Lucien took the letter apprehensively; he unfolded it, scanning its contents quickly but thoroughly. He took particular note of the date—months after the Feuillants had splintered off from the Jacobin Club, and certainly around the time its members had been rounded up and tried for treason… “Chrétien admired the oratory of Barnave very much,” Lucien remarked evenly, glancing at Jacques. What did it mean when even the Jacobin Club’s founding members were being hunted and guillotined without so much as a by-your-leave?
He was worried. More worried than he’d been before coming—Chrétien’s letter was full of his usual passionate rhetoric, but it was now directed against the club he had once so strongly supported… More accurately, it was directed against its current policies, not its inherent ideals. Lucien sighed, returning the letter to Jacques as he said, “I’m sorry, Monsieur Belmont, I did not wish to cause undue trouble… or to stir up bad memories. It is only that I am very concerned about my brother.”