heard shots near here." *' We were firing at an aristocrat who escaped from 42 Padamc Jto-to*. the Tuileries — one of those Chevaliers du Poignard, ■who would assassinate patriots. I had sworn that if he fell into my hands I would make his blood atone for ours. Just as my comrades and I pursued him," said Lefebvre, indicating the National Guards with him, *' having discharged our guns at him, he vanished at the turn of the street ; he is surely wounded ; there was blood beside the door of your alley, Catharine, and so we thought he might have taken refuge here." Lefebvre looked around him, and continued, " But he is not here — we could see him — besides, you can as- sure us, can you not ? " Then turning to the National Guards, " Comrades, we have nothing more to do here, not you, at least — you see the white uniform is not here — you will permit one of the victors of the Tuileries to embrace his wife in private ? " " Your wife ? Oh, not yet, Lefebvre," said Catharine. " How ? Is not the tyrant done for ? " And waving his hand to the guards, "Au revoir, citizens, until later, at the section, we must name a cap- tain and two lieutenants, and also a curate for the parish— a patriot curate, surely. The curate grew frightened and ran away, the two lieutenants and the captain were killed by the Swiss, and so we must find others. Au revoir .' " The guards moved off. The crowd still stood round the door. " Well, friends, did you not hear or understand ? " said Lefebvre in a low and pleasant voice. " What are you waiting for ? For him in white ? He is not here with Catharine ; that is clear. Oh, he must have fallen some distance from here, by the way — he had at least three balls in his breast — look for him — it is your affair ! He is no hunter who gives up his game/' And Lefebvre sent them from him. " Well ! well ! we will go after him, sergeant ! " " It's easy enough to turn the world upside down," paid another. And he added in a slow voice, ■« Couldn't somebody be hiddea in that room ? " Lefebvre quickly closed the door, and opening his arms to embrace Catharine again, said : " I thought they'd never take themselves off. Did you hear their impudence, they spoke of your bedroom, your bed- room, indeed ! What a notion ! But how you tremble, Catharine ! Come, it is over ; be calm ! Let us think of each other." He noted Catharine's eyes turned toward the door of her room. Instinctively, he went to the door and tried to open it It did not yield. Lefebvre stopped, surprised, uneasy. A vague suspicion crossed him. "Catharine," he said, " why is that door closed ?" " Because — I wanted it so," said Catharine, visibly embarrassed. •• That is no reason ; give me the key." ••No, you shall not have it 1 " 44 Padam* gm$-(&tnt, "Catharine," cried Lefebvre white with rage, "you are deceiving me ; there is some one in that room — a lover, doubtless. I want that key." " And I have said you shall not have it ! " "Well, I will take it." And Lefebvre put his hand into Catharine's apron- pocket, took the key, went to the door of the chamber, and unlocked it. " Lefebvre," cried Catharine, " my husband, only, I have told you, may go through that door. Enter it by force now, and you shall never go through it with me ! " Some one knocked, again, at the outer door. Catharine went to open it. " Where is Sergeant Lefebvre ? " they asked ; " he is wanted at the section. They talk of making him lieu- tenant." Lefebvre, moved, pale and silent, stepped back from Catharine's chamber. He re-closed the door carefully, took out the key, and returning it to Catharine, said: "You did not tell me that death was in your chamber." " He is dead ! Ah, poor lad ! " said Catharine sadly. " No — he lives. But tell me true — he came not as a lover ? " " Beast ! " said Catharine. " If he had come so, do you think I would have hidden him there ? But you will not give him up, at least ? " She asked it anx- ously. " Though he is an Austrian, he is a friend of Mile. Blanche de Laveline, my benefactress." " A wounded man is sacred," said Lefebvre. " That chamber, my sweet Catharine, is become an ambulance, which one never disturbs. Tend the poor devil ! Save him ! I shall be ready to help you pay your debt to that lady who has been good to you ; but keep silent that none may ever know — it might do me harm in my section." " Ah ! brave heart ! Thou art as good as brave ! Lefebvre, you have my promise. When you are ready, I will be your wife ! " " That will be quickly done ; but my friends are get- ing impatient. I must go with them." " Sergeant Lefebvre, they are waiting for you, they want to vote ! " cried one of the guards. "Well, I'm coming ; start on, comrades." And while Sergeant Lefebvre went to the section, where the votes were to be cast, Catharine entered her chamber on tip-toe, where, in a light sleep, interrupted by feverish starts, lay the young Austrian officer, who had become to her a sacred charge, since he had invoked the name of Blanche de Laveline. CHAPTER VI. LITTLE HENRIOT. Catharine brought some bouillon and a little wine to the sick man. As she did so, she said to him, when he had wakened at the sound of her step : "Take this; you must grow stronger. You need Ml your strength, for you know you cannot stay very ong in this room. Of course, it is not I who would end you away ; you are here as a guest of Mademoi- . elle Blanche ; it is she who sent you to me ; it is she who shelters and protects you. But there are too many outsiders who come to my shop — my fellow- workers, my customers, and others, — and these will not be slow to talk, you may be sure, and that would get both of us into trouble. Why ! you have fired on the people." Neipperg made a movement and said slowly : " We defended the king." " The big Veto ! " cried Catharine, elevating her shoulders. " He had taken refuge with the Assembly ; he was safe, and quiet ; he left you to fight it out, the great egoist, without thinking about you any more than of that red cap he had snatched from his head on the twentieth of June, often having feigned to wear it with a good grace, among our companions of the Fau- bourg Saint-Antoine. He is good for nothing, an idler, your great Veto, whom his jade of a wife pulls round by the nose — do you know whither ? before the guns of the people. That, surely, is where he will go. But," she added, after a short silence, " what on earth were you doing in that engagement, you, a stranger ? For you told me you were an Austrian ? " •• As lieutenant of the noble guards of his majesty I was charged with a mission to the queen," was the reply. Padam* £mt#-tiitat*. 47 " The Austrian woman," sneered Catharine, " and for her you fought, — you who had nothing to do with our struggles ! " " I wanted to die," said the young man, very simply. " To die ! At your age ? for the king ? for the queen ? There must be a mystery in this, my young man," said Catharine, with good-humored raillery. " Excuse me if I seem indiscreet, but when one is twenty years old, and wants to die, among men one doesn't know, and against whom one has no reason to fight — well — then, one must be in love. Hem ! have I guessed it ? " " Yes, my good hostess." " Gracious ! It was not hard to do. And shall I tell you with whom you are in love ? With Mademoi- selle Blanche de Laveline. Oh, I do not ask your confi- dences," Catharine added quickly, noticing an uneasi- ness in the pale face of the wounded man. " It is none of my business ; yet I know Mademoiselle de Laveline is very lovable." The Count de Neipperg raised himself a little and exclaimed with fervor : " Yes, she is good and beautiful, my darling Blanche. Oh ! madame, if death comes for me, tell her that with my last sigh I breathed her name ; tell her that my last thought, ere life departed, was for her and for " The young man stopped, keeping a confession from rising to his lips. " You are not going to die," rejoined Catharine, anxious to comfort him. «« Who dies at your years 48 Padam* £an0-<$*tte. when he is in love ? You must live, man, for Ma- demoiselle Blanche, whom you love, and who surely loves jz'j, and for that other person you were going to name — her father, aoubtless, M. de Laveline ? A very fine gentleman. I have seen him several times, the Marquis of Laveline, down in Alsace. He wore a blue velvet with gold embroidery, and he had a jewelled snuff-box that sparkled. Neipperg, when he heard the name of the Marquis of Laveline, permitted a gesture of contempt and anger to escape him. " It seems," said Catharine to herself, " that they are not great friends. It is well to know this, I shall not speak to him on that subject again — probably Blanche's father is opposed to the match. Poor girl ! That was why the young man wanted to die." And, with a sigh of pity, she began to arrange the poor fellow's pillow, saying to him : " I have been talking too much — it annoys you perhaps. Won't you try to sleep a little, sir ? It will lessen the fever." The sick man gently turned his head. " Talk to me of Blanche," he urged. " Speak of her again ; that will cure me." Catharine smiled, and sat down to tell him how, born on a little farm not far from the castle of the seign- eurs of Lavelinej she had watched Mademoiselle Blanche grow up. Reared by her mother, whom the marquis left alone most of the time, being an attendant at court, Blanche had grown up in the country, run- ning through the woodland, hunting and riding alike Padame gm$-(&m. 49 over field and fell, never minding the bars that had to be leaped, nor the gates to be passed. She was never haughty, and talked pleasantly with the country folks. She had come frequently to the farm and had grown fond of the little Catharine. One day the marquis had called his wife and daugh- ter to Versailles. Catharine and three other young .girls had been taken from the country to wait upon Madame and Mademoiselle de Laveline. Catherine had spent several happy years, then Madame de Laveline had died ; and it was then that Mademoiselle Blanche, who had accompanied her father on a diplomatic mis- sion to England, had, before going to London, been so £ood as to set Catharine up in business, buying her the laundry of Mile. Loblegeois, where she was still to be found. Ah ! she was a creature who ought to be be- loved and blessed, was Mademoiselle Blanche. As Catharine closed the story of her modest exist- ence, and told of the good deeds of the daughter of the Marquis de Laveline, some one knocked at the door. Could it be Lefebvre who was returning with his comrades from the section ? Catharine thought un- easily. *' Rest quietly and make no noise," she adjured Neipperg, who pricked up his ears. " If Lefebvre is alone, there is no danger ; but if his comrades are with him, I will speak to them and send them away. Do as I bid you and fear nothing." Catharine hurried to open the door, resolutely, though somewhat excited. Her surprise was great when she saw a young woman, who cast herself, trembling, into 4 50 gjftaflame J5ams-(Sftte. the room, saying, " He is here, is he not ? They said they saw a man drag himself