Part 8

ANNE. I have my passport; you shall see. [_With wildly shaking hands she takes from her blouse the passport and the "permit," crumpled together._] It is in proper form--[_She is nervously replacing the two papers in her bosom when with a sudden movement he takes them from her. She cries out incoherently, and attempts to recapture them._]

VALSIN [_extending his left arm to fend her off_]. Yes, here you have your passport. And there you have others. [_He points to the littered floor under the desk._] Many of them!

ANNE. Old letters! [_She clutches at the papers in his grasp._]

VALSIN [_easily fending her off_]. Doubtless! [_He shakes the "permit" open._] Oho! A permission to embark--and signed by three names of the highest celebrity. Alas, these unfortunate statesmen, Billaud Varennes, Carnot, and Robespierre! Each has lately suffered an injury to his right hand. What a misfortune for France! And what a coincidence! One has not heard the like since we closed the theatres.

ANNE [_furiously struggling to reach his hand_]. Give me my papers! Give me--

VALSIN [_holding them away from her_]. You see, these unlucky great men had their names signed for them by somebody else. And I should judge that this somebody else must have been writing quite recently--less than half an hour ago, from the freshness of the ink--and in considerable haste; perhaps suffering considerable anguish of mind, Widow Balsage! [_MADAME DE LASEYNE, overwhelmed, sinks into a chair. He comes close to her, his manner changing startlingly._]

VALSIN [_bending over with sudden menace, his voice loud and harsh_]. Widow Balsage, if you intend no journey, why have you this forged permission to embark on the Jeune Pierrette? Widow Balsage, who is the Citizen Balsage?

ANNE [_faintly_]. My brother.

VALSIN [_straightening up_]. Your first truth. [_Resuming his gaiety._] Of course he is not in that room yonder with your niece.

ANNE [_brokenly_]. No, no, no; he is not! He is not here.

VALSIN [_commiseratingly_]. Poor woman! You have not even the pleasure to perceive how droll you are.

ANNE. I perceive that I am a fool! [_She dashes the tears from her eyes and springs to her feet._] I also perceive that you have denounced us before the authorities here--

VALSIN. Pardon. In Boulogne it happens that _I_ am the authority. I introduce myself for the third time: Valsin, Commissioner of the National Committee of Public Safety. Tallien was sent to Bordeaux; Collot to Lyons; I to Boulogne. Citizeness, were all of the august names on your permit genuine, you could no more leave this port without my counter-signature than you could take wing and fly over the Channel!

ANNE [_with a shrill laugh of triumph_]. You have overreached yourself! You're an ordinary spy: you followed us from Paris--

VALSIN [_gaily_]. Oh, I intended you to notice that!

ANNE [_unheeding_]. You have claimed to be Commissioner of the highest power in France. We can prove that you are a common spy. You may go to the guillotine for that. Take care, Citizen! So! You have denounced us; we denounce you. I'll have you arrested by your own soldiers. I'll call them--[_She makes a feint of running to the window. He watches her coolly, in silence; and she halts, chagrined._]

VALSIN [_pleasantly_]. I was sure you would not force me to be premature. Remark it, Citizeness Laseyne: I am enjoying all this. I have waited a long time for it.

ANNE [_becoming hysterical_]. I am the Widow Balsage, I tell you! You do not know us--you followed us from Paris. [_Half sobbing._] You're a spy--a hanger-on of the police. We will prove--

VALSIN [_stepping to the dismantled doorway_]. I left my assistant within hearing--a species of animal of mine. I may claim that he belongs to me. A worthy patriot, but skillful, who has had the honor of a slight acquaintance with you, I believe. [_Calling._] Dossonville! [_DOSSONVILLE, a large man, flabby of flesh, loose-mouthed, grizzled, carelessly dressed, makes his appearance in the doorway. He has a harsh and reckless eye; and, obviously a flamboyant bully by temperament, his abject, doggish deference to VALSIN is instantly impressive, more than confirming the latter's remark that DOSSONVILLE "belongs" to him. DOSSONVILLE, apparently, is a chattel indeed, body and soul. At sight of him MADAME DE LASEYNE catches at the desk for support and stands speechless._]

VALSIN [_easily_]. Dossonville, you may inform the Citizeness Laseyne what office I have the fortune to hold.

DOSSONVILLE [_coming in_]. Bright heaven! All the world knows that you are the representative of the Committee of Public Safety. Commissioner to Boulogne.

VALSIN. With what authority?

DOSSONVILLE. Absolute--unlimited! Naturally. What else would be useful?

VALSIN. You recall this woman, Dossonville?

