"Robespierre, I echo no one. I am the cry of the whole world. Ah, you are young, both of you! How old are you, Danton? Thirty-four. And you, Robespierre? Thirty-three. Well, as for myself, I have lived from the beginning of time. I am the embodiment of the ancient misery of mankind. I am six thousand years old." "That is true," replied Danton; "for six thousand years Cain has been preserved in hatred, like a toad in a stone. The stone breaks, and Cain leaps forth among men, to be known as Marat." "Danton!" cried Marat; and a livid glare shone in his eyes. "Well, what is it?" said Danton. Thus conversed these three terrible men,--conflicting thunderbolts! III. A QUIVERING OF THE INMOST FIBRES. [Illustration 050] The conversation ceased for a time. Each Titan betook himself to his own reflections. Lions are disturbed by hydras. Robespierre had grown very pale, and Danton very much flushed. Both shuddered. Marat's wild glare had died out; calmness, imperious calmness, now rested on the face of that man, feared by those who were themselves objects of awe. Danton felt himself conquered, but was unwilling to yield. He continued,-- "Marat talks loudly of dictatorship and unity, possessing all the while a talent for destroying." Robespierre opened his thin lips, and by way of supplementing Danton's speech remarked,-- "I agree with Anacharsis Cloots. Give me neither Roland nor Marat." "And I," said Marat,--"I say neither Danton nor Robespierre." He gazed steadily at the two men, and then added: "Let me advise you, Danton. You are in love, and think of marrying again; let politics alone,--be wise." And taking a step towards the door, he was about to take his departure, with the ominous salutation,-- "Farewell, gentlemen." Danton and Robespierre shuddered. At that moment a voice was heard at the farther end of the room, saying,-- "You are wrong, Marat." All turned. During Marat's outbreak some one had entered, unperceived, through the door at the back of the room. "Is that you, citizen Cimourdain?" said Marat "Good-day." It was Cimourdain. "I tell you that you are wrong, Marat," he repeated. Marat turned green, which was his way of growing pale, and Cimourdain added:-- "You are useful, but Robespierre and Danton are indispensable. Why do you threaten them? Let us have union, citizens. The people wish us to be united." This entrance was like a dash of cold water, or the arrival of a stranger upon the scene of a family quarrel; it produced a calming effect upon the surface, if it did not reach the depths. Cimourdain advanced towards the table. Both Danton and Robespierre knew him. They had often noticed, in the public tribunals of the Convention, this obscure but influential man, whom the people greeted with respect. Robespierre, however, always ceremonious, inquired,-- "How did you get in, citizen?" "He belongs to the Évêché," replied Marat, in an unusually meek tone of voice.