MARAT. I was mistaken.
HOCHE[takes his hand and smiles]. How tiresome it must be to suspect people! I'd rather die.
MARAT[sighing]. So would I. But as you said just now, it is not for us, but for the nation.
HOCHE. Continue to keep a sharp watch over the people. I don't envy you: my task is much easier.
MARAT[looking atHOCHE]. Oh, Nature, if the eyes and voice of this man lie, there is no honesty! Soldier, I have offended you before every one. And before every one, I ask your pardon.
HOCHE. But you didn't offend me. No one knows better than I what a military chief is, and what dangers beset the cause of Liberty. Military discipline makes every man a slave; men cannot like it: we abhor it as much as you do. We have ourselves just broken the blind power that was in our hands. Open your arms to us, make room for us at your tables, give us back our lost liberty, our cramped consciences, our right to be men like you, your equals and your brothers. Soldiers, become again part of the People. And you, People, all of you, become the Army; defend yourselves, defend us, and defend our souls, which are being attacked. Give us your hands, embrace us, let us be but one heart. You are all of you our friends. All of us for all of us!
THE PEOPLEand theSOLDIERS[in an ecstasy of fraternal enthusiasm, laughing, crying, embracing one another]. Yes, for you, for you! Our brothers the people! Our soldier brothers!—For all who suffer! For the oppressed!—For all mankind! [The enthusiasm waxes into a pandemonium, and is increased with cries and cheers from the windows of the neighboring houses.]
HULIN. Hurrah! Hoche! At last, some one who dispels the sadness!
HOCHE[amiably, to the people who acclaim him from the windows]. What are you doing there at home? Why shut yourselves in on a beautiful July night like this? Man is sad when he is alone. It is the fetid air of the cellar that breeds suspicion and doubt. Come forth from your houses; you've been shut up too long. You must live now in the open streets. Come out and watch the sun rise. The enslaved city now breathes freely; the cool winds from the prairies are blowing over the houses and the streets that are blocked by our armies; they bring us the salute from the friendly countryside. The grain is ripe, come and reap it.
LA CONTAT. What a splendid fellow! He breathes joy and happiness. [She goes towardHOCHE.]
HOCHE. Ah, there you are, you flower-girl of Liberty! Madame Royalist, who stripped the trees of the Palais-Royal and threw cockades to the people. I knew you would come. Do you at last believe in our cause?
LA CONTAT. I believe in anything you say. Witha face like yours—[she points, to his face] I could always be converted. [The People laugh.]
HOCHE[laughing]. I'm not surprised. I always knew I had an apostolic temperament. Well, take your place, then. We won't refuse any one. Take a pike: a girl like you ought to defend herself.
LA CONTAT. Oh, oh, don't enroll me so quickly! I look on, I applaud, and I find the piece interesting, but I'm not playing this evening.
HOCHE. So you think it's merely interesting? You think it is play? Look at this poor devil, his bones sticking out of his blouse, and this woman nursing her child. Is it amusing to see them starve? You think it a good comedy to see these people, without bread, without a future, thinking only of humanity, and of eternal justice? Don't you think it's at least as serious as a Corneille tragedy?
LA CONTAT. That, too, is only a play.
HOCHE. Nothing is play. Everything is serious. Cinna and Nicomède exist, just as I do.
LA CONTAT. You are strange! Actors and authors construct make-believe things, which you accept as gospel!
HOCHE. You're mistaken, it isn't make-believe for you: you don't know yourself.
LA CONTAT. You make me laugh! Doyouknow me?
HOCHE. I've seen you on the stage.
LA CONTAT. And do you imagine Ifeelwhat I act?
HOCHE. You can't deny it: your instinct makes you feel. A power is never an illusion; it carries you along. I know better than you what it does to you.
LA CONTAT. What?
HOCHE. What is strong goes with what is strong. You will be one of us.
LA CONTAT. I don't think so.
HOCHE. What difference? There are only two parties in the world: the healthy and the sick. What is healthy goes with life. Life is with us. Come!
LA CONTAT. With you—willingly.
HOCHE. So you won't decide! Very well, we'll see later on, if we have time to think.
LA CONTAT. There is always time for love.
HOCHE. You've been made to think that too often. Do you think our revolution is going to be merely some gallant little story? Ah, you little women! During the fifty years you have been governing France, and had everything brought you, done for you, did it never enter your heads that there might be something more important than your dainty selves? Play is over and done with, Madame. This is a serious game, in which the stake is the world itself. Make way for the men! If you dare, follow us to battle, help us, share our faith, but, by God, don't dare try to shake it. You count for very little beside it. I'm not angry, Contat! I have no time for a flirtation, and as for my heart, it already belongs to some one else.
LA CONTAT. To whom?
HOCHE. To Liberty.
LA CONTAT. I'd like to know what she looks like.
HOCHE. She is a little like you, I imagine. Very healthy, well-built, blonde, passionate, audacious, but rouged like yourself, with beauty-spots—ironic, too; but shedoes,instead of making fun of those who do; and instead of making double-meaning phrases, she breathes words of devotion and fraternity. I am her lover. When you are like her, I will love you. That is all I have to say.
LA CONTAT. I like her, and I will have you. Now, to battle! [She snatches a musket from one of the People, and declaims with great warmth, a few lines from "Cinna":]
"Thou need'st fear no success which shames thy name!For good and evil both are for thy glory,And though the plot's reveal'd and thou dost die,Thy honor's still intact. Think but of BrutusAnd valiant Cassius, are their names obscured?Did these two heroes perish with their plots?Are they not honored with the greatest Romans?. . . . . . . . . . . .Go, follow them, where honor bids you tread!"
[She rushes into the arms of the People, who wildly applaud her.]
HOCHE. Splendid! Let Corneille be our guide! Wave the torch of heroism before our eyes!