DOSSONVILLE. She was present when I delivered the passport to the Emigrant Valny-Cherault, in Paris.

VALSIN. Did you forge that passport?

DOSSONVILLE. No. I told the Emigrant I had. Under orders. [_Grinning._] It was genuine.

VALSIN. Where did you get it?

DOSSONVILLE. From you.

VALSIN [_suavely_]. Sit down, Dossonville. [_The latter, who is standing by a chair, obeys with a promptness more than military. VALSIN turns smilingly to MADAME DE LASEYNE._] Dossonville's instructions, however, did not include a "permit" to sail on the _Jeune Pierrette_. All of which, I confess, Citizeness, has very much the appearance of a trap! [_He tosses the two papers upon the desk. Utterly dismayed, she makes no effort to secure them. He regards her with quizzical enjoyment._]

ANNE. Ah--you--[_She fails to speak coherently._]

VALSIN. Dossonville has done very well. He procured your passport, brought your "disguises," planned your journey, even gave you directions how to find these lodgings in Boulogne. Indeed, I instructed him to omit nothing for your comfort. [_He pauses for a moment._] If I am a spy, Citizeness Laseyne, at least I trust your gracious intelligence may not cling to the epithet "ordinary." My soul! but I appear to myself a most uncommon type of spy--a very intricate, complete, and unusual spy, in fact.

ANNE [_to herself, weeping_]. Ah, poor Louis!

VALSIN [_cheerfully_]. You are beginning to comprehend? That is well. Your niece's door is still ajar by the discreet width of a finger, so I assume that the Emigrant also begins to comprehend. Therefore I take my ease! [_He seats himself in the most comfortable chair in the room, crossing his legs in a leisurely attitude, and lightly drumming the tips of his fingers together, the while his peaceful gaze is fixed upon the ceiling. His tone, as he continues, is casual._] You understand, my Dossonville, having long ago occupied this very apartment myself, I am serenely aware that the Emigrant can leave the other room only by the window; and as this is the fourth floor, and a proper number of bayonets in the courtyard below are arranged to receive any person active enough to descend by a rope of bed-clothes, one is confident that the said Emigrant will remain where he is. Let us make ourselves comfortable, for it is a delightful hour--an hour I have long promised myself. I am in a good humor. Let us all be happy. Citizeness Laseyne, enjoy yourself. Call me some bad names!

ANNE [_between her teeth_]. If I could find one evil enough!

VALSIN [_slapping his knee delightedly_]. There it is: the complete incompetence of your class. You poor aristocrats, you do not even know how to swear. Your ancestors knew how! They were fighters; they knew how to swear because they knew how to attack; you poor moderns have no profanity left in you, because, poisoned by idleness, you have forgotten even how to resist. And yet you thought yourselves on top, and so you were--but as foam is on top of the wave. You forgot that power, like genius, always comes from underneath, because it is produced only by turmoil. We have had to wring the neck of your feather-head court, because while the court was the nation the nation had its pockets picked. You were at the mercy of anybody with a pinch of brains: adventurers like Mazarin, like Fouquet, like Law, or that little commoner, the woman Fish, who called herself Pompadour and took France--France, merely!--from your King, and used it to her own pleasure. Then, at last, after the swindlers had well plucked you--at last, unfortunate creatures, the People got you! Citizeness, the People had starved: be assured they will eat you to the bone--and then eat the bone! You are helpless because you have learned nothing and forgotten everything. You have forgotten everything in this world except how to be fat!

DOSSONVILLE [_applauding with unction_]. Beautiful! It is beautiful, all that! A beautiful speech!

VALSIN. Ass!

DOSSONVILLE [_meekly_]. Perfectly, perfectly.

VALSIN [_crossly_]. That wasn't a speech; it was the truth. Citizeness Laseyne, so far as you are concerned, I am the People. [_He extends his hand negligently, with open palm._] And I have got you. [_He clenches his fingers, like a cook's on the neck of a fowl._] Like that! And I'm going to take you back to Paris, you and the Emigrant. [_She stands in an attitude eloquent of despair. His glance roves from her to the door of the other room, which is still slightly ajar; and, smiling at some fugitive thought, he continues, deliberately._] I take you: you and your brother--and that rather pretty little person who traveled with you. [_There is a breathless exclamation from the other side of the door, which is flung open violently, as ELOISE--flushed, radiant with anger, and altogether magnificent--sweeps into the room to confront VALSIN._]

ELOISE [_slamming the door behind her_]. Leave this Jack-in-Office to me, Anne!

