Inside the Elysee
During the morning Dr. Yvan met Dr. Conneau. They were acquainted. They talked together. Yvan belonged to the Left. Conneau belonged to the Elysée. Yvan knew through Conneau the details of what had taken place during the night at the Elysée, which he transmitted to us.
One of these details was the following:—
An inexorable decree had been compiled, and was about to be placarded. This decree enjoined1 upon all submission2 to the coup3 d’état. Saint–Arnaud, who, as Minister of War, should sign the decree, had drawn4 it up. He had reached the last paragraph, which ran thus: “Whoever shall be detected constructing a barricade5, posting a placard of the ex-Representatives, or reading it, shall be. . . . ” here Saint–Arnaud had paused; Morny had shrugged6 his shoulders, had snatched the pen from his hand, and written “shot!”
Other matters had been decided7, but these were not recorded.
Various pieces of information came in in addition to these.
A National Guard, named Boillay de Dole8, had formed one of the Guard at the Elysée, on the night of the 3d and 4th. The windows of Louis Bonaparte’s private room, which was on the ground floor, were lighted up throughout the night. In the adjoining room there was a Council of War. From the sentry-box where he was stationed Boillay saw defined on the windows black profiles and gesticulating shadows, which were Magnan, Saint–Arnaud, Persigny, Fleury,— the spectres of the crime.
Korte, the General of the Cuirassiers, had been summoned, as also Carrelet, who commanded the division which did the hardest work on the following day, the 4th. From midnight to three o’clock in the morning Generals and Colonels “did nothing but come and go.” Even mere9 captains had come there. Towards four o’clock some carriages arrived “with women.” Treason and debauchery went hand in hand. The boudoir in the palace answered to the brothel in the barracks.
The courtyard was filled with lancers, who held the horses of the generals who were deliberating.
Two of the women who came that night belong in a certain measure to History. There are always feminine shadows of this sort in the background. These women influenced the unhappy generals. Both belonged to the best circles. The one was the Marquise of ——, she who became enamored of her husband after having deceived him. She discovered that her lover was not worth her husband. Such a thing does happen. She was the daughter of the most whimsical Marshal of France, and of that pretty Countess of —— to whom M. de Chateaubriand, after a night of love, composed this quatrain, which may now be published — all the personages being dead.
The Dawn peeps in at the window, she paints the sky with red;
And over our loving embraces her rosy10 rays are shed:
She looks on the slumbering11 world, love, with eyes that seem divine.
But can she show on her lips, love, a smile as sweet as thine?13
The smile of the daughter was as sweet as that of the mother, and more fatal. The other was Madame K——, a Russian, fair, tall, blonde, lighthearted, involved in the hidden paths of diplomacy12, possessing and displaying a casket full of love letters from Count Molé somewhat of a spy, absolutely charming and terrifying.
The precautions which had been taken in case of accident were visible even from outside. Since the preceding evening there had been seen from the windows of the neighboring houses two post-chaises in the courtyard of the Elysée, horsed, ready to start, the postilions in their saddles.
In the stables of the Elysée in the Rue13 Montaigne there were other carriages horsed, and horses saddled and bridled14.
Louis Bonaparte had not slept. During the night he had given mysterious orders; thence when morning came there was on this pale face a sort of appalling15 serenity16.
The Crime grown calm was a disquieting17 symptom.
During the morning he had almost laughed. Morny had come into his private room. Louis Bonaparte, having been feverish18, had called in Conneau, who joined in the conversation. People are believed to be trustworthy, nevertheless they listen.
Morny brought the police reports. Twelve workmen of the National Printing Office had, during the night of the Second, refused to print the decrees and the proclamations. They had been immediately arrested. Colonel Forestier was arrested. They had transferred him to the Fort of Bicêtre, together with Crocé Spinelli, Genillier, Hippolyte Magen, a talented and courageous19 writer, Goudounèche, a schoolmaster, and Polino. This last name had struck Louis Bonaparte. “Who is this Polino?” Morny had answered, “An ex-officer of the Shah of Persia’s service.” And he had added, “A mixture of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza.” These prisoners had been placed in Number Six Casemate. Further questions on the part of Louis Bonaparte, “What are these casemates?” And Morny had answered, “Cellars without air or daylight, twenty-four mètres long, eight wide, five high, dripping walls, damp pavements.” Louis Bonaparte had asked, “Do they give them a truss of straw?” And Morny had said, “Not yet, we shall see by and by.” He had added, “Those who are to be transported are at Bicêtre, those who are to be shot are at Ivry.”
Louis Bonaparte had inquired, “What precautions had been taken?” Morny gave him full particulars; that guards had been placed in all the steeples; that all printing-presses had been placed under seal; that all the drums of the National Guard had been locked up; that there was therefore no fear either of a proclamation emanating20 from a printing-office, or of a call to arms issuing from a Mairie, or of the tocsin ringing from a steeple.
Louis Bonaparte had asked whether all the batteries contained their full complements21, as each battery should be composed of four pieces and two mortars22. He had expressly ordered that only pieces of eight, and mortars of sixteen centimètres in diameter should be employed.
“In truth,” Morny, who was in the secret, had said, “all this apparatus23 will have work to do.”
