“Perhaps I should be nearer him than the King.”
“Madam, I saw him at Versailles when the mob stormed the palace: then he thought the Royal Family ought to flee but I have had a note from him this day.”
He took out a slip of rough paper.
“Excuse the writing—it is on paper found in a wine saloon and written on the counter.”
“Never mind that: it is in keeping with the present style of politics.”
Taking the paper, the Queen read:
“This bread riot changes the face of things. A great deal can be drawn from this cut-off head. The Assembly will be frightened and call for martial law. If there be a Mirabeau-Lafayette Cabinet, Mirabeau will answer for all?”
“It is not signed,” objected the Queen.
“He handed it to me himself. My advice is that he is perfectly right and that this alliance alone can save France.”
“Be it so, let the gentleman put the project on paper and I will lay it before the King, as well as support it.”