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| Silent Yearning |
Chapter 4: Attempt
The big wooden entrance door creaked when Bernard opened it slowly.
�Maximilian? Robespierre?� he shouted from the gate into the church interior and waited for an answer. It would have been unusual if Robespierre and his followers had not held a meeting in Notre Dame this morning.
�Bernard Chatelet?� Robespierre�s familiar voice answered him. Bernard saw him standing at the altar.
�Yes. Are you alone?�
�Yes, come in! I am surprised to see you again, Bernard. You did not get in touch with us the last couple of days,� Robespierre said calmly, although Bernard could hear clearly that the Jacobin felt betrayed, and Bernard knew that once this suspicion aroused, it was almost too late.
�Forgive me. I have been travelling around a lot lately, in order to calm the people down.
There are too many false rumours circulating, that�s why escalations occurred in the provinces.�
Robespierre nodded knowingly. �I have heard that you rejected direct cooperation with Saint Juste. Why, Bernard? Saint Juste is a good fighter for our matter. His speeches and charisma enthuse the people.�
�The citizens are enthused and impressed easily these days.�
Robespierre�s gaze overshadowed, his voice became cold as ice. �Do you think I exert wrong influence on the people?�
�No, no!� Bernard hastened to soothe him. �Saint Juste is prone to cruelties a bit too much for me.�
�We need to be hard and cruel if we want to overthrow the old balance of power, Bernard!�
�I am just requesting you to let me do my work my way, Maximilian! But I came to you for a different request.�
�And that would be?� Robespierre wiggled with his heels impatiently.
�One of Rosalie�s cousins would like to work for us. She wants to contribute to a new France...She is�a great admirer of yours, Maximilian.�
�Bernard, I do not have the time for letting any women adore me.�
�Give her any kind of assignment, Maximilian. I promised my wife.�
Robespierre smiled restrainedly. �It�s the requests of the women, Bernard, that ruin entire kingdoms. Marie Antoinette, Pompadour, DuBarry and all the rest of them�I will notify you.�
�Thank you, Maximilian.� Bernard turned and walked towards the gate at the open portal.
�And Bernard,� Robespierre�s tone rolled over to him thunderously. �JOINTLY we will lead France into a new age.�
Impulses of resistance stirred in Bernard. �Vive la Revolution. Adieu, Maximilian!� He nodded to Robespierre before he left the church. He sill believed in the ideals of the ambitious advocate.
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Bernard left Notre Dame on the double and went into hiding in the branched lanes of Paris. The noonday sun shone brightly. Her rays hardly touched the narrow streets.
It was quiet and deceptively calm. The area became more labyrinthine when the journalist turned to the alleys at Place St. Denis. He approached his destination by making detours and walking through backyards.
When he was certain that nobody had followed him, he entered one of those decrepit houses. The shutters were closed to lock out the heat of the last days of September. The stairway spanned shakily and darkly to the upper floors.
The stairs creaked like the joints of an old woman when he went up to the second floor.
Bernard did not have to knock first. At the open door of the flat its owner casually leaned against the door frame, a big grin was on the distinctive facial features. The reason hung at his arm; young, pretty and giggling frequently.
�Salut, Alain,� Bernard wiped the drops of sweat from his forehead.
�Salut Bernard, what brings you here?�
�Well, ma ch�rie, unfortunately I have to say goodbye to you.� A pat on a soft buttock followed, then she levitated away gigglingly. �Sweet thing,� Alain laughed and waved Bernard into his flat. �Come in!�
The room was in semi darkness. The few pieces of furniture loomed shadowy. Alain fetched a bottle of wine and two beakers and got comfortable at the table.
�Stop grinning so lasciviously, Alain! I am not your little friend.� Bernard laughed while he sat down.
Alain�s grin became even bigger. �I can�t deny that I would prefer her to sit here now.�
�Sorry, Alain, but I was anxious to talk to you.�
�What is the new leadership of our country doing? Do you want to ennoble the bourgeoisie and send the First Estate working on the fields? I would like to be wealthy for a change.� Alain leaned back pleasurably.
�I have to disappoint you, Alain. We still have a king.� Bernard sighed.
�There are more and more rumours that the people want their king back in Paris. Is that true?�
�It is..And it is still simmering among the population. I�m afraid the Peasant Uprising was just the beginning. There is still poverty and famine, but the treasuries are empty. Alain, why I actually came to you...have you seen Andr� or heard of him?�
�I don�t understand your question, Bernard. The last thing I heard from him were his last words to Oscar. Are you saying that he is still alive?� Alain would have expected anything, but not this kind of twist of the conversation.
�Yes, that is exactly what I wanted to say.� Bernard replied calmly.
�Have you seen him?�
�No, I only know second-hand.�
�And who claims to have seen Andr�?�
Bernard slowly bend forward to Alain and smirked highly visible. �Lady Oscar!�
Alain laughed. He slapped his thigh and laughed until he was out of breath.
�And who claims to have seen her?�
�Me! She is with me and Rosalie currently.� Bernard became serious again. �Her recovery took a long time, because it turned out that she suffered from tuberculosis. Until now nobody knows that she is still alive. With the Storming of the Bastille she took our side and thus committed high treason. We don�t know what attitude her father and the military council have towards her now. So we thought it was for the best not to tell anyone for the time being. And just like that Andr� might have survived. Lady Oscar believes it devoutly.�
Alain shook his head in disbelief. �But Andr� was dead and laid out in the church and Oscar was half mad because of grief for him. She even believed me to be Andr� for a short moment.�
�Oscar is far away from being insane She has a very sharp mind and with such an extraordinary strong personality, it takes more to weaken her brain. We never saw how Andr�s corpse was put in the ground. After the battle ended his body disappeared from the church.�
�But he was dead.�
�Seemingly dead people, Alain, occur every now and then. How often are people buried alive. What if someone removed him and nursed him like we did with Lady Oscar?�
Alain kept silent reflectively. He kept silent for a long time and persistently so that Bernard could hear how the woodworms chewed their way through the wood. �I am going to ask around, Bernard. I know half of Paris. Someone will know something.�
�Thank you, Alain.�
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