Fatal Purity: Robespierre And The French Revolution - Plot & Excerpts
His friend the Swiss jurist and political writer Etienne Dumont remembered: The irritation of his system produced violent attacks of ophthalmia, and I have seen him, while he was president, sometimes apply leeches to his eyes during the adjournment between the morning and evening sessions and attend the assembly with his neck covered with linen to stanch the blood.1 Mirabeau was suddenly—very suspiciously—flush with money, and far from discreet with it. Marat, vigilant as ever, kept drawing attention to this new wealth: “Two years ago, Riquetti [Mirabeau] was obliged to send his breeches to the pawnshop to get six francs; today he swims in opulence…and has three mistresses whom he showers with gifts.”2 Among other flamboyant extravagances, Mirabeau bought a large property in the Marais (quite close to the building in which Robespierre rented his humble second-floor flat). Here he retired on weekends, enjoyed overseeing the restoration and refurbishment of his grand new home, and looked forward to the coming of spring with the special delight of an ex-prisoner whose life has come right again.
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