Chapter Thirteen
I DREAMED A DREAM
A new dawn was rise. Enjolras embraced Angélique, while her head was resting on his naked chest, her fingers drawing imaginary circles in his skin. His blue eyes were lost in the ceiling: he was thinking about the revolution, about the menace of his death and what would happen to Angélique afterwards. What if he survives? Enjolras felt puzzled.
"What if they find me and take me away?" she asked.
"Who?" Enjolras frowned.
"My family." Angélique answered "They are looking for me, certainly… Madame Loire wakes up early… She must have warned my grandfather about my escape."
"Everything is falling apart." Enjolras said "The Law is tightening the siege, every day more and more people are joining us, the revolution is imminent… And now, you've run away and you are here at my house… The foolish things we do for love…"
"If you don't want me here and can go elsewhere." Angélique said, sitting on the bed and staring at him with seriousness.
"I've not said that." Enjolras remarked "I've promised that I would protect you and…
"I don't need protection!"
"I have to disagree." the blonde young man sat beside her and caressed her face "I know it is hard for you to be in this position and to feel vulnerable… But you are pregnant, and now you are fragile, despite of your strength. You need protection. I'm just afraid that I'm not being able to provide it to you…"
"Don't worry about such things…" Angélique asked "I've told you once and I'll tell you again: focus on the revolution and succeed. No harm will come to me as long as I'm here, at your house."
"What if the Law comes here and arrests you? That's my greatest fear…"
"And why would that happen?"
"The Friends of the ABC plot against the King." Enjolras recalled "If they discover us, we'll be accused of treason and executed… They can find my house and come here, searching. And if they do come here, they will find you, alone and defenseless."
"You fret too much, Enjolras." Angélique said with a light smile "That's very unlikely to happen."
"But it can happen…"
"It's a remote possibility, not a certainty." she said, caressing his chest "Look at me… Do you see fear within my eyes?"
"No…" Enjolras stared into her eyes "But you are foolish… Wise, yes, but foolish."
"There is nothing to be afraid of." Angélique remarked "You are not afraid to die… Why do you fear my death?"
"Because I love you…" Enjolras whispered, against her lips, and kissed her. "Love can make strange things to a man, even to the coldest one. If anyone would want to hurt me, they cannot find out about you… You are my weakness…"
"Your weakness?" Angélique laughed with scorn.
"It was a compliment."
"I don't see how being a weakness can be a compliment…"
"Words are often misunderstood." Enjolras said "I'm simply saying that no one is more important to me than you."
"No one is going to hurt me, Enjolras. I begged you, please, stop worry your mind." Angélique asked "Focus on the revolution you'll have to battle. What I would give to be part of it…"
"You can't join us, you know that…" he recalled "Your condition does not permit it."
Enjolras placed his hand upon her pregnant belly.
"It's getting larger."
"Yes…" Angélique smiled "But there are still six months for him to be born…"
"If you are implying that you could join us at the barricades…"
"And why not?" she interrupted him "I can fight! I'm a pregnant woman, not a cripple."
"We had this conversation before, Angélique." Enjolras said with seriousness "I won't allow it. The barricades are not a place for a pregnant woman! The National Guard would show no mercy on you just because of your condition. You were to be seen as a traitor, like the rest of us. You would suffer the same fate as the rest of us…"
Angélique took a deep breath.
"Be patient, my love." Enjolras begged, embracing her "You are a wise young woman… I know you understand why I don't want you to join us."
"And what if I wasn't pregnant?" she asked "Would you allow me to join you at the barricades?"
"That's not the case…"
"You didn't answer to my question." Angélique remarked "Would you allow it?"
"I couldn't stop you." Enjolras answered "But you are pregnant. For your safety and for the safety of our unborn child, you mustn't. It's too dangerous."
"It's dangerous for everyone, not just for me."
"You really are a stubborn person…"
"So do you!" Angélique said, looking at his face and kissing his cheek.
"I'm sure he'll be stubborn as well." Enjolras smiled, caressing her belly.
"Or she."
"Would you prefer the baby to be a boy or a girl?"
"That doesn't matter to me." Angélique answered "Boy or girl… This child will be loved. And will not be taken away from me. I won't allow it."
"I'm sure you won't." Enjolras whispered into her ear "You are a true warrior…"
"Ah! Like the ones in the Ancient North tales?" Angélique laughed "When I was a child I loved hearing those stories… My mother used to read them to me when it was bedtime. I want to do the same with my child…"
"I will tell him stories of France."
"Why I don't find that surprising?" she smiled "You will sing La Marseillaise to the child as a lullaby, I'm sure!"
