"They're calling it 'The National Convention', this new government. Marat and Danton both lost the Mayoral bid to Bailly three years ago, I suspect Robespierre has leveraged both their jealousies," Timothee-Abbé Chobat explained as they sat around the coffee table in the main chamber. "Marat we know has been working with the Illuminati for years. Danton, I think he might have been recruited into their ranks relatively recently. Now Danton is 'Minister of Justice' and Marat is head of something called 'The Committee of Surveillance.'"
"And what of Robespierre? What has become of him in all this." Élise asked.
"That I still haven't quite figured out."
"Christ, what a world," Denis said. "The king's in jail (in the Temple no less), Lafayette's fleeing France, a journaliste cinglé is heading a committee in government, and that little lawyer swine is turning this country into his plaything, all while a man in Bavaria pulling their puppet strings."
"Why did Marquis Lafayette flee, anyway?" Arno asked.
"Arrest warrant, put out by Danton."
"The new Minister of Justice..." Arno said, trying to follow.
"Oui," Denis said. "Desertion is what they were claiming, if I recall."
"Is it true?"
Timothee spoke. "It's...I suppose its a matter perspective. He came back to speak to Assembly about the radicals in government, and, well...you know the rest."
A foul silence hung in the air.
"What about that man you mentioned a while back, Mandat?" Élise asked. "Wasn't he supposed to succeed Marquis Lafayette? He should -"
"Dead. Slain by the same mob that stormed the palace."
Élise was silent. So much had changed in such a short amount of time. The Fédérés had served exactly the purpose they were supposed to.
"What's the committee they put Marat in charge of, again?" Arno asked.
"The Committee of Surveillance."
"The Committee of Surveillance sounds ominous," Élise commented.
"It sounds ten times worse if you've ever read L'Ami du Peuple."
"I can't believe he calls his newspaper that!" Timothee said. "The man talks like a slavering demon!"
"I used to admire his fire," Denis said. "But the man's a hate monger and a lunatic now."
There was brief quiet, followed by the sound of the back doors opening.
"Henri!" Denis called to their chef, who had just come back inside. "Fetch me a whiskey, would you? God knows I'm going to need a lot of it."
The chef grunted and made his way to the kitchen.
More practically minded, Élise leaned in and asked, "Where do you think we'll go from here?"
"That's...that's not an easy question," the Chobat patriarch replied.
"I think we should look into this Danton mec," Denis said. "Georges Danton. See how deep he is in this."