And in telling it, she was just doing her duty. Wasn’t she a guardian of the Revolution, after all?

“Ah.” The eyes of Robespierre fixed upon her. Did he know that she was lying? She wasn’t certain, but she thought that he probably did. He nodded slowly. Then he spoke. “You know, citoyenne,” he said in his high-pitched voice, “when the great debate took place about whether the king should be executed, I reminded the assembly of a very important fact. We were not there to try the king, I said. We were not there to decide if he was guilty of this, or of that. We were there for a greater cause, which was the cause of the Revolution. And it had become abundantly clear by that time that the Revolution was in danger, both from forces inside France and outside, so long as the king lived. Therefore, it was simple logic that the king must die. There was really nothing else to discuss.”

“You were right, Citoyen Robespierre,” she said.

“And now the case is the same again. The Revolution is in danger. And until these nobles are eliminated, it will remain in jeopardy. By themselves, the de Cygnes are perhaps not important. But their existence is a threat. That is the point.” He took out a sheet of paper. “Will you oblige me, citoyenne, by taking this note to the Committee of Public Safety?”

“At once, citoyen,” she said proudly. “At once.”

After Father Pierre had gone, young Étienne de Cygne paced restlessly. His wife had taken up a piece of needlework. She did not interrupt him.

The de Cygne mansion was very quiet these days. Étienne and Sophie used the big old salon in the summer months, when it did not require heating. In winter, they used a smaller sitting room. Most of the other rooms were under covers so that the housekeeper and the handful of servants could keep the place running.

“It was wonderful to walk with you today,” he suddenly said.

“I am happy we went, too,” she answered.

“It’s difficult being cooped up,” he remarked.

“But we have our occupations,” she reminded him.

Had they not still been so much in love, this close proximity, with little to do, might have become irksome indeed. But fortunately, quite early in the Revolution, as social life fell away, they had each found projects to keep themselves occupied; and these had been most helpful during their recent seclusion.

Sophie and the housekeeper had decided to take every piece of linen and lace in the house, to mend and embroider it all. This, as she told her husband, was a task that might possibly go on forever. For two hours a day, she practiced the piano, mastering it in a way that she had never dreamed of doing before.