Latour knew how swift revolutionary justice was sometimes. It might be only a matter of hours between mademoiselle and the guillotine. He had counseled delay, confident that these men would counsel it in their turn, and take to themselves the credit for so excellent an idea.
He had other business as he pa.s.sed along the corridor of the prison, a jest with the red-capped turnkey concerning the pretty birds he tended so lovingly.
"Some of them sing even, citizen," answered the man, with a great, coa.r.s.e laugh. "Shall I show you some of my pets? You may not have another opportunity."
"I do not understand birds."
"Will you not look at the new one caught only to-day?"
"Ah, the aristocrat! I had forgotten her. Where is she caged?"
"Yonder, a small cage, and with three others not of her breed. She does not sing, citizen, she scolds. I tell you she has some strange oaths and curses at her tongue tip, and mingles them curiously with prayers for deliverance."
Latour laughed. He must show no anger at this man"s humor, and he had nothing to suggest which might secure mademoiselle greater comfort.
He glanced along the corridor in the direction the man had pointed. A few yards of pa.s.sage and a locked door were all that separated him from the woman he would help. The temptation to look upon her for a moment was great, the thought that by a glance he might convey a message of a.s.surance to her seemed to offer an excuse, but he resisted the temptation.
"I shall see enough of your birds when you send them on their last flight," he said, carelessly. "I hoped to see Mathon--where is he?"
"Drinking in the nearest wine shop, citizen, I"ll wager, since he is off duty."
"It is a bad habit for turnkeys to drink," said Latour, severely, and the red-capped bully felt a sudden qualm of nervousness in his frame as he remembered how powerful this man was.
"Mathon is a good fellow. I spoke in jest, not to do him harm. When he has the keys in his keeping he does not drink, citizen."
"I am glad to hear that," answered Latour, as he pa.s.sed on.
He found the turnkey Mathon in a neighboring wine shop, and called him out. The order was peremptory, and the man came quickly. Mathon had a history. He had been lackey to a n.o.bleman, and while shouting with patriots in the beginning of the trouble, had helped his old master and his master"s friends. Since then he had mended his ways and become a true patriot, with no desire to help a living soul but himself, with no sentiment and no fear in him except for one man--Raymond Latour. Latour knew the truth about him, was the only man who did, and held the proof, therefore Mathon was bound to serve him. He came quickly out of the wine shop and followed Latour into a side street.
"You know the room where this aristocrat was placed to-day?"
"Yes, citizen."
"She is not likely to be moved from there?"
"No, citizen, not until--not until she is condemned."
"When will you be in charge of the keys of her prison?"
"Not for a week, citizen."
"A week!"
"My turn for that part of the prison comes in a week, and she may not be there then. If you would speak with her, I might manage it before then."
"I do not want speech with her," Latour returned.
Mathon looked at him sharply.
"More than speech," said Latour. "In a week I will see you again. You shall run small risk, I will see to that."
Mathon nodded, he could not refuse his help, though his throat grew dry, and the collar of his shirt seemed to tighten as he thought of what the consequences might be. He hastened back to the wine shop and Latour returned to the Rue Valette slowly, thinking of a week hence.
He hardly noticed those who pa.s.sed him on the way, and was certainly quite unconscious of the figure which followed him like a shadow.
CHAPTER XIV
AN APPEAL TO FRIENDSHIP
Raymond Latour was a busy man, he seldom missed attending the meetings of the Convention, and was a.s.siduous in his work upon the various committees of public instruction, domains, liquidation and finance. It was therefore past noon on the following day when Sabatier found him and related what had occurred at the wine shop on the previous evening.
"Citizen Bruslart is no coward," concluded Sabatier, as though he considered even grudging praise from a man like himself conferred distinction upon the recipient. "When he entered, every patriot there was ready to fly at his throat, yet before the evening was ended he was a hero."
"He must still be watched," said Latour. "I have always told you that he was clever."
"He would be safer arrested, citizen. Indeed, is it not almost certain that he will be since this aristocrat was found in his apartment?"
