Cadoville (unfinished)

Chapter XV

Les journées d'octobre – Madame Legrand's most recent piece, recreating the vital role Madame Legrand played during the women's march to Versailles in '89. Quite a story if you took it to be true, how she alone rallied the working women of Bièvre and led them to the royal palace, and was one of the chosen few to meet the King and persuade him to return to Paris – not a story anyone would dare to contradict lightly.... I remembered that day too, how elated everyone was – their victory over the Royal Family, the People had told the King what to do.... Howling and cheering in the streets, even gunfire.... I wasn't allowed outside of course, not even on the balcony.

The play had its first audience less than a week after Nicolas Daumont's death – the People's Government blamed so-called 'lone wolves' for his murder, neither condemning nor condoning it. On the contrary, Angélique had quietly rewarded me for my part in his death – a special red, white and green rosette, and a pair of exquisitely detailed, gold guillotine-shaped earrings. She wanted me to wear the rosette and earrings during the play. She seemed rather keen to show off her little émigre, having presented me to Citizen Marat and Citizen Saint-Just before the performance – two Revolutionary bigwigs. Gabriella had no lines and played a simple bread seller in the background. Nonetheless. Staring out into an ocean of blank, unreadable faces was still a gut-twisting experience. I headed to my dressing room between scenes to take a few deep breaths. Mathilde joined me while I was putting the new earrings back in.

She smiled at me, weakly, then said something rather peculiar.

"I didn't realise being Citizeness Legrand's favourite could be so easy...." Mathilde whispered. I looked at her reflection in the mirror. "It seems all I need is a pretty little accent...."

I scoffed and she smile a little too.

"I'm hardly her favorite," I replied, pinning my special rosette to a red cap. "... That title goes to Lucie, surely?"

"No, Lucie is more of a right-hand-girl." Mathilde looked me up and down. "You're an accessory."

I paused for a second.... Were these backhanded insults or was Mathilde attempting to look out for me in her own strange way? It was hard to tell with her - everything came out sort of prickly.

"An accessory to what?"

"Propaganda..., and an unnecessary one if you ask me. Although, I see it has its perks...," she said, admiring my earrings, holding one between her fingers. "I don't imagine you'll get much sympathy when Citizeness Legrand loses interest – not all of us have been so lucky, and we've sacrificed so much." I turned and looked her in the eye. "I hope I haven't offended you. It's nice to have you around...."

"I've sacrificed too, Mathilde...."

She scoffed.

"What?"

"My home...." I replied, lifting an eyebrow. "And you, Citizeness?"

Her eyes glossed over.

"My father..., at the Bastille."

I hardly flooded with compassion, barely enough to dip my toe into. I needed no reminding my whole family had been driven out thanks to her and her kind, maybe even murdered – I just wished I knew why....

"I'm sorry...." I said that because I had to.

"We've all sacrificed. I'm no different to the girls out there – I'm nobody. I used to hope the Revolution would give back more than it took away, that we'd have our reward – but I'm not so sure since you've come along...."

"And I'm no different to you...," I said, thinking that's surely how Gabriella would've felt. "It's just the nature of Revolution, I suppose."

"You don't know anything about Revolution," she spat. "Don't tell me what it's like.... You've come to join ours."