to the gate. Is he still alive ? " '* Yes, Mademoiselle Blanche," said Catharine, rec- ognizing in the frightened woman Mile, de Laveline, ** he is here — in my chamber — he lives and speaks only of you — come and see him." " Oh, my good Catharine, what a happy inspiration led me to send him to you for a sure refuge, when he left to fight with the gentlemen of the palace ! " And Mademoiselle de Laveline took Catharine's hands in hers, and pressed them in gratitude, saying, " Take me to him." The sight of Blanche produced a startling effect on the wounded man. He wanted to leap from the bed on which Catharine had had so much difficulty in help- ing him to stretch himself. But the two women made him stay there, almost by main force. " Naughty boy," said Blanche, in her gentle voice ; "you tried to let them kill you." " Life without you was a burden ; could I have found a nobler way to leave it than in the fight, sword in hand, smiling upon death who came to me so glori- ously ? " " Ungrateful ! you should have lived for me ! " " For you ? Were you not already dead to me ? Were you not about to leave me forever ? " " That odious marriage was not yet concluded — ■ a chance might have helped us. Hope was nor dead." Padam* #att0-<$*tttf. 51 "You told me, yourself," said Neipperg, "that there was but one hope. To-day, the tenth of August, you were to have become the wife of another, and be called Madame de Lowendaal. Your father had decided so, and you could not resist." " You know that my tears and prayers proved use- less. Afraid of being ruined by the Baron de Lowen- ■daal, the Belgian millionaire, who had loaned him large sums of money, and insisted on immediate payment, or, in default, my hand, my father consented to give him what he desired most of all." " And that which cost your father least. The mar- quis would pay his debt with his child." " Hush, dear, my father did not know how great our love was — he knew nothing — he does not know now," said Blanche, with increasing energy. Catharine, during this conversation between the lovers, had turned aside. She had passed discreetly into the outer room at the moment when Neipperg, with mournful vehemence, looked at Blanche and an- swered, " Yes, they are ignorant of everything. When I went away, I grew desperate. My death would have but rendered the silence more complete, the ignorance more profound ; yet the balls of the ■ sans-culottes ' did not kill me. I have to try again. Well, occasions to die will not be lacking in the years which are coming. War is declared. I will go and search in the ranks of the imperial army, on the banks of the Rhine, the death which was denied me in the fall of the Tuileries." " You shall not do that," was the maiden's reply. 52 Padmtw £anj5i-<*ktt*. " Who shall keep me from it ? " Neipperg rejoined.. " But forgive me, Blanche ! This is the tenth oi August, the day set for your marriage. How does it happen that you are here ? Your place is beside your husband. They wait for you at church. Why are you not ready to make the Baron de Lowendaal happy and to cancel the debts of the marquis ? The fight, doubt- less, interrupted the ceremony ; but the shooting has ceased, the tocsin is silent, and they can now ring the wedding-bells. Let me die. Here or elsewhere, to- day or to-morrow, what does it matter ? " " No ! no ! You must live — for me — for our child ! " cried Blanche, throwing herself upon Neipperg, and. embracing him passionately. " Our child," murmured the sick man. " Yes, our dear little Henriot ! You have no right to- die ! Your life is not your own." " Our child," said Neipperg, sadly; " but — but — youl marriage ? " " It has not yet come off; there is hope still." " Really I You are not yet Madame de Lowen- daal ? " "Not yet ! Never, perhaps." " How ? Tell me." And a feverish anxiety convulsed the face of the sufferer, while Blanche resumed : " When you had gone, after bidding me a farewell which we both- thought was to be forever, for you had told me that you were going to join the defenders of the palace, 1. had one little hope in my heart I indicated to you th« house of good Catharine as a safe refuge, if you should happen to escape from the Tuileries. I hoped to be able to join you there." " You hoped for that ? Even while consenting to obey your father ? Why, you had decided to become the wife of Lowendaal." " Yes, but something told me that that wedding would never take place." " And it is come to pass ! " " The insurrection resounded in the suburbs. My father declared that it would be impossible to celebrate the marriage on the day appointed, so the Baron de Lowendaal proposed to postpone the ceremony for three months." " Three months ! " " Yes, the sixth of November; that is the date he has set." " Ah ! M. le Baron is not in a hurry." " Frightened by the turn ot events, doubtful as to the progress of the Revolution, M. de Lowendaal left Paris last night, before the closing of the gates. He has returned to his own country. He has named his palace, near Jemmapes, on the Belgian frontier, as the place where we are to celebrate that impossible mar- riage." " And you are to go to Jemmapes ? " " My father, somewhat frightened, has decided to go to the baron's castle. We are to go soon, if the roads are open ! " " And you are going with him ? " 54 padam* Jfattg-Gkne. " I shall go with him ; oh, rest assured, I kno\* what I have vowed. I shall never be the baron's bride." " You swear it to me ? " " I swear it ! " " But who will give you the power to resist at Jemmapes, when you yielded here ? " «• Before his departure, the baron received a letter which I wrote to him — with, oh, such tears ! His servant, whom I bribed, will not have given it to him till he is over the border " " And he knows ? " " The truth ! He knows that I love you, and that our little Henriot can have none other than you to call father." "Oh, my darling Blanche ! My beloved wife whom I adore ! Ah, you give me back my life ! It seems I have almost power to rise and begin again the combat with the « sans-culottes.' " And Neipperg, in his wild excitement, made so sud- den a movement that the bandages which covered his wound slipped, the gash re-opened, and a stream of blood flowed. He uttered a cry. Catharine ran in and offered her help. The two women did their best to re-adjust the bandages, and closed the wound again. Neipperg had fainted. He came to slowly. His first disconnected words told the secret. Padame gm$-(&tnt. 55 "JBlanche — I am dying — watch over our child," he whispered. Catharine heard this revelation, as if it had been a blow. *' Mademoiselle Blanche has a child," she said to her- self ; then turning to the young woman who stood, with eyes cast down, she said quickly, '* Fear nothing ; what I happen to hear went in at one ear and out at the other. If you should ever need me, you know that Catharine is always ready to serve you. Is the child big ? I am sure he is sweet ! " " He is nearly three years old." " And his name is ? " *• Henri — we call him Henriot." " It is a pretty name. Could I see him, mademoi- selle ? " Blanche de Laveline reflected. " Listen, dear Catharine, you can do me a great service, — finish what you have begun so well, by rescu- ing and saving M. de Neipperg." " Speak — what shall I do ? " " My boy is with a good woman in the neighborhood of Paris — Mere Hoche, in a suburb of Versailles." " Mere Hoche, I know her ! Her son is a friend of Lefebvre — Lefebvre is my lover, almost my husband ; you see. I too shall marry and have a little Henri, — more than one perhaps." " I wish you joy ! You will go and see Mother Hoche.** " I have a message for her from her son Lezare, who was in the French Guards with Lefebvre. It was 56 Padame £an0-6m. Lefebvre who took him to enroll. They were togethef at the taking of the Bastille." " What shall I say to the Citizeness Hoche ? " *• Give her this money and this letter," said Blanche, handing Catharine a purse and a paper, " and then you are to take the child and carry him off. Is it too much, Catharine ? " " Is that all ? You know only too well that should you ask me to go, alone, and re-take the Tuileries, though the Swiss had returned to it, I would attempt it for you. Too much ! Ah, you are cruel ! Was it not your kindness that enabled me to buy this place, to establish my business here, and to become, by and by, Mme. Lefebvre ? Think ! have you not some further command for me. When I have taken the little one from Versailles, what am I to do with him ? " " Bring him to me." ••Where?" " At the Palace de Lowendaal near a village called Jemmapes. It is in Belgium, on the border. Can you get there readily ? " " For you I will try anything ! When must I be at Jemmapes with the boy ? " " At the latest by the sixth of November." «' Well, I shall be there ! Lefebvre will manage, I am sure, to let me go. Before that we shall have been married, and who knows but he may go with me. The fighting may be over then." ■* Embrace me, Catharine ! Some day, I trust to be able to acknowledge all you are doing for me." Padame gm#-(&tnt. 57 " Your reward came beforehand. Count on me." " At Jemmapes, then " " At Jemmapes, on the sixth of November," repeated Blanche de Laveline, and looking at Neipperg, she said, " He is sleeping ; I shall watch beside him. Go to your duties, Catharine ; you must find us in the way greatly." " I have told you you are at home here ; but see, he awakes/' she said, looking at Neipperg, who slowly opened his eyes ; " you must have a great many things to tell each other. I shall leave you." " You are not going away ? You will not leave me alone ?" *' Oh, I shall not be away long. I must take some clothes to a customer at a little distance. I will return at once. Open to no one. Good-bye." CHAPTER VII. THE TENANT OF THE HOTEL DE METZ. While the Count de Neipperg and Blanche de Laveline, in delicious tete-d-tete, were discussing their projects for the future and talking of their child, Catha- rine had taken a basket full of clothes on her arm and made herself ready to go out. She wanted to use her time profitably. The lovers were busy, they would not notice her absence ; and, besides, all the morning had been a loss to the laun- 58 |ftadamt £att0-<5*ttf. dress. True, not every day was the Tuileries taken, but nevertheless she had to make up for lost time. Moreover, she reflected on the various things that had come to pass. She had become a keeper of secrets. Neipperg had quite approved the confidence of Blanche which gave the charge of little Henriot to her instead of Mere Hoche, in whose hands he was at Versailles. She was to take him to Jemmapes. When he was recovered, Neipperg would go to the mother of his child, braving the anger of the Marquis of Laveline, ready to beard the Baron of Lowendaal in his own hall and to dispute his right to Blanche, sword in hand, if need be. Thus Catharine, pursuing her way, communed with herself. " Lefebvre is at the section where they are voting. He cannot return before the election of the new officers is announced. That will occupy at least