VADIER. He spends his nights at the Committee and his days at the Assembly.
ROBESPIERRE. You are overworking. Would you like some one to take your place for a few days?
BILLAUD-VARENNE. My work can't be done by others. Corresponding with the various departments, holding every string of France in my hand: no one else could do that. If I stop for a moment, everything will collapse. No, I must stay until I drop.
SAINT-JUST. We shall all die at our posts.
BILLAUD-VARENNE. Oh, Nature, thou didst not create me for such tempests! My soul is torn by these murderous blasts from the desert! My heart is too soft; I was intended for sweeter things: retirement, friends, a family!
VADIER [ironically]. Let us not become sentimental, Billaud!
BILLAUD-VARENNE [becoming violent again]. Let us purify the atmosphere! To the guillotine with Desmoulins!
ROBESPIERRE. It is I who should give the example: I wash my hands of Desmoulins.
VADIER [laughing to himself]. Brutus, oh, magnanimous man, virtuous man, I knew very well you would never hesitate to rid yourself of a friend!
ROBESPIERRE. The fate of Desmoulins is bound up with that of another man.