CHAPTER XVIII.
THE MIDNIGHT CONCLAVE.
It was twelve o'clock at night, on the 22nd of February, 1848.
Lights still gleamed in the vast edifice of "Le National" printingoffice, and in the editorial chamber were assembled the chiefs of therevolution.
"All goes well," said Louis Blanc. "The blow is struck; let it only befollowed up, and the efforts of the past ten years will not prove vain!"
"How true was the opinion of M. Dantes respecting the National Guard!"said Marrast.
"How true also respecting the workmen!" said Albert.
"How true respecting the Ministry!" said Ledru Rollin. "But where is M.Dantes? Why is he not here?"
At that moment the private door opened, and M. Dantes, Flocon andLamartine entered.
"The news from the Chambers!" cried Marrast, as they approached.
"Three impeachments of the Ministry have been proposed," said Lamartine.
"By whom--by whom?" asked Louis Blanc. "By whom presented?"
"One by Odillon Barrot, one by Duvergier d'Hauranne and one by M. deGenoude, Deputy from Toulouse."
"And what said Guizot?" asked Marrast.
"Nothing. He only laughed when the papers were handed him by oldPresident Sauzet."
"Ah!" cried Ledru Rollin.
"Few deputies were there," continued Flocon. "The opposition bencheswere vacant. Guizot was there early, pale and troubled, but stern andunbending. All the Ministers followed him."
"What was discussed?" asked Marrast.
"The Bordeaux Bank Bill."
"Ah!" cried Ledru Rollin again.
"Yes," continued Flocon, "until five o'clock that bill was discussed.Barrot then ascended the tribune and deposited a general proposition toimpeach the Ministry."
"And what was done with it?" asked Louis Blanc.
"The President raised the sitting without reading it, but announced thatthe bureaux should have it for examination on Thursday."
"Infamous!" cried Ledru Rollin.
"It is all as it should be," said M. Dantes, calmly.
"And the peers--what of them?"
"The Marquis de Boissy made an effort to get a hearing on the state ofParis, but, of course, it was in vain."
"Is it true," asked Flocon, "that the rappel has been beaten to-day?"
"It was beaten in the Quartier St. Honore, at dawn," said Louis Blanc,"and this evening, at about five o'clock, in several of thearrondissements. But no reliance need be placed on the National Guard.They are with us--they are of the people--they shout, 'Vive laReforme!'"
"But the Municipal Guard and the Line? I am told that an immense body ofthem was this evening, at about eight o'clock, reviewed by the King andthe Dukes of Nemours and Montpensier, in the Place du Carrousel," saidFlocon.
"That's true," said Ledru Rollin; "I witnessed it myself in passing, andI could not help saying, 'It is the last.'"
"Six thousand troops of the Line are on the boulevards, from theMadeleine to the Porte St. Martin," said M. Dantes. "The Hotel de Ville,the Places de la Bastille, de la Concorde and du Carrousel, and theQuays frown with artillery. To-morrow will be a warm day!"
"It has been rather warm to-day in some parts of Paris," said LouisBlanc, smiling. "Was there ever a grander spectacle than that in thePlace de la Concorde at noon? At least one hundred thousand men werethere assembled. Rushing across the bridge, they gathered around theChamber of Deputies--then from the southern gate of the Tuileries issuedtwo bodies of troops, one of mounted Municipal Guards, the otherinfantry of the Line, and, pressing on the dense mass, they drove themover the bridge. Only a few old fruitwomen were crushed beneath thehorses' hoofs, and a few of the troops were wounded by pebbles,however."
"At the same time," said Flocon, "all the chains in the Champs-Elyseeswere in requisition for a barricade, as well as all the publiccarriages, and the people sang the Marseillaise, the Parisienne and theHymn of the Girondins. A guard-house was also consumed."
"Have you heard Bugeaud's remark at noon, when looking upon the Place dela Concorde?" asked Marrast.
"We have been too busy to-day to hear anything," said Ledru Rollin.
"'Ah! we shall have a day of it,' said the bloodthirsty old hero. 'Icare not for the day,' said the pale Guizot, 'but the night!'"
"The people made quite a demonstration about Guizot, I hear," saidFlocon. "They assailed him with a shower of groans, it is said, and someof the gamins flung pebbles at his gates."
"The most significant shout before the office of Foreign Affairs wasthis," said Ledru Rollin--"'Countess of Leven, where is the Minister?'"
"And the very moment this was occurring," said Flocon, "I understandthat M. Thiers, on his return from the Chamber, in passing through theChamps-Elysees, narrowly escaped a most unwelcome ovation from thepeople. The two rivals were duly and simultaneously honored it seems."
"Thus much for to-day," said Marrast; "what of to-night?"
"Barricades rise all over Paris," said M. Dantes. "But we can do nomore. Let us each retire to his home. To-morrow the National Guard willfraternize with the people, and the Ministry will resign."
A few words of parting salutation passed, and all departed.
M. Dantes and Lamartine left the office in company.
"What say you, Edmond," asked Lamartine, "will your wife spare you longenough from her pillow to make with me a brief tour of the town?"
"Mercedes is rather exacting," said Dantes, with a laugh; "but if yourfair lady will suffer your absence, mine must do the same, I fear."
"Well, then, let us first to the Hotel de Ville, that grand centre ofParis in all that is revolutionary."
As the two friends passed along, conversing on the events of the day andthe anticipations of the morrow, they were met, from time to time, byknots of men at the corners, eagerly recounting the incidents of thehour; the roll of drums was heard in the distance, and occasionallythere came the heavy and measured tread of infantry, the clatter ofcavalry and the lumbering of artillery, as they passed on their way. Allthe shops and cafes were closed. Many of the lamps were demolished, andothers were not lighted, the gas being shut off. A fearful gloom broodedover the city. The winter wind swept sharply and cuttingly along thedeserted streets, and rain, which froze as it fell, at intervals dasheddown.
The Hotel de Ville was encompassed by troops as the friends approachedit.
"Is that a cannon?" asked Lamartine, pointing to a dark object thatprotruded from an embrasure of the edifice.
"It is!" replied Dantes.
"Then the revolution has, indeed, begun! Artillery in the streets ofParis!"
"Behind each column of the portico of the Chamber of Deputies this dayfrowned a concealed cannon!" was the significant response.
The friends turned off from the Hotel de Ville, and, crossing the rightbranch of the Seine, were under the deep shadows of Notre Dame. But allwas tranquil and still. Only the howlings of the wintry blast were heardthrough the towers and architectural ornaments of the old pile. Up theRue St. Jacques, into the Quartier Latin, they then proceeded, but thestudents and the grisettes seemed to be fast asleep. Turning back, theypassed the Fish Market, and here a large body of cavalry had bivouacked.Patrols marched to and fro; officers in huge dark cloaks smoked,laughed and chatted, regardless of the morrow. The friends went on. Allwas dark in the faubourg which succeeded. Not a light gleamed, save, insome lofty casement, the fainting candle of the worn-out needlewoman orof the overtasked student.
"Ah!" exclaimed Lamartine, as they passed one of these flickeringlights, "who knows what plotting head and ready hand may be beside thatcandle? Who knows of the weapon burnished, the cartridge filled and thesabre sharpened by that light for the morrow?"
"The morrow!" exclaimed M. Dantes; "that morrow decides the fate ofFrance!"
And the friends parted.