You, mother, stay down here, and keep an eye on this spy; keep your eyes and ears open and don't unfasten the door to any one but Francois.

It is a question of life or death," he added, in a deep voice.

"Every creature beneath my roof must remember that I have not quitted it this night; all of you must assert that--even though your heads were on the block.

Come," he said to Marthe, "come, wife, put on your shoes, take your coat, and let us be off! No questions--I go with you." For the last three quarters of an hour the man's demeanor and glance were of despotic authority, all-powerful, irresistible, drawn from the same mysterious source from which great generals on fields of battle who inflame an army, great orators inspiring vast audiences, and (it must be said) great criminals perpetrating bold crimes derive their inspiration.
At such times invincible influence seems to exhale from the head and issue from the tongue; the gesture even can inject the will of the one man into others.

The three women knew that some dreadful crisis was at hand; without warning of its nature they felt it in the rapid actions of the man, whose countenance shone, whose forehead spoke, whose brilliant eyes glittered like stars; they saw it in the sweat that covered his brow to the roots of his hair, while more than once his voice vibrated with impatience and fury.