HULIN. Where are you going?
HOCHE. Where are we going? [He raises his eyes, and looks at the house of littleJULIEwho, partly dressed, leans out the window, excited and joyous.] Ask that little woman. I want her to give the answer which is in all our hearts. You innocent little one, be our voice, and tell us where we are going?
JULIE[leaning far out of the window, but kept from falling by her mother,—shouting at the top of her voice]. To the Bastille!
THE PEOPLE. To the Bastille! [The Crowd is at the highest pitch of excitement. They gather into little groups—workingmen, bourgeois, students, and women.] The Bastille! The Bastille! Break the yoke! At last! Down with that stupid mass! Monument of our defeat and degradation! The tomb, of those who dare speak the truth!—Voltaire's prison!—Mirabeau's prison!—The prison of Liberty! Let's breathe!—Monster, you will fall! We'll pull down every stone of you! Down with the murderer! Coward —Cut-throat! [They shake their fists at the Bastille, and shout until they are hoarse.HULIN,ROBESPIERRE,andMARATwildly wave their arms, and try to make themselves heard above the clamor. It is seen that they disapprove of what the People are doing, but their voices are drowned out.]
HULIN[at last making himself heard]. You're mad, mad, I tell you! We'll only break ourselves against that mountain!
MARAT[hisarms crossed]. I really marvel at you! Giving yourselves all this trouble to free a handful of aristocrats! Don't you know that there are only a few rich men in there? It's a luxurious prison, made especially for them. Let them mind their own affairs. That doesn't concern you.
HOCHE. Every sort of injustice concerns us. Our Revolution is not a family matter. If we are not rich enough to have relations in the Bastille, we can at least adopt the rich people who are as unfortunate as we. Every man who suffers unjustly is a brother.
MARAT. You are right.
THE PEOPLE. We want the Bastille!
HULIN. But, you fools, how are you going to take it? We have no weapons, and they have!
HOCHE. Of course. Let us take the weapons, then. [Confusion at the back of the stage.]
A WORKINGMAN[running in]. I've just come from the Left Bank. They're all on the move: in the Place Maubert, La Basoche, La Montagne Sainte-Geneviève. They're marching against the Invalides to seize the weapons there—thousands of muskets! The French Guards, monks, women, students, a whole army. The King's Attorney and the Curé de Saint-Etienne-du-Mont are marching at their head.
HOCHE. You were asking for weapons, Hulin. There they are.
HULIN. You can't take the Bastille with a few hundred old arquebuses, or even a few good cannon from the Invalides. You might as well try to split a rock open with a knife.
HOCHE. No, the Bastille can't be taken with cannon, but it will be taken.
HULIN. How?
HOCHE. The Bastille must fall, and fall it will. The gods are with us.
HULIN[with a shrug]. What gods?
HOCHE. Justice, Reason. Bastille, you will fall!
THE PEOPLE. You will fall!
HULIN. I'd rather see a few real allies. I don't believe in it. Never mind, it shall never be said that any one got ahead of me. I'll even be the first to march against it. Perhaps you know better than I what must be done, but I'll do it. So, you want to attack the Bastille, you fools? Forward!
HOCHE. By God, you can do anything simply by saying it's possible! [GONCHONreturns with his patrol.]
GONCHON. Still here! The damned vermin! Chase them from one place and they go to another. So this is how you obey me? Didn't I command you to go home? [Taking a man by the collar.] You heard me! I know you, you were here before! You rascal, I've had enough of you, and I'm going to arrest you. I'll arrest you all. It's our business to maintain order. Every citizen abroad at night without a passport is open to suspicion.
HOCHE[laughing]. The beast wants to cheat the people!
MARAT. Who is this traitor who pretends to speak for the People? By what right does his odious voice give orders to the Nation? I know that big fellow, with a face like Silenus, puffy from long indulgence, and sweating from debauchery. Does this monopolist believe he has a monopoly over our Revolution? Can he lord it over us as he does over his Palais-Royal orgies? Get out, or I will arrest you in the name of the Sovereign People!
GONCHON[stammering], I—I am the representative of power. I have been appointed by the Central Committee.
THE PEOPLE. We are the power! We appoint the Central Committee! You obey us!
MARAT[with an air of ferocity which is at bottom nothing more than a sinister buffoonery, assumed to terrifyGONCHON]. We must be careful with these traitors, who associate with the people only in order to betray them. Hoche has well said that if we are not on the lookout, we shall be overpowered. I think that in order to distinguish those who are the valets of the aristocrats from the others, we ought to cut off their ears, or rather their thumbs. It is a prudent and indispensable measure. [The People laugh.]
GONCHON[tremblingly, toHOCHE]. Soldier, it is your business to support the law—
HOCHE. That's your business. They won't hurt you. Go ahead, we shall follow.
GONCHON. Follow me? Where?
HOCHE. To the Bastille.
GONCHON. What!
HOCHE. Of course. We are going to take the Bastille. Are you not defending the people, you Bourgeois Militia? Then take you places in the front ranks. Fall in, and don't stop to argue. You don't seemed pleased with the prospect? [Speaking intoGONCHON'Sear.] I know your tricks, old man; you are in communication with the Due d'Orléans. Now, not a word, and march straight ahead. I am keeping my eye on you, and I have only to say the word to Marat. It's not day yet, and you might light the way for us, hanging from one of those lamp-posts!
GONCHON. Let me go home!
HOCHE. Choose: be hanged or take the Bastille.
GONCHON[quickly]. Take the Bastille! [The People laugh.]
