The room was not large, but pleasant. There was painted paneling on the walls and a small chandelier. He was sitting, very straight, at a table. She had heard that he had not been in the Convention for three weeks. Some had wondered if he might be sick. Others believed he was preparing an important speech. He looked perfectly well, so she concluded that it was probably the latter. They had met only a few times, but he had evidently remembered her and knew that she was loyal.

“How can I be of service to you, citoyenne?” he asked.

Some people said that he was ugly. But the widow Le Sourd didn’t think so. His broad brow suggested a fine and quick intelligence. His jaw protruded slightly, but that told her that he was tenacious.

He was small, but wonderfully upright. She liked that. Truth to tell, the large-boned woman had a secret desire to scoop him up and take him home with her.

But above all, as the whole of France knew, he was incorruptible. He was pure. He was unyielding. Men like Danton might have been impressive, spoken louder and been more loved, but the lonely figure of Maximilien Robespierre was superior to them all.

It did not take her long to tell him about the old priest and the young de Cygnes. It was evident from what they had said in front of Claudie that they were enemies of the Revolution.

“I’m only surprised,” she said, “that they have not been arrested already.”

“I have heard the name of de Cygne before, citoyenne,” Robespierre replied. “I think Danton answered for them.” He shrugged. “Perhaps he was paid.”

He said nothing more for a moment, and seemed to be thinking. Could it be, she wondered, that the evidence she had brought was not enough for him?

“There is more,” she continued. “He told the old priest that he had encouraged the peasants on his estate to join the insurrections in the Vendée. His estate is close to the Vendée, as you may know.”

It was a lie. Yet she felt no guilt at making it. The two de Cygnes must die. She was quite persuaded of it. The lie was merely the vehicle—like providing a cart to take someone to their destination.

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