equire the signatures
of three other Deputies; but one of these he could supply himself, and
another two were easily to be requisitioned, seeing that already it bore
Robespierre's.

And then as suddenly as the idea of the means had come to him, came now
the spectre of the consequences to affright him. How would it fare with
him on Robespierre's return? How angered would not Robespierre be upon
discovering that his wishes had been set at naught, his very measures
contravened--and this by fraud? And than Robespierre's anger there were
few things more terrible in '93. It was an anger that shore away heads
as recklessly as wayside flowers are flicked from their stems by the
idler's cane.

For a second it daunted him. If he did this thing he must seek refuge
in flight; he must leave France, abandon the career which was so full
of promise for him, and wander abroad, a penniless fortune-hunter. Well
might the prospect give him pause. Well might it cause him to survey
that pale, sardonic countenance that eyed him gloomily from the mirror
above his mantel shelf, and ask it mockingly if it thought that Suzanne
de Bellecour--or indeed, any woman living--were worthy of so great a
sacrifice.

What had she done for him that he should cast away everything for her
sake? Once she had told him that she loved him, only to betray him.
Was that a woman for whom a man should wanton his fortunes? And then
he smiled derisively, mocking his reflections in the mirror even as he
mocked himself.

"Poor fool," he muttered, "it is not for the sake of what you are to
her. Were it for that alone, you would not stir a finger to gratify her
wishes. It is for the sake of what she is to you, Caron."

He turned from the mirror, his resolve now firm, and going to the
door he called his official. Briefly he instructed Brutus touching the
packing of a valise, which he would probably need that night.

"You are going a journey, Citizen?" inquired Brutus, to which La Boulaye
returned a short answer in the affirmative. "Do I accompany you?"
inquired the official, to which La Boulaye shook his head.

At that Brutus, who, for all his insolence of manner, was very devotedly
attached to his employer, broke into remonstrances, impertinent of
diction but affectionate of tenor. He protested that La Boulaye had left
him behind, and lonely, during his mission to the army in Belgium, and
he vowed that he would not be left behind again.

"Well, well; we shall see,