Which? Or, Between Two Women

by Ernest Daudet

  CHAPTER X.

  COURSEGOL'S EXPLOITS.

  Coursegol returned home about midnight. In accordance with his usualcustom he was passing through the lower hall without stopping on his wayto his room on the floor above, when he heard some one call him. Herecognized the voice of Vauquelas, but it seemed to proceed from thechamber occupied by Dolores. Surprised that the latter was not in bed atthis late hour, and fearing she was ill, he hastily entered her room.Vauquelas was there alone, pale, nervous and excited. The girl's bed hadnot been disturbed. Her absence struck Coursegol at once.

  "Where is Dolores?" he asked, quickly.

  "Coursegol, why did you not tell me she was receiving Philip deChamondrin here?" was his friend's only response.

  "She receiving M. Philip!" cried Coursegol, greatly astonished.

  "Yes, here in my house; here in this chamber. They were discoveredhere."

  "Then M. Philip is still alive!"

  "Unfortunately for me, he is still alive."

  "What do you mean?" inquired Coursegol, who as yet understood but onething--that his master was not dead.

  "I mean that Dolores, whom I received into my house at your request, hasbeen sheltering here, at the risk of compromising and ruining me, Philipde Chamondrin, one of the prime movers in a conspiracy formed for thepurpose of saving the widow Capet."

  "Ah! I understand," murmured Coursegol, at once divining that Philipbeing pursued had taken refuge in the house of Vauquelas, and had foundDolores there. "Ah, well! citizen, the young man must not remain here.We will help him to make his escape and no one will be the wiser--"

  "It is too late!"

  "Why?"

  "Both have been arrested; he, for conspiring against the government,she, as his accomplice."

  Coursegol uttered a terrible oath: then, turning to Vauquelas andseizing him by the collar, he cried:

  "It was you, wretch, who betrayed them!"

  "You are choking me!" groaned Vauquelas, breathless in Coursegol'sviolent grasp.

  "Tell me where they are!" thundered Coursegol. "I must see them. Whereare they?"

  "Release me," gasped Vauquelas.

  This time Coursegol obeyed; but he stood before Vauquelas, angry andmenacing. The latter trembled. He had not foreseen that Coursegol wouldhold him accountable for the arrest of Philip and Dolores.

  "Explain and quickly!" cried Coursegol.

  "The soldiers came to the house in pursuit of young Philip, who hadtaken refuge in this room. To save him, Dolores said she was his wife.Philip, fearing she would be compromised, denied her statement; and astheir explanation did not seem sufficiently clear, they were both takento prison."

  "Could you not have vouched for them--declared that they were friends ofyours?"

  "I did all I could to save them," whined Vauquelas.

  "You lie! you lie! I tell you, you lie! It was you who betrayed them! Iam sure of it. You trembled for your life, for your money. Woe be untoyou!"

  And Coursegol accompanied those words with a gesture so menacing thatVauquelas, believing his last hour had come, fell on his knees beggingfor mercy. But Coursegol seemed pitiless.

  "Poor children! that death should overtake them just as Providence hadunited them. Wretch! fool! you were less merciful than destiny."

  "Have pity!"

  "Had you any pity on them? No! Ah well! you shall die!"

  And drawing from his pocket a dagger that he always carried with him,Coursegol raised it above the old man's head.

  "But if I promise to save them--"

  The hand of Coursegol, raised to strike, fell.

  "You will save them! That is only another lie. How can you save them?The prisons of the Republic release their victims only to send them tothe guillotine."

  "I will bribe the jailers to let them escape."

  "The jailers are not the only masters: and who among them would exposehimself to almost certain death for the sake of your money?"

  "Then I will do still better," replied Vauquelas. "I will bribe thejudges of the Revolutionary Tribunal, and they will acquit yourfriends."

  "Useless! these judges will demand that the money shall be paid inadvance! and as soon as they have it in their grasp, they will condemnthe prisoners."

  "What can I do then?"

  "There is no help for the misfortune, and it is because you are thecause of it that I am going to wreak my vengeance upon you!"

  "Stop, stop! I will go to Robespierre."

  "He will refuse your petition."

  "No! my influence over him is all-powerful. I have means to compel himto grant my request."

  "Even when you ask for the release of one of the leaders of theconspiracy to save the queen?"

  "Yes; he will not refuse me."

  Coursegol reflected a moment. Vauquelas, still on his knees before him,looked up, trying to read his fate in the stern face above him.