HOCHE. Brave man! And now, the people will not allow the Montagne Sainte-Geneviève to outwit us. Let Saint-Antoine not remain idle while Saint-Jacques does her share! Ring your bells, beat your drums, and call out the citizens. [To the Electors and Deputies.] You, citizens, guard the Hötel de Ville, and see that no treachery is done. Take charge of the bourgeois! Now, we'll gag the beast. [Points to the Bastille. LittleJULIEhas meanwhile come from the house with her mother, and stands in the doorway. She then stands on a post to see better, and looks atHOCHEin silent and passionate admiration.HOCHElooks at her and smiles.] Well, little one, do you want to come, too? Consumed with envy, aren't you? [She holds out her trembling arms to him, nodding, but says nothing.] Then come! [He takes her on his shoulder.]
THE MOTHER. You're mad! Put her down! You're not going to take her into the fight?
HOCHE. She is sending us into the fight! She is our standard-bearer!
THE MOTHER. Don't take her from me!
HOCHE. You come, too, mother! No one should stay at home today. The snail must come forth from its shell. The whole city is freed from prison today. We leave nothing behind. This isn't an army at war, it is an invasion.
THE MOTHER. Indeed, it is. If we must die, it's better to die all together.
HOCHE. Die? Nonsense. You don't die when you expect death! [The sky begins to brighten behind the houses and the solid mass of the Bastille.] At last! Day is breaking. The new day, the dawn of Liberty!
JULIE[who, seated onHOCHE'Sshoulders, has been all smiles, excited and quiet, and with a finger to her lips, begins singing one of the national songs of the day]:
"Oh, come, Thou god of LibertyAnd fill our souls this day—"
HOCHE[laughing]. Do you hear the little sparrow? [The People laugh.] Come, then, with light hearts. Let us march ahead of the sun! [He takes upJULIE'Ssong, and begins marching. All the People join in the song. A little flute carries the air. Shouts and enthusiastic cheering resound; bells ring.GONCHONand his trembling Militia are urged on by the jeering crowd, among whichLA CONTATandHULINare distinguished. Men and women come forth from, the houses and join the throng. A tempest of joy. As the People file off,DESMOULINS,following them a way, returns, quickly mounts the barricade, goes toLUCILE'Swindow, and looks in. During the rest of the act, the noise of the crowd is heard in the distance. A few people continue to come from the houses, but they pay no attention to the lovers.]
CAMILLE[in an undertone]. Lucile! [The window softly opens, andLUCILEappears, then puts her arm aboutCAMILLE'Sneck.]
LUCILE. Camille! [They kiss.]
CAMILLE. You were there!
LUCILE. Sh! They're sleeping in the next room. I was hidden in there. I stayed all the while. I heard and saw everything.
CAMILLE. Didn't you go to bed at all?
LUCILE. How could I sleep with all that noise? Oh, Camille, how they cheered you!
CAMILLE[pleased]. Did you hear them?
LUCILE. The windows shook with it. I smiled to myself in my corner. I wanted to shout, too. I couldn't, so I just stood up on a chair—guess what I did?
CAMILLE. How can I guess?
LUCILE. Guess—if you love me. If you didn't feel anything, then you don't love me. What did I send you?
CAMILLE. Kisses.
LUCILE. You do love me! Yes, I did. Whole basketfuls. Some of them went to those who were cheering you. How they cheered! How famous you've become, my Camille, in one day! Last week, your Lucile was the only person who knew you, who realized how great you were. But today, a whole people—
CAMILLE. Listen! [They hear the joyful cries of the People.]
LUCILE. That's all your work.
CAMILLE. I can't believe it myself.
LUCILE. Just by what you said! How did you do it? They told me every one was mad with excitement. I wish I had been there!
CAMILLE. I really don't know what I said. I felt as if I were lifted up into the air. I heard my own voice and saw my gestures exactly as if they belonged to some one else. Every one cried—and I cried with the rest. Then after I finished, they carried me on their shoulders. I never saw anything like it.
LUCILE. My great man, my Patru, my Demosthenes! And you were able to speak before that great crowd? Weren't you at all nervous? Didn't you forget what you were going to say? You didn't do as you—sometimes do—?
CAMILLE. What?
LUCILE. You know—like—like a bottle that's too full—and the water can't come out—? [Shelaughs.]
CAMILLE. That's unkind of you! And you show your little teeth like a cat.
LUCILE[laughing]. No, no, you know I love you; I love you just as you are. Don't be angry. I see your faults, I even look for them, but I love them. I love your stammering, and I even imitate you. [They laugh.]
CAMILLE. Just see what one day has done to these people I What can't we expect of them now! Oh, my Lucile, what wonderful things we shall do together! Now it's started, the thunderbolt is launched; what joy to see it strike here and there, and lay low the tyrants—prejudice, injustice, laws! At last, we are going to smash these maggots, who with their idiotic grins, set themselves up against everything, prevent our thinking, breathing, our very existence! We are going to clean house, and burn the old rags. No more masters, no more shackles! How, amusing it all is!
LUCILE. We will rule Paris now?
CAMILLE. We will: Reason will.
LUCILE. Hear their shouting. It makes me afraid.
CAMILLE. That is the result of my words.
LUCILE. Do you think they'll always listen to you?
CAMILLE. They listened to me before they knew me; what power I must have now that they adore me! They are good people, and when they are at last rid of all the evils that are bearing down on them, everything will be easy and joyous. Oh, Lucile, I am too happy! It's all come so suddenly. No, I'm nottoohappy; that is impossible. But I feel a little intoxicated, after being so miserable.
LUCILE. Poor Camille! Were you so very unhappy?
CAMILLE. Yes, I have had a hard time, and for so long—six years. Without money, without friends, without even hope. I was disowned by my own people, I had to engage in the lowest professions, and turn my hand to anything to earn a few sous—and often not getting them after all. More than once I went to bed without supper. But I don't want to tell you that. Later on—It was wrong of me.
LUCILE. Is it possible? Heavens, why didn't you come to—?
