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understand。 Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre; impressed by the
habitual silence and erratic habits of the young girl; were constantly
expecting some extraordinary thing of her。

Laurence; who did good intelligently and never allowed herself to be
deceived; was held in the utmost respect by the peasantry although she
was an aristocrat。 Her sex; name; and great misfortunes; also the
originality of her present life; contributed to give her authority
over the inhabitants of the valley of Cinq…Cygne。 She was sometimes
absent for two days; attended by Gothard; but neither Monsieur nor
Madame d'Hauteserre questioned her; on her return; as to the reasons
of her absence。 Please observe; however; that there was nothing odd or
eccentric about Laurence。 What she was and what she did was masked; as
it were; by a feminine and even fragile appearance。 Her heart was full
of extreme sensibility; though her head contained a stoical firmness
and the virile gift of resolution。 Her clear…seeing eyes knew not how
to weep; but no one would have imagined that the delicate white wrist
with its tracery of blue veins could defy that of the boldest
horseman。 Her hand; so noble; so flexible; could handle gun or pistol
with the ease of a practised marksman。 She always wore when out of
doors the coquettish little cap with visor and green veil which women
wear on horseback。 Her delicate fair face; thus protected; and her
white throat tied with a black cravat; were never injured by her long
rides in all weathers。

Under the Directory and at the beginning of the Consulate; Laurence
had been able to escape the observation of others; but since the
government had become a more settled thing; the new authorities; the
prefect of the Aube; Malin's friends; and Malin himself had endeavored
to undermine her in the community。 Her preoccupying thought was the
overthrow of Bonaparte; whose ambition and its triumphs excited the
anger of her soul;a cold; deliberate anger。 The obscure and hidden
enemy of a man at the pinnacle of glory; she kept her gaze upon him
from the depths of her valley and her forests; with relentless fixity;
there were times when she thought of killing him in the roads about
Malmaison or Saint…Cloud。 Plans for the execution of this idea may
have been the cause of many of her past actions; but having been
initiated; after the peace of Amiens; into the conspiracy of the men
who expected to make the 18th Brumaire recoil upon the First Consul;
she had thenceforth subordinated her faculties and her hatred to their
vast and well laid scheme; which was to strike at Bonaparte externally
by the vast coalition of Russia; Austria; and Prussia (vanquished at
Austerlitz) and internally by the coalition of men politically opposed
to each other; but united by their common hatred of a man whose death
some of them were meditating; like Laurence herself; without shrinking
from the word assassination。 This young girl; so fragile to the eye;
so powerful to those who knew her well; was at the present moment the
faithful guide and assistant of the exiled gentlemen who came from
England to take part in this deadly enterprise。

Fouche relied on the co…operation of the /emigres/ everywhere beyond
the Rhine to lure the Duc d'Enghien into the plot。 The presence of
that prince in the Baden territory; not far from Strasburg; gave much
weight later to the accusation。 The great question of whether the
prince really knew of the enterprise; and was waiting on the frontier
to enter France on its success; is one of those secrets about which;
as about several others; the house of Bourbon has maintained an
unbroken silence。 As the history of that period recedes into the past;
impartial historians will declare the imprudence; to say the least; of
the Duc d'Enghien in placing himself close to the frontier at a time
when a vast conspiracy was about to break forth; the secret of which
was undoubtedly known to every member of the Bourbon family。

The caution which Malin displayed in talking with Grevin in the open
air; Laurence applied to her every action。 She met the emissaries and
conferred with them either at various points in the Nodesme forest; or
beyond the valley of the Cinq…Cygne; between the villages of Sezanne
and Brienne。 Often she rode forty miles on a stretch with Gothard; and
returned to Cinq…Cygne without the least sign of weariness or
pre…occupation on her fair young face。

