Barnave knew that one of the trio was Charny, but which he was ignorant of: and public rumor accredited Charny as the Queen's paramour. He was jealous, though it is hard to explain such a feeling in him; but the Queen guessed that, too.
From that moment she was stronger; she knew the flaw in the adversary's breastplate and she could strike true.
"Did you hear what that man who was conducting the carriage said about the Count of Charny?" she asked of Louis XVI.
Barnave gave a start which did not escape the Queen, whose knees was touching his.
"He declared, did he not, that he was responsible for the count's life?" rejoined the sovereign.
"Exactly, and that he answered for his life to his wife."
Barnave half closed his eyes but he did not lose a syllable.
"Now the countess is my old friend Andrea Taverney. Do you think, on our return to Paris, that it will be handsome to give him leave to go and cheer his wife. He has run great risks, and his brother has been killed on our behalf. I think that to claim his continued service beside us would be to act cruelly to the happy couple."
Barnave breathed again and opened his eyes fully.