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anotherhumaninthisworld · 3 months

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Frev friendships — Fouché and the Robespierre siblings

A circumstance relating to one of the most important crises of my life must here be mentioned. By a singular chance, I had been acquainted with Maximilian Robespierre, at the time I was professor of philosophy in the town of Arras, and had even lent him money, to enable him to take up his abode in Paris, when he was appointed deputy to the National Assembly. Memoirs of Fouché (1825), volume 1, page 12. Fouché first arrived in Arras in 1788.

Robespierre didn’t like science, but he thought it useful for his vanity to research Fouché and to annoy him several hours per day in his office in order to acquire the reputation of scholar. Often, in order to appear intelligent, he interrupted his physics demonstrations to reproach him for being a materialist. Note written by Barère, probably shortly after thermidor. Cited in Fouché: les silences de la pieuvre (2014) by Emmanuel de Waresquiel.

Fouché’s first need […] was to tell me his entire life story, a recital that I find in my notes written down that very day as it seemed interesting for me to keep: […] I (Fouché) had known [Robespierre] since our youth, we had belonged to the same academy. I then had occasions to prove to him his inadequacy, a relative insufficiency because he was judged poorly. He had some talent, a strong, persevering will; simplicity, no greed; but he was all puffed up with a pride that I had humiliated. De 1800 à 1812. Un aide de camp de Napoléon. Mémoires du général compte de Ségar (1894), page 438. According to Robespierre (2014) by Hervé Leuwers, it would not appear Fouché joined the arrageois literary society Rosati of which Robespierre was a member, a claim which is nevertheless often invoked.

Fouché had shown the most ardent patriotism, the most sacred devotion since the beginning of the revolution. My brother, who believed him sincere, had accorded him his friendship and his esteem; he spoke to me of him as a proven democrat, and introduced him to me in praising him and asking me to give him my esteem. Fouché, after having been introduced to me by my brother, came to see me assiduously, and had those regards and attentions that one has for a person in whom one is particularly interested. Fouché was not handsome, but he had a charming wit and was extremely amiable. He spoke to me of marriage, and I admit that I felt no repugnance for that bond, and that I was well enough disposed to accord my hand to he whom my brother had introduced to me as a pure democrat and his friend. I did not know that Fouché was only a hypocrite, a swindler, a man without convictions, without morals, and capable of doing anything to satisfy his frenzied ambition. He knew so well how to disguise his vile sentiments and his malicious passions in my eyes as in my brother’s eyes, that I was his dupe as well as Maximilien. I responded to his proposition that I wanted to think about it and consult my brother, and I asked him the time to resolve myself. I spoke of it, effectively, to Robespierre, who showed no opposition to my union with Fouché. Mémoires de Charlotte Robespierre sur ses deux frères (1834) page 122-123. Charlotte places the courtship in the midst of the revolution, which can hardly be accurate given the fact Fouché was already married by then, but it does sound likely for it to have happened somewhere between 1788 and 1790, when both of them were unmarried and lived in Arras.

When [Robespierre and I] again met at the Convention, we, at first, saw each other frequently; but the difference of our opinions, and perhaps, the still greater dissimilarity of our dispositions, soon caused a separation. One day, at the conclusion of a dinner given at my house, Robespierre began to declaim with much violence against the Girondins, particularly abusing Vergniaud, who was present. I was much attached to Vergniaud, who was a great orator, and a man of unaffected manners. I went round to him, and advancing towards Robespierre, said to him, "Such violence may assuredly enlist the passions on your side, but will never obtain for you esteem and confidence." Robespierre, offended, left the room; and it will shortly be seen how far this malignant man carried his animosity against me. Memoirs of Fouché (1825), volume 1, page 12

Lamartine, in the first edition of his Girondins, wrote the following: ”A very small number of friends of Robespierre and Duplay were one after another taken into this intimity: sometimes the Lameths; Le Bas, Saint-Just, always; Panis, Sergent, Coffinhal, Fouché, who liked Robespierre’s sister and who Robespierre didn’t like, Taschereau, Legendre, Le Boucher, Merlin de Thionville, Couthon, Pétion, Camille Desmoulins, Buonarotti, roman patriot… […]” On the placard corrected by the widow and son of Philippe Le Bas, these words are replaced by the following ones: ”The Lamenths and Pétion in the early days, quite rarely Legendre, Merlin de Thionville and Fouché, who liked Robespierre’s sister and who Robespierre didn’t like, often Taschereau, Desmoulins and Teault, always Lebas, Saint-Just, David, Couthon and Buonarotti.” Le conventionnel Le Bas: d’après des documents inédits et les mémoires de sa veuve (1901) page 83-84. This could be read as Élisabeth Le Bas confirming, or at least not denying, that there existed links between Charlotte and Fouché.

