Reign of Fear: Story of French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars (Cantiniére Tales) (23 page)

‘Hard, yes.
I wanted there to be a change for France, you know this. After all was done, I had what I wanted. I wanted…’

Henriette laughed cruelly. ‘You wanted to be rich
as the royals you hated, retire into opulence and then fetch us from the dark prison and take up where you left us. Years past. Are you mad?’ The last word echoed in the hallway, and Georges stopped to listen to it.

He whispered, embracing the echoing word. ‘Yes. I am mad. I wanted everything. I betrayed you, Camille as well. He loved you so much, in an insipid, childish way. I forced him to marry Lucile. I tortured his conscience until he did, and now, I can only say I am sorry. He wanted to help you already before and especially after he saw Maximillien change to a beast. I was going to try to fix things between you and me after my wife died. I was already writing an order. Then I got scared. I was a coward and married another
 woman. I do not love her, but I needed someone.’

‘You are a mess, are you not, Georges,’ Henriette said quietly, her voice betraying some emotion, though not mercy. ‘You needed not have bothered. I would have said no.’

He rubbed his face. ‘I know. That is why I did not let you go. God, life is confusing. Now, Camille will die, likely his unhappy wife too. I wanted to say; I am sorry. I needed money, I needed you. I got the money, but dared not let you go. I did think about you, Henriette. The letter I gave you, I have never sent one to anyone else. Not even to my wives. It held meaning.’

‘You tried to have Gilbert kill me,’ I told him frankly. ‘How were you going to patch that up? Or were you planning on keeping mother while sending me to Americas so I would not remind you of what you did?’

He looked away. ‘Oh, Jeanette. I have gotten hundreds of people killed, and cannot send their ghosts across the sea. I told Maillard to give that beggar girl to him, but not you. He was to have Gilbert punish you lightly for the eye, but not kill you. Maillard did not care enough to obey, and so, I lost all.’

‘Maillard did not know where we went,’ I said with a small voice
, hating him for his callous attitude for poor Marie-Louise.

He shrugged.
‘Bah, he is a bastard. He will hang one day. Or lose his head, rather.’ He smiled perversely, and then sobered. ‘I doubt he would have followed my order anyway. He looted some of the finest silver in Versailles, you see, when he was to look after you.’

‘Marie-Louise is on your conscience,’ I said, merciless as an avenging angel. ‘Many others, as you said.’
I was going to blame him for Pierre and Robert, but swallowed in self-loathing, for that had been my fault.

‘A long list that, Jeanette! I was angry you put me in such a situation, for you did not trust me to give your father to you to punish after I got my coins. Know that I grew up with little. Then the gods smiled and gave me change for everything! So, yes, I put you in danger, love. But I have burned for it.’ He got up and stalked back and forth
as would a trapped bear.

‘You are a murderer,’ I hissed at him. ‘I shot a man for a crime; you shot Colbert and Sara for your future.’

‘I did! I said it!’ he shouted, his face red.

‘And now Gilbert is after us,’ I said with despair.

He nodded. ‘He is. However, I did not give you to Gilbert. He is an animal, I am not. Gilbert, the fucking rat, has hitched himself to old, conservative Maximillien, the man who took over, the blood-handed, mad dog and his simpering brother Augustin and to the rest of the sibilant conspirators.’

‘Conspirators indeed,’ I spat.

‘There are many, Jeanette. Not one is to be trusted.’ His eyes were careful. ‘Now, tomorrow, they will condemn us. I spoke there, in the very court I created, and fought so hard I should have won, but I have killed good friends and too many of my enemies, and who remains will all bury me even if it means death to them later. They forced us to face our so-called trial with nobody to speak for us, and we will not have right to speak ourselves either, not anymore, the cowards. I will follow the idiot king and the vapid queen, and lie down on their last bed. I will die. Camille will. Perhaps my family as well, if Maximillien wishes to be a damned perfectionist. But they promised me, so I trust them, and keep quiet.’ I felt a pang of sorrow for the Queen, as I fingered the handkerchief she had given me.