"No, I won't!" Enjolras laughed "Stop mocking me…"
"This child will change our lives." Angélique said with soberness "It already has change mine…"
Enjolras kissed her shoulder and hold her strongly in his arms.
June 1th, 1832
Paris, France
"At Notre Dame and at rue de Bac the sections are preparing." Combeferre informed "Students, workers, beggars… Paris is coming to our side. They are all ready and waiting for our call."
"Those are excellent news, my dear friend." Enjolras said "The time for the barricades to rise is near... The Law can sense it and so do we. But we will succeed, I'm certain. Although, the National Guard will be a dangerous and tough foe for us…"
"We have enough weapons to defeat them." Combeferre assured "And we have the People on our side. With Paris behind us, yes, we will succeed."
"We need a sign…" Enjolras declared "To gather the People and to call them to join us and fight along us."
The noise of a bottle crashing into the floor invaded the room; Enjolras and Combeferre turned and looked at a bewildered Marius.
"Marius, you're late!" Enjolras said in a severe tone.
"I apologize… I've been… Oh, never mind!" the young man said, although his eyes were lost and dreamy.
Enjolras rolled his eyes and continued his conversation with Combeferre.
"What's wrong today, Marius?" Joly asked with concern "You look like you've seen a ghost!"
"Oh, a ghost you say…" Marius said, smiling "A ghost maybe… I was leaving my house when I saw her on the street… And when I looked again, she'd disappeared. She was a ghost indeed…"
"I'm not following…" Joly said.
"I've seen the most beautiful young woman this afternoon…" Marius sighed "She had long, blonde hair and flowers on her bonnet…"
"Oh, la, la!" Grantaire laughed "I can't believe what I'm hearing! Is Marius in love at last?"
"What's her name?" Prouvaire asked, with interest.
"I don't know…" Marius said. "I didn't have time to speak to her."
"Aw, how passionate! Love at first sight!" Prouvaire smiled, enchanted "What a romantic fellow you are, Marius!"
Marius smiled, blushing.
"Ah-ah! You talk of battles to be won…" Grantaire said to Enjolras "And Marius here is Dom Juan, longing to conquer his damsel's heart! I bet no written Opera is better than this!"
Enjolras come closer to them.
"What's going on here?" he asked.
"Marius is in love!" Joly laughed.
"With a woman he saw today and he does not even know her name. Isn't it lovely?" Prouvaire sighed.
But Enjolras did not found it amusement; his semblance was severe.
"It is time for us all to decide who we are." he say with seriousness "Have you ask of yourself what the price you might pay when the revolution comes?"
"I know all of that." Marius asked.
"I'm not so sure if you know." the leader declared "We don't have time to be fooling around nor have our heads focusing on other minor things!"
"If you were there today you might also know how it feels! How everything can change so suddenly and your whole world begins to crumble. Oh, if you ever knew…"
"If I ever knew what?" Enjolras asked, coming closer to Marius, with a threaten expression upon his face.
"Love." Marius answered.
Enjolras smirked and nodded his head.
"You know nothing, Marius." the blonde young man said "You don't know what sacrifice means. You're nothing but a rich boy with wishes of becoming a hero and disobeying his family."
"You are a rich boy too, Enjolras." Marius remarked "We are not as different from each other as you might think."
"But we are." Enjolras said "And we are standing at the brick of revolution…"
"Oh, quit it already, Enjolras!" Grantaire interrupted him "The boy's in love. What's so wrong with that?"
Enjolras didn't answer nor faced Grantaire.
"Marius, you're no longer a child." Enjolras faced Marius "And I don't doubt your sudden feelings for a young woman you don't even know are true… But now we strive towards a larger goal and our little lives don't count at all."
"She is beautiful like angels!" Marius insisted "I feel my soul on fire! I've never felt this way before… Oh, her blonde hair… I wish I could feel the perfume of that hair…"
Enjolras stared at Marius with a mist of disapproval and scorn.
"Marius, we have higher matters to discuss tonight."
"Believe me, Enjolras…" the young man smiled "If only you could see her… You would understand why I'm feeling this way. I can't stop thinking about her…"
"Do you think I care for women in such times?" the leader said in a severe tone "The People of France are more important than our solitude! If you want to be in love, fine. But don't allow it to interfere with your head! I need you to be focus on our plans, right now."
"You don't understand the poetry of love…"
"And you don't understand life!" Enjolras said.
All the students exchanged concerned glances with each other, while Grantaire, drinking from his bottle, was grinning like a fool.
"Tell me more about this lovely lady of yours, Marius." Grantaire asked.
For the first time in months, Enjolras looked at Grantaire with a deadly stare, censuring him for encouraging Marius.
