Marie Antoinette and Her Son

by L. Mühlbach

CHAPTER XXI.

TOULAN.

The citizen Toulan is on guard again at the Temple, and this time with his friend Lepitre. He is so trustworthy and blameless a republican, and so zealous a citizen, that the republic gives him unconditional confidence. The republic had appointed him as chief of the bureau for the control of the effects of emigres. Toulan is, besides, a member of the Convention; and it is not his fault that, on the day when the decision was made respecting the king's life or death, he was not in the Assembly. He had been compelled at that time to make a journey into the provinces, to attach the property of an aristocrat who had emigrated. Had Toulan been in Paris, he would naturally have given his voice in favor of the execution of the king. He says this freely and openly to every one, and every one believes him, for Toulan is an entirely unsuspected republican. He belongs to the sans-culottes, and takes pride in not being dressed better than the meanest citizen. He belongs to the friends of Marat, and Simon the cobbler is always happy when Toulan has the watch in the Temple; for Toulan is such a jovial, merry fellow, he can make such capital jokes and laugh so heartily at those of others. They have such fine times when Toulan is there, and the sport is the greatest when his friend Lepitre is with him on service in the Temple. Then the two have the grandest sport of all; they even have little plays, which are so funny that Simon has to laugh outright, and even the turnkey Tison, and his wife, forget to keep guard, and leave the glass door through which they have been watching the royal family, in order to be spectators at Toulan's little farces.

"These are jolly days when you are both in the Temple," said Simon, "and you cannot blame me if I like to have you here, and put you on service pretty often."

"Oh, we do not blame you for that," said Toulan, "on the other hand, we particularly like being with you, you are such a splendid fellow!"

"And then," adds Lepitre to this, "it is so pleasant to see the proud she-wolf and her young ones, and to set them down a little. These people, when they were living in the Tuileries, have turned up their noses at us often enough, and acted as if we were only dust that they must blow away from their exalted presence. It is time that they should feel a little that they are only dust for us to blow away!"

"Yes, indeed," chimed in Toulan, "it is high time that they should feel it!"

"And you both understood that matter capitally," said Simon, with a laugh, "I always see that it particularly provokes the queen to have you on service, and I like that, and I am especially glad to have you here."

"I've thought out a joke for to-day," said Toulan. "I will teach the widow to smoke. You know, brother Simon, that she always pretends not to be able to bear the smell of tobacco, she shall learn to bear it. I will hand her a paper cigarette to-day, and tell her that if she does not want us to smoke, she must smoke with us."

"Splendid joke!" said Simon, with a loud laugh. "But there's one thing to be thought of about that," said Lepitre, reflectively. "the widow Capet might perhaps promise to smoke, if we would tell her that we would never smoke afterward. But then we should not keep our word, of course."

"What! you say we should not keep our word!" said Toulan, in amazement. "We are republicans; more than that, we are sans- culottes! and shall we not keep our word? ought we not to be better than the cursed aristocrats, that never kept their word to the people? How can you disgrace us and yourself so much? Ask our noble friend and brother Simon, whether he is of the opinion that a free man ought not to keep his word, even if he has only given it to a woman in prison."

"I am of that opinion," said Simon, with dignity. "I swore to myself that the king should lose his head, and I kept my word. I promised the she-wolf that she should be hanged, and I hope to keep this promise too. If I keep my word to her in what is bad, I must do so also in what is good. If a republican promises any thing, he must hold to it."

"Right, Simon, you are a noble and wise man. It remains fixed, then, that the queen shall smoke, but if we have our joke out, we shall not smoke any more."

"I will put up a placard on the door: 'Smoking forbidden in the anteroom of the she-wolf.'"

"Good," cried Toulan, "that is worthy of you."

"Let us go up now," said Simon, "the two other sentries are up- stairs already, they will wonder that you come so late, but I do like to chat with you. Come on, let's go up. I'll stay there to see the joke. But wait a moment, there is something new. It has been proposed that not so many guards are needed to watch the Capets, and that it has the appearance as if the government was afraid of these howling women and this little monkey, whom the crazy royalists call King Louis XVII. It is very likely that they will reduce the guard to two."