‘What now, Georges, dear,’ Henriette asked, leaning on the bars. We were tired and rather weak after years in prison.

He appraised her. ‘You look pale and thin, and I am sorry. I sent you a lot of food.’

‘It matters not,’ mother said. ‘We shared it.’

Danton came to us and put a hand on our shoulders. ‘You would, I know. The revolution? I did do it for the people, also for the people. It was not all for me. However, such a power corrupts, Jeanette, Henriette. I have been walking a route that I could not turn from. Desire, hate. I have had a dozen women while married, I have robbed innocents, killed people with dangerous opinions, and schemed honest people to ruin, and I have cheated even myself. Nevertheless, there are but few things amidst all that horror that I remember with fondness. Only a few things make me smile and I have only few memories without fear soiling them. My family, and you two. You see, even if I was after money, I have rarely felt as much joy as I did when I shot your loathsome relative, for what he was, was a piece of gristle. A filthy rapist bastard. It made me feel better about myself, even if you are right, Jeanette, that I wanted to rob him blind. Moreover, I did love you, Henriette. Like I did my wife.’

Mother relented, and embraced him tentatively. He hugged her gently, and he pulled me to him as well. I resisted for a second but gave in. After a while, he sat down. ‘You are so strong. I want you to survive. Tomorrow, I will have my head shown to the crowd. I will join all the fools and innocents, the failed generals, and traitors to whichever cause they happened to betray. I am only happy that I know Robespierre will join me.’

‘Maximillien was your friend?’ I asked him, coaxing him to share his thoughts, for he was afraid and needed to speak about his disappointment and coming death. ‘Surely you had weapons to use against them.’

His eyes went dark.
‘Weapons? Oh, I have a weapon. One I could use. But it would cost me my children. There is a reason why they too are not facing this fate.’

‘They threaten your c
hildren?’ Henriette asked, disgusted.

Georges agreed with her disgust by looking down.
‘They do. So I shall go as silently as I can. Maximillien was never my friend, just a useful ally, but he always had plans. He was quiet, then suddenly not. Always fear the quiet people, my friends, for they think and plot and it will be evil when they act. Gilbert knew him well, though, I must say. Your cousin’s greatest asset is his nose. He sniffles like the finest hound would and I think he knew from early on, Maximillien was a man to note. Gilbert was vital to me, but in the end, gave the Robespierre’s what they wanted. Information on their foes. On me. Most invented, but then, some was not. God, but your cousin, the so-called Revenant, is a creature the high men fear. An assassin, a spy, who has his own unknown agendas.’

‘He is mad, is he not?’ I asked.

Georges fidgeted, as if thinking what he could say. ‘Mad? Perhaps. He has a temper. Perhaps he is not so mad as desperate.’

‘He thinks himself an undead monster,’ I spat.

‘No, he created such a story, yet, loves. Many men are superstitious, and certainly it adds to his darkness. But few really care about that. He is not terrified by this sudden exposure of him not being a dead man walking, but the fact that there are people who know what he was. You know this. Deep inside, he is still a sad, shuddering little boy. His childhood makes him a driven, desperate little liar, who happens to be very smart and merciless. Imagine, he was wearing rags when I took him in!’

‘Oh,’ I said. ‘He was not always bad, and there are a lot of good memoires about him, why…’

Henriette put a hand on my shoulder. ‘Adam, love, killed him a long time ago. He is very, very angry and confused.’

‘He is ruthless now,’ Georges growled. ‘I let my guard down.
I was doomed after I started to clamor for peace. I was tired; I wanted the bloodshed to cease. So did Camille. In addition, I took time off with my children, and new wife. Robespierre is mad. Like an inquisitor soiled in wine. They fear him, I know, and he will join me and meet Sanson the Executioner. Perhaps, then it will be over, and revolution will grow into Republic.’

I nodded, uncertainly. ‘Only if they have bread.’

He grinned. ‘Indeed. Only then.’

