The chapter opens with a quote from Danton proclaiming that “Reputation is a whore, and people who talk about posterity are hypocrites and fools” (389). Danton will be dead by 1793. There is little archival evidence of his first-hand accounts, because he did not write things down. The chapter continues as a first-person account from Danton’s perspective.

In September 1791, Danton returns to Paris from England. In October, Pétion is elected mayor of Paris over Lafayette. Danton is not elected to the Assembly. He returns to Arcis and lives with his family. Camille and Lucile go to Arcis to convince Danton to return to run for the role of Deputy Public Prosecutor. Danton loses the election to a man named de Gerville, who is then appointed Minister of the Interior. Danton runs again against the unpleasant playwright Collot and wins. 

There are rumors that Danton is aligned with the monarchy, because Louis Capet oversees the ministerial appointments. Danton is concerned about the growing power of the federalist and variously royalist supporters of Brissot, known as the Brissotins or Girondins. Robespierre sees them as “war-mongers” because they “think the chaos war brings will force us to turn back to the monarchy” (397).

Robespierre is living with the Duplay family. Duplay is a carpenter. He has three daughters, Eléonore who goes by the appellation “Cornélia,” Victoire, and Elisabeth, also known as “Babette.” The household venerates Robespierre; they hang countless portraits of him on the walls of their study.

Camille takes on the case of a couple running a gambling house. He uses the trial as a platform for his argument against “the intervention of the state in […] a matter of private morality” (403). This stance provokes Brissot, who is against gambling. Camille writes public invectives against Brissot. Meanwhile, Camille and Lucile have adopted something of an open marriage; they both have affairs with other people. They seem well-suited to each other. Lucile is pregnant.

Danton is also having affairs, but his wife is unaware. Gabrielle is pregnant and her due date is soon. Danton hopes that after Lucile gives birth, he can have an affair with her.

Gabrielle goes into labor. Louise Gély, now 14 years old, wants to help her friend, Gabrielle, with the birth, but she is sent away. Gabrielle gives birth to a son.

In March 1792, Marie Antoinette’s brother, Emperor Leopold of Austria, dies. The King urges Marie Antoinette to flee France, but she refuses. The King meets with General Dumouriez, a Jacobin. Dumouriez advises the King to appoint Jacobins to the cabinet. Roland is appointed Minister of the Interior. Dumouriez tells Brissot there will be war with Austria and possibly England soon. Robespierre does not want to go to war with foreign powers. He is growing increasingly paranoid about domestic conspiracies against him.

In late March, Camille has an idea about how to address the question of war. He attempts to consult Robespierre, but Robespierre is unwell and Camille is run off by Eléonore Duplay. He finds the Duplay family “predatory.”

On April 20, France declares war on Austria. The Queen is suspected of having shared military secrets with “the enemy.”

On April 25, there is a demonstration of the guillotine. A highway robber is executed.

Robespierre goes to see Camille, but he is not home. Lucile asks him to be their son’s godfather, and Robespierre agrees.

At the Jacobin club, the members call Robespierre a despot. Danton defends him.

Danton and Dumouriez attend a salon at the Rolands’. Danton, who does not think women should be involved in politics, is not impressed with her or her political views. The feeling is mutual. The next morning, while discussing the event, Camille notes he thinks the Brissotins, including the Rolands, are “in the pay of the Court” (425). Danton disagrees, saying Mme Roland hates the royal family. He jokes that someone will have to sleep with her to win her support for their faction.

The chapter opens with a first-person narration from Gabrielle’s perspective. Gabrielle recently gave birth to another boy, François-Georges. She has post-partum depression after the birth. Lucile helps her find a wet nurse to look after the infant. Gabrielle reflects on rumors that Lucile is having affairs with General Dillon, Stanislas Fréron, and Hérault de Séchelles. Gabrielle is glad Lucile is pregnant, because she hopes it will prevent Danton from pursuing an affair with Lucile as well. Gabrielle resents having to host people like the Brissotins and the yellow newspaper man René Hébert, alias Père Duchesne, a radical republican, at their house.

In June 1792, the King dismisses his ministerial cabinet excepting General Dumouriez. Then, Lafayette orders the Assembly to close the Jacobin and Cordelier clubs. Camille urges Danton to take an aggressive stance, but Danton prefers to temporize. In response to the political crisis, on June 20, the people, led by the Jacobins and Cordeliers, invade the Tuileries Palace where the royal family is living. Danton realizes that they have to “stage a coup” and “depose Louis” before the summer is over (435).

Anne Théroigne calls on Lucile. She is distressed because Louis Suleau, a friend of Camille’s, has been publishing “libelous” claims about her. She tells Lucile about her time in Austrian captivity and her desire to support the Brissotins. She was surprised by how much information the Austrians already had about her.

In response to the mob attack on the Tuileries, Lafayette plans a military review of the National Guard with the King. Pétion, the mayor of Paris, cancels it at the last minute. The Jacobins and Cordeliers denounce Lafayette for his royalist beliefs.

Lucile goes into labor. Too frantic to be permitted in the birthing chamber, Camille goes to Robespierre’s lodgings. There, Elisabeth Duplay attempts to seduce Camille, but he rejects her advances. Suddenly, Duplay bursts in to congratulate Camille on the birth of his son. Camille resolves to not tell anyone about Elisabeth’s advances because no one would believe him, as he is a known womanizer.

On July 24, Danton presents his manifesto to the city government arguing for armed citizen militias throughout Paris. Their forces are reinforced by a militia from Marseille, who arrive singing a song dubbed “the Marseillaise.” Danton and the republicans plan to bring down the monarchy by force, and the Swiss Guard and some Brissotins intend to fight back.

On August 7, Camille and Fabre learn that Danton has gone to Arcis. They are angry he would leave the city at such a crucial moment, but he returns on August 9. He tells them the coup to bring down the king will begin that evening. Louis Suleau calls on Danton that afternoon. Danton urges Louis to leave the city: As a monarchist, he is in danger, but Louis refuses. He is prepared to die to defend the monarchy. Lucile and Gabrielle make preparations to wait out the battle in Gabrielle’s apartment with Louise Robert.

At midnight, Danton arrives to tell them things are going smoothy and the “patriots” have taken over City Hall. At 2 AM on August 10, Antoine Fouquier-Tinville, Camille’s cousin, arrives at the apartment to meet with Danton and they go out again. At 5 AM, Gabrielle is sick. She tells Lucile she is pregnant. The Marquis de Mandat, commander of the local guard under the monarchy, is shot at City Hall. By 6 AM, Danton and his forces have assumed control of the Commune and City Hall. By 7:30 AM, the “patriots” of the “Insurrectionary Commune” are singing the Marseillaise. There is cannon fire on the Tuileries Palace. Captured members of the royalist patrol are killed, including Louis Suleau, by a mob led by Anne Théroigne. Camille, witnessing the violence, is helpless to intervene.

Lucile goes out for bread. A man, presumably a monarchist, spits in her face. Gabrielle and Lucile return to the Danton apartment around the corner. By midday, the streets are silent. A drunk man wanders in to tell them that the Cordeliers have taken control of the government. He gives them a hairbrush looted from Marie Antoinette’s chambers. Danton returns home, exhausted. He tells the women no one has seen Robespierre all day.

Camille goes to the Assembly at the Riding-School. The royal family is being held captive there. Camille wants them and the other royalists killed, but Danton is not supportive of this plan. The assemblymen can smell the burning of bodies outside the chamber.