CAMILLE. You would, I know, have divided your bread with me! That wasn't the worst, Lucile. I could do without supper, but to doubt myself, to see no future before me! And then, the sight of you, with your dear yellow curls and brown eyes, in the window opposite mine. How I followed you, at a distance, through the Luxembourg Gardens, admiring your grace, your movements! Ah, my dear little Lucile, you often made me forget my misery, and sometimes made it seem heavier. You were so far from me! How could I hope that some day—? But that some day is here—now! It can't escape me! I have you. I kiss your hands! For they have brought me all the happiness in the world! The world that is freed through me! How happy I am! [They kiss, and for a moment say nothing.]
CAMILLE. You're crying?
LUCILE[smiling']. So are you. [The lights in the windows are extinguished.] The lights are out; see the dawn! [The Crowd is heard outside.]
CAMILLE[after a moment's pause]. Do you remember that old English story we read together? About the two children in Verona who were in love in that town?
LUCILE[nodding]. Why do you ask?
CAMILLE. I don't know. Who knows what the future holds in store for us?
LUCILE[putting her hand over his mouth], Camille!
CAMILLE. Poor Lucile, do you think you would be strong enough, if ill-fortune—?
LUCILE. Who knows? I might if it were necessary. But I'm afraid for you; you will suffer terribly.
CAMILLE[nervously]. You say that as if you really thought it might happen?
LUCILE[smiling]. You are weaker than I, my hero.
CAMILLE[smiling]. Perhaps. I need love. I can't live alone.
LUCILE. I'll never leave you.
CAMILLE. Never! No matter what happens, let us have everything in common, and let nothing separate us, nothing keep us—[A moment of silence.LUCILEis motionless, her head resting on his shoulder.] Are you asleep?
LUCILE[raising her head]. No. [With a sigh.] God spare us those trials!
CAMILLE[with a skeptical smile]. God?
LUCILE[her cheek against the window, and one arm aboutCAMILLE'Sneck]. Don't you believe in God?
CAMILLE. Not yet.
LUCILE. What do you mean?
CAMILLE. We are creating Him now. Tomorrow, if I can believe in what my heart tells me, there will be a God: Man. [LUCILEcloses her eyes and sleeps.CAMILLEsays quietly]. Lucile!—She's asleep.
ROBESPIERRE[coming across the street and catching sight ofCAMILLE]. You're still here?
CAMILLE. Sh!
ROBESPIERRE. You forget your duty. [CAMILLEpoints toLUCILE.—ROBESPIERRElowers his voice and looks atLUCILE.] Poor child! [He stands still a moment, looking at the pair. The sound of nearby drums awakensLUCILE.She catches sight ofROBESPIERREand quickly jumps up.]
LUCILE. Oh!
CAMILLE. What's the matter, Lucile? He is our friend Maximilien.
ROBESPIERRE[bows toLUCILE]. Didn't you recognize me?
LUCILE[still trembling]. You frightened me!
ROBESPIERRE. I beg your pardon.
CAMILLE. You're trembling.
LUCILE. I'm cold. Good-by, Camille. I'm so tired. I must go to sleep. [CAMILLEsmiles at her and blows a kiss.ROBESPIERREbows. She disappears, after bowing to the men. The dawn has come, and the shy behind the Bastille is richly colored. In the midst of the far-off shouting are heard the first stray fusillades]
ROBESPIERRE[turning toward the noise]. Come, now. No more love today. [He goes out.]
CAMILLE[descending from the barricade]. No more love? What then? Is it not love that now arouses this city, swelling every breast, and sacrificing the vast harvest of humanity? Oh, my love, you are not narrow and selfish, you bind me to these men with stronger bonds. You are everything, you embrace the whole world. It is not Lucile alone I love, but the universe. Through your dear eyes, I love all who love, who suffer, who are happy, who live, and who die. I love! I feel the sacred flame within me! It colors the eastern sky above the Bastille. The last shadows are gone, and this will go, too, this nightmare-shadow! [The Bastille, monstrous and black, stands forth against the bright red shy. The voice of the cannon suddenly rends the silence, and reverberates above the confusion of the people in the distance, the fusillade, the bells, and the roll of the drums.CAMILLEsmiles, and faces the Bastille, putting his finger to his nose.] The wolf howls, ha! Growl, show your teeth! You are doomed! Since the King likes hunting, let us hunt the King!
[Tuesday, July 14th. The Interior Court of the Bastille. To the left are seen the bases of two enormous towers the tops of which are invisible. Between them are thick masses of wall, rising up like mountains of stone. Opposite is the gate and the draw-bridge leading to the Government Court. To the right, a one-story structure standing against the walls of the other towers. As the curtain rises, the PensionerBÉQUARTand his companions are stationed in the Court, with three cannon.VINTIMILLE,commander of the Pensioners, is seated, bored and indifferent. Swiss Guards enter now and then from the draw-bridge with news of the revolt, which is now heard outside the other gate leading to the Government Court. The rattle of muskets, cries, and the beating of drums are heard without. Occasional smoke clouds rise above the walls.]
DE LAUNEY[Governor of the Bastille, enters from the other court, nervous and agitated]. Well, Monsieur de Vintimille, you see? They are attacking!
VINTIMILLE[with a touch of irony and weariness]. Well, Monsieur de Launey, let them attack. What is it to us? Unless they have wings, like the Messieurs Montgolfier, I defy them to make their way in.
DE LAUNEY[among themselves]. Good God!
BÉQUART. Poor devils, they'll be ground to bits! Not one will be left living. Those damned Swiss keep firing on them. It's wrong to shoot down defenseless people like that! Especially when you are in a fort behind good solid walls.
A PENSIONER. Tell me, why are they attacking us?