…The representatives of the people in Commune-Affranchie, using the powers entrusted to them for the surrounding departments, have already purged several administrations in the department of Allier. So consult with your colleagues by going to Commune-Affranchie. The instructions that Fouché has acquired relative to the department of Allier, where he resided for a long time, will be all the more useful to you since, animated by the same principles, the same effects must result from your common energy. Letter from the CPS to Petitjean, written by Robespierre, January 8 1794

The Committee of Public Safety decides 1, that citizen Reverchon immediately travels to Ville-Affranchie to organise revolutionary government and that he, together with Méaulle, takes all the measures that the interests of the republic need. 2, that the representative Fouché immediately travels to Paris to give to the Committee of Public Safety the neccesary clarifications about the affairs in Ville-Affranchie 3, that all procedurs against the popular society in Ville-Affranchie, and especially against the patriots that were subjected to persecution under the reign of Précy and the federalistes, are suspended. The representative Reverchon and his colleges will severely persecute the enemies of the Republic, protect the true friends of the Republic, help the patriots in need and assure the triumph of liberty through a constant and inflexible energy. Committee of Public Safety decree recalling Fouché from Lyon, written by Robespierre (and signed by him, Collot d’Herbois, Billaud-Varennes, C-A Prieur, Carnot and Barère) on March 27 1794

The Committee of Public Safety, alarmed by the fate of patriots in Commune-Affranchie, considering that the oppression of a single one of them would be a triumph for the enemies of the Revolution and a mortal blow to freedom, orders that all proceedings against the Popular Society of Commune-Affranchie, and particularly against the patriots who were persecuted under the reign of the federalists and Precy, will be suspended: it further orders that the representative of people Fouché immediately travels to Paris to give to the Committee of Public Safety the neccesary clarifications about the affairs in Ville-Affranchie. Committee of Public Safety decree recalling Fouché from Lyon, written by Robespierre (and signed by him, Collot d’Herbois, Billaud-Varennes, C-A Prieur, Carnot, Barère, Saint-Just and Couthon) on March 27 1794 (don’t know why there exists two seperate decrees)

I have since learned that the step I took opposite Robespierre - viz, of calling upon him - was attempted about the same time, and with as little success, by Tallien and Fouché, each of them on his own part. I have learned that their eloquence likewise struck against a determined deaf-mute, and that to all their gentle, forcible, friendly, respectful, and feeling words Robespierre vouchsafed no other answer than an obstinate silence, an expressionless physiognomy, and neither word nor sign. There is in a like silence, on the part of a man wielding the scep tre of death, something more fearful to the imagination than uttered threats. Memoirs of Barras, member of the Directorate (1895) page 206

It is known well enough in what way [Collot and Fouché] conducted themselves [in Lyon]; it is known that they made blood flow in torrents, and plunged the second city of the republic into fright and consternation. Robespierre was outraged by it. […] I was present for the interview that Fouché had with Robespierre upon his return. My brother asked him to account for the bloodshed he had caused, and reproached him for his conduct with such energy of expression that Fouché was pale and trembling. He mumbled a few excuses and blamed the cruel measures he had taken on the gravity of the circumstances. Robespierre replied that nothing could justify the cruelties of which he had been guilty; that Lyon, it was true, had been in insurrection against the National Convention, but that that was no reason to have unarmed enemies gunned down en masse. From that day forth, Fouché was the most irreconcilable enemy of my brother, and joined the faction conspiring his death. I would only learn this later. Fouché never again set foot in my apartment, but I met him from time to time on the Champs-Elysées, where walked almost every day. He addressed me as if nothing had happened between him and my brother. When I learned that he was Maximilien’s declared enemy, I no longer wanted to talk to him. Despicable words have been spoken about me on the subject of that man, some have dared to say that I was his mistress before and after 9 Thermidor; this is an abominable calumny! Never did Fouché cease to have the greatest respect for me; and if in his discourse he had included any words tending to make me neglect my duty, I would have left him that very instant. Besides, Fouché had only sought my hand because my eldest brother occupied premier place on the political stage. That honorific of Robespierre’s brother-in-law flattered his pride and his ambition; to judge by that man’s conduct since, everything was a calculation with him, and, if he pretended to love me, that’s because he saw it was in his interest. What would have become of me if I had married such a being? Mémoires de Charlotte Robespierre sur ses deux frères (1834)

