A Place of Greater Safety

Annette is very bored with her marriage to the dry government bureaucrat, Claude Duplessis. She met Camille Desmoulins through a family friend, Fréron, two years ago. She was instantly smitten with the 22-year-old. At dinner, Camille grilled Claude about the details of how the Treasury worked while making eyes at Annette. Their flirtation continued, but never became physical. He tried to kiss her, but she pushed him away.

Her younger daughter, Lucile, likes to imagine she is Maria Stuart [Mary, Queen of Scots], who was executed by Queen Elizabeth I for treason in 1587. Camille is her Latin tutor. She has a crush on him. One day, Lucile’s older sister Adèle dares her to go into the study while Camille and Annette are there alone. Lucile catches Camille and Annette kissing. She is shocked.

The next day, Camille begins courting 16-year-old Lucile. Claude is against the marriage. Annette is jealous. Lucile resolves to hide Camille’s letters in Mably’s Doubts on the Natural Order of Societies to keep their courtship a secret.

De Robespierre gains some national attention for his role in winning a case on behalf of a local who wished to install a lightning rod on the roof of his house. De Robespierre is hardworking, frugal, and solitary. After winning the case, he is appointed to the role of judge. During the first case he hears, he finds the defendant guilty. Afterward, he is sick for having “sentenced a criminal to death” (105). 

He becomes known as a person willing to take on cases for poor people pro bono. He begins to ruffle feathers at the Academy of Arras and at the court for his “political speeches” against the corrupt system. He remains in correspondence with Camille. He grows increasingly convinced of the need for a revolution.

Camille proposes to Lucile and she considers his offer. Annette is offended that she has been left behind by Camille for her young daughter. Claude is working long hours at the Treasury handling the new reform proposals to deal with the debt.

D’Anton marries 24-year-old Gabrielle. They rent an apartment near Les Halles. He does not tell her about his debt. He is promoted to a position as King’s Councilor. One day after court, he is intercepted by Hérault de Séchelles, a petty noble who tries to feel out d’Anton’s political positions. D’Anton refuses to state outright what he thinks.

Camille and d’Anton spend time at the Café du Foy in the Palais-Royale with a “different set of people” (117) who talk about politics. They run into Fabre d’Églantine there, the theater director who advised d’Anton to come to Paris. Privately, d’Anton wishes to overturn the old world and replace it with a “simpler, more violent one” (120).

Lucile decides to marry Camille. Gabrielle’s parents retire from the café and move to the town of Fontenay-sous-Bois in the countryside.

There is a protest outside the Law Courts. While attempting to control the crowd, the National Guards fire on the crowd, killing at least two. D’Anton finds Camille in the middle of the fray, looking stunned, and takes him home. Gabrielle is anxious about the violence and unrest.

Phillippe, the Duke of Orléans, a member of the junior line of the Bourbons, aspires to dethrone Louis XVI and take the throne for himself. His key advisor is Félicité de Genlis, his mistress. Together, along with the husband of Félicité, M. de Genlis, they have cultivated a circle known for their liberalism. When the King is forced to call the Estates-General due to continued Parliamentary obstruction, the Duke plans to organize against him.

In a cab outside Saint-Suplice Cathedral, Lucile tells Camille of her decision to marry him.

In November 1787, at the Café du Foy, Camille reports of the King’s ineptitude and the Duke’s challenge to his authority.

In Arras, de Robespierre finds himself increasingly at odds with the “polite society” of the town because of his forthright opinions.

Camille goes to Guise for the holidays to see his family. He finds it tedious and returns to Paris quickly. He had been living there with the daughter of an artist. When he returns home, she tells him to move out because he is sleeping with her mother.

Camille feels tortured about his decision to marry Lucile when he really cares for Annette. He goes to see d’Anton at his busy practice. D’Anton is too busy to see him, so Camille goes to the theater to see Fabre d’Églantine. Camille tells Fabre he wants “a violent and bloody revolution” (140). At the theater, Camille meets an actress/sex-worker called Anne Théroigne.

Camille goes to Lucile’s house on the rue Condé. He argues with Claude, who opposes his engagement to Lucile.

In May 1788, the King abolishes the local Parlements. The debt continues to grow. The price of food staples increases.

Gabrielle and d’Anton have a son. They move into a larger apartment on the corner of rue des Cordeliers and the Cour du Commerce. They become friendly with their neighbor, Mme Gély, and her daughter, Louise. They begin hosting political salons where people discuss republicanism and the overthrow of the monarchy.

On July 13, 1788, there is a freak hailstorm that flattens crops and further stresses the food supply.

