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| Silent Yearning |
Chapter 6: Order
Shadows scurried through the night, fast and inconspicuously. Darkness was the best protection for them. Passionate revolutionaries pointed their rifles at everything that moved these days. The men feared for their wives and children, because too many lost their lives during the Storm of the Bastille. The population was defenseless. Any day there could be new troops marching in in Paris by order of the royal family.
Grand walked through the nightly Paris. Subliminally the smell of blood and bane crawled through the lanes. He could understand the people. But his wrath over the exercise of violence on the part of the king, was nothing compared to the wrath he felt for Robespierre. But he was in debt to him and thus he followed his instructions that night as well. With a fixed gaze and a tense body he followed Jean-Luc over the Place St. Denis. Grand knew where they were going that night, but he faced their destination with ambivalent feelings. Jean-Luc inspected the environment with a focused gaze in order to avoid getting recognized. Paris seemed meretriciously calm that night.
Without noticing it the two informants arrived at their place of order. Grand jostled against his companion when he had suddenly jerked to a stop.
�Watch it! We have to be quiet�!� Jean-Luc fizzled. �Merde, he came back. Robespierre was wrong.� He screwed up his eyes unwillingly.
Grand gazed at him uncomprehendingly. Just as he looked at the pompous mansion in front of them, he understood Jean-Luc�s words. A carriage stood in the yard and candles in the lanterns were lit along the path to the mansion. But it seemed that at least its inhabitants were sleeping.
�So much for uninhabited�� the blond informer grumbled. �We are going to fulfill our order anyway; it doesn�t matter whether this fornicator, bed-warmer of that damn Austrian is still in the city or not. Robespierre won�t endure any delay. But that pretty boy deserves my respect. That he stays in Paris is something I thought he would not dare. If the people notice his presence in Paris, and believe me, I will make sure that they will notice it, then he doesn�t only have to be worried about his pretty house, but even more about his pretty face.� He smiled grimly, went ahead and left an appalled Grand behind. When this loyal informer of Robespierre predicted such a thing, it mostly really occurred. Even if one did not want to believe it, Jean-Luc possessed more power than was actually meant for him, because he had his own informers in the underground, that only outcropped when he thought they should. And he knew how to use them in the right moment.
Now Grand knew what he had to do. He had just received a new order�from his conscience. He had to warn his erstwhile friend.
At the back of the mansion they opened a door. The long mantles left grinding tones when they entered the house slightly ducked. Inside everything was silent and dark, only hardly the contours of particular objects could be made out. The two burglars noticed that the postern led directly into the kitchen. But that was not their destination. Quickly Jean-Luc and Grand found a door through which they were able to get into the actual big entrance hall. There they could perceive more, because through the high window arch the cold light of the moon fell directly onto the marble floor of the hall. It was confirmed that the house consisted of two floors. Amidst the night light that shone through the crystal panes, Grand discovered a staircase which on the right side along the wall led up to the second floor.
From the gallery the landlord�s premises led down. The servants rested in the lower rooms. Jean-Luc already went up the stairs to get to the upper rooms. Grand did not have any more time to look around carefully. He followed Jean-Luc.
It was to put caution above everything else now.
They had to trace the workroom. That meant to open each door, even if sleeping residents were behind those. But the first door already opened to the room they were looking for.
�We are lucky,� the blonde spy whispered more to himself than to Grand. He nodded to him shortly. The sign that Grand should take over his usual task; to take heed and to protect Jean-Luc during the completion of his order by warning him from unusual noises or things similar to that. He usually did that by simply knocking his shoe to the floor shortly. That was the sign for Jean-Luc that danger was approaching.
He entered the room. Grand sensed what would follow. The landlord would not recognize his room later. Grand sneaked further away, away from his companion who was fully devoted to his order. On the upper floor it was even darker than downstairs. Soon darkness swallowed him. Grand could scarcely see his hand in front of his eyes. Suddenly he was pulled back. From behind an arm entwined around his neck and placed a dagger against his throat.
�Who are you and what are you doing here? Speak fast if you don�t want this blade to come into operation!� it zinged in Grand�s back, barely audible. Nevertheless Grand immediately recognized the voice.
�Put the dagger down, Count von Fersen, if you want to avoid a confrontation with my companion�He could hear you!� Count von Fersen recognized the voice of his captive as well and released him. He looked at Grand stunnedly.
�Von Fersen, listen to me,� Grand aspirated and tried to make up the face of his opponent in the darkness. �You are in huge danger. It is known by now that you still reside in Paris. You have to leave the city, or even better the country right away. You are not safe here.�
Hans-Axel von Fersen just gazed confusedly. He did not expect Andr� as a nightly burglar. That did not make any sense.
�What is this man doing inside my premises? And what are you doing here, Andr�?�
�He is searching for letters or miscellaneous documents that might connect you with Marie Antoinette�� Grand ignored the last question. �I hope you don�t retain documents in your study room or that you don�t still possess such things at all.�
�I retain them at a safe place��
Grand interrupted him. �No, von Fersen, no place is safe at the moment. Follow my advice and destroy everything that reminds you of the queen. Pictures, letters or jewelry that you received from her majesty earlier. You are an open book to the French people! Avoid that they are able to prove your liaison and leave Paris!� Grand winced at the noises that came from the room that Jean-Luc was in. He seemed to have finished and if he came across von Fersen and him like that, both of them would be in lethal danger. �Hide yourself!�
�Andr�? I heard that Oscar has died. I am sorry. She was�� the bodiless voice of the Count broke. ��Why her? Oh God, give me some of her strength!�
Grand kept still. His eyes became rigid in the semi darkness. He turned around abruptly and hurried to get close to the stairs again. Fersen escaped back into the shadow. Grand passed by the room that Jean-Luc stepped out from. Both shook their head noiselessly, a sign that they did not find anything. It was time to leave the mansion again. When they sneaked down the stairs, Grand prayed that von Fersen would make it to leave the city safely. Count Hans Axel von Fersen was a dignified person, even if the pain to know Oscar�s affection is with him for a long time was deeply seated and formed cracks in his heart. Grand knew he would never see him again.
They left the mansion just like they had entered it, if not as unnoticedly as Jean-Luc assumed. Which none of the two noticed was that they had been followed since Place St. Denis. Hidden in the shadow of a huge birch tree someone waited for their return�Someone who had recognized Andr�.
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