Then Morny had spoken of Mazas, that there were 600 men of the Republican Guards in the courtyard, all picked men, and who when attacked would defend themselves to the bitter end; that the soldiers received the arrested Representatives with shouts of laughter, and that they had gone so far as to stare Thiers in the face; that the officers kept the soldiers at a distance, but with discretion24 and with a “species of respect;” that three prisoners were kept in solitary25 confinement26, Greppo, Nadaud, and a member of the Socialist27 Committee, Arsène Meunier. This last named occupied No. 32 of the Sixth Division. Adjoining, in No. 30, there was a Representative of the Right, who sobbed28 and cried unceasingly. This made Arsène Meunier laugh, and this made Louis Bonaparte laugh.
Another detail. When the fiacre bringing M. Baze was entering the courtyard of Mazas, it had struck against the gate, and the lamp of the fiacre had fallen to the ground and been broken to pieces. The coachman, dismayed at the damage, bewailed it. “Who will pay for this?” exclaimed he. One of the police agents, who was in the carriage with the arrested Questor, had said to the driver, “Don’t be uneasy, speak to the Brigadier. In matters such as this, where there is a breakage, it is the Government which pays.”
And Bonaparte had smiled, and muttered under his moustache, “That is only fair.”
Another anecdote29 from Morny also amused him. This was Cavaignac’s anger on entering his cell at Mazas. There is an aperture30 at the door of each cell, called the “spy-hole,” through which the prisoners are played the spy upon unknown to themselves. The jailers had watched Cavaignac. He had begun by pacing up and down with folded arms, and then the space being too confined, he had seated himself on the stool in his cell. These stools are narrow pieces of plank31 upon three converging32 legs, which pierce the seat in the centre, and project beyond the plank, so that one is uncomfortably seated. Cavaignac had stood up, and with a violent kick had sent the stool to the other end of the cell. Then, furious and swearing, he had broken with a blow of his fist the little table of five inches by twelve, which, with the stool, formed the sole furniture of the dungeon33.
This kick and fisticuff amused Louis Bonaparte.
“And Maupas is as frightened as ever,” said Morny. This made Bonaparte laugh still further.
Morny having given in his report, went away. Louis Bonaparte entered an adjoining room; a woman awaited him there. It appears that she came to entreat34 mercy for some one. Dr. Conneau heard these expressive35 words: “Madam, I wink36 at your loves; do you wink at my hatreds37.”
Des rayons du matin l’horizon se colore,
Le jour vient éclairer notre tendre entretien,
Mais est-il un sourire aux lèvres de l’aurore.
Aussi doux que le tien?
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1
enjoined
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| v.命令( enjoin的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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submission
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| n.服从，投降；温顺，谦虚；提出 | |
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3
coup
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| n.政变；突然而成功的行动 | |
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4
drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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barricade
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| n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住 | |
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shrugged
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| vt.耸肩（shrug的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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7
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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dole
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| n.救济，（失业）救济金；vt.（out）发放，发给 | |
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9
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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10
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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11
slumbering
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| 微睡，睡眠（slumber的现在分词形式） | |
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12
diplomacy
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| n.外交；外交手腕，交际手腕 | |
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rue
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| n.懊悔，芸香，后悔；v.后悔，悲伤，懊悔 | |
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14
bridled
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| 给…套龙头( bridle的过去式和过去分词 )； 控制； 昂首表示轻蔑（或怨忿等）； 动怒，生气 | |
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appalling
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| adj.骇人听闻的，令人震惊的，可怕的 | |
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16
serenity
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| n.宁静，沉着，晴朗 | |
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17
disquieting
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| adj.令人不安的，令人不平静的v.使不安，使忧虑，使烦恼( disquiet的现在分词 ) | |
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18
feverish
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| adj.发烧的，狂热的，兴奋的 | |
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19
courageous
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| adj.勇敢的，有胆量的 | |
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20
emanating
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| v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的现在分词 )；产生，表现，显示 | |
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21
complements
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| 补充( complement的名词复数 )； 补足语； 补充物； 补集（数） | |
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22
mortars
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| n.迫击炮( mortar的名词复数 )；砂浆；房产；研钵 | |
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23
apparatus
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| n.装置，器械；器具，设备 | |
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24
discretion
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| n.谨慎；随意处理 | |
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25
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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26
confinement
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| n.幽禁，拘留，监禁；分娩；限制，局限 | |
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27
socialist
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| n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的 | |
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28
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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29
anecdote
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| n.轶事，趣闻，短故事 | |
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30
aperture
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| n.孔，隙，窄的缺口 | |
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31
plank
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| n.板条，木板，政策要点，政纲条目 | |
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32
converging
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| adj.收敛[缩]的，会聚的，趋同的v.（线条、运动的物体等）会于一点( converge的现在分词 )；（趋于）相似或相同；人或车辆汇集；聚集 | |
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33
dungeon
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| n.地牢，土牢 | |
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34
entreat
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| v.恳求，恳请 | |
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35
expressive
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| adj.表现的，表达…的，富于表情的 | |
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36
wink
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| n.眨眼，使眼色，瞬间；v.眨眼，使眼色，闪烁 | |
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37
hatreds
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| n.仇恨，憎恶( hatred的名词复数 )；厌恶的事 | |
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