By an unfortunate coincidence, the political situation in Holland was undergoing a disquieting change at the moment of Cormier’s arrival. Until then England had exercised a decisive influence there, both by reason of the presence of her army and through counsels of the Stadtholder. But in the autumn of 1794 a popular feeling in favour of the Revolution began to make itself felt, fanned by the hostility aroused against the undisciplined English troops, with their looting and pillaging, and intensified by an unlooked-for piece of news: the French, led by Pichegru, had crossed the frontier and were advancing by long marches, and seizing all the places they passed through on their way. In a few weeks the power of the Stadtholder would have gone! Though clothed in rags, the soldiers of the National Convention were welcomed with transports of delight. Never did troops show such discipline, it should be added.
But Pichegru was not alone. Beside him marched representatives of the Convention, eager to institute in the United Provinces the principles of the Revolution and to establish the guarantees of order and security inseparable therefrom.
Therein lay the danger for those who, like Cormier, were to be found in flagrante delicto of emigration. On November 8, 1794, an order came from the Committee of Public Safety to the representatives with the army, commanding them to seize the Stadtholder, together with his wife and children, as well as to arrest immediately all émigrés who might fall into their hands.
Knowledge of this important decree had not come to London on December 15, for on this date we find d’Auerweck writing to Lady Atkyns that he has had news of Cormier, “who is now at La Haye in good health and spirits.”
The extreme cold which prevailed this year contributed in a remarkable degree, as is well known, to the success of Pichegru’s operations in Holland. Shut in by the ice, the powerless fleet was obliged to surrender to the French cavalry—a memorable incident in the military annals of the Republic. The famous dams, which were to be opened and to flood the country and submerge the French, became useless by reason of the frost. In short, Pichegru triumphed throughout. He made his entry into Amsterdam on January 10, 1795, and eight days later the Stadtholder embarked for England. The Dutch Republic had come into being.
Cormier’s fate throughout this period must have been a matter for anxiety to Lady Atkyns, but the absence of anything in the shape of definite news from Paris as to the state of things at the Temple continued to be to her a source of far greater disquietude. The vague assurance as to the Dauphin’s well-being, which d’Auerweck transmitted to her from time to time, counted for nothing, as she knew herself to be better informed as to what had been under way.
What had been happening? A third letter, addressed by Laurent to his correspondent, under date of March 3, 1795, enlightens us a little:—
“Our little mute has now been smuggled away into the palace of the Temple and well concealed. There he will remain, and if need be can be passed off as the Dauphin. The triumph is altogether yours, general. You can now be quite at ease in your mind—send me your orders and I shall carry them out. Lasne will take my place now as soon as he likes. The best and safest steps have been taken to ensure the Dauphin’s safety. Consequently I shall be able to get to you in a few days, and shall be able to tell you all further details orally.”
These lines herald a momentous alteration in the régime of the prison. First of all, there is the question of Laurent’s leaving it. Presumably his presence is no longer needed there. This suggests that success is assured. And Lasne—how is it that his name makes its appearance here for the first time? We shall find him declaring in 1834 that his service in the Temple began in Fructidor year II., that is to say, between August 18 and September 16, 1794.[75] In that case Laurent would have had him as his colleague for several months already! The Temple documents preserved in the National Archives, and examined fifteen years later, establish the fact that Lasne did not, indeed, enter upon his duties until March 31, 1795, thus bearing out the accuracy of Laurent’s statement.
We see, then, that the little mute has been transferred to the palace of the Temple—that is to say, into one of the many empty suites in the great maze of buildings that surrounded the Tower. Here he has been, or perhaps will soon be, joined by the Dauphin himself, for means of retreat from this labyrinth of buildings are infinitely greater than from the fourth storey of the Tower.