two hours. They take such a long time to vote at the section of the Filles-Saint-Thomas. All good angels guard my Le- febvre ! I shall have time to run to Captain Bona- parte's." And thinking of her client, the lean, pale artillery officer, she smiled. *' He's one who hasn't any surplus shirts," she said. " Poor captain, he'll miss that one." And with a sigh she added, " When I am Citizeness Lefebvre I don't want to owe anything to Captain Bonaparte. It is enough that he owes me something. I'll present him his bill. If he should ask me for it I can give it to him. Anyway, at the worst extremity, I don't expect to get all he owes me, ever. Poor boy, he is such a hard worker — such a scholar — always read- ing and writing — he has a sad youth ; but one cannot have time for everything," she said, with a sarcastic smile and a somewhat disparaging shrug as she felt in her pocket for Captain Bonaparte's laundry bill. She got to the H6tel de Metz, kept by Maureard, where the humble artillery officer lived. He occupied a modest room on the third story, number 14. The youth of this man, at once so great and so un- fortunate, who made the century ring with his name and his glory, whose aureole of blood still ensanguines our horizon, passed without extraordinary events or supernatural revelations. It was only afterwards that people tried to discover that there had been special prophecies, revealing his genius, predicting his mighty career. Bonaparte, as child and young man, deceived all the world. No one could tell his fortune, none could fore- see his greatness. His early years were those of a poor, shy, hard- working-student, proud and somewhat quiet. He suffered cruelly the pangs of ill-fortune. Poverty isolated him. His intense family feeling and clan- nishness made the precarious condition of those who belonged to him doubly hard to bear. His father, Charles Bonaparte, or more precisely. 60 Padame gnn$-<&tnt. de Buonaparte, the son of an ancient family of the Tuscan nobility, established at Ajaccio for over two centuries, was, by profession, a lawyer. All his an- cestors had been gownmen. Charles Bonaparte was one of the most ardent partisans of Paoli, the Corsican patriot. He had submitted to French authority when Paoli left the island. Though a member of the Corsican Council of Ad- ministration and highly respected, Charles Bonaparte's means were small. He owned, all his resource, but one plantation of vines and olives, which brought scarce twelve hundred livres as rental. It was not worth even that in his hands. Later, after the troubles in Corsica, even this income was gone, and he saw ruin before him. He had married Letizia Ramolini (born on the twenty-fourth of August, 1749), a young girl with beautiful features and a profile like an antique cameo, who afterwards developed a singularly acute gift of foresight combined with much firmness and tact. When, with the title of ** Madame M6re," she sat en- throned among her sons, the rulers of Europe, had she not said to Napoleon, who reproached her for not spend- ing all her allowance, " I am economizing for you, my children, who may some day be in want." According to accepted tradition, Napoleon Bonaparte, son of Charles and Letizia, was born August 15, 1769. He was the second son of the Bonapartes by this cal- culation. Another more plausible story says that Joseph was the younger son. That he was born at Ajaccio. Padnme gm$-(&tM. 61 Napoleon, born on January 7, 1768, had, according to this, been born in Corsica. The certificate of birth, existing at the military school, and produced for the admission of young Napoleon, bears, plainly, the date August 15, 1769 ; but other papers quite justify the confusion which exists : princi- pally the marriage certificate of Napoleon and Jose- phine. - It has been said that Josephine had coquettishly wanted to make herself younger than she really was, but that Napoleon, to lessen the distance between their ages, had grown two years older. He had probably been sufficiently gallant to give his actual age, and then, the motives which had induced his parents to substitute one certificate for another were past. They made him younger on account of the conditions for admission to the military school at Brienne. The elder son had passed the age of ten years. His parents, in giving as his the birth-certificate of Joseph, two years his junior and whose tastes were not at all military, had thus made possible the entrance of the future general. Two circumstances largely influenced the formation of his character and the bent of his thought : the per- turbations of his native land and the distresses of his family. Civil war in his home, and poverty at the paternal fireside, alike hardened his soul and embittered his youth. He had been serious when he entered the school at Brienne : he came out sad, and heart-sore. 62 Padame gm$-(8tnt. His comrades had made fun of his Italian accent, of his odd name of Napoleon — they called him " Paille-au- Nez." They had insulted his poverty ; and we know how bitter are these boyish taunts, and what cruel wounds they leave in their victims. A good scholar, particularly in mathematics, playing little except in the winter, when, a precocious strategist he conducted the boyish assaults, when snowballs were hurled at the ice-fortress, in the courtyard of the school at Brienne, he lived almost unnoticed those first years of his life. Here he learned to know Bourrienne the future miser, his private secretary, who repaid the benefits and in- dulgence of his friend by calumniating and traducing him in memoirs paid for by the people of the Resto- ration. From Brienne, he went to the Military School, and there, again, he suffered in small ways, daily bearing those pin-pricks which do not kill, but whose misery young men know who are poor and do not complain. He had no money, and not being able to join in the expensive pleasures of the sons of wealthy families, he kept himself aloof. This isolation, at an age when the heart is ready to expand, helped to render inscrutable and pitiless him who was destined to become the man of bronze. He had lost his father, who died of a cancer in the stomach, at the age of thirty-nine years, just after his son (Napoleon) had been named, on September I, 1785* second lieutenant in the company of bombardiers of the regiment of " la Fere," in garrison at Valencia. He occupied his leisure in the camp by writing a history of Corsica ; and, going into society, he took dancing lessons of Professor Dantel, and paid his court to the ladies assembled at the parlor of a friend. His regiment was sent on to Lyons, then to Douai. He obtained a leave of absence which enabled him to see his family at Ajaccio, and after a trip to Paris, where he lived at the Hotel de Cherbourg, in the Rue du Four-Saint-Honore\ he was ordered to rejoin his regiment at Auxonne, on .May i, 1788. Work and privation — for he li /ed on milk, having no money — made him ill. To comfort his mother, a widow with eight children, Napoleon took with him his young brother, Louis. He lived with the boy, spending at this time but ninety-two francs, fifteen centimes a month ! Two tiny rooms, without fire or furnishings, composed their home. In one fitted up with a cot, a trunk full of manuscripts, a chair stuffed with straw and a white- wood table, slept and worked the future master of the Tuileries and of Saint-Cloud. The future King of Hol- land lay in the other room, on a mattress thrown upon the floor. Naturally, they had no servant. Bonaparte brushed the coats, polished the boots, and cooked the soup. Napoleon once alluded to this period of his life to a functionary, who complained that his pay was insuf- ficient. " I knew such times, monsieur, when I had the 64 Padame £wnit-(&tnt. honor to be a second lieutenant ; I breakfasted on dry bread but I closed the door upon my poverty. I never spoke of it to my comrades." Poverty keeps a man pure, and seldom gives time for love-affairs. At that time Napoleon behaved, perhaps, like the fox with the grapes he could not get, for he launched this anathema against women, " I believe love to be the bane of society, of personal happiness for men ; and I believe that love does more harm than good.'' The good Catharine, who, besides washing her client's linen, had experienced a leaning toward him, before she met Lefebvre, was not slow in seeing that Bonaparte practised always his severe philosophy of Auxonne. Raised to a first lieutenancy of the Fourth Artillery, Bonaparte had returned to Valencia, in company with his brother Louis. He had taken up again his life as a studious, quiet, almost cynical officer. It was the dawn of the Revolution. He showed himself a warm partisan cf the ideas of liberty and the emancipation of the peopk'. Then he became known as a revolution- ist. He spoke, he wrote, he became an agitator : he had himself made a member of the club " Les Amis de la Constitution," whose secretary he became. He cer- tainly had much faith. Nor was he lacking in aptitude. Indeed, this extraordinary man could take on any tone with seeming truthfulness, and wear any mask, as if it were his natural face. In October, 1791, he asked leave of absence to im- Padam* gm$-(&ttLt, 65 prove his health and visit his family. He went to Corsica. There, in the bosom of his family, making them his partisans, he asked to be made head of a battalion of National Guards at Ajaccio. This command was as- signed to him by public force — the only authority. He was, however, hotly opposed. His chief rival was named Marius Peraldi, a member of a very influential family. Bonaparte set to work feverishly to get recruits. Ajaccio was divided into two camps. The Commissaries of the *' Constituante," sent by the central power, were able to enlist, by their presence, a great number of votes, and made the scale turn. Their chief, Muratori, had settled with Marius Pe- raldi. That was done to show that the rival of Bonaparte was agreeable to the authorities. It is well known how great is the weight of official approval in Corsica. Bonaparte's friends, unable to bring any such force to bear, believed the success of Peraldi sure. But the ardent and tenacious man himself did not give up. He assembled some trusty friends, and at supper- time, when the Peraldi faction were at table, their dining- room was entered by an armed force. They aimed at the guests, and between two armed men, Muratori, summoned to arise and go, was con- ducted to the Bonaparte house. 