He's got tired of her, and she's given him away out of spite." Satisfied with this explanation of the situation, he was quite inclined to be amiable to Juliette.

Moreover, he had caught sight of the valise, and almost thought that the young girl's eyes had directed his attention towards it.
"Open those shutters!" he commanded, "this place is like a vault." One of the men obeyed immediately, and as the brillant August sun came streaming into the room, Merlin once more turned to Deroulede.
"Information has been laid against you, Citizen-Deputy," he said, "by an anonymous writer, who states that you have just now in your possession correspondence or other papers intended for the Widow Capet: and the Committee of Public Safety has entrusted me and these citizens to seize such correspondence, and make you answerable for its presence in your house." Deroulede hesitated for one brief fraction of a second.

As soon as the shutters had been opened, and the room flooded in daylight, he had at once perceived that his letter-case had disappeared, and guessed, from Juliette's attitude upon the sofa, that she had concealed it about her person.

It was this which caused him to hesitate.
His heart was filled with boundless gratitude to her for her noble effort to save him, but he would have given his life at this moment, to undo what she had done.
The Terrorists were no respecters of persons or of sex.

A domicillary search order, in those days, conferred full powers on those in authority, and Juliette might at any moment now be peremptorily ordered to rise.