At present, however, the opponents of the butchers
dared not resort to arms. So great had been the fear that they excited
that most men, however much at heart opposed to them, had been constrained
to appear to side with and agree with them, and as there was no means of
knowing how could be counted upon to join the carpenters were these to
take up arms, the latter could not venture alone to enter the lists
against the armed host of the other party.
One evening Guy, who had not been near the Italian's for over a fortnight,
received a message from Dame Margaret to say that she wished to speak to
him, for that she had determined, if any way of escape could be decided
on, to quit Paris, and to endeavour to make her way to Villeroy. He was
greatly pleased at the news. He had himself ventured to urge this step on
the day after the Duke of Bar and his companions were seized, pointing out
that it was evident that the Duke of Burgundy had neither the power nor
the inclination to thwart the Parisians, and that although both parties
were now nominally hostile to the English, neither were likely, at so
critical a time, to give so much as a thought to Villeroy. Dame Margaret
had agreed to this, but considered the difficulties of getting out of
Paris and traversing the intervening country were so great that she
preferred to wait until some change took place in the situation of Paris.
But it was now too evident that the changes were entirely for the worse,
and that if discovered the butchers would undoubtedly add her and her
children to their long list of victims.
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