5 66 Padame £mi0-6*ttf. The commissioner was more dead than alive. Bonaparte went to meet him smilingly, ignoring ths means he had taken to bring his visitor, and extending his hand, said, " You are very welcome to my house. I knew, had you been free, you would not be at the Peraldi's ; be seated at our hearth, my dear commis- sioner." As his guides, with their guns, were still at the door, ready to obey Bonaparte's orders, Muratori sat down, braced himself against his luck, and spoke no word of returning to the Peraldi house. On the morrow Bonaparte was elected commander of the National Guards of Ajaccio. The man of Brumaire was nascent in the candidate for the militia. And the deed of force enacted at Ajaccio foretold that of Saint-Cloud. The situation of Bonaparte, accepting a territorial command, when he had a place in the army in action, was not exactly regular. But it was a revolutionary period. It is certain that, had times been different, this infrac- tion would have cost him dear. He had his furlough prolonged, so that at its end his term of service expired. The motive which made him remain at the head of the Corsican militia when he had the position of lieu- tenant-colonel, was neither ambition nor political fervor. His military genius could have no field in his miser- able little island. It was money, always a question of money, which at Padame gm$-(&tM. 67 the time governed the conduct of this adventurous youth. His pay in the National Guards was 162 livres, twice the sum he received as lieutenant in the artillery. With this sum he would be enabled to supply the many wants of his large family and educate his brother Louis properly. Here, then, was his motive for staying at Corsica. Bonaparte was always more or less the victim of his family. We are told, that, in taking command of the battalion at Ajaccio, he had not deserted, as has been said. The National Guard was at that time, even in Corsica, in act- ive service. It was part of the army. Bonaparte, to justify himself, argued, besides, that by authority of the camp-marshal of Rossi, who had looked into the regu- larity of the proceeding, he had conformed to the decree of the Assembly of December 17, 1791, which authorized officers of the active army to serve in the ranks of the National Guard. Deposed by Colonel Maillard, Bonaparte went to Paris to justify his conduct and to plead his cause before the minister of war. He hoped to be re-instated. But while awaiting the decision he lived in Paris alone, yet ever busy. He fared badly at his home, and dined, frequently, with M. and Madame Permon, whom he had known at Valencia, and whose daughter was destined to marry Junot and become Duchess of Abrantes. Later, Bona- parte, thought of asking, himself, the hand of Madame 68 gftadame gnn$-(8tnt. Permon, who had been left a widow with considerable wealth. In spite of his economy, he had, at this time, some debts. He owed fifteen francs to his host, and, as we have seen, forty-five francs to his laundress, Catharine Sans- G6ne. His friends were few. He lived in close intimacy with Junot, Marmont, and Bourrienne. All three, like himself, were penniless, but rich in hopes. On the morning of August ioth Bonaparte had risen at the sound of the tocsin, and, simply as a spectator of the fray, had gone to Fauveletde Bourrienne, the elder brother of his friend, who kept a bric-a-brac shop and loan office at the Place du Carrousel. He needed money, and did not want to be quite penniless on a day of revolution ; so he took his watch as a pawn to Fauvelet, who loaned him fifteen francs on it. From the shop of the money-lender, whence it would have been difficult to escape, the battle having begun, Bonaparte could follow all the movements of the fight. At noon, when the people's victory was assured, he regained his lodgings. He went pensively homeward, saddened by the sight of the corpses, sickened by the smell of blood. Many years after, the great butcher of Europe, for- getting the terrible outpouring of his people's blood, and the mountains of corpses accumulated beneath his conquering feet, remembered again this horrible sight. Padam* $att0-<£>*tt*. 69 On the rocks of St. Helena he expressed at once, his indignation and his emotion at the memory of the innumerable victims of the Swiss and the Chevaliers du Poignard, and the sights he witnessed when he was returning to his hotel, on that bloody morning of the tenth of August. CHAPTER VIII. THE HANDSOME SERGEANT. SUCH, then, was the man, as yet unknown, obscure, mysterious, whom Catharine Sans-Ggne went to find in his little room in a furnished house, where he waited impatiently for fortune, the capricious and tardy god- dess who had not yet decided to knock at his door. Everything seemed against him. Nothing went right. Ill-luck pursued him. On his return to his hotel, on that bloody morning of the tenth of August, he had sought, in work, rest for his mind, distraction from his cares, and forgetfulness of that tragic spectacle which he had witnessed from the pawnbroker's shop. He had unfolded a geographical chart, and had set himself to study carefully the region of the south, the border towns of the Mediterranean, Marseilles, and, above all, the port of Toulon, where the royalist reac- tion was going on, and which an English fleet menaced. From time to time he pushed the map away, buried his head in his hands, and dreamed. 70 Padame J?an;5i-0*tt*. His ardent thought excited him. Like a traveller in the dark, he saw, rising before him, visions and prodig- ious mirages. Vanquished cities, where he entered as conqueror, mounted on a white horse, amid the enthusiasm of crowds, and the acclamation of soldiers. A bridge, where shots rang out, and which he crossed, colors in hand ; cheering his forces ; driving back the enemy. Strange horsemen, in gold-embroidered coats, who brandished cimeters aloft, around him, invulnerable, and who, at length stopped, threw down their arms, and bowed their turbaned heads before his tent. Then, the triumphal marches, among hordes of van- quished soldiers, in strange lands, afar and ever-chang- ing. The intense southern sun burning on his head, the northern snows dusted over his cloak — then feasts, defiles, processions, — kings subdued, prostrated; queens flinging themselves at his feet, — the intoxication of glory — the apotheosis of triumph ! All this fantastic dream was reared but to vanish again, when he lifted his burning face from his hands. Opening his eyes, the plain and ridiculous reality of his room at the hotel was apparent. A little smile showed itself on his lips, and his prac- tical common sense coming to the top, he chased the deceptive phantom away. Ceasing to see the mirage, he looked with clear eyes at that which was before him, and examined with cold reasoning into the uncer- tain situation, the dreadful present, the probably worse future. Padam* ^ang-^ttc. 71 His position was deplorable, and no change seemed probable. No money. No work. The minister deaf to his en- treaties. The courts hostile. No friend. No protector. He saw himself threatened with an unavoidable ill : black want and weakness. His ambitious projects were dissipated in the brutal wind of actual life — his hope for the future fell like castles of cards. He began to feel the cold shudder of his disillusion. What should he do ? For a moment he thought of passing into a street in the quarter of " Nouvelle- France," then in construction, of hiring some houses and letting out furnished rooms. He dreamed, too, of leaving France and taking serv- ice in the Turkish army. Then he said to himself that he had something in his brain ; and he felt the impetuous blood coursing through his veins, like the swift tide of the Rhine. Then he turned again to his task, applying himself to a topographical study of the basin of the Mediter- ranean, his birthplace, where the cannon was soon to thunder. Oh, that he might be there, where they were fight- ing, where they were going to defend the nation, and lead his artillery against the English ! That dream was possible ! If he lived a dreamer's life, it was because the hard-working Corsican was as yet alone in the world, without influence, without en) ■one who believed in him. ,2 Padame £nn$-(&tnt. Again, to overcome the discouragement which began to creep to his heart — a subtle poison and a deadly one which can freeze the most indomitable energy — he re- turned to the study of his chart, and took up the thread of his work, interrupted by his dream. At this moment there came two light taps on his door. He trembled. A sharp pain shot to his heart. The bravest men, when penniless, are easily frightened by a sudden knock. They wait, with head erect, and eye serene, for Death to strike them. But they are weak and trembling at the thought of a creditor who may come, bill in hand. There came a second, somewhat louder, knock. •* Perhaps it is old Maureard coming up with his bill," thought Bonaparte, blushing. •• Come in," he said slowly. A moment passed. And then he repeated impatiently, *' Well, come ! " He thought in surprise, " That is not the landlord. Junot or Bourrienne would not wait before entering ; who can have come here to-day ? " He was less un- easy, and more anxious, for he never had any visitors. He lifted his head, inquisitively, to see who might enter. The door opened, the key having been left in the lock, and a young man advanced, wearing the uniform of a foot-soldier. A gentle youth, fresh, rosy and delicate, still too young for a beard, with dark, intense eyes. Paflam* £att0- Padame £an$-&tnt. would not renew the lease, and the miller, ruined, would have to give up his mill and leave the country. The young man, having learned the projects and calculations of the secretary, said simply that he wanted to go and find him in his study, among his papers, and break his back. His mother dissuaded him from it. Le Goe*z was powerful and vindictive. True, he had the power of a noble, and for that reason, perhaps, he affected most violent revolutionary principles. He talked about decapitations, and had advised the installation of a tribunal, charged with judging anti- revolutionists, in every community. He was a municipal officer, and corresponder with the influential agitators of the sections in Paris, the bailiff Maillard, the Mar- quis of Saint-Hugure, Tournier, the American, and other men of action. It was well to keep peace with such a man, not to brave him. " What shall I do, then ? " the young man had asked. "Go away," said his good mother, "dream no more of Renge. Go to Rennes, where you will finish your studies, become a great physician, and find forgetful- ness, rest, and perhaps fortune.