"Very good," said Toulan, approvingly.—"What's the use of wearying out so many other men and condemning them to such idleness? We cannot be making jokes all the time; and then again it is not pleasant always looking on these people's long faces."

"So only two guards," said Lepitre; "but that seems to me rather too few, for what if the widow should succeed in winning them over and getting them to help her escape?"

"Impossible!" cried Simon, "she'll never come around me, and as long as I have my eyes open, she and her brood will never get away. No one can come down the staircase without my hearing and seeing it, for you know my rooms are near the stairs, and the door is always open and I am always there, and then there is the turnkey Ricard, who watches the door that leads to the court like a cerberus. Then there are three sentries at the doors leading from the inner court to the outer one, and the four sentries at the doors leading from the outer court to the street. No, no, my friends, if the she-wolf wants to escape she must use magic, and make wings grow on her shoulders and fly away."

"That is good, I like that," said Toulan, springing up the staircase.

"And that settles my doubts too," said Lepitre. "I should think two official guards would suffice, for it is plain that she cannot escape. Simon is on the look-out, and it is plain that the she-wolf cannot transform herself into an eagle."

"Well said," laughed Simon; "here we are before the door, let's go in and have our fun."

He dashed the door open noisily, and went into the room with the two men. Two officials were sitting in the middle of the room at the table, and were actively engaged playing cards. Through the open door you could look into the sitting-room of the Capet family. The queen was sitting on the divan behind the round table, clothed in her sad suit of mourning, with a black cap upon her gray locks.

She was busy in dictating an exercise to the dauphin from a book which she held in her hand. The prince, also clad in black and with a broad crape about his arm, sat upon a chair by her side. His whole attention was directed to his work, and he was visibly making an effort to write as well as possible, for a glowing red suffused hia cheeks.

On the other side of the queen sat Madame Elizabeth; near her the Princess Maria Theresa, both busy in preparing some clothing for the queen.

No one of the group appeared to notice the loud opening of the door, no one observed the entering forms, or cast even a momentary glance at them.

But Toulan was not contented with this; he demanded nothing less than that the she-wolf should look at him. He hurried through the anteroom with a threatening tread, advanced to the door of the sitting-room, and stopped upon the threshold, making such a deep and ceremonious bow, and swinging his arm so comically, that Simon was compelled to laugh aloud.

"Madame," cried Toulan, "I have the inexpressible honor of greeting your grace."

"He is a brick, a perfect brick," roared Simon.

Lepitre had gone to the window, and turned his back upon the room; he was perhaps too deficient in spirit to join in the joke. Nobody paid any attention to him; nobody saw him take a little packet from his coat-pocket, and slide it slowly and carefully behind the wooden box that stood beneath the window.

"Madame," cried Toulan, in a still louder voice, "I fear your grace has not heard my salutation."

The queen slowly raised her eyes, and turned them to the man who was still standing upon the threshold. "I heard it," she said, coldly, "go on writing, my son." And she went on in the sentence that she had just then begun to dictate.

"I am so happy at being heard by Madame Veto that I shall have to celebrate it by a little bonfire!"—said Toulan, taking a cigar from his breast-pocket. "You see, my friends, that I am a very good courtier, though I have the honor to be a sans-culottes. In the presence of handsome ladies I only smoke cigars! Hallo! bring me a little fire."

One of the officials silently passed him his long pipe. Toulan lighted his cigar, placed himself at the threshold, and blew great clouds of smoke into the chamber.

The ladies still continued to sit quietly without paying any attention to Toulan. The queen dictated, and the dauphin wrote. The queen only interrupted herself in this occupation, when she had to cough and wipe her eyes, which the smoke filled with tears.

Toulan had followed every one of her movements with an amused look. "Madame does not appear to take any pleasure in my bonfire!" he said. "Will madame not smoke?"

The queen made no reply, but quietly went on with her dictation.