DOSSONVILLE [_dazed by the vision_]. Lord! What glory! [_He rises, bowing profoundly, muttering hoarsely._] Oh, eyes! Oh, hair! Look at her shape! Her chin! The divine--

VALSIN [_getting up and patting him reassuringly on the back_]. The lady perceives her effect, my Dossonville. It is no novelty. Sit down, my Dossonville. [_The still murmurous DOSSONVILLE obeys VALSIN turns to ELOISE, a brilliant light in his eyes._] Let me greet one of the nieces of Widow Balsage--evidently not the sleepy one, and certainly not ill. Health so transcendent--

ELOISE [_placing her hand upon MADAME DE LASEYNE's shoulder_]. This is a clown, Anne. You need have no fear of him whatever. His petty authority does not extend to us.

VALSIN [_deferentially_]. Will the niece of Widow Balsage explain why it does not?

ELOISE [_turning upon him fiercely_]. Because the patriot Citizeness Eloise d'Anville is here!

VALSIN [_assuming an air of thoughtfulness_]. Yes, she is here. That "permit" yonder even mentions her by name. It is curious. I shall have to go into that. Continue, niece.

ELOISE [_with supreme haughtiness_]. This lady is under her protection.

VALSIN [_growing red_]. Pardon. Under whose protection?

ELOISE [_sulphurously_]. Under the protection of Eloise d'Anville! [_This has a frightful effect upon VALSIN; his face becomes contorted; he clutches at his throat, apparently half strangled, staggers, and falls choking into the easy-chair he has formerly occupied._]

VALSIN [_gasping, coughing, incoherent_]. Under the pro--the protection--[_He explodes into peal after peal of uproarious laughter._] The protection of--Aha, ha, ha, ho, ho, ho! [_He rocks himself back and forth unappeasably._]

ELOISE [_with a slight lift of the eyebrows_]. This man is an idiot.

VALSIN [_during an abatement of his attack_]. Oh, pardon! It is--too--much--too much for me! You say--these people are--

ELOISE [_stamping her foot_]. Under the protection of Eloise d'Anville, imbecile! You cannot touch them. She wills it! [_At this, VALSIN shouts as if pleading for mercy, and beats the air with his hands. He struggles to his feet and, pounding himself upon the chest, walks to and fro in the effort to control his convulsion._]

ELOISE [_to ANNE, under cover of the noise he makes_]. I was wrong: he is not an idiot.

ANNE [_despairingly_]. He laughs at you.

ELOISE [_in a quick whisper_]. Out of bluster; because he is afraid. He is badly frightened. I know just what to do. Go into the other room with Louis.

ANNE [_protesting weakly_]. I can't hope--

ELOISE [_flashing from a cloud_]. You failed, didn't you? [_MADAME DE LASEYNE, after a tearful perusal of the stern resourcefulness now written in the younger woman's eyes, succumbs with a piteous gesture of assent and goes out forlornly. ELOISE closes the door and stands with her back to it._]

VALSIN [_paying no attention to them_]. Eloise d'Anville! [_Still pacing the room in the struggle to subdue his hilarity._] This young citizeness speaks of the protection of Eloise d'Anville! [_Leaning feebly upon DOSSONVILLE's shoulder._] Do you hear, my Dossonville? It is an ecstasy. Ecstasize, then. Scream, Dossonville!

DOSSONVILLE [_puzzled, but evidently accustomed to being so, cackles instantly_]. Perfectly. Ha, ha! The citizeness is not only stirringly beautiful, she is also--

VALSIN. She is also a wit. Susceptible henchman, concentrate your thoughts upon domesticity. In this presence remember your wife!

ELOISE [_peremptorily_]. Dismiss that person. I have something to say to you.

VALSIN [_wiping his eyes_]. Dossonville, you are not required. We are going to be sentimental, and heaven knows you are not the moon. In fact, you are a fat old man. Exit, obesity! Go somewhere and think about your children. Flit, whale!

DOSSONVILLE [_rising_]. Perfectly, my chieftain. [_He goes to the broken door._]

ELOISE [_tapping the floor with her shoe_]. Out of hearing!

VALSIN. The floor below.

DOSSONVILLE. Well understood. Perfectly, perfectly! [_He goes out through the hallway; disappears, chuckling grossly. There are some moments of silence within the room, while he is heard clumping down a flight of stairs; then VALSIN turns to ELOISE with burlesque ardor._]

VALSIN. "Alone at last!"

ELOISE [_maintaining her composure_]. Rabbit!

VALSIN [_dropping into the chair at the desk, with mock dejection_]. Repulsed at the outset! Ah, Citizeness, there were moments on the journey from Paris when I thought I detected a certain kindness in your glances at the lonely stranger.