* The young lover shook his head and went away sadly, without answering his mother. He wanted neither rest nor oblivion. He knew well that far from Rene"e he would not find happiness. He would remain in the country and save Rene"e from the odious secretary. Ah, he thought with heart open to vague aspirations of life, that he would seek a new country Pattern* £M$-<8tnt. 91 where liberty flourished without danger ; he would go away to that America where France had helped to fight for independence ; there he would work, he would study, he would become a hard-working and useful citizen, far from the noise of camps, far from all the tumult of battle in old Europe. Naturally, in the dream of emi- gration, Renee went with him. On the evening of that decisive conversation with his mother, Marcel found Renee once more on the banks of the stream, whose song, at that twilight hour, seemed most melancholy, most sad. A crimson bar at setting indicated the death of day, wrapped in a shroud of red and gray clouds. The moon, meanwhile, scattering the clouds slowly, rose in the east, and its radiant disk shone between the tall and leafy branches of the poplars. Renee and Marcel, seated in the grass on the banks of the little river, held each other's hands and looked, where, like a circle of silver, the tender, pale planet rolled through space. It was a solemn moment, a nuptial hour. Like the songs of birds calling to each other in the month of May, under the branches, the voices of the two young people alternated in the softness of the evening. " I love thee, my Rene"e, and shall ever love but thee." •« Thou alone, Marcel, dost fill my thoughts, and my heart is thine forever ! " •* We will never leave each other " \ 92 gftadame J?att0-(6m. • We will live side by side 1 " ' Nothing can part us " « We will remain together until death ! H ' Thou wilt swear to follow me, my Rene"e- 1 I swear that where thou goest I will go, Marcel 1 " ' We will love each other always " 1 Ever will we love ; I swear it ! " • May the branches, emblems of liberty, and the trees which are the pillars of Nature's temple, may these forest people receive and witness my vows ! " said Marcel, with an emphasis which showed in both word and gesture, as he raised his hand toward the trees which the Revolution honored as symbols of the nation, in sign of oath. Rene*e imitated Marcel, and, like him, her hand raised, vowed to love forever, and to follow always him to whom she gave herself freely, and this was the oath under the poplars which shone like silver under the soft moon's light CHAPTER X. THE INVOLUNTARY ENLISTING. When the two young people had, with a chaste kiss, sealed their reciprocal vows exchanged beneath the serenity of the moonlight which flooded the sky and lighted up the last clouds in the west, they thought they heard a crackling of leaves behind them, followed by a cry like the hooting of a screech-owl. Padame gm$-(&m. 93 That bird of ill-omen troubled them in their ecstasy. They embraced each other fervently, yet with a secret fear despite their rapture. Marcel took a stone and threw it in the direction whence the sound had come, seeking to dislodge that importunate screamer. «« Make off, villainous owl," cried Marcel, looking angrily toward the dark wood where doubtless, amid the trees, sat the witness of their love. No bird flew thence. Instead of a flapping of wings there was a sound as of footsteps retreating precipitately from the lovers, and it seemed to them that they heard among the leaves the laughter of a man. Some one had surprised them, spied upon them, heard them ! They both returned to the village sad, silent and uneasy. " I fear this augurs ill," said Rene"e at the moment of parting, beside the hedge of La Garderie. " Bah," said Marcel, trying to make the girl feel at ease, " it was some clown who wanted to amuse him- self at our expense, some jealous fellow who was en- raged at our joy. Let us think no more of the matter, sweet ! We love each other, and have sworn to be true to each other always, and so nothing can separate us." And they parted, both alarmed by the warning they had received. An enemy had surely watched them! Who wanted to destroy their happiness ? Who could thus follow and threaten them ? Who objected to their felicity ? The memory of the words of the 94 ptadam* #att0-$m. miller's wife and the thought of that Bertrand Le Go6z, who dared to desire to possess Rene"e, presented itself at once to Marcel's mind. He reasoned with himself and attempted to fortify himself against the vague apprehension which penetrated his very soul. «* Bertrand Le Gogz is a bad, jealous man," he said to himself; " but what can he do to us, since Rene"e loves me and has sworn to cleave to me ? " He determined, nevertheless, to be on his guard, and to watch the movements of the secretary. The fear he experienced was not without foundation. Le Go6z multiplied his visits to the mill. He had warned Marcel's father twice that his lease was soon to expire and that he need not count on renewing it. By virtue of the right which the Count de Surgeres had given him, Le GoSz signified to the miller that he would have to give up his land. No delay would be allowed him. Always, too, the secretary warned Marcel's father that, should he send his son to Rennes, and assure him that the youth had given up all hopes of marry- ing Ren6e, he would consider the renewal of the lease. The miller was much distressed, for his son clung to his intentions, and swore he would wed Rene"e, in spite of Bertrand Le Gogz ; on her part, the young girl had answered all the overtures of the enamored sec- retary with cold refusals. Bertrand Le Go6z resolved to part them violently. France was in arms. On all sides there came from gftadamc £ m$-(8tnt. 95 the towns volunteers who took pikes and muskets, and went forth to die for their country. The secretary, in his capacity of attorney of the community, assembled, one Sunday morning, all the young men around and addressed to them a warm appeal, calling upon them to go to Rennes to re-enforce the regiment of Ille-et-Vilaine. Several volunteers came forward, enlisted, and left next day. Bertrand Le Goe*z expressed himself as objecting strongly to the bad example and laziness of those who, young, strong, and able to carry a gun, threw away the honor of defending their country, and preferred to grow weak in the company of old men and girls. His harangue was meant directly for Marcel. He, understanding exactly, what use Le Go6z meant to make of his inaction, went directly to the keeper. He found La Bris6e polishing his guns, and whis- tling a hunter's song. Rene"e sat sewing beside the keeper's wife. She gave a cry of surprise at seeing Marcel enter. Danger was ahead. She questioned him with a look ■^begging him to reassure her. " Father La Brise"e," said the young man, much moved, " I come to bid you and Rene"e acneu ! I am going." '* O God," cried the young girl with her hand on her heart. " Why are you going, Marcel ? Does that wicked Le Go6z still want to take away your father's land ? " 96 Pattern* gm$-(&tnt. " That is not my only reason for going away." " And where are you going, lad ? " asked the keeper quietly, still polishing his gun. "I do not know. Throughout the village I am taunted with being idle ; yet it is not fear that keeps me from taking a musket, but because I consider war as a plague, and the people who go into it as sheep going to the slaughter, as my master Jean-Jacques has demonstrated ! Why do they kill each other for in- terests which touch them not ? War for life is just — that is, when slaves take up arms, — it is the war of liberty against tyranny, and that Jean Jacques Rousseau himself would have approved." "Then you have enlisted, lad ? " inquired La Brise"e. " It is well — very well ! You have done as the others have done. You are good — you will go and kill those Prussian thieves, I hope. Pity you never cared for the chase. You are not like Rene"e — she would make a fine soldier. But you will learn courage, Marcel." Rene"e had risen, weak and deathly pale. " I am about to leave the country," said Marcel, with rising emotion, " because I can no longer live amid threats and reproaches. Father La Brise"e, I am going with my tttther and mother, who are likewise driven out, to establish myself in America." " What ! " said the keeper, astonished, letting his gun fall; "you are not going into the army? What will you do in America, good heavens ! " " I want," said the young man, firmly, " to take Padame ^aajs-dfotw. 97 with me, as my wife, your daughter Rene"e. There we will found a family, there we will be happy under the great trees of the wilderness ! " Rene"e had fallen against La Brise'e, saying, " Father ! father ! come with us to that America, which I do not know, but which must be beautiful, since Marcel says we can be happy there." The keeper had risen, much troubled, and address- ing his wife, who sat motionless, as though she had not heard, still drawing her needle through, mechanically, and said : " Well, there's another ! Take Rene*e to America ! Marry her ! What do you say, old woman ? " Mother La Brise'e stopped sewing, lifted her head and said severely, " I say that it is all beastly ! It is time to stop it ! It is necessary, La Brise'e, to tell these two turtle-doves something. They do not know they are not equal. Tell them, thou, about it." Then La Brise'e revealed to Ren6e that she was the daughter of the Count de Surgeres and could not marry a miller's son. But she said of her absent father, that, having left her to the paid care of La BrisSe, he had no right to dispose of her, nor to keep her from giving herself to the man she loved. She considered that the irregularity of her birth placed her beyond social conventionalities, wherefore she proposed to be quite free. The Revolution was everywhere, and sowed in the quietest minds, even in the soul of a young girl like Renee, the germs of independence and liberty. 7 98 Pattern* £an0-$m. Marcel reflected. The new position of Rene"e had upset all his projects and disconcerted him. The nobility to which Ren6e belonged did not seem to him a serious obstacle. The Revolution had abol- ished classes and declared all men equal. But Renge was rich. She could not follow, as she had promised, the son of a ruined miller, like himself ; what was pure love and youthfulness, in other eyes would seem like a calculating cupidity on his part for captivating her unworthily. No ! He could not accept such sacri- fice, though Ren6e was ready to make it. He must force himself to banish remembrance and he would leave France and seek no more for happiness, only for rest and oblivion. He would go alone to America. His resolution was quickly taken. He would declare his decision to leave the country, to put distance be- tween himself and his love — when some one knocked. Madame La Bris6e went to the door. Bertrand Le Goez was there. He wore a scarf and was accompanied by two commissioners of the district, wearing hats with tricolored plumes, and the insignia of municipal delegates. As La Bris6e stood, astonished at the sight of the three personages, Le Go£z said to one of the commis- sioners, indicating the young man, *• Citizens, there is Marcel. Do your duty ! " "Are you going to arrest me," said Marcel, as- tounded. " What have I done ? " " We simply come to ask you, citizen," said one of the commissioners, " if it is true that you are about to Paiiam* gm$-(&tne. 99 leave, to desert your home, and your flag, as your father, the miller has said ? " " I have thought of doing so." "You see," said Le Go6z, triumphantly, taking the commissioners to witness. " Then, you desire to emigrate ? You want to bear arms against your country ? Do you not know that the law punishes those who desert now ? Speak ! " " I never meant to desert. I do not emigrate. I can no longer live here. Poverty drives me and mine forth. I go to find beneath another sky work and liberty." •• Liberty is to be found beneath the standard of the