  "Listen," said Coursegol at last. "I will spare your life on certainconditions. It depends upon yourself whether you are to live or die."

  "Name them. I will obey!" murmured Vauquelas, servilely, beginning tobreathe freely once more.

  "To-morrow by sunset, I must receive from you a blank order signed byRobespierre which will enable me to obtain the release of twoprisoners."

  "You shall have it."

  "I also desire that Robespierre shall remain in ignorance of the namesof the prisoners who are to be released."

  "He shall not know."

  "Under these conditions, your life is yours. Only do not attempt todeceive me. I know that it is in your power to obtain an order for myarrest and thus save yourself from the chastisement you so richlydeserve."

  "Can you believe--"

  Vauquelas could not finish his sentence. He stammered and blushed,feeling that his most secret thoughts had been divined.

  "But to prevent that, it is here in this house that I shall await yourreturn; and if to-morrow the soldiers, guided by you, come here toarrest me, they will find me in the cellar where your wealth isconcealed; and it is I who will have the pleasure of initiating theminto the secrets of your patriotic life."

  Vauquelas uttered an exclamation of mingled astonishment and dismay.

  "It is here," repeated Coursegol, "that I shall wait to receive fromyour hands the order of release that you have promised me. Now, it isfor you to decide whether you will live or die."

  As he spoke, Coursegol pushed open the door leading to the cellar usedby Vauquelas as the repository of his riches and disappeared. Vauquelasrose from his kneeling posture, filled with consternation by what he hadjust heard. The extremity to which he was reduced was a cruel one; hemust bribe the incorruptible Robespierre. When he made the promise toCoursegol he did not intend to fulfil it: he intended to denounce him;but the shrewdness of his partner had placed him in a most embarrassingposition. He was obliged to keep his promise, but he could do it only bycompromising his influence and his reputation; and yet there was no helpfor it since Coursegol could ruin him by a single word. How much heregretted that the strength and vigor of his youth were now paralyzed byage. If he had been twenty years younger, how desperately he would havestruggled with the man who had suddenly become a formidable enemy! Whatan effort he would have made to kill him and thus silence him forever.But such a plan was no longer feasible; nothing was left for him butsubmission. About an hour after Coursegol left him, he went to his roomto obtain the rest of which he stood so greatly in need. He threwhimself upon the bed; but sleep refused to come to his relief. Atdaybreak he was upon his feet once more. He wished, before leaving thehouse, to see Coursegol again. The latter had slept with his pistol inhis hand, guarding the strong-box upon which his life as well as thelives of Dolores and Philip depended.

  "Have you the order?" inquired Coursegol.

  "I am going for it," responded Vauquelas, meekly.

  "Do not return without it if you wish to leave this place alive."

  Vauquelas hastily retired. Robespierre lived on the Rue Saint Honore.Thither V
auquelas went, wondering under what form he should present hispetition. The friendship existing between this celebrated man andhimself was lively and profound. It had its origin in former relations,in services mutually rendered, and in common interests, but so far asRobespierre was concerned, he would never allow friendship to conflictwith what he considered his duty. Even in his most cruel decisions, hewas honest and sincere. He was deeply impressed with a sense of hisresponsibility and no consideration foreign to what he regarded as thewelfare of the Nation could move him. He never granted a pardon; henever allowed his heart to be touched with compassion; and when onereads his history, it is hard to decide which is most horrible, the actsof his life or the spirit of fanaticism that inspired them. Vauquelasunderstood the character of the man with whom he had to deal, and feltthat there was no hope of exciting Robespierre's pity by the recital ofthe misfortunes of Philip and Dolores, or by an explanation of theembarrassing position in which he found himself; so he finally decidedto resort to strategy to obtain what he desired.

  When he reached the house, he found that Robespierre had just gone out.Vauquelas did not seem at all annoyed. He entered the office--that dreadplace from which emanated those accusations that carried death anddespair to so many households. The visitor was well-known to theservants of the household and he was permitted to roam about at will. Ashe declared his intention of awaiting Robespierre's return, the servantwho ushered him into the room withdrew, leaving him quite alone. Hehastened to Robespierre's desk and began rummaging among the papers withwhich it was strewn, keeping one eye all the while upon the door lestsome one should enter and detect him. There were intended orders, listsof proscriptions, documents and reports from the provinces, as well aspolice reports, but Vauquelas paid no attention to these. He continuedhis search until Robespierre's signature on the bottom of a blank sheetof paper met his eyes, and drew from him an exclamation of joy.

