"There being no opposition worthy of the name, I can see nothing to prevent a number of them doing so. They will, of course, fight among themselves, and some of their heads will fall; but between them they now control the two great Comites, the National Guard, the Army and the vast secret police organization built up during the Terror; so those among them who survive will be able to rule in the same arbitrary fashion as their predecessors."
'That they might be able to I will grant you, but that they intend to do so I regard as unlikely," the Prime Minister remarked with a sudden display of his dictatorial manner. "You are not up to date with the news, Mr. Brook, or you would realize that in the past month the French Government has shown a definite change of heart. The iniquitous Law of the 22nd Prairial has been repealed, the Revolutionary Tribunal has been reorganized to give it some semblance of a court of justice, and hundreds of prisoners have been released from the Paris jails."
With a disarming smile Roger replied: "I am most pleased to learn of it, but not at all surprised. I felt confident that once the fanatics had been brought to book a marked decrease in senseless savagery would follow. The new masters are no set of fools, and one could count on their pandering to the reaction so far as they felt that they could win cheap popularity at no risk to themselves. But it would be a great mistake to regard these measures of clemency as a sign of weakness."
"I said nothing of weakness. I spoke of a change of heart. I am informed that in Paris there is already wide-spread talk of a return to the Constitution of '91, and a restoration of the Monarchy."
"I pray you, Sir, put no credence in such rumours."
"Why?" Mr. Pitt refilled his glass and gave the decanter a quick push in Roger's direction. "You say that these people are no fools. Now, then, is the chance for them to show real statesmanship. With the temper of the nation so clearly known they might take the tide at flood and execute a complete volte-face. Did they call off the war and invite the army of the Princes to enter Paris they would be rewarded with fortunes, honours and the gratitude of their fellow countrymen. Consider how much they have to gain by such a move."
"On the contrary, Sir, they would have all to lose. Every one of them voted for the death of Louis XVI. To them more than most applies the saying 'Put not thy trust in Princes'. Were I in their shoes I would regard signing a pact with their Highnesses, his brothers, as putting my hand to my own death warrant."
"Your travels have made you cynical, Mr. Brook."
"Nay, Sir; but ‘a wee bit canny', as my dear mother would have said."
"An excellent quality for one whose life has depended on his discretion, as yours must often have done. Yet it is a mistake to allow the caution you would exercise yourself to blind you to the possibility that others may take big risks to win great rewards."
Distinctly nettled, Roger retorted with an angry flash in his blue eyes: "There have, Sir, been many occasions when I have done so in your interests. Nevertheless I would serve you ill did I not caution you now against succumbing to delusions that events in France will take the happy turn you so obviously expect."
Having given vent to this outburst, he began to wonder if, in his anxiety to counter the Prime Minister's optimism, he had not somewhat over-stated his case. Before leaving Paris he had himself felt certain that the Terror had passed its peak, and it was possible that he had underestimated the strength and swiftness with which reaction would set in. Yet, as he recalled the many fierce, uncouth, suspicious, brutal men who had played so large a part in making the Revolution, and still occupied key posts in its administration, he remained convinced that they would go to any lengths rather than enter into a compromise with the emigres.
After a moment Mr. Pitt had the grace to say: "I intended no reflection on your courage. No one could have shown more audacity than yourself in your numerous attempts to rescue members of the Royal Family; and it was hard indeed that misfortune should have dogged you to the very last, when you actually believed that you had secured the little King of France."
Roger gave a bitter laugh. "Fate can rarely have played a man a more scurvy trick than that, for I shall never now be able to collect the hundred thousand pounds you promised me for the safe delivery of his person."
For a little they fell silent and the quiet of the garden was broken only by the drowsy hum of bees among the flowers in the nearby borders; then the Prime Minister said thoughtfully: "You say that the child who is still in the Temple had been walled-up for six months, and that during that time his food was passed to him through a grill which prevented even his jailers seeing him. It is not to be wondered at that when you broke your way in you found him living like an animal, in an indescribable state of filth, scrofulous and ulcerated from neglect, and so ill that he could do no more than mutter a few almost incoherent words. Yet it seems to me that such conditions would have changed any child beyond normal recognition. Are you convinced beyond any shadow of doubt that he was not Marie Antoinette's son?"
"Certain of it, Sir. This child was at least two years older, and I had known the Dauphin well. Barras and Fouché saw him shortly after I did, and both were equally convinced that some other child had been substituted for the little Capet"
"And you think the substitution was made by Simon on the orders of Chaumette or Hebert, at the time of the walling up, in January ?"
"Yes; and since all three of them are dead mere are no possible means of tracing the victim of their intrigue."
"Victim, in its full sense, may not be the appropriate word. The poor child may still be a captive in some Parisian cellar, or hidden on a lonely farm."
Roger had never previously lied to his master, but he did so now. He knew Louis XVII to be dead. How and where the boy had died was a secret that he had no intention of ever telling anyone, and the knowledge of it could be of no value to Mr. Pitt; so he said:
"Should that be so, and there is a counter-revolution in a few years' time, the people now acting as his jailers may pretend that they kept turn hidden for his own safety, and produce him in the hope of receiving a great reward. But I greatly doubt it. When I last saw the boy his mind had been so brutalized and bemused by Simon that he had already almost forgotten that he was born a Prince; and it is most unlikely that whoever took him from the Temple would have disclosed his identity to his new guardians, for to do so would have been to risk their using him for their own ends. My own belief is that the sadist Hubert murdered him rather than allow Robespierre to get possession of so valuable a card. Otherwise, when he and Chaumette were brought to trial in March, why did not one or other of them offer to produce the priceless hostage they held in exchange for their own lives? In any case, the wretched child had been reduced to a state which made him hopelessly unfitted to succeed; so the wisest course would be to leave him out of all future calculations and account him dead."
Mr. Pitt refilled his glass from the half-empty decanter, and murmured: "Mayhap you're right; but 'tis a tragedy that bodes ill for the future of France."
"Why so, Sir?"
"Because we must now regard his uncle, that pig-headed fool the Comte de Provence, as Louis XVIII. Had you succeeded in bringing the boy here we might have been able to make something of him, and sent him back well grounded in our democratic ideas to play the part of a good Constitutional Monarch. As things are now, when de Provence ascends the throne, so full is he of antiquated prejudices, he will endeavour to set the clock back a hundred years, and rob his people of the long overdue liberties they won for themselves in the early days of the Revolution. Then we shall be faced with the dilemma whether to continue our support of him as France's legitimate ruler, - or stand by while the people revolt again, and perhaps once more become a menace to order and security throughout Europe."