the mission of mademoiselle de fargas
barras, leaving mademoiselle de fargas alone for a moment, went to his study; and in a receptacle prepared for his private correspondence he found a letter from the prosecutor of the republic at avignon, which gave him an account of the whole affair up to the departure of the vicomte de fargas for nantua.
he gave it to mademoiselle de fargas to read. she went through it from end to end, and found that it confirmed what she had heard before she left avignon.
"then," she said to barras, "you have received no news for two days?"
"no," replied the latter.
"that does not speak very well for your police; fortunately, in this instance, i can supply their place."
and she told barras how she had followed her brother to nantua; how she had arrived there just in time to learn that he had been abducted from the prison; how the registry had been burned, and how the documents relating to[pg 471] the prosecution had been destroyed; and, finally, how, on awaking the next morning, she had found the body, pierced with a dagger belonging to the companions of jehu, on the place de la prefecture at bourg.
everything which happened in the midi and the east was so impregnated with mystery that the cleverest agents of the police vainly sought to fathom it. barras hoped at first that his beautiful visitor could give him information which was not generally known; but her sojourn, both at nantua and bourg, while it had brought her in touch with the scene of events and placed their results before her eyes, had taught her nothing new.
all that barras knew and could tell her was that these events bore a close resemblance to the occurrences in brittany and the vendée.
the directory was perfectly cognizant of the fact that these dread robbers of diligences did not carry on their work for their own benefit, but turned the government money over to charette, stofflet, the abbé bernier, and georges cadoudal.
charette and stofflet had been captured and shot, and the abbé bernier had submitted. but, breaking his parole, instead of going to england, he had remained concealed in his own country. so that a year and a half after the pacification the directory had felt sufficiently secure to recall hoche and send him to the army of the sambre-et-meuse. then had come the report of a new insurrection; and by repeated blows the directory had learned that four new leaders had appeared in the country—prestier, d'autichamp, suzannette, and grognon. as for cadoudal, he had never parleyed or laid down his arms; he had never ceased endeavoring to prevent brittany from recognizing the republican government.
barras had seemed for a moment to come to a resolution; but, like all chance ideas, which at first seem impossible, it apparently needed time to ripen before leaving the mind which had conceived it. from time to time he glanced[pg 472] at the proud young girl, then at the dagger, which he still held in his hand, and then at the vicomte de fargas's farewell letter, which he had laid upon the table. diane grew weary of the silence.
"i have demanded vengeance at your hands," she said, "and you have not answered me."
"what do you mean by vengeance?" asked barras.
"i mean the death of those who killed my brother."
"tell me their names," returned barras; "we are as desirous as you are that they should expiate their crimes. once captured, their punishment will not be slow to follow."
"if i knew their names," replied diane, "i should not have come to you; i should have used this dagger on them myself."
barras looked at her.
the calm voice with which she had uttered these words was abundant proof that her ignorance had alone deterred her from taking the law into her own hands.
"well," said barras, "you can search for them and we will do the same."
"i search?" resumed diane. "is that my business? am i the government? am i the police? is it my duty to provide for the safety of citizens? they arrested my brother and put him in prison. the prison which belongs to the government must answer to me for my brother. the prison opens and betrays its prisoner; the government must answer to me for that. therefore, since you are the head of the government, i come to you and say: 'my brother! my brother! my brother!'"
"mademoiselle," replied barras, "we live in troublous times, when even the keenest eye can scarcely see, when the stoutest heart hesitates, though it does not weaken, when the strongest arm bends and falters. in the east and the midi we have the companions who assassinate, in the west we have the vendéans and the bretons who fight. we have three-quarters of paris conspiring, two-thirds of[pg 473] our chambers in opposition to us, and two of our colleagues betraying us. in the midst of this universal strife you ask that the great machine, which, in watching over its own safety, protects the saving principles which will transform europe, to close all its eyes and concentrate them upon one point—the place de la prefecture where you found the lifeless body of your brother. it is too much to ask of us, mademoiselle; we are simply mortal, and you must not expect us to accomplish the work of gods. you loved your brother?"