nation," said the commissioner. " As for work, the nation will give you plenty ! You are a doctor, are you not ? " " I shall be ; I must still get one more diploma." " You shall have it — in your regiment ! " *« My regiment ! What do you mean ? " " This. We have an order for you," said the second commissioner. " Our armies need surgeons, and we are charged, my colleague and I, to find them." He handed a paper to Marcel, saying, "Sign here, and in twenty-four hours be at Angers. They will tell you there to which corps you are assigned." «' And if I refuse to sign ? " " We will arrest you immediately, as a refractionary, an agent of emigration, and we will take you to Angers but to prison. Sign ! " Marcel hesitated. ioo ptRdame gm$-(&tnt. Bertrand Le Gogz, winking, said to one of the com- missioners : "You would have done better to follow my advice and arrest him at once. He will not sign, he is an aristocrat, an enemy of the people." La Bris6e and his wife sat, struck dumb, watching the scene. Renge, meantime, who had approached Marcel, taking a pen, and handing it to him, said, softly : " Sign, Marcel ! It is imperative, I ask it of you ! " " So you want me to leave you — to leave you defence- less against all the attempts of that wretch," he said, pointing to Le Goez. Ren6e answered, whispering : " Sign ! I shall go to you — I promise it." Marcel said : " You — among soldiers — you in the army ? " in a subdued voice. " Why not ? I am like a boy ! I can handle a gun ; ask my father — ' she is not like you.' Go — sign ! " Marcel took the pen and nervously signed the deed of enlistment, then addressed the commissioners. " Where must I go ? " " To Angers — where they are raising a regiment from Mayenne and Loire. Good luck, Sir Doctor." " I salute you, Commissioners." «' Have you nothing to say to me," said Le Go8z, in a jesting tone. Marcel pointed to the door. " You are wrong to be angry with me. Now that you are a good ' sans-culotte ' and serve your country, I esteem you, Marcel ; and to prove it I will renew the Padame £att0-$*tt*. 101 lease for your parents," said the secretary, laughing cruelly. Bertrand Le Goez retired rubbing his hands. He had gained his point. His rival was going far away, among the enemy. Rene"e, of whose birth he knew the secret, was in his power. Would Marcel ever return ? And she, once his wife, would bring him part of the count's domain, of which he was taking care. He saw himself already master of those vast estates of which he was now but a keeper. He could show himself good-natured toward Marcel's parents, and let them keep their lands ; he would have them for allies and Marcel could not influence them against him. Every- thing reassured him that some day he should go about, not as inspector, but as veritable owner, then, with Renee on his arm, as his wife, over the count's lands, whom the emigrant laws had power to keep out. He took good care to make good her inheritance. Rene"e, meantime, after declaring to La Brise"e and Toinon that she never would have, in spite of Ber- trand, any other love, and that some day she would marry Marcel, had gone, at evening, to the usual tryst- ing place, on the river-bank, under the poplars. There she met Marcel, very sad and uneasy. His hand trembled feverishly, and tears stood in his eyes. She reassured him, repeating her promise to see him in the regiment, And when he again seemed incredulous, she said, firmly : •' You shall see ! Wouldn't I make a fine sol- dier ? " she added, laughing. " Why ! I haven't your 102 Padam* £m$-(Btnt, ideas about war ! I am no philosopher ; but I love you, and mean to follow you everywhere." " But the fatigue — the rations ? The gun is heavy and the knapsack as well. You have no idea of the painful work of war, poor child ! " Marcel said this to dissuade her from the attempt, which, to him, savored of madness. " I am strong — I can do it. Many young men go daily to the war who are not as robust as I, and they have not, as I have, a lover beside the standard," she added proudly. " But if you should be wounded ? " " Are you not a surgeon ? You would take care of me — save me." Some days after, at dusk, one might have seen, walk- ing slowly along, a young man, going to Angers, carrying at the end of a cane a small bundle of clothes and wearing the costume of the National Guard. This young man presented himself, as soon as he got to Angers, at the mayor's office, and was enrolled as a volunteer, in the battalion of Mayenne-et-Loire, under the name of Rene" Marcel, son of Marcel, the miller of Surgeres. The young man had said that he wished to enlist in the company where his brother Marcel, already en- rolled, acted as aide. So the young girl was admitted without difficulty. No one suspected her sex. This enlisting of young women, in masculine attire and with strange names, produced, occasionally, at that time, confusion and all 1 §Nadam* no gjttadame gnn$-$tnt, " Long live Citizeness Lefebvre ! " shouted the enthu- siastic guards. " Long live Madame Sans-GSne," responded the crowd of neighbors. " Why do they shout so loud ? " asked Catharine softly of her husband, thinking of Neipperg, lying in the next room. They will make our sick man — H In the little room of the H6tel de Metz, meantime, the penniless and unemployed artillery officer, having finished with his map, arranged methodically on a deal shelf the clothes Catharine had brought. " Why 1 she left no bill," said the future emperor, well satisfied with this oversight, for he would have had to tell her he could not pay her. He added, making a mental note of his debts, " I must owe her at least thirty francs. The devil t I must go and settle with her the first time I get some money. She is a good girl, this Catharine, and I shall not forget it ! " And he dressed to go and dine with his friends the Permons. That little confidence made Napoleon, many years after, speak kindly. It was only after many years that she found, at a most unexpected moment, the payment ofthat forgotten wash-bill. And those readers who wish to follow with us, will find again in the following pages, Neipperg, Blanche^ the Pretty Sergeant, Marcel, and little Henriot, and the many escapades and adventures of Catharine, the laun- dress, later the Marechale Lefebvre, then Duchess of Dantzig, who was ever sympathetic and popular, a good, jolly companion, heroic and charitable, bearing the Parisian nickname of Madame Sans-Genc. BOOK SECOND. CHAPTER I. IN THE POST-CHAISE. '* See, they will not stop ! See how the postilion . makes his whip crack in passing L'Ecu ; he seemed not to see us ! " " Transient travellers are not numerous now-a- days." " We can see no more of them ! They go to the Lion d'Or." " Or to the Cheval Blanc." Sighs alternated with these words, sadly exchanged between the stout keeper of the hotel of L'Ecu and his heavy wife on the threshold of the chief inn of Dam- marten. Passengers in coaches were rare after the events which had followed the 20th of June. The vehicle which had passed before the disappointed eyes of the keepers of L'Ecu had left Paris early in the evening. It was really the last which got safely over the border, for the order to hold all who wanted to leave Paris was issued that night as soon as the reso- lution to attack the Tuileries at dawn had been taken. Informed by friends of that which was going on at the sections, and of the movement which was coming, the Baron de Lowendaal had postponed his marriage with the daughter of the Marquis de Laveline, and had hurriedly made ready to depart. Being a farmer on a large scale, he feared the near approach of confiscation by the national powers. The Baron de Lowendaal scented danger. The eve of August ioth, therefore, had seen him jump into a post-chaise, accompanied by his factotum, Leonard, carrying with him all the money he had been able to collect, and ordering the driver to proceed, if need be, with fresh relays of horses. The baron travelled as one who feared for his life. At Crgpy it became necessary to halt. The horses could do no more. Morning had followed night, and, across the plain great day was driving away the clouds and lifting the darkness. The last stars set in the blue vault of the sky, where, on the side near Soissons, the sun rose. The Baron de Lowendaal was going to his chateau, near the village of Jemmapes, on the Belgian border. Originally a Belgian, but become quite French, the baron thought he would be secure there. The Revo- lution would never spread to the Belgian territory ; besides, the army of the Prince of Brunswick was as- sembled on the frontier ; it would not be slow in bring* 8 H4 Padam* gm$-(&cnt. ing the " sans-culottes " to reason and in re-establishing the king. He had quitted France but for a short time, until he should marry the Marquis de Laveline's charming daughter. A little wedding tour ! He had fixed the sixth of November for the solemni- zation of his marriage, because he had to arrange a considerable piece of business in the town of Verdun, where he had a tobacco farm. He had decided to leave Paris quickly, so as to be sure of escaping should he be followed. His horses were excellent and could not be overtaken. He set out, after having arranged some protective measures between himself and the patriots. His nose at the curtain, he sniffed the morning air, and when they had passed the first houses of Cr6py, quite reassured, he ordered the driver to halt. The latter obeyed very gladly. He had been sorry to rush thus on the way without food for his beasts, without a lamp, without a pleasant chat. He could tell so much, too ! It was not every day that one could see Paris arming itself and preparing to dislodge a king from the palace of his fathers ! That was news, surely. How one would be listened to and feasted who could relate what passed at the sections ! At the Hotel de la Poste they took a relay. Whikr the host and his servants pressed round, offer- ing the baron a bed, proposing breakfast, enumerating the various refreshments, and turning about with an uneasy air, the confidential clerk, Leonard, went off Cot Pattern* gM$-(&mt. 115 a moment under the pretext of seeing that no over- inquisitive citizens were about. After the attempted escape of the king at Varennes, not only had the municipalities become more vigilant, but everywhere there were men ambitious to rival the glory of Drouet, who had had the honor to arrest Louis XVI. Volunteers examined and searched every sus- pected vehicle. A post-chaise appealed most strongly to the vigilance of the patriots. Happily for the baron, local patriotism had not yet been aroused when his chaise made its noisy entrance into the quiet town of Cre"py-en-Vak>is. While the traveller sat down to table before an appe- tizing cup of chocolate, brought hot by a buxom waitress, Leonard had found his way into the stable. There, by the light of a lantern, he sat down to read the letter Mademoiselle de Laveline had given him at parting. Blanche had earnestly asked, adding to her prayer two double Louis d'or, that he should not give that