BÉQUART. Can't tell what's come over them at all. Not like it used to be. Don't understand. They're all mad, this last month especially. Well, anyway, it's too bad to treat them like that. They're not bad. They're people like us.
PENSIONER. Well, it's the order. So much the worse. They had no business doing it.
BÉQUART. Of course. And it's fine to hear that music! I never thought I'd live to see another battle.
DE FLUE[Commander of the Swiss Guards, entering from the other court]. Monsieur le Gouverneur, will you please burn the houses in the neighborhood? They can shoot into the court from the roofs.
DE LAUNEY. No, I can't burn private property. I have no right.
DE FLUE. War without incendiarism is like eel without mustard. Very good of you to have these scruples! But when you make war, you must stop at nothing, or else never begin.
DE LAUNEY. What do you think, Monsieur de Vintimille?
VINTIMILLE[with a shrug]. It makes no difference to me. Do as you like. They'll never come in here. But if you care to profit by the occasion to clean out the quarter, together with those idiots who meet there, don't hesitate. Do as you like; it's a matter of no importance.
DE LAUNEY. Let us wait; there is no immediate hurry. We have plenty of men and ammunition; we are not yet reduced to extremes. Are we, old Béquart?
BÉQUART. We're safe till the Last Judgment, Monsieur le Gouverneur. I served under Monsieur de Chevert at Prague forty-seven years ago. The Marshal de Belle-Isle stationed us there. We were a handful in the enemy's country; we were short of everything, and even the city was against us. They could never have dislodged us. And here we have only a rabble of women and shopkeepers, with solid walls between us, and the troops of the Champ de Mars and Sèvres only a step away. We can smoke our pipes and sit with crossed legs.
DE FLUE. The moment you think you're quiet, these frogs of Parisians fly at your throat. Throw a few stones at them, and you'll see them jump back in their pond soon enough.
DE LAUNEY. Don't anger them too much.
DE FLUE. Give the rascals an inch and they'll take a mile. Hang the vagabond, or he will hang you.
BÉQUART. They're only poor devils, Monsieur de Flue. You mustn't be too hard on them. They really don't realize what they are doing.
DE FLUE. God, if they don't, I do! And that's enough.
DE LAUNEY. You are thinking only of the success of your battle, Monsieur de Flue. It's another matter for me: I must think of the consequences. The responsibility is on my shoulders. How do I know what will please or displease the Court. How do I know what it wishes me to do?
DE FLUE. Do you not know an enemy of the King when you see him? Are we not here by order of His Majesty? If we are attacked, is it not His Majesty who is attacked?
DE LAUNEY. No one can be quite sure; His Majesty is never quite sure himself. His enemies one day are his friends the next. I have either no orders at all, or else they are contradictory. Some tell me to resist to the end; others tell me not to fire. Provost Flesselles confided to me that he is with me and that he is deceiving the people. He tells the people he is with them and is betraying me. Whom is he betraying? How can I be assured I am not displeasing the Court while I serve it, and know that it is not laying the blame on me? If it wishes to do something, has it not a thousand ways of doing so? Why does not Monsieur de Breteuil, with his Champ de Mars troops, attack these insurrectionists from the rear?
DE FLUE. Wonderful! What a time they would have!
VINTIMILLE[toDE LAUNEY]. My dear fellow, yours be the victory! You are always right. [He goes to a corner and sits in the shadow.]
BÉQUART[who brings him a chair]. Monseigneur, you are never quite your old sprightly self on days of battle.
VINTIMILLE. They weary me with their continual discussions. [Pointing toDE LAUNEY.] He never knows what he wants; he must always consult every one, and get every one into embarrassing predicaments. What am I doing with such a vacillating person? They've given me a nasty task. There's no honor or pleasure to be derived from these squabbles. It's the business of the police to put down the people!
BÉQUART. It's not very pleasant to have to fire on the poor devils.
VINTIMILLE. You're becoming sentimental! Well, it's the fashion of the day, I suppose. Listen to the skunks out there! Disgusting. What do they want?
BÉQUART. Bread.
VINTIMILLE. Do they imagine the Bastille is a bakery? There they go again! Theyarein earnest. They seem most anxious to live. I wonder what interest they have in life? Their only pleasures are sour wine and unwashed women!
BÉQUART. You know, Monseigneur, that no matter how little one has to live for, one always clings to life.
VINTIMILLE. Oh, really? Speak for yourself!
BÉQUART. Oh, but you have everything to be desired.
VINTIMILLE. Do you envy me? Nothing in it, my boy.
BÉQUART. Nothing in it?
VINTIMILLE. Does that surprise you? You couldn't understand. Nothing! It is just the July sun—it makes me pessimistic.
A SwissGUARD[entering from the other court—toDE LAUNEY]. Monseigneur, they are firing from the neighboring houses. Some of them are perched on the roofs.
DE FLUE. Well, knock them off. It's only child's play for marksmen like you. [Outside,HOCHEis heard singing the refrain of the song sung in the Second Act]:
"Oh, come, thou God of Liberty,And fill our souls this day—"
SwissGUARDS[outside]. Forward! To the Governor!
DE FLUE. What's the trouble?
SwissGUARDS[entering from the exterior court, driving inHOCHE,withJULIEon his shoulders.] Commander, we caught this—just as he was jumping over the outer wall.
HOCHE[settingJULIEon the ground]. There you are! And here we are! I told you you would be the first to enter!
JULIE[joining her hands ecstatically]. The Bastille!
VINTIMILLE. I don't see the joke? [They form a circle about the newcomers.]
HOCHE[quietly]. Commander, we are envoys. [The Soldiers laugh.]
DE LAUNEY. Strange envoys!
HOCHE. We have no choice. We've been signaling to you, but you refused to see us. We jumped over the wall; that was the only way to reach you.
