I nod and drop my shield. Still he doesn’t move. Now that Danton’s danger has passed, I am rooted to the spot with fear, tears trickling down my face. My father walks over to me and pulls out his handkerchief. Without a word, he takes the piece of vase out of my hand and throws it away across the room. Then he raises my arm and binds it. When he has finished, he lifts me up and swings me onto his knee as he sits down in a big padded armchair. As soon as he is holding me, my tears redouble and I let go completely. He just holds me and lets me cry myself out.
He looks down at me, his amber eyes glowing in the late afternoon light. “You put us all to shame, my son.” He smiles at me and I try to understand what he means as he keeps speaking. “This where he says, ‘You are the best of us but yo
