"Oh, oh! do you believe that, Citizen? It is a serious charge for a mother—"
"Under any circumstances, we shall find out. Simon pretends he has heard him say so, and has engaged to make him acknowledge it."
"This would be frightful," said Lorin; "but indeed it is possible; the Austrian is not exempt from sin, and right or wrong, does not concern me—They have made her out a Messalina: but not content with that, they wish to make her an Agrippina. I must acknowledge it appears to me rather hard."
"This is what has been reported by Simon," said the impassible Fouquier.
"I do not doubt that Simon has said all this. There are some men who stick at nothing, even the most impossible accusations. But do you not find," said Lorin, fixing his eyes steadily on Fouquier,—"do you not find—you, an intelligent and upright man, possessed with a strong mind—that to inquire of a child concerning such circumstances as those which all the most natural and most sacred laws of Nature command us to respect, is to insult all human nature in the person of a child?"
The accuser did not frown, but took a note from his pocket and showed it to Lorin.
"The Convention enjoins me to investigate," said he; "the rest does not concern me. I shall investigate."
"It is just," said Lorin; "and I declare that if this child acknowledges—" And the young man shook his head, expressive of disgust.
"Besides," continued Fouquier, "it is not only upon the denunciation of Simon that we proceed; the accusation is public."
And Fouquier drew a second paper from his pocket.