CHAPTER VIII
"E'en now the devastation is begun, And half the business of destruction done."
GOLDSMITH.
Madame de Fleury was not disappointed in her pupils. When the publicdisturbances began, these children were shocked by the horrible actionsthey saw. Instead of being seduced by bad example, they only showedanxiety to avoid companions of their own age who were dishonest, idle, orprofligate. Victoire's cousin Manon ridiculed these absurd principles,as she called them, and endeavoured to persuade Victoire that she wouldbe much happier if she followed the fashion.
"What! Victoire, still with your work-bag on your arm, and still goingto school with your little sister, though you are but a year younger thanI am, I believe!--thirteen last birthday, were not you?--Mon Dieu! Why,how long do you intend to be a child? and why don't you leave that oldnun, who keeps you in leading-strings?--I assure you, nuns, and school-mistresses, and schools, and all that sort of thing, are out of fashionnow--we have abolished all that--we are to live a life of reason now--andall soon to be equal, I can tell you; let your Madame de Fleury look tothat, and look to it yourself; for with all your wisdom, you might findyourself in the wrong box by sticking to her, and that side of thequestion.--Disengage yourself from her, I advise you, as soon as youcan.--My dear Victoire! believe me, you may spell very well--but you knownothing of the rights of man, or the rights of woman."
"I do not pretend to know anything of the rights of men, or the rights ofwomen," cried Victoire; "but this I know: that I never can or will beungrateful to Madame de Fleury. Disengage myself from her! I am boundto her for ever, and I will abide by her till the last hour I breathe."
"Well, well! there is no occasion to be in a passion--I only speak as afriend, and I have no more time to reason with you; for I must go home,and get ready my dress for the ball to-night."
"Manon, how can you afford to buy a dress for a ball?"
"As you might, if you had common sense, Victoire--only by being a goodcitizen. I and a party of us denounced a milliner and a confectioner inour neighbourhood, who were horrible aristocrats; and of their goodsforfeited to the nation we had, as was our just share, such delicious_marangues_ and charming ribands!--Oh, Victoire, believe me, you willnever get such things by going to school, or saying your prayers either.You may look with as much scorn and indignation as you please, but Iadvise you to let it alone, for all that is out of fashion, and may,moreover, bring you into difficulties. Believe me, my dear Victoire,your head is not deep enough to understand these things--you know nothingof politics."
"But I know the difference between right and wrong, Manon: politics cannever alter that, you know."
"Never alter that! there you are quite mistaken," said Manon. "I cannotstay to convince you now--but this I can tell you: that I know secretsthat you don't suspect."
"I do not wish to know any of your secrets, Manon," said Victoire,proudly.
"Your pride may be humbled, Citoyenne Victoire, sooner than you expect,"exclaimed Manon, who was now so provoked by her cousin's contempt thatshe could not refrain from boasting of her political knowledge. "I cantell you that your fine friends will in a few days not be able to protectyou. The Abbe Tracassier is in love with a dear friend of mine, and Iknow all the secrets of state from her--and I know what I know. Be asincredulous as you please, but you will see that, before this week is atend, Monsieur de Fleury will be guillotined, and then what will become ofyou? Good morning, my proud cousin."
Shocked by what she had just heard, Victoire could scarcely believe thatManon was in earnest; she resolved, however, to go immediately andcommunicate this intelligence, whether true or false, to Madame deFleury. It agreed but too well with other circumstances, which alarmedthis lady for the safety of her husband. A man of his abilities,integrity, and fortune, could not in such times hope to escapepersecution. He was inclined to brave the danger; but his ladyrepresented that it would not be courage, but rashness and folly, tosacrifice his life to the villainy of others, without probability orpossibility of serving his country by his fall.
Monsieur de Fleury, in consequence of these representations, and ofVictoire's intelligence, made his escape from Paris; and the very nextday placards were put up in every street, offering a price for the headof Citoyen Fleury, _suspected of incivisme_.
Struck with terror and astonishment at the sight of these placards, thechildren read them as they returned in the evening from school; andlittle Babet in the vehemence of her indignation mounted a lamplighter'sladder, and tore down one of the papers. This imprudent action did notpass unobserved: it was seen by one of the spies of Citoyen Tracassier, aman who, under the pretence of zeal _pour la chose publique_, gratifiedwithout scruple his private resentments and his malevolent passions. Inhis former character of an abbe, and a man of wit, he had gainedadmittance into Madame de Fleury's society. There he attempted todictate both as a literary and religious despot. Accidentallydiscovering that Madame de Fleury had a little school for poor children,he thought proper to be offended, because he had not been consultedrespecting the regulations, and because he was not permitted, as he said,to take the charge of this little flock. He made many objections toSister Frances, as being an improper person to have the spiritualguidance of these young people; but as he was unable to give any justreason for his dislike, Madame de Fleury persisted in her choice, and wasat last obliged to assert, in opposition to the domineering abbe, herright to judge and decide in her own affairs. With seeming politeness,he begged ten thousand pardons for his conscientious interference. Nomore was said upon the subject; and as he did not totally withdraw fromher society till the revolution broke out, she did not suspect that shehad anything to fear from his resentment. His manners and opinionschanged suddenly with the times; the mask of religion was thrown off; andnow, instead of objecting to Sister Frances as not being sufficientlystrict and orthodox in her tenets, he boldly declared that a nun was nota fit person to be intrusted with the education of any of the youngcitizens--they should all be _des eleves de la patrie_. The abbe, becomea member of the Committee of Public Safety, denounced Madame de Fleury,in the strange jargon of the day, as "_the fosterer of a swarm of badcitizens, who were nourished in the anticivic prejudices_ de l'ancienregime, _and fostered in the most detestable superstitions, in defianceof the law_." He further observed, that he had good reason to believethat some of these little enemies to the constitution had contrived andabetted Monsieur de Fleury's escape. Of their having rejoiced at it in amost indecent manner, he said he could produce irrefragable proof. Theboy who saw Babet tear down the placard was produced and solemnlyexamined; and the thoughtless action of this poor little girl wasconstrued into a state crime of the most horrible nature. In adeclamatory tone, Tracassier reminded his fellow-citizens, that in theancient Grecian times of virtuous republicanism (times of which Franceought to show herself emulous), an Athenian child was condemned to deathfor having made a plaything of a fragment of the gilding that had fallenfrom a public statue. The orator, for the reward of his eloquence,obtained an order to seize everything in Madame de Fleury's school-house,and to throw the nun into prison.