Scarlet turned away as the knife dropped, suddenly ill, sick to her stomach. Liberty, an elusive dream, the idea of which moved men to passion, to revolution. Was there a group of humans truly ready to be free? If this mad violence was the manner in which men responded when seizing liberty for themselves, then humankind did not deserve freedom.

Several thoughts niggled at her, contradicting one another. Thomas Jefferson had come to France, had courted French assistance. His words carried over to America and to England’s shores. According to him, thought Scarlet, inalienable rights are ours from birth, kept from us only by tyrants who would rule. True freedom gave rise to a glorious human spirit, a spirit that invents and discovers and climbs heights not heretofore attempted.

She sat back against her carriage bench. Certain that glorious human spirit just lost her head, Scarlet wondered anew, What went wrong in France? Chewing her lip, she closed her eyes. She would never understand senseless violence. Two moving forces of human nature battled for sovereignty every day in France: men’s desire to rule and their equally powerful drive to be free.

The crowd outside her carriage cheered louder than usual. She winced before searching the platform for the next victims. The executioner called out, “Charlotte Corday, guilty of the crime of murder!” The crowd jeered again, and the executioner continued. “Murder of our own Jean-Paul Marat while in his bathtub.”

Catcalls carried across the throng to Scarlet. They liked this new murderess, yet they still condemned her. What was the difference between her private taking of life and their very public one? Robespierre would say it is the rule of law. He legally sent people to their death.

In truth, Charlotte’s own efforts to cleanse France of a mad, bloodthirsty dictator only created a larger problem, for Jean-Paul Marat’s death increased the power of Robespierre and Saint-Just, proved their point that if they did not legally cleanse the populous, the masses would do it for them.

Scarlet closed her eyes and tried to shut out the sound of the blade falling. Another brilliant woman lost from their land, such a tragedy when they were in great need of the bright souls who could lead France to a better place.