"God grant your wish."
"When René left me after our landing, he assured me that an inviolable asylum awaited me here and a faithful guardian in Jean Vilon. 'From father to son have the Vilons served the de Brazes,' he said. The present steward's father was executed for his adhesion to the throne and altar. The castle contains places of concealment known only to Jean and myself. If the attempt were made to seize you, 'twould be impossible while breath remains in Jean's body. He thinks that you are an unhappy girl, distantly related to me whom I have rescued from enforced entry into a convent."
"Louis Pierre, I know that you and Giacinto stand for ideas widely at variance with those of which my father is a symbol; nevertheless, my faith in you is absolute. You are now my guardian angel," and she extended her hand to him.
He did not dare touch, much less to kiss it. His face was transfigured, beautified, as he solemnly said:
"The daughter of France may trust the sons of the Revolution. She may place faith in the enemy of the institutions which the Bourbon symbolizes. No man more than I hates the dynasty which, in committing treason against the country, became the cause of that country's woes, the woes of a foreign invasion. Mortal, eternal, inextinguishable hatred has Louis Pierre sworn against the House. This hate has guided his feet and been the spring of his actions until a few days since. Now I give the Bourbons a chance to prove that they have profited by adversity, that they are capable of being animated by an impulse of justice, that they repent them of their iniquities. I give the usurper a chance to voluntarily abdicate the throne and acknowledge the union of royalty with the strong, pure blood of the people. If this miracle be performed, if the sister open her arms to the brother, Louis Pierre will retract his malediction and forgive the House of Bourbon."
These extravagant words caused Amélie's expression to become graver and loftier.
"Who doubts, Louis Pierre," she said in almost affectionate effusion, as from a queen to a subject, "that my father will accomplish his mission? The recital of his unparalleled suffering, his atrocious martyrdom, the refuge he sought and obtained among the people, his children born of a daughter of those people; all this will speak for him eloquently. Humanity has suffered too greatly to remain unmoved before such woes. To my father is reserved the sublime office of reconciling the people and royalty."
Her eyes and cheeks glowed and the Carbonaro ejaculated:
"Blessed be the day when that light shines in France."
"It will shine!" she cried. "Victory is almost ours. My father is secure beneath René's protection. He possesses proofs which, were it necessary to appeal to a tribunal, would win the cause instantly. O even tho Volpetti be risen from hell, what harm could he do?"