let- ter, a very important one, until the baron was quite gone from Paris. Leonard, scenting a mystery whose discovery might be turned to use, resolved to learn the contents of this serious message. " The secrets of masters may often bring the fortunes of servants," he soliloquized. He had noticed that this marriage, which pleased the baron so much, seemed very distasteful to Made- moiselle de Laveline. n6 Padame gm$-(&tm. Perhaps in that letter, left in his care, he would find a grave revelation from which he could draw much profit. Surely, but with such care, that he could give this strange missive its original aspect, he began to open with his knife the seal, which he had warmed at the lantern-flame. He read, and his face expressed the greatest surprise when he drew out the secret he had sought. This was the contents of Blanche's letter : " Monsieur le Baron : " I owe you a guilty avowal, which I must make, that I may dispel an illusion concerning me, which facts would not take long to disclose. " You have given me some affection, and you have obtained my father's consent to a marriage in which you have thought to find happiness, perhaps love. " Good fortune cannot come to you from such a union ; I could promise you no love, for my heart belongs to another. Forgive me that I do not give you his name, who possesses all my soul, and whose wife I consider myself to be, before God ! " I have a final revelation to make to you. I am a mother, Monsieur le Baron, and death alone could part me from my husband, the father of my little Henriot. I shall follow M. de Laveline to Jemmapes, since he desires it ; but I trust that, informed of the obstacle which stands immovably against the fulfilment of your plans, you will pity me and spare me the shame of having to tell my father the real cause which makes this union impossible. •' I rely, monsieur, on your discretion as a gallant man. Burn this letter and believe in my gratitude and my, friendship. " Blanche." g&adam* g*n$-<8tM. 117 Leonard, having read it, gave a cry of surprise and joy. " Whew ! There I can make a fortune," he said. He turned the letter again and again in his hands, as he closed it, as if trying to squeeze out of it, by telling its secret, all the money he thought it contained. " I thought there was something," he said with a grin ; «« M. the baron wanted Mademoiselle Blanche, and mademoiselle didn't want M. the baron. But I'd never have imagined that Mademoiselle Blanche de Laveline had a child — and I'd have supposed, still less, that she would relate her escapade to M. the baron ! What creatures women are ! She doesn't know, little Miss Blanche, what she has done ! what folly ! The stupidity was in committing the secret to paper. It is well it was I." He stopped ; replaced the letter, which had explained matters, and in the half-light of the stable, he turned it over in his hands saying, " She wrote it herself. She can't deny the writing. Oh, she is altogether too naive ! She might regret what she has told in a moment of abandon and over-excite- ment of nerves. Happily it is I to whom she has confided the care of her honor and her fortune." He hesitated a moment. Then putting the letter into his pocket he added : '* Mademoiselle Blanche will pay well some day, per- haps — when she has become Baroness de Lowendaal — that is sure to be — for the return of this letter ; so I shall keep it and demand a good price to give it up." n8 Padmtw gm$-(&tm. And Leonard laughed again, thinking of his gains. '* Perhaps," he muttered, " I shall not be content with money — I may ask more — or at least another reward, for I, too, find Mademoiselle Blanche fair. But, at present, I must simply guard well this proof, this weapon — and encourage quietly my master's hopes, who, more now than ever, must marry Mademoiselle Blanche." And Leonard, after buttoning his coat carefully, felt, to be sure that tell-tale letter was there, and with the deep and fierce joy of a usurer, guarded the paper which might some day place in his hands the impru- dent victim who had signed it. He found the baron, on his return, a little uneasy, though having breakfasted, because a crowd of curious folk had assembled before the hotel, and were looking at the chaise. He had asked twice to have the horses put in. Leonard explained his absence, by saying that he had gone to see that nothing would hinder their de • parture. The baron was satisfied, and in high spirits he re- entered his chaise, which rolled thundering over the streets, now no longer the king's highway. Paflame %m$-®m. 119 CHAPTER II. AT THE FRUIT-SHOP. At the door of her fruit-shop, in the Rue de Mon- treuil, at Versailles, Mother Hoche managed to serve her customers and to cast an occasional glance at a little fellow, rosy and chubby, who played in the space between piles of cabbage and heaps of carrots. " Henriot ! Henriot ! Don't put that into your mouth ! You'll make yourself ill," she cried from time to time, as the little fellow attempted to suck at a carrot or to eat a turnip. And the good woman continued to attend to the orders of the housekeepers, at the same time sighing, " The little imp, what an appetite he has, and he must handle everything ! But he's a sweet babe just the same." Then she added, turning to the customer she served smilingly, " And with this, what else do you want ? " Suddenly she stopped in her dainty work, which con- sisted of measuring herbs for a country-woman who was going to make a salad — she gave a loud cry of surprise. On the door-step, in front of a lieutenant — on whose arm was a fresh and dainty young woman, in an or- gandie gown, and with a high hat on her head — stood 120 gKadame £m$-<&tnt. a tall fellow with a proud air and a martial face, who came toward her. He wore a grenadier's uniform. He smiled and put out his hand. " Eh, well, Mother Hoche, don't you know me ? " he asked, advancing quickly and embracing the good woman, who stood moved and trembling with joy and pride. The customers, abashed, stood still and stared at the cabriolet in which the young man and his two compan- ions had come from Paris. They admired the new uniform, the hat, the scarf, the belt and the shining gold of the sabre of this young soldier. And the neighbors murmured, " He is a captain." " Ah, I know him well," said one of the best-informed housekeepers, " he is little Lazare, the shopkeeper's nephew, whom she has educated as a son ; we have often seen him playing with the lads of his age at the Place d'Armes, and now he's become a captain." " Yes, my good Mother Hoche," said Lazare Hoche to his excellent aunt, his adopted mother, " you see I am captain. Ha ! It is a surprise ! named but yes- terday, it is true. I vow I couldn't get here sooner. As soon as I received my promotion I ran hither to em- brace you. I wanted that you should be the first to enjoy my rank, so I invited myself and my two friends here." And Hoche, turning, presented his two friends. ** Francois Lefebvre, lieutenant, a companion of mine in the French Guard. A good fellow ! He is, besides. ptadam* £»ttjg-<$nt*. 121 the man who took me to get my arms," said Hoche, tapping his companion's shoulder familiarly. " And now you are my superior," said Lefebvre gayly. " Oh, you will overtake me ! You may even leave me far behind ! War is a lottery in which all the world can draw a good number ! The only condition is to live ; but let me finish my introductions. Mother, this is the good Catharine, Comrade Lefebvre's wife," said Hoche, introducing to the market-woman the ex-laun- dress of the Rue Royale-Saint-Roch. Catharine took two steps forward rapidly, without ceremony, and embraced the market-woman, who kissed her warmly on both cheeks. " Now," said Hoche, " that you know each other, we will leave you a moment, mother." " What, are you going ? " exclaimed the good woman, displeased. '* It was not worth the trouble of coming for this." " Be easy, we must go away a little while. Lefebvre and I have some people — officers — waiting for us," re- plied Hoche, winking to his companion to warn him to be silent. " But we are coming back ; it will not take us long, I fancy. Meantime, you will prepare us a ragout such as you alone, mother, know how to cook." "Of goose and turnips, eh, laddie ? " " Yes, it is delicious ; and then Catharine wants to talk to you about the little chap who is looking at us with such wide-open eyes as he sits there ! " " Little Henriot ? " asked the woman, surprised. i22 Padam* £an.*-<5m. " Yes," Catharine interposed. " I must talk to you, my good woman, about little Henriot, on whose ac- count I am here, else I had let Lefebvre come alone with Captain Hoche. They did not need me for their business in the woods of Satory. I must see you about the little one." " Well, we will talk about the child, and you can help me scrape the turnips," said the woman, " and then we will kill a chicken, with a stuffed omelette ; it will suit you, eh, lads ? " " That stuffed omelette will be famous," said Hoche to Lefebvre. " Mother makes it so well ! Come, Francois, we must leave these two to talk and cook. Later, ladies ! We are being waited for now ! " And the two friends went to the mysterious trysting- place, of which Catharine seemed to know something. The two women, left alone, began preparations for the meal. While shelling peas and helping to pick the chicken, Catharine told the market-woman that she had come to take the child to his mother, and that that was the rea- son of her coming. The good woman was much moved. She had be- come much attached to Henriot. He reminded her of Lazare, when he had played, a little lad, on the door- step. Catharine also told her that her husband was going away, whence arose the haste in taking away Blanche de Laveline's boy. "Where is he going ?