"Committed to you, but not to the aristocracy," returned the warrior; "it is a fresh favor the king grants me." Whereupon he retired.
At the appointed hour he returned with the four dispatches promised—for Spain, Prussia, England, and Austria. He read them to the king and Messieurs Grave and Gerville, but he guessed that he had another auditor behind the tapestry by its shaking.
The new ruler spoke in the king's name, but in the sense of the Constitution, without threats, but also without weakness. He discussed the true interests of each power relatively to the French Revolution. As each had complained of the Jacobin pamphlets, he ascribed the despicable insults to the freedom of the press, a sun which made weeds to grow as well as good grain to flourish. Lastly, he demanded peace in the name of a free nation, of which the king was the hereditary representative.
The listening king lent fresh interest to each paper.
"I never heard the like, general," he said, when the reading was over.
"That is how ministers should speak and write in the name of rulers," observed Gerville.
"Well, give me the papers; they shall go off to-morrow," the king said.
"Sire, the messengers are waiting in the palace yard," said Dumouriez.
"I wanted to have a duplicate made to show the queen," objected the king, with marked hesitation.