"Madame," cried Toulan, laughing loudly, "I should like to smoke a pipe of peace with you, as our brown brethren in happy, free America do—madame, I beg you to do me the honor to smoke a pipe of peace with me."

A flash lightened in the eyes which the queen now directed to
Toulan. "You are a shameless fellow!" she said.

"Hear that," said Simon, "that is what I call abusing you."

"On the contrary, it delights me," cried Toulan, "for you will confess that it would be jolly if she should smoke now, and I tell you, she will smoke."

He advanced some paces into the room, and made his deep bow again.

"He understands manners as well as if he had been a rascally courtier himself," said Simon, laughing. "It is a splendid joke."

The two princesses had arisen at the entrance of Toulan, and laid their sewing-work aside. A ball of white cotton had fallen to the ground from the lap of one of them, and rolled through the room toward Toulan.

He picked it up, and bowed to the princesses. "May I view this little globe," he said, "as a reminder of the favor of the loveliest ladies of France? Oh, yes, I see in your roguish smile that I may, and I thank you," said Toulan, pressing the round ball to his lips, and then putting it into his breast-pocket.

"He plays as well as the fellows do in the theatre," said Simon, laughing.

"Go into our sleeping-room," said Marie Antoinette, turning to the princesses. "It is enough for me to have to bear these indignities— go, my son, accompany your aunt."

The dauphin stood up, pressed a kiss upon the hand of his mother, and followed the two princesses, who had gone into the adjoining apartment.

"Dear aunt," whispered the dauphin, "is this bad man the good friend who—"

"Hush!" whispered Madame Elizabeth, "hush! Madame Tison is listening."

And, in fact, at the glass-door, which led from the sleeping-room to the little corridor, stood Madame Tison, looking with sharp, searching glances into the chamber.

After the princesses had left the room, Toulan approached still closer to the queen, and taking a cigar from his breast-pocket, he handed it to the queen. "Take it, madame," he said, "and do me the honor of smoking a duet with me!"

"I do not smoke, sir," replied the queen, coolly and calmly. "I beg you to go into the anteroom. The Convention has not, so far as I understand, ordered the officers of the guard to tarry in my sitting-room."

"The Convention has not ordered it, nor has it forbidden it. So I remain!"

He took a chair, seated himself in the middle of the room, and rolled out great clouds of smoke, which filled Simon with unspeakable delight when they compelled Marie Antoinette to cough violently.

"Madame Capet, you would not be so sensitive to smoke if you would only join me. I beg you, therefore, to take this cigar."

The queen repeated calmly, "I do not smoke."

"You mistake, madame, you do smoke."

"See the jolly fellow," exclaimed Simon, "that is splendid."

"I will show you at once that you do smoke," continued Toulan.
"Madame, if you will do me the honor to join me in smoking a cigar,
I will give you my word as a republican and a sans-culottes, that
neither I nor my brothers will ever smoke here again."

"I do not believe you," said the queen, shaking her head.

"Not believe me? Would you believe it if the citizen Simon were to repeat it?"

"Yes," said the queen, fixing her great, sad eyes upon Simon, "if the citizen Simon should confirm it, I would believe it, for he is a trustworthy man, who I believe; never breaks his word."

"Oh! only see how well the Austrian understands our noble brother
Simon," cried Lepitre.

"Yes, truly, it seems so," said Simon, who had been flattered by this praise to consent to what he had no inclination for. "Well, I give my word to Widow Capet, as a republican and a sans-culottes, that there shall be no smoking in the anteroom after this time, if she will do my friend Toulan the favor of smoking a pipe of peace with him."

"I believe your word," said the queen, with a gentle inclination of her head; and then turning to Toulan, she continued, "sir—"

"There are no 'sirs' here, only 'citizens,'" interrupted the cobbler.

"Citizen Toulan," said the queen, changing her expression, "give me the cigar, I see that I was wrong, I do smoke!"

Simon cried aloud with laughter and delight, and could scarcely control himself, when, kneeling before the queen, as the players do in the grand plays at the theatre, he handed her a cigar.