•" asked Mother Hoche. Padame ^an.s-i&ene. 123 " Why ! to the frontier, where they are fighting. Lefebvre will be made captain ! " " Like Lazare ! " "Yes, in the 13th Light Infantry. He has been ordered to go to Verdun." " Well, your husband is going to the army, and why can't little Henriot stay here ? You can see him just as often as you like, and you can come for him at the last moment when he has to be taken to his mother ! " "There's a little difficulty," laughed Catharine, " and that is, that I am going with Lefebvre." " To the regiment ? You, my pretty girl ? " "Yes, to the 13th, Mother Hoche! I have in my pocket my commission as canteen-bearer ! " Catharine smiled to the child, who had not stopped looking at her, with the deep and fixed glance of child- hood, which seems to ponder and to engrave on the young mind all it sees, hears, touches, learns. Then she drew from her bosom a great official docu- ment, signed and sealed with the seal of the War- office. She showed it triumphantly to the older wo- man, saying, " You see, I have a regular commission ! and I must rejoin my detachment in eight hours, at the latest; it is necessary to deliver Verdun. Down there, there are royalists conspiring with Brunswick, and we are going to root them out," added the new cantiniere. Mother Hoche looked at her with surprise. " What I You are cantiniere, there," she said shaking her head ; then looking almost enviously at Sans-Ge'ne she added, " Ah ! it's a fine thing. I should have loved to do such i24 Padame £att0-(5m. a thing too, in my time ! One marches to the beat of the drum ! — one sees the country — one always carries joy about with one — the soldier is at his best beside the canteen ! He forgets his misery, and dreams of being a general or a corporal. And then, on the day of battle, one can feel that one is not a useless woman, good only for idle tears and stupid fear at the sound ol the cannonade ! One is part of the army, and from line to line one travels, giving to the defenders of the nation, heroism and courage, in a little glass, for just two sous. The eau-de-vie which the cantiniere carries is fire as well, and her little cask has more than once helped to decide the victory. How I admire you, and how much I'd like to be like you, girl. Really, were I younger, I would ask to go with my dear Lazare, as you are going with Lefebvre. But the child ? What will you do with little Henriot in the midst of a camp, during engagements, in the fire of battle ? " " As cantiniere of the 13th, I have a right to a horse and wagon. We have already bought one, by dint of economy," said Catharine proudly ; " I sold out my laundry ; and Lefebvre, when he married, received a small sum, that came as inheritance from his father, the miller at Ruffach, very near my home, in Alsace. Oh, we will want for nothing. And the little lad will be made as much of as a general's son. Won't you have such a fine time, you'll not be sorry you came with us ? " she said to the boy, as she lifted him up and kissed him. Just then the sound of footsteps was heard ; and Padam* gm&-(&tnt. 125 the child, quite frightened, hid his head on Catharine's shoulder, shrieking Hoche entered, leaning on Lefebvre arm. He wore a bloody handkerchief, as a bandage, hiding half his face. " Don't be frightened, mother," he called from the door. " If's nothing ! Only a cut which won't keep me from my meal," he added gayly. " O God ! You are wounded ! What has hap- pened?" cried Mother Hoche. "You have taken him to a place where they tried to kill him, Lieutenant Lefebvre ! " Hoche began to laugh, and said, " Mother, don't accuse Lefebvre ! He acted as my witness in an affair that is now over. A duel with a colleague. I tell you again, it's nothing." " 1 was quite sure you wouldn't be much hurt," said Catharine ; " but he " Hoche did not answer. He was busy quieting his adopted mother, and in getting water to bathe a bleed- ing cut on his face, which crossed his forehead and stopped just above his nose. " Hoche has been as valiant as ever," said Lefebvre. " Just fancy, long ago in the Guards, and later in the militia, a lieutenant, named Serre, who is, by all odds, the worst fellow in any company, — he had been after Hoche, on account of a racket made in a tavern, where Lazare happened to be treating some of his old com- rades. This fellow reported Lazare — he had had him put into a cell for three months, for refusing to give the i26 gftadame g%n$-(&tnt. names of the men who were being sought — and when he came from prison, a meeting was decided between Serre and Lazare. You must know that Serre had a reputation as a swordsman — he was the terror of the quarter — had killed or wounded several men in duel- ling." " It was risky to fight that fellow," said mother Hoche, quite upset by the thought of her dear Lazare's danger. " But," said Lefebvre, " the duel could not come off, for Lazare was only a lieutenant, and Serre was a captain " " They have fought now " *• Yes, since he had become the equal of his op- ponent." " But he who is so brave, so agile, how did he happen to get that dreadful cut ? " " In a very simple way, mother," laughed Hoche ; " I am a poor duellist, for I believe that a soldier leaves his post who risks his life in a personal quarrel ; yet, I could not remain quiet under the threats and insults of that cad — he ill-treated the recruits, and had insulted the wife of an absent friend." Lefebvre took Hoche's hand and pressed it warmly, saying, with tears in his eyes, " That last was for me, It was for us he fought ! " he added, turning to Catharine. " It was he, this man Serre, who pretended that- you had a lover hidden in your room on the ioth of August." " The monster ! " cried Catharine, furious, " where is Padame ^awe-Gkn*. 127 he ? Presently he'll have an affair with me ! But tell me where is the wretch ? " " In the hospital — with a sword-thrust in his vitals. He's there for at least six months. If he gets well I shall perhaps meet him again, and I will settle for him at one time, both on Hoche's account and on my own." " We shall have other use for our swords, Friend Lefebvre," said Hoche, emphatically. " The fatherland, is in danger ; we must leave personal rancor — my adversary had calumniated, had insulted me — besides, he had insinuated that I had asked to be sent to the army of the North, so that I might flee ; therefore, despite my repugnance, I had to take a sword, and show that cad that he couldn't frighten decent men, and I have given him a lesson that will last him. Now, let us talk of other things, and if the ragout is ready, let us sit down." " But that wound ? " said the mother, anxiously, as she set upon the table a meal from which arose a pleasant odor. " Bah," said Hoche, lightly, sitting down and un. folding his napkin, " the Austrians and Russians will doubtless give me some more s and one cut more or less will be of no consequence ; besides, it is dry now, see ! " And lightly he lifted the handkerchief which bound his head, and showed the wound, which, later, was a deep scar on the martial countenance of the future gen* eral of Sambre-et-Meuse. i28 gHadam* £att$i-<6*itt. CHAPTER III. THE YOUNG LADY OF SAINT-CYR. The meal over, Mother Hoche and Catharine got everything ready for little Henriot's departure. They found his holiday clothes, which were packed into a trunk, and into which the good woman put also boxes of sweetmeats, little cakes and candies. The child helped greatly, well pleased with these preparations. Childhood loves change ! And wondering at the gold-hilt on Hoche's sword, with which he played, young Henriot began to enjoy the prospect of going away. He saw, already, the joy of travelling. And besides, he said to himself, that where they were going to take him there would be soldiers, very many soldiers, exercising, and that they would surely let him play with the hilts of all their swords, and he would live among them. He forgot all about the tenderness and the care of good Mother Hoche ! Far from being sad, the idea of going away, lar away, was anything but disagreeable. Childhood is ungrateful, and its innocence is admirable, yet it goes hand in hand with an all-pervading selfish- ness, perhaps necessary and most useful, which pro- tects and strengthens the weak creature and makes it Pate* £att$-« death ! To the death ! " and he left, followed by Neip- perg, leaving the council in terror. " He'd kill himself! Faith, it would be a fine thing, 12 178 gftadam* gnn$-(&t i at. and a comfort for everybody," thought Lowendaal, who* had just entered noiselessly into the council chamber. They questioned him as to the doings in the town. ••They are firing from various quarters," he said, with his cynical smile. "The volunteers fly to the ramparts like deer. Several of them have been struck down. Ah! those fanatics of the 13th ; among them is a female demon ; they tell me she is the wife of Captain Lefebvre, a cantiniere, who goes and comes, carries- ammunition, stands beside the cannon, pulls the lighted cotton from the Prussian bombs which fall upon the slopes. I actually think she has fired the guns of the fallen soldiers about her, and has not retired until every shot was spent. Happily, there are few soldiers like this Amazon, or the Austrians could never enter here ! " " Do you still hope for it, Baron ? " said the president. " More than ever. This siege was necessary, as I told you ! The inhabitants were not sufficiently im- pressed. My servant, the faithful Leonard, had to tell many stories, beside my instructions, and yet they were not convinced. They hesitated to accept* the capitula- tion. By to-morrow morning they will demand it." " You restore our confidence ! " " I tell you, President, they will force you to sign the capitulation." " Heaven grant it," sighed the president, " but the Duke of Brunswick's envoy has returned to his quar- ters. How shall we cause his return ? He had the papers." gjftadame £nn$-(8ent. 179 •' It will do if some trusted messenger will go to the Austrian camp, and carry your duplicate, with the assurance that to-morrow the gates will be open to the generalissimo." " Who will undertake such a mission ? " " I," said Lowendaal. " Ah, you will save us," cried the president, who, rising in an ecstasy of joy, embraced him as if he were a herald announcing a victory. . CHAPTER XL LEONARD'S MISSION. Some moments later, Lowendaal, with the duplicate letter of capitulation, left the court-house, and joined Leonard, who was waiting for him. In a low voice, though no one was near, the baron gave him a detailed order. Leonard seemed surprised, showing, however, that he understood the task which was being given him ; but, at the same time, seeming somewhat embarrassed if not frightened, he repeated his master's instructions twice over. The latter said, severely, " Do you hesitate, Master Leonard ? You know that, although we are in a besieged town, there are prisons, and police to take there those who — like a certain person I know — who coun* 180 p»tae gan$-(5tnt, terfeited the seal of the State and gave to the employes of aides and magazines false receipts." " Alas, I know it, Baron," said Leonard, in a sub- missive tone. " If you know it, do not forget ! " rejoined the baron. " I am sorry, Leonard, to be obliged to remind so de- voted a servant as yourself, that I saved him from the gallows ! " " And that you can send me back there ! Oh, sir, I shall remember it ! " " Then you will obey ? " " Yes, sir ! But remember it is serious ; it is a ter- rible thing you ask me to do ! ' " " You exaggerate the importance of this matter and ignore the confidence I choose to repose in you ! By heaven, Leonard, I am used to more docility, more de- votion, from you ! You are growing ungrateful ! To forget benefits is a dreadful fault ! " " Oh, monsieur, I shall be eternally grateful to you," wept the wretch whom Lowendaal had found stealing from farms with the aid of false stamps. " I am ready to follow and to obey wherever you choose to take or to send me. But what you order now is " «' Abominable ! You have raised scruples, Master Leonard," sneered the baron. " I should not dare find abominable any task M. le Baron set me. I wanted to say " " Well, your idea was ? I am curious to know your opinion." •' Oh, sir — the — thing — is dangerous — oh — not for any ittadame Jfatt0-