ELOISE [_folding her arms_]. You are to withdraw your soldiers, countersign the "permit," and allow my friends to embark at once.

VALSIN [_with solemnity_]. Do you give it as an order, Citizeness?

ELOISE. I do. You will receive suitable political advancement.

VALSIN [_in a choked voice_]. You mean as a--a reward?

ELOISE [_haughtily_]. _I_ guarantee that you shall receive it! [_He looks at her strangely; then, with a low moan, presses his hand to his side, seeming upon the point of a dangerous seizure._]

VALSIN [_managing to speak_]. I can only beg you to spare me. You have me at your mercy.

ELOISE [_swelling_]. It is well for you that you understand that!

VALSIN [_shaking his hand ruefully_]. Yes; you see I have a bad liver: it may become permanently enlarged. Laughter is my great danger.

ELOISE [_crying out with rage_]. _Oh!_

VALSIN [_dolorously_]. I have continually to remind myself that I am no longer in the first flush of youth.

ELOISE. Idiot! Do you not know who I am!

VALSIN. You? Oh yes--[_He checks himself abruptly; looks at her with brief intensity; turns his eyes away, half closing them in quick meditation; smiles, as upon some secret pleasantry, and proceeds briskly._] Oh yes, yes, I know who you are.

ELOISE [_beginning haughtily_]. Then you--

VALSIN [_at once cutting her off_]. As to your name, I do not say. Names at best are details; and your own is a detail that could hardly be thought to matter. _What_ you are is obvious: you joined Louis and his sister in Paris at the barriers, and traveled with them as "Marie Balsage," a sister. You might save us a little trouble by giving us your real name; you will probably refuse, and the police will have to look it up when I take you back to Paris. Frankly, you are of no importance to us, though of course we'll send you to the Tribunal. No doubt you are a poor relative of the Valny-Cheraults, or, perhaps, you may have been a governess in the Laseyne family, or--

ELOISE [_under her breath_]. Idiot! Idiot!

VALSIN [_with subterranean enjoyment, watching her sidelong_]. Or the good-looking wife of some faithful retainer of the Emigrant's, perhaps.

ELOISE [_with a shrill laugh_]. Does the Committee of Public Safety betray the same intelligence in the appointment of all its agents? [_Violently._] Imbecile, I--

VALSIN [_quickly raising his voice to check her_]. You are of no importance, I tell you! [_Changing his tone._] Of course I mean politically. [_With broad gallantry._] Otherwise, I am the first to admit extreme susceptibility. I saw that you observed it on the way--at the taverns, in the diligence, at the posting-houses, at--

ELOISE [_with serenity_]. Yes. I am accustomed to oglers.

VALSIN. Alas, I believe you! My unfortunate sex is but too responsive.

ELOISE [_gasping_]. "Responsive"--Oh!

VALSIN [_indulgently_]. Let us return to the safer subject. Presently I shall arrest those people in the other room and, regretfully, you too. But first I pamper myself; I chat; I have an attractive woman to listen. In the matter of the arrest, I delay my fire; I do not flash in the pan, but I lengthen my fuse. Why? For the same reason that when I was a little boy and had something good to eat, I always first paid it the compliments of an epicure. I looked at it a long while. I played with it. Then--I devoured it! I am still like that. And Louis yonder is good to eat, because I happen not to love him. However, I should mention that I doubt if he could recall either myself or the circumstance which annoyed me; some episodes are sometimes so little to certain people and so significant to certain other people. [_He smiles, stretching himself luxuriously in his chair._] Behold me, Citizeness! I am explained. I am indulging my humor: I play with my cake. Let us see into what curious little figures I can twist it.

ELOISE. Idiot!

VALSIN [_pleasantly_]. I have lost count, but I think that is the sixth idiot you have called me. Aha, it is only history, which one admires for repeating itself. Good! Let us march. I shall play--[_He picks up the "permit" from the desk, studies it absently, and looks whimsically at her over his shoulder, continuing:_] I shall play with--with all four of you.

ELOISE [_impulsively_]. Four?

VALSIN. I am not easy to deceive; there are four of you here.

ELOISE [_staring_]. So?

VALSIN. Louis brought you and his sister from Paris: a party of three. This "permit" which he forged is for four; the original three and the woman you mentioned a while ago, Eloise d'Anville. Hence she must have joined you here. The deduction is plain: there are three people in that room: the Emigrant, his sister, and this Eloise d'Anville. To the trained mind such reasoning is simple.

ELOISE [_elated_]. Perfectly!

VALSIN [_with an air of cunning_]. Nothing escapes me. You see that.

ELOISE. At first glance! I make you my most profound compliments. Sir, you are an eagle!