JULIE[going to the Swiss Guards]. Here they are!
SwissGUARDS. What do you want, little brat?
JULIE. Are you the prisoners?
SwissGUARDS[laughing]. Prisoners? No, we guard the prisoners.
HOCHE. You are not so very much mistaken. They, too, are prisoners, and more to be pitied than the others. They have lost even the desire for liberty.
DE LAUNEY. Who is this child?
HOCHE. Our good genius. She begged me to take her with me. I carried her on my back.
VINTIMILLE. Are you out of your head to expose the child to such danger?
HOCHE. Why should she not share our risks? She is sure to die if we die. Don't pretend to pity her; your cannon have no such scruples.
VINTIMILLE[with his accustomed coldness and irony]. A soldier! A petty officer who has deserted! So this is the envoy they send us? Capital! Well, shoot him. That will end his mission.
DE LAUNEY. One moment. It might be well to find out what they want.
VINTIMILLE. They have nothing to ask for.
DE FLUE. You don't parley with insurrectionists.
DE LAUNEY. Well, let us see: it costs nothing.
VINTIMILLE. Ridiculous. If we allowed them to discuss matters we might seem to be accepting them as equals.
DE LAUNEY. What shameless aberration led you to accept this mission?
HOCHE. The idea of serving both my friends and you.
VINTIMILLE. Do you realize what you have done? Do you know what a traitor is?
HOCHE. Yes, Monseigneur. He who takes up arms against his people.
VINTIMILLE[turns his back with a shrug]. Fool!
HOCHE. I beg your pardon, I did not intend to insult you. On the contrary, I come as a friend. I was told I would be shot. Possibly I shall, but really I should be surprised. I have come to try to help you to arrange matters. But if I am shot, well, you know the proverbs "A fine death compensates for a whole life."
DE LAUNEY. What is your message?
HOCHE[presenting a letter]. From the Permanent Committee of the Hôtel de Ville. [DE LAUNEYtakes the letter, stands to one side, with two officers, reading it. The Pensioners holdJULIEon their knees.]
BÉQUART. Why did you take it into your head to come, little one? Do you know some one here?
JULIE. I know a great many.
BÉQUART. Where?
JULIE. In the prison.
BÉQUART. You have nice acquaintances! Who? Relatives?
JULIE. No.
BÉQUART. What are their names?
JULIE. I don't know.
BÉQUART. You don't know? What do they look like?
JULIE. I couldn't say.
BÉQUART. Are you making fun of us?
JULIE. No, no, I know them very well: I've seen them. Only, I can't say—
BÉQUART. Tell us.
JULIE. Mamma lives in the Rue Saint-Antoine, near here. The carriages that go to the prison pass our house at night. I get up and see them—I see nearly all. But sometimes I miss them, and when I wake up, they've already passed.
BÉQUART. Why did you want to see them?
JULIE. Because they suffer.
BÉQUART. It's not very pleasant to see people who suffer. Why do you want to see them?
JULIE[naively]. Because it makes me sad.
A PENSIONER[laughing]. There's a reason for you!
BÉQUART. Shut up! You fool!
THE PENSIONER[angry at first]. Fool? [He reflects a moment, scratching his head.] True, though!
JULIE[who sits down and plays with a cannon]. You're not going to fire on us, are you? [They do not answer.] Tell me you won't. Please. I like you. You must like me.
BÉQUART[hissing her]. Good little thing!
DE LAUNEY[shrugs his shoulders, after reading the letter]. This is unheard-of! Messieurs, this strange message which has been delivered to me by some committee of tramps—this—this Permanent Committee, asks me to divide the guard of the Bastille between the rest of our own troops and the people! [The Soldiers laugh, the officers rage.]
VINTIMILLE. Charming proposal!
HOCHE[toDE LAUNEY]. Listen to me, Monseigneur. You can prevent the carnage. We hold nothing against you personally, but against this mass of stone, which has for centuries weighed heavy on the people of Paris. Blind power is no less shameful to those who impose it than for those against whom it is directed. It is disgusting to every one who reasons. You who are more intelligent than we, ought to feel that and suffer more than we. Help us, do not fight against us. Reason, for which we are fighting, is as much your own as ours. Give up this prison of your own accord; don't force us to capture it.
VINTIMILLE. There he is spouting about reason and conscience. These Rousseau monkeys. [ToDE FLUE.] My compliments! You made us a pretty present!
DE FLUE. What present?
VINTIMILLE. Your Jean-Jacques. You might at least have kept him in Switzerland.
DE FLUE. We would have been glad to dispense with him ourselves.
DE LAUNEY[toHOCHE]. You are crazy. Did you ever hear of the stronger relinquishing their arms, from sheer good-heartedness, to the weaker?
HOCHE. You are not the stronger.
DE LAUNEY. Do you think these brave men, these twenty cannon, twenty chests of bullets, and thousands of rounds of ammunition, are nothing?
HOCHE. You may kill a few hundred men. But what will that avail you? They will return thousands strong.
DE LAUNEY. We shall be re-inforced.
HOCHE. You will not be re-inforced. You might have been, but you were not. A king cannot murder his people; it would be not only murder but suicide. I tell you, you will be overcome. You display your artillery; you are used to the old-fashioned warfare, but you do not know the way we fight. You do not know what a freed nation is. War is only a game for you, because your hearts are not in it. Since Malplaquet, no one has taken an interest in thePatrie.You were friends of the enemy you fought, and were glad of the success of the King of Prussia. Victory is not a necessity for you. But we have no choice: we must conquer. [To the Pensioners.] Comrades, I know you well, and I respect you; you are fine old fellows. But when you fought, you were merely obeying orders; you do not know what it means to fight for yourself. [ToBÉQUART.] You yourself, Father Béquart—we all love you and admire your bravery—when you were at Prague, shut up with the enemy, you only defended your skin. We are fighting for our souls, and the souls of our sons and all the rest who will come after us. Do you hear the crowd outside? They are only a small part of our forces. Millions, all mankind to come, fight in our ranks, and make up that formidable and invisible mass which wins battles.
