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.“How dare you call me a liar!”Before another fight could begin, da San-Germain stepped forward, and seemingly without effort held Lothaire and Enee apart.“Enough.All three of you, stop this now.” He nodded to Theron.“Go wash your face and have Roger put a salve on it.” He hauled Enee upright.“You should sit down with your head between your knees until the bleeding stops.We’ll sort out what did and did not happen when we stop at mid-day.And Enee, you will apologize to your mother and to the troupe.”Enee shook his head, and succeeded in splattering a trail of blood drops on both Lothaire and da San-Germain.“I’ve done nothing wrong.Why should I apologize?”“Do it,” da San-Germain commanded him, his voice no louder than usual, his demeanor unflustered.For several seconds, Enee looked as if he were going to lash out at da San-Germain, but finally he grumbled, “I apologize.”Photine regarded her son silently as she stood up, then said, “We’ll discuss this later.Go sit down, as Ragoczy told you.” She studied him, turbulence in her splendid eyes; she watched Enee trudge off to do as she ordered, then turned back to da San-Germain.“Thank you, thank you.I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t stepped in.”“There would have been another fight, perhaps a greater one, which none of us can afford,” he said levelly.She gestured a kind of concession.“True enough, I fear,” she said, and raised her voice.“Let’s get packed and on our way.We have four leagues to cover today.” With great purpose, she walked toward her home-wagon.“Lothaire, help Roger and Feo get the teams harnessed.Valence, you’re in charge of the remuda.”As the troupe once again resumed their preparations for travel, da San-Germain returned to the larger cart to help harness the mules to it, thinking as he did that this journey was becoming more complicated by the hour, and hoping that there would be no more altercations before they reached Lyon.* * *Text of a memorandum from Vivien Zacharie Charlot, Deputy Secretary for Public Safety of Lyon, to Egide Loup, Warden of the Anti-Revolutionary Prisoners, carried by official messenger of the Revolutionary Court and delivered the day it was written.To the Warden of the Anti-Revolutionary Prisoners, Egide Loup, the greetings of Vivien Zacharie Charlot, Deputy Secretary for Public Safety of Lyon, on this, the 13th day of October, 1792.My dear Warden Loup,After conferring with the members of the Revolutionary Tribunal and the Committee for Public Safety, it is my duty to inform you that these two august bodies have agreed that the most recently arrived prisoners are to be housed in the former Saint-Gautier Monastery on the bank of the Saone until they can be brought to trial and sentence pronounced upon them.Once the prisoners are installed in the former monastery, I will begin the process of interviewing them in order to have complete files to present to the Revolutionary Court when the trials begin, and I ask you to prepare your staff to receive me and my two assistants when we call upon you to admit us.To this end, I request that you prepare two chambers that we may use for our interrogations, and assign armed guards to those chambers to ensure that none of the prisoners will be tempted to escape.Vive la Revolution!Vive la France!Vivien Zacharie CharlotDeputy Secretary for Public SafetyLyon6The clustered spires of the Basilica Notre-Dame de Fourviere rose over the city, a constant, stately, and troubling reminder of Lyon’s illustrious, sanctioned past; it shone in the morning light like a castle in a fairy tale, its large, stained-glass bowed window glowing with rainbow colors.Around the old city walls, like a muddy hem on a ball-gown, there were warrens of narrow streets with tall, acerose houses looming together over them, where scrawny children ran and furtive men waited in the shadows for ill-conceived opportunities.“What on earth has happened here? These streets weren’t so … so sinister eight years ago.The populace was happy.There were parades and bonfires.People were singing.How could the place change so quickly?” Photine asked as she looked about her, her eyes wide with misgiving as she raised the hood of her cloak; beside her on the driving-box of the larger cart, da San-Germain kept alert for any trouble.“You ask that, after you and your troupe originally left France in part to ensure your safety? I would guess the Revolution has unsettled the city; we’ll find out once we’re inside the walls,” he answered, laying his hand on the driving-whip as a rag-tag pack of young men came sidling toward them, the four in the front keeping their hands in their pockets.“Pass on, fellows,” he recommended.“And at a good distance.Keep your knives where they are.I don’t want the mules’ tendons cut so you can loot the cart.” For emphasis, he snaked the lash of the driving-whip over their heads.A dark-haired youth who appeared to be the leader offered a snarl, but kept away from the cart; he spat in the general direction of the troupe as he led his comrades into an alley, swaggering as he went.“What did they want from us?” Photine asked uneasily.“The chance to brag to others of their feats as much as any spoils they might be seeking,” da San-Germain ventured, his hand still on the whip.“They chose the carts because we’re behind the wagons and might not be able to summon help.”“Would they have killed us?”Da San-Germain hesitated for a moment, then said, “They might have tried,” before he kiss-whistled to his team to urge them onward.The road turned northwest and grew a bit steeper, accommodating the swell of the hill; the city walls rose up ahead, the southeast gate standing open, half a dozen Revolutionary Guards already talking to Feo on the driving-box of the lead wagon.“Do you think they’ll allow Aloys and Hariot to enter?” Photine shifted on her seat, braiding the fringe of her shawl.In an effort to reassure her, da San-Germain responded, “If they ask about them at all; I cannot see that the Guards would have any reason to refuse.Neither of them is suffering from—”She shivered.“Do you think Feo will tell them anything?”“If he is asked, he will—otherwise, no.”“But if they do ask, what is he likely to tell them?”“Much the same that I would if I were asked: that Hariot is much improved,” said da San-Germain steadily.“And Aloys is no longer feverish.I doubt they will be turned away, were they alone.At this time of year, many travelers have minor ailments.If the Guards prevented them all from entering, the markets would suffer, and the ailments would not go away [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]