But he did not see the supplicatory look which Toulan fixed upon the queen; he did not see the tears which started into his eyes, nor hear her say, during his inordinate peals of laughter, "I thank you, my faithful one!"

"Is it enough if I take the cigar in my mouth, or must I burn it?" asked the queen.

"Certainly, she must burn it," cried Simon. "Light the cigar for her, Citizen Toulan."

Toulan drew a bit of paper from his pocket, folded it together, kindled it, and gave it to the queen. Then, as soon as the dry cigar began to burn, he put out the light, and threw it carelessly upon the table.

The queen put the little smoking cigarette into her mouth. "Bravo, bravo!" shouted the officials and Simon.

"Bravo, Citizen Toulan is a perfect brick! He has taught Widow Capet how to smoke."

"I told you I would," said Toulan, proudly. "Widow Capet has had to comply with our will, and that is enough. You need not go on, madame. You have acknowledged our power, and that is all we wanted. That is enough, Simon, is it not? She does not need to smoke any longer, and we, too, must stop."

"No, she does not need to smoke any longer, and there will be no more smoking in the antechamber."

The queen took the paper cigarette from her mouth, put out the burning end, and laid the remaining portion in her work-basket.

"Citizen Toulan," said she, "I will keep this cigar as a remembrancer of this hour, and if you ever smoke here again, I shall show it to you."

"I should like to see this Austrian woman doubting the word of a sans-culottes," cried Simon.

"And I too, Simon," replied Toulan, going back into the anteroom. "We will teach her that she must trust our word. You see that I am a good teacher."

"An excellent one," cried Simon; "I must compliment you on it, citizen. But if you have no objections, we will play a game or two of cards with the citizens here."

"All right," replied Toulan. "But I hope you have got the new kind of cards, which have no kings and queens on them. For, I tell you, I do not play with the villanous old kind."

"Nor I," chimed in Lepitre. "It makes me mad to see the old stupids with their crowns on that are on the old kind of cards."

"You are a pair of out-and-out republicans," said Simon, admiringly. "Truly, one might learn of you how a sans-culottes ought to bear himself."

"Well, you can calm yourselves about these, brothers," said one of the officials; "we have no tyrant-cards—we have the new cards of the republic. See there! instead of the king, there is a sans- culottes; instead of the queen, we have a 'knitter,' [Footnote: The market-women and hucksters had the privilege of claiming the first seats on the spectators' platform, near the guillotine. They sat there during the executions, knitting busily on long stockings, while looking at the bloody drama before them. Every time that a head was cut off and dropped into the basket beneath the knife, the women made a mark in their knitting-work, and thus converted their stockings into a kind of calendar, which recorded the number of persons executed. From this circumstance the market-women received the name of "knitters.">[ and for the jack, we have a Swiss soldier, for they were the menials of the old monarchy." [Footnote: Historical.-See "Memoires de la Marquise de Crequi," vol. III.]

"That is good; well, we will play then," cried Toulan, with an air of good-humor.

They all took their places at the table, while the queen took up the sewing on which the princesses had been engaged before.

After some time, when the thread with which she was sewing was exhausted, Marie Antoinette raised her eyes and turned them to the men, who had laid their pipes aside, and were zealously engaged upon their cards. The mien of the queen was no longer so calm and rigidly composed as it had been before, and when she spoke, there was a slight quivering discernible in her voice.

"Citizen Toulan," she said, "I beg you to give me the ball of thread again. I have no more, and this dress is in a wretched condition; I must mend it."

Toulan turned toward her with a gesture of impatience.

"You disturb me, madame, and put me out in the game. What are you saying?"

"I asked you, Citizen Toulan, to give me the thread again, because, without it, I cannot work."

"Oh! the ball which little Miss Capet gave me a short time ago. And so you won't let me keep a remembrance of the pretty girl?"

"I must mend this dress," said the queen, gently.

"Well, if you must, you must," growled Toulan, rising.

"Wait a moment, brothers, till I carry her the ball."

"What do you want to get up for?" asked Simon.

"You can throw it from here."

"Or give it a roll like a ball," added Lepitre.