VALSIN [_smugly_]. Thanks. Now, then, pretty governess, you thought this d'Anville might be able to help you. What put that in your head?

ELOISE [_with severity_]. Do you pretend not to know what she is?

VALSIN. A heroine I have had the misfortune never to encounter. But I am informed of her character and history.

ELOISE [_sternly_]. Then you understand that even the Agent of the National Committee risks his head if he dares touch people she chooses to protect.

VALSIN [_extending his hand in plaintive appeal_]. Be generous to my opacity. How could _she_ protect anybody?

ELOISE [_with condescension_]. She has earned the gratitude--

VALSIN. Of whom?

ELOISE [_superbly_]. Of the Nation!

VALSIN [_breaking out again_]. Ha, ha, ha! [_Clutching at his side._] Pardon, oh, pardon, liver of mine. I must not die; my life is still useful.

ELOISE [_persisting stormily_]. Of the People, stupidity! Of the whole People, dolt! Of France, blockhead!

VALSIN [_with a violent effort, conquering his hilarity_]. There! I am saved. Let us be solemn, my child; it is better for my malady. You are still so young that one can instruct you that individuals are rarely grateful; "the People," never. What you call "the People" means folk who are not always sure of their next meal; therefore their great political and patriotic question is the cost of food. Their heroes are the champions who are going to make it cheaper; and when these champions fail them or cease to be useful to them, then they either forget these poor champions--or eat them. Let us hear what your Eloise d'Anville has done to earn the reward of being forgotten instead of eaten.

ELOISE [_her lips quivering_]. She surrendered her property voluntarily. She gave up all she owned to the Nation.

VALSIN [_genially_]. And immediately went to live with her relatives in great luxury.

ELOISE [_choking_]. The Republic will protect her. She gave her whole estate--

VALSIN. And the order for its confiscation was already written when she did it.

ELOISE [_passionately_]. Ah--_liar!_

VALSIN [_smiling_]. I have seen the order. [_She leans against the wall, breathing heavily. He goes on, smoothly._] Yes, this martyr "gave" us her property; but one hears that she went to the opera just the same and wore more jewels than ever, and lived richly upon the Laseynes and Valny-Cheraults, until _they_ were confiscated. Why, all the world knows about this woman; and let me tell you, to your credit, my governess, I think you have a charitable heart: you are the only person I ever heard speak kindly of her.

ELOISE [_setting her teeth_]. Venom!

VALSIN [_observing her slyly_]. It is with difficulty I am restraining my curiosity to see her--also to hear her!--when she learns of her proscription by a grateful Republic.

ELOISE [_with shrill mockery_]. Proscribed? Eloise d'Anville proscribed? Your inventions should be more plausible, Goodman Spy! I _knew_ you were lying--

VALSIN [_smiling_]. You do not believe--

ELOISE [_proudly_]. Eloise d'Anville is a known Girondist. The Gironde is the real power in France.

VALSIN [_mildly_]. That party has fallen.

ELOISE [_with fire_]. Not far! It will revive.

VALSIN. Pardon, Citizeness, but you are behind the times, and they are very fast nowadays--the times. The Gironde is dead.

ELOISE [_ominously_]. It may survive _you_, my friend. Take care!

VALSIN [_unimpressed_]. The Gironde had a grand facade, and that was all. It was a party composed of amateurs and orators; and of course there were some noisy camp-followers and a few comic-opera vivandieres, such as this d'Anville. In short, the Gironde looked enormous because it was hollow. It was like a pie that is all crust. We have tapped the crust--with a knife, Citizeness. There is nothing left.

ELOISE [_contemptuously_]. You say so. Nevertheless, the Rolands--

VALSIN [_gravely_]. Roland was found in a field yesterday; he had killed himself. His wife was guillotined the day after you left Paris. Every one of their political friends is proscribed.

ELOISE [_shaking as with bitter cold_]. It is a lie! Not Eloise d'Anville!

VALSIN [_rising_]. Would you like to see the warrant for her arrest? [_He takes a packet of documents from his breast pocket, selects one, and spreads it open before her._] Let me read you her description: "Eloise d'Anville, aristocrat. Figure, comely. Complexion, blond. Eyes, dark blue. Nose, straight. Mouth, wide--"

ELOISE [_in a burst of passion, striking the warrant a violent blow with her clenched fist_]. Let them dare! [_Beside herself, she strikes again, tearing the paper from his grasp. She stamps upon it._] Let them dare, I say!

VALSIN [_picking up the warrant_]. Dare to say her mouth is wide?

ELOISE [_cyclonic_]. Dare to arrest her!