ROBESPIERRE. Three eggs for this household? Why, that's nothing at all!
MADAME DUPLAY. One for Eléonore, one for Elisabeth, and one for you—my three children!
ROBESPIERRE. Dear mother Duplay, you don't imagine I shall take bread out of your mouth?
MADAME DUPLAY. You're not going to refuse! It was for you I went to the Market. You're not well; you have a weak stomach. If you could only eat meat! But you won't let us buy any!
ROBESPIERRE. Meat is very scarce, and it must be kept for the soldiers and the sick. We have decreed a civil lent. My colleagues and I must offer a good example of abstinence.
MADAME DUPLAY. Not everybody has your scruples.
ROBESPIERRE. I know: I have seen some of them indulge in feasting amidst all this misery; it horrifies me. Every feast of that kind deprives the country of at least thirty defenders.
MADAME DUPLAY. What misery! No more meat, no more poultry, no more dairy products. The vegetables have been commandeered for the army. And no more fuel. This is the second night that Duplay has stood in line at the coal boat. He's just come in—without a thing. And there is no wood at all. Do you know what they asked me for a cord? Four hundred francs. Fortunately spring is not far off. Another month of this, and we'll all be dead. I never remember so hard a winter!
ROBESPIERRE. You have suffered, all of you, poor women, and you have shown splendid courage. But you must admit that with all the suffering, you felt joys you never dreamed of before: the joy of helping on, no matter how humbly, with the sublime work of freeing the world!
MADAME DUPLAY. Yes, I am happy. No matter what happens, those months of misery will remain the happiest of our lives. What we have suffered are not the ordinary things, the useless things. Every time we fasted it was for the good of the nation. This feeling of pride we owe to you, Maximilien. Last night I was thinking as I was doing the wash; no matter how humble I am, no matter how I may worry about the morrow, and wonder where our bread is coming from, I am working for the nation; nothing is lost; every thing I do counts toward victory. I am marching with you at the head of all mankind!