  This sheet was the last belonging to a police report which had beenapproved by the committee, and the only one upon which the clerk to whomthe copying of the document had been entrusted had as yet writtennothing. It was upon this sheet that Robespierre had placed hissignature. His name, written by his own hand and ornamented with theflourish which he always appended to his signature, lay upon theimmaculate whiteness of the paper like a blood stain. Without theslightest hesitation, Vauquelas tore this precious page loose from theothers; then in a feigned hand he wrote these words "Permission to leavethe prison is hereby granted to the man and woman bearing this order."These lines written above the signature transformed the paper into thesafe-conduct which Coursegol had demanded. Greatly agitated by theaudacious act he had just accomplished, Vauquelas placed the document hehad fabricated in his pocket, hid the mutilated report in the bottom ofa desk drawer under a pile of memorandum books; then, after giving hisagitation time to subside, he left the house, lingering a moment to chatwith those on guard at the door, and remarking as he left them:

  "I have not time to wait just now; I will call again."

  But as soon as he had gained the street he quickened his pace, as iffearing pursuit. On reaching home he hastened to the cellar and,addressing Coursegol who had not once quitted his post, he said:

  "Here is what you desired. Go!"

  Coursegol took the paper without a word, scrutinized it closely toconvince himself that the signature was genuine: then satisfied with hisexamination he replied:

  "I am going with the hope that I shall be able to save Dolores andPhilip; but do not consider yourself forgiven for the injury you havedone them. Remember this; if my efforts fail and any harm befalls themit is on you that my vengeance will fall."

  He rose to go; then changing his mind, he added:

  "For six months we have worked together, and as I shall probably need agood deal of money to carry this undertaking to a successfultermination, I wish you to give me my share of the profits."

  "Make your own estimate," replied Vauquelas, who was too thoroughlyfrightened to haggle as to terms.

  "Give me fifty thousand francs; half in gold, half in assignats."

  Vauquelas breathed a sigh of relief. He had feared that Coursegol woulddemand an amount ten times as large. He counted out fifty thousandfrancs. Coursegol put the assignats in his pocket, and secreted thegold in a leather belt he wore; then without another word, he started inquest of Philip and Dolores.

  How could he reach them? He must first discover where they were. Prisonswere very numerous in those days. There were the Luxembourg, the Abbaye,the Force, the Carmes, the Madelonnettes, Saint-Lazare and many others.In which of them were Philip and Dolores immured? Had they been sent tothe same prison or had they been separated? Vauquelas had been unable tofurnish any information on this subject, and Coursegol could onlyconjecture. He repaired immediately to the house of the Bridouls, wherehe made arrangements to remain for a time. He apprised these triedfriends of the events that had occurred since the evening before.Cornelia could not restrain her tears when she heard that her youngfriend was in prison. As for Bridoul, he soon decided upon the course tobe pursued. In most of the prisons there were many persons charged withno particular offence. It was not at all probable that they would everbe brought to trial, and, in spite of the surveillance to which theywere subjected, they enjoyed comparative freedom. They were notabsolutely forbidden to hold communication with the world outside, andif they possessed pecuniary resources it was possible for them topurchase the good-will of the jailers and to obtain permission toreceive letters, food and even visits from their friends. It may havebeen that the number of prisons and of prisoners prevented themaintenance of very severe discipline; it may have been that theCommittee of Public Safety, having decided to execute all convictedprisoners, did not desire to exercise a too rigid surveillance. Howeverthis may have been, many of the prisoners were in daily communicationwith the outer world. Wives and children obtained permission to visittheir husbands and fathers without much difficulty; and there had beenestablished, for the convenience of the prisoners, a corps of regularlyappointed messengers who came and went at all hours of the day oncondition that they paid the jailers a certain percentage on theirearnings. Coursegol was ignorant of these details, but Bridoulacquainted him with them.

  "One of these messengers is a friend of mine," added Bridoul, "and for afair compensation, he will consent to take you with him as hisassistant. In his company, you can visit the different prisons withoutthe slightest danger."

  This plan delighted Coursegol. That same evening they made the desiredarrangement with the man of whom Bridoul had spoken. The next day, hebegan his search, and three days later he ascertained that Dolores wasconfined in the Conciergerie and Philip in the Madelonnettes.