"But we are not late, mamma!" said Cornélie, who had prudently stopped to avoid being splashed.
"Not so very," answered the good woman, "but one never knows what may happen in such a crowd!" And looking towards Robespierre, from whom Victoire was taking his hat and stick, she added: "You can't help being anxious about people you love. Can you?"
But Robespierre was for the moment entirely occupied with his dog, who barked and jumped on his master in frantic delight.
"Yes, you good old dog, here I am! ... Yes! ... Yes! ... I couldn't take you with me, because of the crowd. It isn't fit for a good dog like you."
"Then there were many people?" asked Duplay, who smoked his pipe, seated on a joiner's bench near little Maurice, his son, who was amusing himself by planing a small plank.
"Yes, a great many."
"An enormous crowd," added Cornélie, "particularly on the Place de la Révolution."
"What! You crossed the Place de la Révolution?"
Robespierre hastened to explain that Cornélie had had a fancy to come that way, which was, after all, excusable, as the people were dancing.
"What! Already?" asked Victoire, her eyes sparkling.