‘What happened to Mirabeau?’ I asked him
carefully. ‘Camille cursed some contract. Has Gilbert done something…’

‘Ah,
this,’ he said, smiling nervously, hesitating but decided to speak. ‘You have a good nose as well. Now that is the weapon I could still use, if I had this contract. Perhaps I could talk about it even without it.’

‘What is this contract, Georges?’
I asked him, hopefully.

‘When men are desperate, close men who know each other, like the ones we trusted, the ones in our club and our henchmen with foul ideas, then those men risk all together. We did sign a
paper, all of us and someone did have a brilliant idea how to sweep our opposition away. It is a sinful paper that. If you find yourself in need of something heavy to use, find what Gilbert knows about this deed. Remember that Gilbert made his uses by gathering shit and smear, but this one deed made him the man he is. One Robspierre’s trust, and perhaps fear. They should, if Gilbert stole it. They all signed it, you see. It made us all, but at the same time, it is the greatest handicap for the lot of us. If Gilbert took it, he guards it well and perhaps, if he stole it, he intends to extort the men who signed it to climb to a very, very high place. It might also be his weakness, for he signed it as well. Our sin was deadly, and many loved Mirabeau. It would not look well for the men in power these days, should it surface Do not tell Gilbert I spoke of it, I beg, for my children. Just remember. If you find this contract, then you will be a threat to other men as well. Dangerous men. Men who threaten and then kill, or sometimes just kill. These men are not like I thought them to be. They hate France and only fill their own coffers. They will guard their fortunes. Be wary.’

‘But…’ I started but he shook his head.

Henriette looked around uncertainly, he saw it. He waved his hand. ‘You are free. You shall not be the unhappy sacrifices that follow this fallen king to his grave. I had that much influence still, and knew some useful men as you saw. That sergeant was a man in the Cordeliers and loves me still. And, I have here a pouch. It holds some coin. It is modest prize, but it will feed you for some time. I am giving up on my next night’s whore, so do not say I never made sacrifices. My last chance for a woman, I might add.’

‘I thank you for that,’ Henriette said tartly.

‘A grand sacrifice it is for me, and a loss to the women of Paris,’ he said with a grin.

We smiled at his brave words and he was
visibly grateful, then his eyes focused and he cleared his throat, looking down at his hands. ‘On the matter of Gilbert. No matter if he is mad or driven, he is doing something. I think you need to go to Lyons. The rebelling city fell to general Kellerman and I know you are worried over your children.’

Henriette’s breath was ragged from fear.
‘Yes, I am. Is there something else?’

He took a deep breath, for the news was terrible.
‘Gilbert has been busy as a bee for years to find out where I hide the letters from your family. At first, he might have lulled himself to believe you did die and his attempts to find your children was slow, if constant, but at some point there were rumors circulating of his past disgrace and that he, the Revenant was bested by his still very much alive cousin. He went frantic. Men died, but the rumors persisted. A week past, Camille saw Gilbert looking at this,’ he gave me a letter. ‘Camille kept them hidden, documents like this, and hoped to give them to you later. I had a man make sure they were safe, as you know. But they were not safe from Lucile, his wife. Apparently, she saw this one, perhaps forgotten on the desk? She gave it to Gilbert before the trial, out of spite for you. Women are terrible creatures, they are. Truly.’

Henriette too
k the letter with shaking hands

‘It is from your sister,’ he said, gravely. ‘There are others hidden in Camille’s desk.
However, do not go there, no. Not safe.’

The message told of a hard life in Lyons.
The war, counter-revolution, the famine, illness. Julie had been gravely ill but had survived. They had food, and they hoped Henriette would answer. Henriette read it and stopped in desperation. ‘He knows where they live?’

Georges shook his head. ‘I do not know, but he is clever. He bought you from Andre, the dog, but he left for Lyons, few days ago. He had something devilish planned.
He is driven to you’re your family gone from this world, he want’s his past hidden. I hope that does not include the children. Anyway, you should go after him. My wife will give you my old guns and my fine carriage horses, and a nice wagon.’ We got up, and turned to go, shaking the bars. The guard yelled that he is coming as soon as he has relieved himself.

‘Camille? Can you tell I forgive him too?’ I said.