e would then, two or three
days later, slip the letters of denunciation, very few of which
were dated, among the rest of the correspondence, satisfied that
when search was made the persons named would already have shifted
their quarters and assumed some other disguise.

February had come and Harry was still working and waiting, busy
for several hours each day writing and examining reports with
Robespierre, striving of an evening to keep up the courage and
spirits of the girls, calling in for a few minutes each day to see
Victor, who, after passing through a long and terrible fever, now
lay weak and apparently unconscious alike of the past and present,
his mind completely gone; but the doctor told Harry that in this
respect he did not think the case was hopeless.

"His strength seems to have absolutely deserted him," he said,
"and his mind is a blank like that of a little child, but I by no
means despair of his gradually recovering; and if he could hear the
voice of the lady you tell me he is engaged to, it might strike a
chord now lying dormant and set the brain at work again."

But as to Marie, Harry could do nothing. Do what he would, he
could hit upon no plan whatever for getting her out of prison; and
he could only wait until some change in the situation or the appearance
of her name in the fatal list might afford some opportunity for
action. It was evident to him that Lebat was not pushing matters
forward, but that he preferred to wait and leave the horror of
months in prison to work upon Marie's mind, and so break her down
that she would be willing enough to purchase her life by a marriage
with him.

There had been some little lull in the work of blood, for in
December all eyes had been turned to the spectacle of the trial of
the king. From the 10th of August he had remained a close prisoner
in the Temple, watched and insulted by his ruffian guards, and
passing the time in the midst of his family with a serenity of mind,
a calmness, and tranquility which went far to redeem the blunders
he had made during the preceding three years. The following is the
account written by the princess royal in her journal of the manner
in which the family passed their days: "My father rose at seven
and said prayers till eight; then dressing himself he was with my
brother till nine, when he came to breakfast with my mother. After
breakfast my father gave us lessons till eleven o'clock; and then
my brother played till midday