"i adored him."
"you wish to avenge him?"
"i would give my life for that of his murderer."
"and if you were shown a means of discovering that murderer, whatever the means, would you adopt it?"
diane hesitated a moment. then she said vehemently: "whatever it might be i would adopt it."
"well, listen to me," said barras. "help us and we will help you."
"what am i to do?"
"you are young and beautiful—very beautiful."
"that is not the point," said diane, without lowering her eyes.
"on the contrary," said barras, "it is right to the point. in this great struggle which we call life, woman has been given her beauty, not as a simple gift from heaven to rejoice the eyes of her lover and her husband, but as a means of attack and defence. the companions of jehu have no secret from cadoudal. he is their real head, since they are working for him. he knows all their names from first to last."
"well," said diane, "what then?"
"why," said barras, "it is very simple. go to the vendée or brittany and join cadoudal. wherever he may be, present yourself to him as a victim of your devotion to the royalist cause, which you really are. cadoudal cannot see you without falling in love with you. with his love[pg 474] he will give you his confidence. resolute as you are, and with your brother's memory in your heart, you need grant nothing save what it pleases you to grant. then you will discover the names of these men for whom we are searching in vain. tell us the names—that is all we ask of you—and your vengeance shall be satisfied. now, if your influence over the fanatic should go far enough to induce him to submit to the government, i need hardly tell you that the government would put no bounds—"
diane extended her hand.
"take care, sir," she said, "one word more and you will insult me. i ask twenty-four hours for reflection."
"take as much time as you wish," said barras, "you will always find me at your service."
"to-morrow, here, at nine o'clock in the evening," replied diane.
and taking her dagger from barras's hand, and her brother's letter from the table, she placed them both in her breast, bowed to barras, and left the room.
the next day, at the same hour, mademoiselle diane de fargas was again announced to the director. barras passed quickly into the pink boudoir and found her awaiting him.
"well, my beautiful nemesis?" he asked.
"i have decided," she replied; "but you understand i need a safe-conduct which will be recognized by the republican authorities. in the life i am about to take up, it is possible that i may be taken with arms in my hands making war upon the republic. you shoot women and children; it is a war of extermination. but that is a matter between god and yourselves. i may be taken, but i do not want to be shot before my vengeance is accomplished."
"i have foreseen your request, mademoiselle, and have prepared not only a passport, which will assure you full liberty of movement, but a safe-conduct, which, in extreme need, would force your enemies to become your defenders. i advise you, however, to conceal them both, particularly the latter, from the eyes of the vendéans and the chouans.[pg 475] a week ago, wearied of seeing this hydra of civil war springing up continually with new heads, we sent an order to general hedouville to give no quarter. consequently, as in the glorious prime of the republic, when the convention gained victories by decrees, we have sent down one of the old "drowning-agents" of the loire, a man who knows the country, named fran?ois goulin, with a new guillotine. the guillotine will be for the chouans if they are taken, or for the generals of our armies if they allow themselves to be beaten. citizen goulin is taking general hedouville a reinforcement of six thousand men. the vendéans and the bretons have no fear of musketry; they march up to it crying, 'long live the king! long live religion!' and singing hymns. we will see how they meet the guillotine! you will meet, or, rather, you will overtake, these six thousand men who are marching with citizen goulin from angers to rennes. if you are at all afraid, put yourself under their protection until you reach the vendée, and learn definitely where cadoudal is, when you will join him."
"very well, sir," said diane, "i thank you."
"when will you start?" asked barras.
"my carriage and my post-horses are waiting at the door of the luxembourg."
"permit me to ask you a delicate question, but one which it is my duty to ask you."
"what is it, sir?"
"do you need any money?"
"i have six thousand francs in gold in my strong-box, and twenty thousand more in paper money. you see that i can make war on my own account."
barras held out his hand to mademoiselle de fargas, who pretended not to notice this act of courtesy.
she made an irreproachable courtesy and retired.
"there is a charming viper," said barras; "but i should not like to be the one to warm it!"