Robespierre murmured a lot about the forms that we had established in Lyon for the execution of decrees: he constantly repeated that there was no reason to judge the guilty when they are outlawed. He exclaimed that we had let the families of the condemned go free; and when the commission sent the Convention and the committee the list of its judgments, he was not in control of his anger as he cast his eyes on the column where the names of the citizens who had been acquitted were written. Unable to change anything in the forms of judgment, regulated according to the decrees and approved by the committee, he imagined another system; he questioned whether the patriots of Commune-Affranchie were not vexed and under oppression. They were, he said, because the property of the condemned being specially intended, by article IV of the decree of July 12, to become their patrimony, we had greatly reduced their claims, not only by not judging only a quarter of the number of conspirators identified by Dubois-Crancé on 23 Vendémiare, or designated by previous decrees, but also by establishing a commission which appeared willing to acquit two thirds, as it happened. Through these declamations Robespierre wanted to entertain the patriots of whom he spoke, with the most violent ideas, to throw into their minds a framework of extraordinary measures, and to put them in opposition with the representatives of the people and their closest cooperators: he made them understand that they could count on him, he emboldened them to form all kinds of obstacles, to only follow his indications which he presented as being the intentions of the Committee of Public Safety. Collot d’Herbois’ explanation of Robespierre’s dislike for his and Fouché’s Lyon activities in Défense de J-M. Collot, répresentant du peuple. Éclaircissemens nécessaires sur ce qui s’est passé à Lyon (alors Commune-Affranchie), l’année dernière; pour faire suite aux rapports des Répresentants du peuple, envoyés vers cette commune, avant, pendant et après le siège (1794), somewhat the polar opposite of Charlotte’s version.

Robespierre accused Fouché of having dishonored the Revolution by exaggerating all measures and erecting atheism as a doctrine. ”No, Fouché," he said to him in the hall of the Jacobins, ”death is not an eternal sleep." Besides, to use his own expression, he believed he "held him in his power in the matter of honesty,” as Fouché had been charged with not having been any too strictly faithful on the occasion of his mission to Lyons, where, outstripping his epoch in those early days, he was believed to have enjoyed a foretaste of that corrupt century. Reports, possibly mendacious, had reached Robespierre, according to which Fouché is said to have, in the midst of the demolition of the dwellings in the town doomed to endure his cruelty, behaved somewhat like the incendiaries who carry on their business by the light of the flames. It is that which caused Robespierre to assume so lofty a manner against Fouché, because Fouché was supposed to have begun "to make money" at a time when no one in the Republic had so far dreamed of doing such a thing, either because of the Terror, which was not disposed to indulgence towards thieves, or because of a sentiment of genuine honesty which dominated men whose sole thought was the defence of the Republic. Memoirs of Barras, member of the Directorate (1895) page 208-209

Fouché reads a report regarding Commune-Affranchie, where he was sent. After having brought up the slander repeated against the representatives sent to this commune, he proves by several observations the need of the measures that they took and the punishments that they handed out. He proves that the blood of crime fertilizes the soil of liberty and consolidates its power on unshakeable foundations. He also develops through much reflection the measures he was obliged to take in the last moments.

A citizen demands the floor in order to speak against Fouché.

Robespierre, after having declared that Fouché’s report is incomplete, pays homage to the patriotism of this representative and to the citizen who presented himself to speak against him. He presents some observations on what has gone down in Commune-Affranchie, and announces that the patriots, the friends of Chalier, and the companions of his suffering have been too modest against the schemers who put themselves in their place, and who introduced themselves among the patriots sent from Paris. He protests that without the schemers, the true patriots already would have plunged the whole conspiracy into nothingness. He recognizes that they have legitimate complaints to make, but he assures that the Committee of Public Safety, which is aware of them, has taken all the necessary measures to establish liberty in these unfortunate countries. Consequently, he invites the patriot who wants to speak, to put aside any kind of bitterness, to develop the facts and to give the knowledge that he considers useful.

