ROBESPIERRE. France would be better off if every one thought less of Robespierre and more of Liberty.
MADAME DUPLAY. But Liberty and Robespierre are one.
ROBESPIERRE. That is why I am so concerned about her. I fear for her health.
MADAME DUPLAY [going to the window]. What noise they make in the court! I know it must tire you. I told Duplay twenty times to ask them not to begin so early and wake you up, but he said you insisted that everything go on as usual.
ROBESPIERRE. He is right. That regular activity rests me. Work is beneficial to others as well as to oneself. The noise is refreshing to me. I have breathed such vitiated air all night!
MADAME DUPLAY. What work kept you up last night?
ROBESPIERRE. It was not the work, but the worry.
MADAME DUPLAY. You seem preoccupied—as if some great catastrophe were about to happen.
ROBESPIERRE. Yes, a catastrophe.
MADAME DUPLAY. Can't you prevent it?