"That is a good idea," cried Toulan, "I'll have a little game of nine-pins. I am quite at home there, and can do it well. Now look sharp! I will contrive to roll the ball between the four feet of the table, and strike the foot of the queen."

"There is no queen," cried Lepitre, passionately.

"I am speaking of the game, Citizen Lepitre; do me the pleasure of not making yourself an ass. Now look, and see me roll it as I said!"

"Well, go ahead; we should like to see you do it," cried Simon.

"Yes, we would like to see you do it," chimed in the officials, laying down their cards.

Toulan now drew out of his breast-pocket a black ball of silk, and counted "One, two, three!" He then gave it a skilful roll across the floor. With attention and laughing looks, they all watched it take its course across the waxed floor, as it moved just where Toulan had said it would.

"Bravo, bravo!" shouted the men, as the ball struck the foot of the queen, who stooped down slowly and picked it up.

"Toulan is a jolly good fellow," cried Simon, striking the table with his fists in an ecstasy of delight. "But I declare it seems to me that the ball is a good deal larger now than it was before."

"It may be," answered Toulan, emphatically. "Every thing grows and enlarges itself, that a true and genuine sans-culottes carries next to his heart."

"Well said," replied Lepitre. "But listen to me, I want to make a proposition to you. I must say that it is hard work—playing cards without smoking."

"I find it so, too," sighed Toulan.

"I rather think we all do," chimed in the others.

"But we must keep our word, or else the she-wolf will think that we republicans are no better than the aristocrats were!"

"Yes, we must keep our word," said Lepitre, "and that is why I wanted to make the proposition that we go out and establish ourselves in the entry. We can put the table close to the door, and then we are certainly safe—that no one can step in. What do you say, brother Simon?"

"I say that it is a very good plan, and that we will carry it into execution directly. Come, friends, let us take up the table, and carry it out. If the dogs are on the watch outside, the badger does not creep out of his house. Come, it is much pleasanter out there, and we are not ambitious of the honor of looking at Widow Capet all the time. We are perfectly satisfied, if we do not see her. I hope there will be an end of this tedious service, and that she will soon go to the place whither Louis Capet has already gone."

"Or," cried Toulan, laughing, "she must change herself into an eagle, and fly out of the window. Come, brothers, I long for my pipe. Let us carry the table out into the entry."

Simon opened the door that led out upon the landing, the officials took up the table, and Toulan and Lepitre the wooden stools. One quick look they cast into the room of the queen, whose eyes were turned to them. A sudden movement of Lepitre's hand pointed to the bench beneath the window: a movement of Toulan's lips said "To- morrow;" then they both turned away; went with their stools out upon the landing, and closed the door.

The queen held her breath and listened. She heard them moving the chairs outside, and pushing the table up against the door, and detected Simon's harsh voice, saying, "Now that we have put a gigantic wooden lock on the door, let us smoke and play."

The queen sprang up. "God bless my faithful one," whispered she; "yes, God bless him!"

She went hastily into the anteroom, pressed her hand in behind the bench beneath the window, took out the package which Lepitre had placed there, and with a timid, anxious look, stepped back into her room. Here she unfolded the bundle. It consisted of a boy's soiled dress, an old peruke, and an old felt hat.

The queen looked at it with the utmost attention; then, after casting one long, searching look through the room, she hastened to the divan, pushed back the already loosened cover of the seat, concealed the things beneath it, and then carefully smoothed down the upholstery again.

She now hurried to the door of the sleeping-room, and was going to open it hastily. But she bethought herself in time. Her face showed too much emotion, her voice might betray her. Madame Tison was certainly lurking behind the glass door, and might notice her excitement. Marie Antoinette again put on her ordinary sad look, opened the door slowly and gravely, and quietly entered the sleeping-room. Her great eyes, whose brightness had long since been extinguished by her tears, slowly passed around the chamber, rested for a moment on the glass door, descried behind it the spying face of Tison, and turned to the two princesses, who were sitting with the dauphin on the little divan in the corner.