I recognize, says this citizen, the validity of the principles of Robespierre, you will subsequently know all the facts. The truth will pierce through all the clouds; I’m backing down. (applauds) Robespierre and Fouché at the Jacobins, April 8 1794

Sure of having sown the seed, I had the courage to defy [Robespierre], on the 20th Prairial (June 8 1794), a day on which, actuated with the ridiculous idea of solemnly acknowledging the existence of the Supreme Being, he dared to proclaim himself both his will and agent, in presence of all the people assembled at the Tuileries. As he was ascending the steps of his lofty tribune, whence he was to proclaim his manifesto in favour of God, I predicted to him aloud (twenty of my colleagues heard it) that his fall was near. Memoirs of Fouché (1825) page 20

A deputation from the Society of Nevers presents itself at the tribune in order to repel charges directed against it. After having summarized the things done for the public sake by the Society which has sent him, the orator announces that the patriots have their souls broken and compromised in Nevers, because of atrocious persecutions of which they are every day the unfortunate victims.

Fouché (currently serving as president of the Jacobins): Your society deserves severe reproaches. If it is true to say that the impure breath of Chaumette could not exert its disastrous influence there during his stay in Nevers, it seems at least certain that the shadow of this conspirator hovers there today. Imprisoned suspects were released, and your Society made no complaint. Ardent and pure patriots, true sans-culottes, were slandered by federalist lawyers, and your Society remained silent. Finally, its correspondence is insignificant, it is null. As the Jacobins do not know how to disguise any truth, I make it my duty, on their behalf, to point out some false and very weak ideas that you have just expressed. The patriots, you say, have their souls compromised at this moment in Nevers. Citizens, strong hearts can never be compromised; Republicans know how to die for the truth as well as for liberty, and the perfidious person who tells you that he is not free to express his thoughts is a coward; the crime is in his heart, he complains of not being able to produce it. You hand us, as proof of your opposition to the maxims of the conspirators, the celebration that you are preparing for the Supreme Being; but in this you are only obeying the impulse given to nature. Add to this natural impulse the strength and courage to dedicate yourself to the defense of patriots and the annihilation of their oppressors; the exercise of democratic virtues. Brutus paid homage worthy of the Supreme Being by bringing the blade into the heart of the one who conspired against the liberty of his homeland.

I don't know, says Robespierre immediately, if the Society understood the motive and the object of the approach of the members of the Society of Nevers; I ask if the president's response can shed some light on this point. For my part, I assure you that I don't understand anything about it. If the president knows everything that concerns morals, it is his duty to explain. Everyone knows that Nevers was one of the main centers of the conspiracies hatched by Chaumette, in concert with the supporters of the foreign faction. We must remember that he abandoned his post as national agent, near the Paris Commune where he appeared to play a major role, to go, under a frivolous pretext, to plot in the commune of Nevers: it is important that we learn from what we were able to discover on such a journey. I ask that the president explain his response to us, and tell us frankly what he thinks.

Fouché takes the floor to give clarifications. He announces that, having served as representative of the people in the department of Nièvre at the time when the scoundrel Chaumette arrived in Nevers under the pretext of enjoying the native air, he didn’t hear from his mouth any counterrevolutionary expression; that he only saw him while in public, that, the popular society believing this Chaumette to be a zealous defender of liberty, it took him in without difficulty and without defiance. Fouché thinks that this immoral man hid away, because he saw the constitutional authorities strongly attached to good principles, and that he conspired in secret, and then returned to Paris to there continue his execrable profession of assassin of all public and private morality. As for the deputation that has just been heard, Fouché declares that, as the Society of Nevers has been indirectly attacked, it will send a deputation of its members to respond to the imputations that have been made against it, that there was a time when suspicious people, arrested, then released, and finally imprisoned again, managed to obtain an arrest order against the patriots. “This,” he says, “is all I know; I reproached the deputation on the weakness of the letters written by the Society of Nevers, and on the insignificance of its correspondence. The deputation presented its address to me when it entered, and it is on that I’m basing my answer.

