At the same hour, on the same day in July, in which Robespierre conferred (as we have seen) with his allies, two persons were seated in a small room in one of the streets leading out of the Rue St.Honore; the one, a man, appeared listening impatiently, and with a sullen brow, to his companion, a woman of singular beauty, but with a bold and reckless expression, and her face as she spoke was animated by the passions of a half-savage and vehement nature.
"Englishman," said the woman, "beware!--you know that, whether in flight or at the place of death, I would brave all to be by your side,--you know THAT! Speak!""Well, Fillide; did I ever doubt your fidelity?""Doubt it you cannot,-- betray it you may.You tell me that in flight you must have a companion besides myself, and that companion is a female.It shall not be!""Shall not!"
"It shall not!" repeated Fillide, firmly, and folding her arms across her breast.Before Glyndon could reply, a slight knock at the door was heard, and Nicot opened the latch and entered.
Fillide sank into her chair, and, leaning her face on her hands, appeared unheeding of the intruder and the conversation that ensued.
"I cannot bid thee good-day, Glyndon," said Nicot, as in his sans-culotte fashion he strode towards the artist, his ragged hat on his head, his hands in his pockets, and the beard of a week's growth upon his chin,--"I cannot bid thee good-day; for while the tyrant lives, evil is every sun that sheds its beams on France.""It is true; what then? We have sown the wind, we must reap the whirlwind.""And yet," said Nicot, apparently not heeding the reply, and as if musingly to himself, "it is strange to think that the butcher is as mortal as the butchered; that his life hangs on as slight a thread; that between the cuticle and the heart there is as short a passage,--that, in short, one blow can free France and redeem mankind!"Glyndon surveyed the speaker with a careless and haughty scorn, and made no answer.
"And," proceeded Nicot, "I have sometimes looked round for the man born for this destiny, and whenever I have done so, my steps have led me hither!""Should they not rather have led thee to the side of Maximilien Robespierre?" said Glyndon, with a sneer.
"No," returned Nicot, coldly,--"no; for I am a 'suspect:' Icould not mix with his train; I could not approach within a hundred yards of his person, but I should be seized; YOU, as yet, are safe.Hear me!"--and his voice became earnest and expressive,--"hear me! There seems danger in this action; there is none.I have been with Collot d'Herbois and Bilaud-Varennes;they will hold him harmless who strikes the blow; the populace would run to thy support; the Convention would hail thee as their deliverer, the--""Hold, man! How darest thou couple my name with the act of an assassin? Let the tocsin sound from yonder tower, to a war between Humanity and the Tyrant, and I will not be the last in the field; but liberty never yet acknowledged a defender in a felon."There was something so brave and noble in Glyndon's voice, mien, and manner, as he thus spoke, that Nicot at once was silenced; at once he saw that he had misjudged the man.
"No," said Fillide, lifting her face from her hands,--"no! your friend has a wiser scheme in preparation; he would leave you wolves to mangle each other.He is right; but--""Flight!" exclaimed Nicot; "is it possible? Flight; how?--when?
--by what means? All France begirt with spies and guards!
Flight! would to Heaven it were in our power!""Dost thou, too, desire to escape the blessed Revolution?""Desire! Oh!" cried Nicot, suddenly, and, falling down, he clasped Glyndon's knees,--"oh, save me with thyself! My life is a torture; every moment the guillotine frowns before me.I know that my hours are numbered; I know that the tyrant waits but his time to write my name in his inexorable list; I know that Rene Dumas, the judge who never pardons, has, from the first, resolved upon my death.Oh, Glyndon, by our old friendship, by our common art, by thy loyal English faith and good English heart, let me share thy flight!""If thou wilt, so be it."
"Thanks!--my whole life shall thank thee.But how hast thou prepared the means, the passports, the disguise, the--""I will tell thee.Thou knowest C--, of the Convention,--he has power, and he is covetous.'Qu'on me meprise, pourvu que je dine' (Let them despise me, provided that I dine.), said he, when reproached for his avarice.""Well?"
"By the help of this sturdy republican, who has friends enough in the Comite, I have obtained the means necessary for flight; Ihave purchased them.For a consideration I can procure thy passport also.""Thy riches, then, are not in assignats?""No; I have gold enough for us all."
And here Glyndon, beckoning Nicot into the next room, first briefly and rapidly detailed to him the plan proposed, and the disguises to be assumed conformably to the passports, and then added, "In return for the service I render thee, grant me one favour, which I think is in thy power.Thou rememberest Viola Pisani?""Ah,--remember, yes!--and the lover with whom she fled.""And FROM whom she is a fugitive now."