"Mamma," asked the boy, "are the bad men gone?"

"Do not call them so, my child," replied Marie Antoinette, gently.
"These men only do what others order them to do."

"Then the others are bad, mamma," said the boy, quickly. "Oh, yes, very bad, for they make my dear mamma weep so much."

"I do not weep about them," answered his mother. "I weep because your father is no more with us. Think about your father, my son, and never forget that he has commanded us to forgive his and our enemies."

"And never to take vengeance on them," added the boy, with a grave look beyond his years, as he folded his hands. "Yes, I have sworn it to my dear papa, and I shall keep my word. I mean never to take vengeance on our enemies."

"Sister," said the queen, after a pause, "I want to ask you to help me a little in my work. You know how to mend, and I want to learn of you. Will you come into the sitting-room?"

"And we, too, mamma," asked the dauphin, "may we not stay here? Theresa has promised to tell me an interesting story if I did my examples in arithmetic correctly, and I have done them."

"Well, she may tell you the story. We will leave the door open so that we can see you; for you know, my children, you are now the only comfort left to your aunt and me. Come, sister!"

She turned slowly and went into the next room, followed by Madame
Elizabeth.

"Why, what does this mean?" asked the princess, in amazement, as she saw the anteroom deserted and the door closed.

"All his work, Elizabeth—all the work of this noble, faithful Toulan. He went through a whole farce in order to get the people out of here, and to make them swear that they never would smoke after this in the anteroom. Oh, I shall never be able to repay him for what he has done for us at the peril of his life."

"We will pray for him every morning and evening," replied the pious Elizabeth. "But tell me, sister, did Toulon keep our ball of thread?"

"Yes, sister, and succeeded in giving me another in exchange for it. Here it is. To-night, when the guards are asleep, we will unwind it and see what it contains. But here are other important things which we must examine. Here, this half-burned light and this cigarette! Let us be on the watch that no one surprise us."

She went again to the threshold of the sleeping-room. "Can you hear me talk, children? Nod with your head if you heard me. Good. If Tison comes in, speak to her loudly, and call her by name, so that we may hear."

"And now, sister," she continued, turning to the table, "let us see what Toulan has sent us. First, the cigar-light!"

She unfolded the paper, one side of which was burned, and showed a black, jagged edge.

"A letter from M. de Jarjayes," she said, and then, in a subdued voice, she hastily read: "I have spoken with the noble messenger whom you sent to me with a letter. He has submitted his plan to me, and I approve it entirely, and am ready to undertake any thing that is demanded of me in behalf of those to whom my life, my property, and my blood belong, and who never shall have occasion to doubt my fidelity. The 'true one' will bring you to-morrow every thing that is needful, and talk the matter over with you.—J." "And now the cigarette," said the queen, taking it out of her basket.

"Let us first tear the paper to pieces," said Princess Elizabeth, warningly.

"No, no, Tison would find the bits, and think them suspicious. I will hide the paper in my dress-pocket, and this evening when we have a light we will burn it. Quickly now, the cigar!"

"A paper cigarette!" said Elizabeth.

"Yes, and see on the outer paper, 'Unroll carefully!'"

And with extreme caution Marie Antoinette removed the external covering. Beneath it was another, closely written over; this the queen proceeded to unfold.

"What is it?" asked the Princess Elizabeth, impatiently.

"See," said Marie Antoinette, with a faint smile:

"'Plan for the escape of the royal family. To learn by heart, and then to burn.' Oh! sister, do you believe that escape is possible for us?"

At this instant Simon was heard outside, singing with his loud, coarse voice:

"Madame a sa tour monte Ne salt quand descendra, Madame Veto la dansera." [Footnote: "Madame will take her turn, She knows not when it will come, But Madame Veto will swing.">[

The queen shuddered, and Madame Elizabeth folded her hands and prayed in silence.

"You hear the dreadful answer, sister, that this sans-culotte gives to my question! Well, so long as there is a breath left within us we must endeavor to save the life of King Louis XVII. Come, sister, we will read this plan for our escape, which the faithful Toulan has made."