Some years earlier; Laurence had seen in the eyes of a little cow…boy;
then nine years old; the artless admiration which children feel for
everything that is out of the common way。 She made him her page; and
taught him to groom a horse with the nicety and care of an Englishman。
She saw in the lad a desire to do well; a bright intelligence; and a
total absence of sly motives; she tested his devotion and found he had
not only mind but nobility of character; he never dreamed of reward。
The young girl trained this soul that was still so young; she was good
to him; good with dignity; she attached him to her by attaching
herself to him; and by herself polishing a nature that was half wild;
without destroying its freshness or its simplicity。 When she had
sufficiently tested the almost canine fidelity she had nurtured;
Gothard became her intelligent and ingenuous accomplice。 The little
peasant; whom no one could suspect; went from Cinq…Cygne to Nancy; and
often returned before any one had missed him from the neighborhood。 He
knew how to practise all the tricks of a spy。 The extreme distrust and
caution his mistress had taught him did not change his natural self。
Gothard; who possessed all the craft of a woman; the candor of a
child; and the ceaseless observation of a conspirator; hid every one
of these admirable qualities beneath the torpor and dull ignorance of
a country lad。 The little fellow had a silly; weak; and clumsy
appearance; but once at work he was active as a fish; he escaped like
an eel; he understood; as the dogs do; the merest glance; he nosed a
thought。 His good fat face; both round and red; his sleepy brown eyes;
his hair; cut in the peasant fashion; his clothes; and his slow growth
gave him the appearance of a child of ten。

The two young d'Hauteserres and the twin brothers Simeuse; under the
guidance of their cousin Laurence; who had been watching over their
safety and that of the other /emigres/ who accompanied them from
Strasburg to Bar…sur…Aube; had just passed through Alsace and
Lorraine; and were now in Champagne while other conspirators; not less
bold; were entering France by the cliffs of Normandy。 Dressed as
workmen the d'Hauteserres and the Simeuse twins had walked from forest
to forest; guided on their way by relays of persons; chosen by
Laurence during the last three months from among the least suspected
of the Bourbon adherents living in each neighborhood。 The /emigres/
slept by day and travelled by night。 Each brought with him two
faithful soldiers; one of whom went before to warn of danger; the
other behind to protect a retreat。 Thanks to these military
precautions; this valuable detachment had at last reached; without
accident; the forest of Nodesme; which was chosen as the rendezvous。
Twenty…seven other gentlemen had entered France from Switzerland and
crossed Burgundy; guided towards Paris with the same caution。

Monsieur de Riviere counted on collecting five hundred men; one
hundred of whom were young nobles; the officers of this sacred legion。
Monsieur de Polignac and Monsieur de Riviere; whose conduct as chiefs
of this advance was most remarkable; afterwards preserved an
impenetrable secrecy as to the names of those of their accomplices who
were not discovered。 It may be said; therefore; now that the
Restoration has made matters clearer; that Bonaparte never knew the
extent of the danger he then ran; any more than England knew the peril
she had escaped from the camp at Boulogne; and yet the police of
France was never more intelligently or ably managed。

At the period when this history begins; a cowardfor cowards are
always to be found in conspiracies which are not confined to a small
number of equally strong mena sworn confederate; brought face to
face with death; gave certain information; happily insufficient to
cover the extent of the conspiracy; but precise enough to show the
object of the enterprise。 The police had therefore; as Malin told
Grevin; left the conspirators at liberty; though all the while
watching them; hoping to discover the ramifications of the plot。
Nevertheless; the government found its hand to a certain extent forced
by Georges Cadoudal; a man of action who took counsel of himself only;
and who was hiding in Paris with twenty…five /chouans/ for the purpose
of attacking the First Consul。

Laurence combined both hatred and love within her breast。 To destroy
Bonaparte and bring back the Bourbons was to recover Gondreville and
make the fortune of her cousins。 The two sentiments; one the
counterpart of the other; were sufficient; more especially at twenty…
three years of age; to excite all the faculties of her soul and all
the powers of her being。 So; for the last two months; she had seemed
to the inhabitants of Cinq…Cygne more

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