Two conditions Mirabeau had named, when Count de la Marck had tried
to gain him over in the name of the king: an audience with the
queen, and the payment of his debts, together with a monthly pension
of a hundred louis-d'or.
"I am paid, but not bought," said Mirabeau, as he received his first
payment. "Only one of my conditions is fulfilled, but what will
become of the other?"
"And so you still insist on having an audience with the queen?"
asked La Marck.
"Yes, I insist upon it," said Mirabeau, with naming eyes. "If I am
to battle and speak for this monarchy, I must learn to respect it.
If I am to believe in the possibility of restoring it, I must
believe in its capacity of life; I must see that I have to deal with
a brave, decided, noble man. The true and real king here is Marie
Antoinette; and there is only one man in the whole surroundings of
Louis XVI., and that is his wife. I must speak with her, in order to
hear and to see whether she is worth the risking of my life, honor,
and popularity. If she really is the heroine that I hold her to be,
we will both united save the monarchy, and the throne of Louis XVI.,
whose king is Marie Antoinette. The moment is soon to come when we
shall learn what a woman and a child can accomplish, and whether the
daughter of Maria Theresa with the dauphin in her arms cannot stir
the hearts of the French as her great mother once stirred the
Hungarians.
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