DE FLUE. You make me tired. We'll sweep those invisible masses off the earth with a few cannon-shots.
HOCHE. Do not fire. If you do, you are lost. A people is not a regular army; you can't let it loose without dire consequences.
VINTIMILLE[to himself, as he looks atHOCHE]. Strange men! How came our France to breed such creatures? They are Germans. Germans? No. I have known Prussians more French than this one. Who has wrought this change?
HOCHE. Remember, there is still chance for coming to an understanding; in a short while, that chance will be lost. The moment you draw blood, it will be too late.
DE FLUE. You had better give this advice to your friends.
HOCHE[with a shrug, toJULIE]. Come, little pigeon, they refuse your olive branch. [He takesJULIEon his shoulder.]
DE LAUNEY[toHOCHE]. Nothing can conquer the Bastille. It may be surrendered, but never taken.
HOCHE. It will be surrendered.
DE LAUNEY. And who will surrender it?
HOCHE. Your evil conscience! [HOCHEgoes out withJULIE,amid a general silence. No one thinks of stopping him.]
VINTIMILLE[reflectively]. Our evil conscience!
DE LAUNEY[suddenly]. Well! Why did we let him go?
DE FLUE. He is still in the court.
DE LAUNEY. Run after him and stop him!
BÉQUART. Monseigneur, it is impossible.
DE LAUNEY[grunting assent]. He's an envoy.
DE LAUNEY. Impossible, you rascal! Envoy from whom?
BÉQUART[gravely]. The people.
DE FLUE[to the Swiss Guards]. Arrest him!
BÉQUARTand thePENSIONERS[to the Swiss Guards]. No, comrades, not that! Don't arrest him!
A SwissGUARD[trying topass]. That was the command.
BÉQUARTand thePENSIONERS. Don't you dare go, or you'll have us to deal with!
VINTIMILLE[watching them, aside]. Ah, ha! [Aloud.] Good! [ToDE LAUNEY.] Don't insist.
A SwissGUARD[entering from the exterior court, toDE LAUNEY]. Monseigneur, there is an immense crowd coming out of the Rue Saint-Antoine. They have taken the Invalides, and are dragging along twenty cannon.
DE FLUE. The devil! But we must decide now, or everything will be spoiled. Let us rout the band, or they will defeat us. [Great clouds of smoke roll up above the outer walls.]
DE LAUNEY. What is that smoke?
A SwissGUARD. They've fired the outlying buildings.
DE LAUNEY. Scoundrels! So they want a pitiless warfare? They shall have it.
DE FLUE. Shall we fire?
DE LAUNEY. Wait—
DE FLUE. For what, in the name of God?
DE LAUNEY[with a questioning look atVINTIMILLE]. Monsieur de Vintimille.
VINTIMILLE[rather scornfully]. I told you what I thought. Do as you like. One word of advice: whatever you decide on, don't change it.
DE LAUNEY. You have a free hand, Monsieur de Flue. Give it to them! [DE LAUNEY,DE FLUE,and the Swiss Guards go out into the other court.]
VINTIMILLE[meditates with an ironical smile. A few steps from him, the Pensioners are guarding the cannon.] Our evil conscience! The corporal thinks he has a right to a conscience! He's richer than I. Conscience! It is neither good nor bad. It simply does not exist. Honor, yes. Honor? Under the late King, honor consisted in scheming for him to take one's wife or sister—provided they were presentable—for a mistress, or else in marrying the titled courtesan—honor! And now to have it barked at by this brothel-whelp. Let us not trouble honor. Really, I don't know why I am fighting here. Loyalty? Fidelity to the King? We are too used to clear thinking to be deceived by empty phrases. I have not believed in the King for many a long year. Well, then? [He shrugs his shoulders.] Habit, manners, fashion? We know we are wrong, we do not believe in what we are doing, and yet we must go through it to the end and behave correctly, elegantly, in order to conceal the utter uselessness of our existence. [Great confusion outside. The Swiss Guards suddenly rush back withDE FLUEandDE LAUNEYfrom the exterior court.]
THE SWISS GUARDS.They are coming!
VINTIMILLE. What! Who are coming? The people? Impossible!
DE FLUE[without troubling to answer]. Quick! Up with the draw-bridge! God Almighty!
DE LAUNEY. To the cannon! [The Swiss Guards quickly raise the draw-bridge. The Pensioners roll the cannon into place opposite the gate. Immediately after, the Crowd is heard shouting and muttering like an angry sea, just outside.]
VINTIMILLE[stupefied]. Are they in! Really?
DE FLUE[puffing]. Just in time! The damned rascals! [ToVINTIMILLE.] Would you believe they could have torn down the outer draw-bridge? You know the perfumer's house next to the outer gate? I told you, we ought to have burned all those houses! There were three or four of them on the roof—carpenters, masons—well, they scaled that wall like monkeys and got to the roof of the guard-house. No one was watching the place. They got to the gate, broke the chains, and the bridge fell right into the midst of the crowd, knocking a dozen of them flat. You should have seen them scramble and shout! The nasty scoundrels! [The confusion among soldiers and officers has up to the present concealed a group of Swiss Guards some distance away, who bring in a woman prisoner.]
SwissGUARDS[withLA CONTATin their midst.] We've made a good capture.