Robespierre is surprised that the president and the delegation only say insignificant things that cannot enlighten the Society. He declares that Chaumette having hatched his plots in Nevers, it is impossible that neither the representative nor the Société populaire had knowledge of some of the maneuvers he employed. He recalls that at the moment when the Convention took a vigorous decision against the infernal plot of Chaumette, the Society of Nevers sent the Convention an address in which the decree was faulted.

Fouché observes that this adress wasn’t from the Society of Nevers, but from that of Moulins.

Robespierre replies that the latter is right next to to the other, that both corresponded to each other and that the information must have been the same; he continues by maintaining that the Society is isn’t instructed by the details that have just been given to it, and one has not sufficiently characterized the men who are called patriots, and those who are declared triumphant aristocrats. He is surprised to hear congratulations on the decree issued yesterday, mixed with observations presented by the Society of Nevers, as if this society could be aware of this decree. It is not by sentences, as he observes, but by conduct and facts that one must judge men: instead of stopping at the language of the deputation, one must ask the Society of Nevers if it fought Chaumette and foiled his horrible schemes? Very often the greatest enemies of the people use republican expressions, to better deceive unsuspecting citizens. It is not a question, he says, of throwing mud on the grave of Chaumette, when this monster has already perished on the scaffold. For a long time people have done evil while speaking the language of republicans. Today someone is spewing imprecations against Danton, who until recently was his accomplice. There are others who appear all fired up to defend the Committee of Public Safety, and who then sharpen daggers against it. The enemies of liberty have retained the same audacity, they have not changed their system; they do not want to appear to separate themselves from the patriots; they praise and flatter them; they even make vague imprecations against tyrants, and at the same time they conspire for their cause! It is to their friends the conspirators that they give the name of patriots; and it is the latter that they designate by the name of aristocrats: they surround the Committee of Public Safety and the representatives of the people only to intrigue, to lead them astray and thus destroy the Revolution. There are still two parties within the Republic: on the one hand patriotism and probity; on the other, the counter-revolutionary spirit, the crookedness and the improbity which are bent on the ruin of empires and the virtue of humankind. Patriots, you who in the career of the Revolution have only sought the public good, you who did nor go into it to serve a criminal faction, be more than ever on your guard; evil men use all imaginable artifices to destroy the Convention and slaughter the defenders of the homeland. Do not fall asleep in a false security, do not abandon the Convention and the government of which it is the center: let courageous voices be raised to make the truth known, stifle the clamors of the intriguers who surround us daily, who change patriotism into aristocracy, and reciprocally aristocracy into patriotism. Do not tire of instructing us, rest assured that the wish to sacrifice ourselves for all patriots is always deeply engraved in our hearts, that we are resolved to defend persecuted virtue with all our power, and to fight with strength and constancy the enemies of liberty and patriotism. This is the wish that I address, on behalf of the representatives, to the oppressed patriots; it is not natural that we remain indifferent on their account: the first of the republican virtues is to watch over innocence. Pure patriots, one is waging a war to the death against you, save yourselves, save with you all the friends of liberty.

Robespierre’s speech is followed by the liveliest applause.

Fouché observes that he hasn’t wanted to reproach the Society of Nevers for not having denounced Chaumette. This society didn’t know him as a conspirator, it wouldn’t have been late to accuse him warmly, had it suspected him of this. Robespierre and Fouché at the Jacobins, June 11 1794

Five days after (June 12) in full committee, [Robespierre] demanded my head and that of eight of my friends, reserving to himself the destruction of twenty more at a later period. How great was his astonishment, and what was his rage, upon finding amongst the members of the committee an invincible opposition to his sanguinary designs against the national representation! It has already been too much mutilated, said they to him, and it is high time to put a stop to a deliberate and progressive cutting-down, which at last will include ourselves. Finding himself in a minority, he withdrew, choked with rage and disappointment, swearing never to set foot again in the committee, so long as his will should be opposed. He immediately sent for St. Just, who was with the army, rallied Couthon under his sanguinary banner, and by his influence over the revolutionary tribunal, still made the Convention, and all those who were operated on by fear, to tremble. Memoirs of Fouché (1825), volume 1, page 20

Robespierre: The example of Commune-Affranchie can explain a theory that I have already noted. The patriots defend the patriots with all their means; they give no rest to the intriguers and traitors, they constantly badger and fight them; aristocrats do precisely the opposite. I knew Chalier at a time when the patriotic representatives of the people were themselves persecuted. It was he who first discovered Roland's perfidy, and denounced him to me for keeping an immense store of libels at his home, directed against the Mountain and against me. Chalier had no sooner known this conspiring minister than he abandoned him and renounced the justice he had come to demand from him, not wanting to owe anything to a traitor who sought to ignite civil war in France.

