登陆注册
30977200000150

第150章 THE SEPARATION.(5)

The evening of the 3d of July had come. The little prince had gone to bed, and had already sunk into a deep sleep. His bed had no curtains, but Marie Antoinette had with careful hands fastened a shawl to the wall, and spread it out over the bed in such a manner that the glare of the light did not fall upon the closed eyes of the child and disturb him in his peaceful slumbers. It was ten o'clock in the evening, and the ladies had that day waited unwontedly long before going to bed. The queen and Princess Elizabeth were busied in mending the clothing of the family, and Princess Theresa, sitting between the two, had been reading to them some chapters out of the Historical Dictionary. At the wish of the queen, she had now taken a religious book, Passion Week, and was reading some hymns and prayers out of it.

Suddenly, the quick steps of several men were heard in the corridor.

The bolts flew back, the doors were opened, and six officials came in.

"We are come," cried one of them, with a brutal voice, "to announce to you the order of the committee, that the son of Capet be separated from his mother and his family."

At these words the queen rose, pale with horror "They are going to take my child from me!" she cried. "No, no, that is not possible.

Gentlemen, the authorities cannot think of separating me from my son. He is still so young and weak, he needs my care."

"The committee has come to this determination," answered the official, "the Convention has confirmed it, and we shall carry it into execution directly."

"I cannot allow it," cried Marie Antoinette in desperation. "In the name of Heaven, I conjure you not to be so cruel!"

Elizabeth and Theresa mingled their tears with those of the mother.

All three had placed themselves before the bed of the dauphin; they clung to it, they folded their hands, they sobbed; the most touching cries, the most humble prayers trembled on their lips, but the guards were not at all moved.

"What is all this whining for?" they said. "No one is going to kill your child; give him to us of your own free will, or we shall have to take him by force."

They strode up to the bed. Marie Antoinette placed herself with extended arms before it, and held the curtain firmly; it however detached itself from the wall and fell upon the face of the dauphin.

He awoke, saw what was going on, and threw himself with loud shrieks into the arms of the queen. "Mamma, dear Mamma, do not leave me!"

She pressed him trembling to her bosom, quieted him, and defended him against the cruel hands that were reached out for him.

In vain, all in vain! The men of the republic have no compassion on the grief of a mother! "By free will or by force he must go with us."

"Then promise me at least that he shall remain in the tower of the Temple, that I may see him every day."

"We have nothing to promise you, we have no account at all to give you. Parbleu, how can you take on and howl so, merely because your child is taken from you? Our children have to do more than that.

They have every day to have their heads split open with the balls of the enemies that you have set upon them."

"My son is still too young to be able to serve his country," said the queen, gently, "but I hope that if God permits it, he will some day be proud to devote his life to Him."

Meanwhile the two princesses, urged on by the officials, had clothed the gasping, sobbing boy. The queen now saw that no more hope remained. She sank upon a chair, and summoning all her strength, she called the dauphin to herself, laid her hands upon his shoulders, and pale, immovable, with widely-opened eyes, whose burning lids were cooled by no tear, she gazed upon the quivering face of the boy, who had fixed his great blue eyes, swimming with tears, upon the countenance of his mother.

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 快穿之女配萌萌哒

    快穿之女配萌萌哒

    当傻白甜的宅女纪绾绾遇到反派女配系统,噢!她只想说,我又get到了一个新技能————泡美男。管他男主女主在干嘛,都不能阻止我们绾绾在反派道路上的步伐。
  • 快穿男配攻略记

    快穿男配攻略记

    〖1v1〗身为见习攻略者的何时又绑定了一个系统。系统一:宿主交给你个任务,让男主身败名裂失去所爱痛不欲生!系统二:男主目前好感度0%,请宿主多加努力。何时:这是要双管齐下?先爱后虐?后来,何时成功的把男主逼疯了。“苏明泽!我不需要你救!”“浥轻尘,天道不容你,我就毁了它好不好?”“沈凉……对不起……沈凉……”“……”后来,何时积分满了准备拍屁股走人的时候,已经疯了的男主跳了出来彻底囚禁在了无尽位面之中。男主:“今天你有没有爱上我?”何时:“麻烦滚远点。”
  • 侠义蜘蛛

    侠义蜘蛛

    宅男林跃,拥有一个强大的系统:蜘蛛侠系统。完成任务就可以得到所有关于蜘蛛侠的信息和物品。
  • 婚内缠绵:陆少的私宠妻

    婚内缠绵:陆少的私宠妻

    “老公,我想要那个包包。”“买。”“老公,我肚子饿了。”“吃。”“老公,在家没事干,好无聊!”陆耀斯迅速的剥光了她的衣服,将她丢上床:“既然没事干,就一起造小人吧。”
  • 懵懂执念

    懵懂执念

    闲着无聊写着玩,前面会有点无聊,后面会好一点。在此说明一下:顺便借用一下某些现实中的人的名字,别介意!嘻嘻,只是借用一下,不过现实中没什么关系的,想名字太费脑细胞了,便利,省时省力,哈
  • 如果世界再也没有你

    如果世界再也没有你

    每个人都不会知道自己人生走向,每个遇见的人都是在特定的时间,特定的地点,特定的方位,我们没有办法改变,没有办法安排这一切,只能听天由命,尽可能的去珍惜自己所得到的一切。因为你不知道,会不会在下一秒你就失去这一切。那年我们在错的时间,遇到了对的人,如果可以我希望我们晚一点相遇,也许我们的结局就会不同。
  • 东京魔幻狂想曲

    东京魔幻狂想曲

    怪异与百鬼夜行的东京,霓虹灯与阴影的碰撞。半吊子道士重生日本东京。怪异与妖?神明与人?这是一个介于现实与魔幻之间的离奇故事,你准备好了吗?
  • 丛林故事

    丛林故事

    本书讲述了“狼孩”毛格利和其他几种动物的惊险故事。作品中塑造了机智勇敢的“狼孩”毛格利,以及憨厚的老熊巴鲁、机敏的黑豹巴赫拉等众多个性鲜明、令人难忘的形象,故事情节惊险曲折、引人入胜。本书对青少年开阔眼界、陶冶情操、丰富个性、提高素质大有裨益。
  • 天行

    天行

    号称“北辰骑神”的天才玩家以自创的“牧马冲锋流”战术击败了国服第一弓手北冥雪,被誉为天纵战榜第一骑士的他,却受到小人排挤,最终离开了效力已久的银狐俱乐部。是沉沦,还是再次崛起?恰逢其时,月恒集团第四款游戏“天行”正式上线,虚拟世界再起风云!
  • 异世之牧龙

    异世之牧龙

    异位面邪恶种族入侵使沧澜大陆的人类陷入了灭绝的危机之中,魔兽受到邪恶元素的影响疯狂的攻击着身边一切生物,人类面临着史上最为严峻的考验,这时十二位伟大的人物站了出来,战恶魔,堵深渊,力战百年,将异位面生物成功击退,战争结束后,十二位人物全部陨落,甚至其中八位连传承都未能留下。而这十二位人物,被后世人类尊称为十二位主神,故事就发生在此事件的五万年后。