VINTIMILLE[bowing]. Why, it's you, Contat? You come to the rendezvous, I see! A silver helmet over your blonde hair, musket in hand; why, you look like the goddess of Liberty herself. So you were curious to come and see for yourself? You will be safe here, and may look around without danger. [He extends his hand to her, but she hesitates to take it.] You won't shake hands? We were good friends not very long ago. Are we not still? [She decides to shake hands.] Well, what's the matter? You look at me with those great eyes of yours, and you don't say a word? Are you afraid?
LA CONTAT. I—I beg your pardon. I hardly know where I am, and I am not sure whether to consider you as a friend or an enemy.
VINTIMILLE. An enemy? But why? Really, were you fighting us?
LA CONTAT. You know, it's not in my character to be a spectator; I must always play important parts. [She shows her musket, which a Pensioner takes from her at a sign fromVINTIMILLE.]
VINTIMILLE. You were tired of playing comedy, and you decided to turn to drama. But do you realize, my dear, that your little escapade has put you in danger of spending a few months in Fort-l'Evêque?
LA CONTAT. I risked far more than that.
VINTIMILLE. But you were not in earnest, Contat? You one of these brawlers? [He scrutinizes her from head to foot.] No rouge, no beauty-spots. Your hands black—face streaming with perspiration—your hair wet, sticking to your cheeks. You're breathing hard. Muddy to the knees! Covered with filth and powder! What's happened to you? Why, I know you well, and I am sure you never liked that filthy rabble any more than I.
LA CONTAT. No, I didn't.
VINTIMILLE. A love-affair, then? Is he in that crowd?
LA CONTAT. I thought it was that at first. But there is something else.
VINTIMILLE. What?
LA CONTAT. I do not know. I couldn't tell you exactly why I am fighting: but I felt it not long ago, I was ready to cut your throat.
VINTIMILLE[laughing]. You always liked to exaggerate.
LA CONTAT. I am not joking now.
VINTIMILLE. But, Contat, you are a woman of sense; you don't do things without a reason?
LA CONTAT. I have a reason, but I can't explain it now. A few moments ago it was so powerful, so clear to me. The feelings of those people thrill me, like the roll of thunder. Now that I am separated from them, I don't know, I don't know what—
VINTIMILLE. You were mad. Confess it.
LA CONTAT. No, no: I am sure they are right.
VINTIMILLE. Right to rebel against the King, kill people, and die for a nothing?
LA CONTAT. They are not dying for nothing.
VINTIMILLE. No, of course not: for Monsieur d'Orléans' écus!
LA CONTAT. My dear, you're the same as ever: you always minimize one's motives.
VINTIMILLE. Money is not a small motive to vagabonds who have none. Can you give me a better motive?
LA CONTAT. Liberty.
VINTIMILLE. What is that?
LA CONTAT. I don't like your ironical smile. When you look at me that way, I don't know what to say. Even if I did, I shouldn't say it. It would be useless: you could never understand. You may at least listen, and watch.
THE PEOPLE[outside]. We want the Bastille!
VINTIMILLE[coldly]. Yes, it's curious, very curious.
DE LAUNEY[in consternation]. What the devil is urging those idiots on?
DE LAUNEY[looking with mingled interest and sympathy through the loop-holes in the gate]. Women —Priests!—Bourgeois!—Soldiers!—There, there's that little girl on Hulin's shoulders.—She's kicking her feet like a little devil!
DE FLUE[talking to the Swiss Guards], Good. They're caught in a trap now, between the walls. We can get at them from the towers.
DE LAUNEY. Clear the court! Smash them! [DE FLUEand the Guards run into the Bastille through the gate leading to the towers.]
BÉQUARTand thePENSIONERS[murmuring]. It's going to be a butchery!—They're hardly armed. And those children—!
THE PEOPLE. We want the Bastille! [LA CONTATandVINTIMILLEhave not followedDE FLUE'SandDE LAUNEY'Sconversation.LA CONTAT'Sattention is wholly occupied with the People, as she listens to their shouting.]
LA CONTAT[shouting to the people outside]. Courage! I am the first to take it! [The beat of drums is now heard.]
BÉQUARTand thePENSIONERS[looking out]. They want to parley again: they're waving handkerchiefs, signaling to us.
VINTIMILLE[also looking out]. The Attorney is leading them.
DE LAUNEY. Let's see what they want.
VINTIMILLE. Cease firing! [The Pensioners throw down their muskets. The drums are heard heating near the moat.VINTIMILLEand some of the Pensioners go up to the right of the gate toward an opening in the wall from which they can overlook the assailants.VINTIMILLEaddresses the people.] What do you want? [At the same moment a volley is fired from the upper part of the towers.VINTIMILLEturns.] What the devil are they doing?
DE LAUNEYandDE LAUNEY[astonished]. The Swiss Guards are firing!—Stop them! Stop them! [Some run to the tower gate and disappear.]
VINTIMILLE[having descended again into the court]. Too late! Pretty piece of work they've done! Listen to those cries! They aimed well. They think we fired from a secret hiding-place. [The People howl with rage.VINTIMILLEturns and seesLA CONTAT,who has come up behind him and looks at him with hatred in her eyes.] What's the trouble, Contat? [She does not answer, but suddenly seizesVINTIMILLE'Ssword, snatches it from the scabbard, and attempts to stab him. The Pensioners seize her hands and hold her in spite of her heroic struggle to free herself.] So you wanted to kill me! [LA CONTATnods. She keeps her eyes fixed on him, and to the end of scene cannot utter a word, but trembles convulsively, panting like a beast.] You aren't sane. What's happened? I have done nothing to you. You know they acted contrary to orders. You yourself saw—Don't you recognize me, Contat? [She nods.] Do you really hate me? [She nods as before.] Speak to me? Won't you say a word? [He attempts to touch her, but she pulls back, and struggles again with the soldiers, who hold her hands. She then falls back in a sort of epileptic fit, screaming and moaning. They carry her off. Her cries are still heard. Outside, the People are screaming.]