The little fellow was the sunbeam which now and then would light up
even the sombre apartments of the Temple. With the happy
carelessness of infancy, he had forgotten the past, and did not
think of the future; he lived only in the present, sought to be
happy, and found his happiness when he succeeded in calling a smile
to the pale, proud lips of the queen, or in winning a word of praise
from the king for his industry and his attention.
And thus the days went by with the royal family-monotonous, sad, and
dreary. No greeting of love, no ray of hope came in from the outer
world, to lighten up the thick walls of the old building. No one
brought the prisoners news of what was transpiring without. They
were too well watched for any of their friends to be able to
communicate with them. This was the greatest trial for the royal
captives. Not a moment, by day or by night, when the eyes of the
sentries were not directed toward them, and their motions observed!
The doors to the anterooms were constantly open, and in them always
there were officials, with searching looks and with severe faces,
watching the prisoners in the inner rooms. Even during the night
this trial did not cease, and the Queen of France had to undergo the
indignity of having the door of her sleeping-room constantly open,
while the officials, who spent the night in their arm-chairs in the
anteroom, drank, played, and smoked, always keeping an eye on her
bed, in order to be sure of her presence.
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