Lucile goes to d’Anton’s house and introduces herself to Gabrielle. Gabrielle, a pious and obedient wife, is somewhat shocked at Lucile’s brash and intense personality. Gabrielle advises Lucile that it might be better not to marry Camille, whom she sees as rash and impulsive. While they are talking, d’Anton comes in to announce there is a riot at the Law Courts. People are “shouting for Orléans” (151). Gabrielle notices d’Anton looking at Lucile, who is quite beautiful.

On August 8, the King calls a meeting of the Estates-General. On August 29, there is a bread riot at Pont-Neuf and people are killed by soldiers. D’Anton is offered a royal appointment, but he turns it down, because he is hoping for a better post.

Elections are held to decide on delegates to the Estates-General. Robespierre stands as a delegate in his district.

The Duke of Orléans appoints a new secretary, Laclos. He is known for his skill in political power-plays. The Duke garners good will by selling his artwork and donating the proceeds to the poor.

Camille writes his first political pamphlet calling for the creation of a republic.

The chapter opens with a report on the poverty of the common people of France and a quote from the Comte de Mirabeau on his determination to be elected to the Estates.

It is a cold winter and people starve. People begin flocking to Paris from the countryside in search of food and work.

Camille stands for the elections in Picardy. He continues to write inflammatory pamphlets.

The Comte de Mirabeau, having been rejected by the nobility, runs as a candidate for the Third Estate to enact his revenge on them.

Camille’s father is elected delegate over Camille. However, just before the Estates begin, his father falls ill and Camille goes in his place.

De Robespierre is elected as a delegate in Arras. D’Anton refuses to stand for election because he cannot afford to take time off work to sit in the assembly. He is skeptical at Louise Robert’s proposal that women be given the right to vote. The day of the election, he runs into Hérault, who reports there is “trouble” at the Palais-Royale where Camille is making a speech. They talk about a doctor named Marat who has given up everything to agitate for a revolution.

D’Anton goes to the Palais-Royale to listen to Camille’s speech. The crowd is excited by his talk of revolution. Afterward, Camille is taken to a meeting with Laclos, the Duke of Orléans’s secretary.

On April 22nd, Gabrielle and d’Anton’s infant son dies of illness.

That month, a factory owner called M. Réveillon makes a public statement that if the price of bread was lower, factory owners could pay lower wages. This statement is misapprehended by the public who think he is advocating cutting wages. There are riots calling for “death to the rich” (176).

Camille and d’Anton meet with Brissot at the Café du Foy. Brissot is planning on starting a newspaper. He contests the claim that he is a police informant. Camille says Brissot is a snob who hates the public. Camille thinks all that matters is what the people believe.

The first meeting of the Estates is held in Versailles. There are hundreds of delegates from the Clergy, the Nobility, and the Commons. Camille tells another delegate he is going to write for a paper paid for by Mirabeau. The next day, Camille meets with Mirabeau, a royalist. Camille admits there are only a handful of republicans like Camille himself in the whole country. At Mirabeau’s, he meets Pétion, a friend of de Robespierre’s. Mirabeau agrees to publish Camille’s pamphlets.

The Estates continue to meet. The King does not make a good impression on the delegates. The First and Second Estates refuse to meet with the Third Estate, and the meetings are deadlocked. Robespierre meets with Mirabeau. Their dialogue is written in script form. Robespierre wishes to make a speech at the assembly the next day, but Mirabeau refuses to cede the floor to him. A representative of the First Estate attempts to make a deal with the Third Estate to break the deadlock, but Robespierre gives a speech refusing to cede.

On June 20, 1789, the Third Estate goes to a nearby tennis court and declares itself the National Assembly. The King refuses to acknowledge their sovereignty and adjourns the Estates General. Conflict brews. The King sends troops to Paris.

The Duke of Orléans reads one of Camille’s pamphlets and is impressed with it. He sends Laclos to arrange a meeting with Camille. Laclos tells Camille he wants to “buy” Robespierre’s support for the Duke. Camille retorts that Robespierre cannot be bought, but d’Anton might be persuaded for the right price.

On July 12, 1789, the King fires Necker, the Finance Minister. There is public outcry and protest. Camille is at the Café du Foy in the Palais-Royale. He is encouraged to give a speech calling for a Revolution against the king. The crowd responds ecstatically to his speech. Five thousand people march to the Tuileries Garden. Lucile Duplessis is excited when she hears from her father, Claude, about the role Camille played in whipping up the crowd.

With the crowd, Camille marches to the Invalides barracks to steal guns and then follows the march to the Bastille prison for gunpowder and ammunition. The mob violently kills the governor of the prison, de Launay.

Camille wakes up from a nightmare in the arms of Louise Robert, with whom he is having an affair. Her husband, François, returns home to share the news with them that the Bastille has been taken. Camille rushes to write his father of the news that he is now “famous.”