"He has wasted no time," Latour answered. "Quite early this morning he saw certain members of the Convention and explained matters. It was the same story as he told in the wine shop, and he was believed."
"Do you believe him?" Sabatier asked.
The smile upon Latour"s face suggested that he had no great faith in any one, that it was a sign of weakness to trust any man fully, and folly to express an opinion on such a subject.
"For all his professions of innocence a word would suffice to have him arrested," said Sabatier.
"It is the very last word I want spoken," Latour answered. "As you know, I have a personal interest in this affair. Citizen Bruslart is one of the cards in the game I play. Such a card in the hand is not to be carelessly thrown away, for there will surely come a time when it will be played with effect. Until then, Sabatier, make it your business to believe in Citizen Bruslart"s patriotism, discourage as much as you can any questioning of it among those with whom you come in contact. Twice already to-day I have been loud in his praises. For the present he is safe, and we can watch him easily."
Perhaps Latour trusted Sabatier more fully than he did any of the others who served him, and there were many. He was fa.r.s.eeing enough to understand that popularity only was not sufficient security, that with the conflicting and changing interests which ruled Paris and the country, the friends of to-day might easily become the enemies of to-morrow. It was necessary to obtain some stronger hold upon the fickle populace, a security which was rooted in fear and ignorance of the extent of his power and knowledge. He had been careful, therefore, that the interests of those who served him should not be identical, that their individual importance should lie in different directions, in various quarters of the city and among different sections of the revolutionists whose aims and views were in many ways opposed to one another. The result was that Latour"s power was appreciated on all sides, yet only imperfectly understood, and in the Convention he pa.s.sed for something of an enigma, yet a man who was far safer as a friend than as an enemy. These confederates of his had one thing in common, however; all of them were beholden to Raymond Latour. He held some secret concerning each one of them; their lives, or at least their well-being, were in his hands; no one of them had his full confidence, and they could not afford either to deceive or betray him. His position was as secure as any man"s in Paris. That he had enemies he knew, but they dare not strike; that he was watched he did not doubt, but the fact did not trouble him. Yet, at this juncture of his schemes, the espionage of one person who dogged his footsteps might have made him apprehensive had he known of it.
Seth, a hunter and trapper by nature, the son and grandson of men who for their own safety had to be trained in the subtle methods of the Indian, who himself had had no small experience in this respect, and easily followed a trail which was no trail to ordinary eyes, found little difficulty in watching Latour"s movements. Barrington had taken Seth to the Rue Valette last night, and from the shadow on the opposite side of the street had pointed out Latour to him. Seth had followed Latour to the Abbaye prison, had seen him call Mathon from the neighboring wine shop, and before he slept Barrington had received the information. That Latour should go so promptly to this particular prison was at least surprising. He might have business there which had nothing to do with Jeanne St. Clair, he might still be in ignorance of the ident.i.ty of the occupant of that coach, but Barrington could not believe this to be the case. He was much rather inclined to think with Lucien Bruslart that Latour had had a part in her betrayal.
One thing was certain, he must make use of the friendship Latour had offered him. There was danger in it no doubt, but Mademoiselle St.
Clair"s life was at stake, so the danger counted for nothing. Moreover, Barrington had papers in his possession to prove what his object was in coming to France, and he had already thrown out the suggestion to Latour that his reason in smuggling mademoiselle into Paris might have been a sinister one; and since Latour must have enemies, there would at least be some who would believe Barrington"s statement that this deputy was ready to plot on behalf of an aristocrat, that over his wine he had confessed it. The struggle with Raymond Latour might be a more equal one than it appeared on a first consideration.
Next morning he told Seth his plans. "First I shall see Monsieur Bruslart early this afternoon as arranged. Unless he should have had some extraordinary success last night, which is hardly to be expected, I shall then go and see Latour."
"It may be only to walk into a den of lions," said Seth.
"Probably, but I am not altogether without means of taming them--and you know, Seth, where I have gone. If I am missing, it will be your task to find where I am, and if necessary, you must go to the Marquis de Lafayette and tell him."
"You will have also told Monsieur Bruslart."
"I am not sure," Barrington answered. "It will depend on circ.u.mstances."