The young man didn't stopped talking about his "dashing angel on the street" during the entire meeting and this made Enjolras furious; he could stop feeling enraged, because Marius couldn't separate duty from love. Combeferre and Feuilly were discussing about the streets they would occupy and Courfeyrac was giving information about the guns, while Marius couldn't stop talking about his love and Enjolras could no longer hear the words "blonde" and "angel".
"Gavroche!" Courfeyrac called, when he saw the little boy standing at the door. "Come on in! What news do you bring?"
"General Lamarque is dead." Gavroche announced.
All students raised from the table, shocked and exchanging glances with each others, then, finally, all the eyes turned to Enjolras.
"Lamarque… His death is the sign we await." the leader said.
"His funeral will be at June the Fifth." Gavroche said.
"On his funeral day, Paris will honor his name and the barricades shall rise." Enjolras said with triumph "The time is come for us to fight. Let us take to the streets with no doubt in our heart and welcome the revolution with courage and cheer."
"We must warn the People." Combeferre said "They will come when we call."
When the meeting was over, Grantaire walked towards Enjolras, at the corner of the room, holding his brandy bottle, as usual.
"Well, well, that was such a ravishing performance!" Grantaire smirked "I've almost believed you!"
Enjolras refused to face Grantaire.
"You are such a hypocrite, Enjolras…"
"I don't know what you are talking about." the blonde leader said in a severe tone, glancing at him.
"I'm talking about your secret affair, of course. Or have you forgotten that night? I'm sure you haven't… Poor, Marius… He's in love and you dare to condemn him."
"You are talking about different matters."
"Am I?" Grantaire laughed "What's the difference between you and Marius?"
"Marius spent the entire meeting talking about that girl!"
"He's not afraid to show his true feelings."
"The purpose of our meetings is not to show our feelings." Enjolras declared "I shall go home. I need to rest. And for the next days, you shall not drink… A drunken man will be useless on the barricades!"
"You'll go home and warmth your feet with your secret lover?" Grantaire smirked.
"I don't own you any satisfactions." Enjolras recalled "And put that bottle down!"
"Uh! There's no way I will fight against the National Guard sober! How boring would that be? Give me my brandy and shall cut off their heads!"
"I'm not giving you an advice; I'm giving you an order." he said "Put that bottle down for the next days. I won't allow any alcohol in the barricades."
"Advices and orders are all the same when they come from you, Enjolras."
Enjolras ignored his remark and greet everyone, then, went downstairs and walked home.
Angélique was five months pregnant; it was been a month since she was hiding in Enjolras' house. Meanwhile, she did not have any contact with the exterior world: she could only see Paris through the window. She was on the desk, drawing some portraits of unknown people she observed on the streets during the day. Those were her only occupations now: drawing and reading. When Enjolras arrived home, he kissed her lips, and caressed her shoulders, like he usually does.
"I'm so tired of spending my days locked in here." Angélique whispered in sadness "I feel like a cadged bird."
"Soon you'll no longer be locked in here." Enjolras smiled, caressing her neck.
"What do you mean?"
"General Lamarque is dead." he said "He's funeral will be at June the Fifth. In that day, the barricades shall rise."
"What?" Angélique raised from the desk. "I don't know if I should be joyful or gloomy about it."
"You should be glad." Enjolras smiled "The moment we've been waiting for was arrived."
"For "we" you mean the Friends of the ABC." she said "I will be locked in here while you and your fellows are out there fighting for freedom…"
"Angélique, please, we have talked about this too many times." he recalled "You know what my opinion is and I won't change it."
She took a deep breath, but her eyes started filling with tears.
"Why are you crying?" Enjolras asked, caressing her neck.
"You'll be gone…"
"Don't you fret, my love… I won't be gone for long. We have enough weapons and the People of Paris is on our side. We will succeed. Our child will born in a new country, free of misery."
"Once you said I was foolish… But now, the only fool I see in this room is you."
Enjolras hold her in his arms and cuddled her back and her hair.
"We still have four nights…"
He kissed her lips and embraced her, strongly, caressing her skin. Despite of her pregnancy, they could not stop themselves from making love. Angélique, specially, was more willing to do it, more than ever, like the pregnancy herself made her feel more sexual. Although, Angélique's pregnant belly was growing and they find it complicated to have sex in certain positions, they have learned how to adapt themselves to the situation. And now, more than ever before, they made love with an intense passion.
I hope you've enjoyed it and it will be continued… The end of my story is near.
Thank you so, so much for the nice reviews! You've been too kind! And for following, of course! It means a lot to me.
Thank you for the reading.