Jane Feather - Charade by Unknown (howl and other poems .TXT) 📕

the crowds who will roam the streets'till dawn and then attempt a daytime passage through the

barriere

. Youwill decide amongst yourselves who is to come with us."

"The decision is made already," St. Vire said. "You will take the womenand children of these three families, the rest of us will remain andattempt to effect our own escape to Brittany."

"D'accord."

She glanced atJulian who merely said, "All is arranged,Danny. While we have been waiting for you to make an appearance, wehave been quite busy."

St. Estephe gnashed his teeth in silent fury. All his carefully laidplans must again be postponed. He had intended to follow Danielle andher friends with a party of his own men and make his move in thatremote fishing village far from civilization. He would take them allred-handed in the moment of flight, returning the aristos and theEnglish spies in triumph to Paris as further evidence of his loyalty tothe revolutionary committee. He would remain in Brittany amusinghimself with the little de St. Varennes while he waited for her husbandwho would find her—and her captor—easily enough. And when he eventuallyreturned to Paris, leaving his enemy dead, he would deliver Danielle toMadame Guillotine and mop up the rest of these traitors and all theothers whose identities he held. It was a perfect plan and one thataccomplished many things in a single throw. But now, after the mob'sactivities of this night, again he could not afford to leave the centerof the power struggle that would inevitably take place in the nextweeks.

He would have to wait until her next visit, and nothing would preventher from returning; not now when the need had become so totallyimperative and would become even more so by the minute. In themeantime, he would throw a few of these aristo fools to the lions, baitfor the mob's appetite, and the panic that that would cause would runlike wildfire, inevitably leading to carelessness as they made theirplans for exodus, and he would pick them off one by one, with no oneany the wiser of thetraitor in their midst. Yes, it was a pleasing plan, St. Estephedecided, looking around the anxious faces in the room. He must just bepatient and remember that everything comes to him who waits.

Danielle was conferring in a low voice with her colleagues as St.Estephe mentally revised his plans.

"Our only hope is to approach the

barriere

boldly," she wassaying. 'This night's work can be used to

ouradvantage. We will wear the

bonnetsrouges

and sing the "Qa Ira" andwill tell with much bloodthirsty detail of what we have seen. In fact,"she paused with a shudder, "I think it would be more convincing if wecarried with us some souvenirs from the Tuileries, and . . . andperhaps we had better look a little bloody ourselves."

There was short silence and then Tony said grimly, "Let us go then."

The five of them slipped from the house and then ran boldly through thealleys in the direction of the Tuileries. The streets were packed withshouting, singing hordes brandishing flaming torches, passing aroundflagons of wine. Impromptu dances were being performed on corners andin squares, and the scene in the Tuileries gardens came straight fromthe pits of hell. The crowd, intoxicated with blood and liquor hadhardly diminished since Danielle had left. Some had collapsed besidethe bodies of the Swiss Guard, others trampled heedlessly over theliving and the dead, their voices rising in raucous triumph. Daniellesmeared blood on her blouse and ripped a gore-stained shirt from one ofthe bodies before vanishing behind a tree to retch violently as therough red wine that she had drunk earlier revolted in her stomach andspewed forth in a convulsive tide. The others, as filthy and bloody asshe now was, found her there within a few minutes. They had shared toomuch intimacy for Danielle to feel embarrassment

as they waited insilence for the spasms to pass before helping her to her feet.

"I am all right," she whispered, trying to stiffen her wobbling knees."Please, let us leave now."

Dawn was breaking in eerie beauty over the hellish scene of horror asthey made their way back through streets rapidly emptying as thenight's excesses began to have their effect. "Danny,you must rest a while," Jules insisted. "We will leave in two hours."

"No, we must leave now. I cannot rest until we are through the gates.We will find somewhere to wash off this ..." A tremor shook her slightframe and the four men looked at her anxiously. "Please, you must notworry," she reassured, intercepting the look. "I am really quitestrong, you understand."

"Yes," Jules said with a dry twist of his lips, "we understand quitewell, but I am very much afraid that Justin will not. I hope to God hewill be at Mervanwey to put a stop to this."

"Oh, do not be absurd." The remark had the desired effect and brought aflash to the brown eyes. "He will do no such thing since he and I arenow quite in agreement over priorities. I am sure that the next time hewill accompany us."

"Well, he'll most assuredly not permit you to leave without him," Julesstated and Danny grinned, much

in her usual manner.

"Mais, d'accord, mon cousin. Qa c'estla pointe."

There was little traffic as they made their way to the gate, theirpassengers hidden beneath the layers of straw. About half a mile beforethey reached the

barriere

,Jules and Tony put their horses to thegallop and they all stood, singing the "Qa Ira" at the tops oftheir voices, flourishing the bloody shirts they had stripped from thebodies and waving a leathern flask of wine.

The guards who had spent the night at their posts, hearing the soundsfrom the city but unaware of what had transpired, rushed forward tostop them and the horses came to a plunging standstill. Danny leapedfrom the cart, offering her flagon and demanding that they drink to

LaRepublique.

The five of them were a fearsome sight with theirgorytalismans, the blood and filth