[Robespierre] adds that since this moment he has only known Chalier through the acts of heroism and virtue which immortalized his name. The enemies of the people were only able to establish their triumph through the assassination of this man, as patriotic as he was intrepid. He recalls the courage of this republican at the time of his torture, prolonged by the villainy of the aristocrats of Lyon who brought the ax down on his head four times, which he raised each time, crying out in a dying voice: Long live the Republic, attach the cockade to me.

After this touching story, Robespierre goes into detail about the services rendered by Chalier's friends; he knows them all, he also knows their persecutors. The fate of the former was to be oppressed by all the factions that succeeded one another. They opposed these tyrannical and unprecedented vexations with a calm and patience of which it is impossible to find an example in the history of any people.

When the overly prolonged siege of Lyon was over, and this commune had been returned to the power of the Republic, the friends of Chalier were not restored to the goodness that they had so well deserved by their constant virtue. One took care to make sure Précy and all the other conspirators escaped, although one went so far as to making the trick of the Committee the supposed remains of this monster. The gate of Lyon was opened to them at the very moment when the Republican army entered, and they left through the gate where the army corps commanded by Dubois-Crancé was, which remained motionless.

Another cause of the impunity of the conspirators is that national justice has not been exercised with the degree of force and action that the interests of a great people require and command. The temporary commission initially displayed energy, but soon it gave way to human weakness which too soon tires of serving the homeland, and it lost with all its courage, its devotion and its purity. After having given in to the insinuations of the perverse aristocrats, the persecution was established against the patriots themselves: the cause of this criminal change can be found in the seduction of certain women, and it is to these terrible maneuvers that we can attribute the despair that led Gaillard to kill himself.

Reduced to escape, the patriots come to submit their complaints to the Committee of Public Safety, which rescues them from persecution, and suppresses their odious persecutors with fear. Thus, virtue will be eternally exposed to the traits of two factions which, opposed in apperance, always rally to sacrifice the patriots. Here [Robespierre] swears to avenge Chalier, Gaillard and all the victims of the infamous aristocracy.

The speaker's principles are to stop the shedding of human blood caused by crime: the authors of the plots denounced, on the contrary, only aspire to immolate all patriots and especially the National Convention, since the Committee indicated the vices from which it must purge itself. Who are those who have constantly distinguished error from crime, and who have defended lost patriots? Isn’t it the members of the Committee? Those who demand justice can only be formidable to the leaders of the factions, and those who want to destroy the members of the Committee in public opinion can have no other intention than to serve the projects of the tyrants interested in the fall of a Committee which disconcerts them and will soon destroy them.

Robespierre ends by denouncing the author of all these maneuvers who is the same one who persecuted the patriots at Commune-Affranchie, with a cunning, a perfidy as cowardly as it is cruel: the Committee of Public Safety was not his dupe. He asks, finally, that justice and virtue triumph, that innocence be peaceful and the people victorious over all their enemies, and that the Convention puts all petty intrigues under its feet.

Couthon, who had interrupted Robespierre in order to cite charges against Dubois-Crancé regarding the siege of Commune-Affranchie, proposes that he be struck from the club’s list of members (adopted).

At the suggestion of Robespierre, Fouché is invited to come and exonerate himself of the reproaches which have been addressed to him before the Society. Robespierre at the Jacobins, July 11 1794

One reads a letter from Fouché, in which he asks the Society to suspend their judgement up until the Committees of Public Safety and General Security have made their report on his private and public conduct.

Robespierre: I begin by making the declaration that I am not interested in the individual Fouché at all. I could be connected to him because I thought him a patriot. When I denounced him here, it was less because of his past crimes than because he hid away in order to commit others, and because I regarded him as the leader of the conspiracy which we have to thwart.

I examine the letter which was just read out, and I see that it is written by a man who, being accused for crimes, refuses to justify himself before his fellow citizens. This is the beginning of a system of tyranny. He who refuses to answer to a Popular Society whose member he is, is a man who attacks the institution of Popular Societies. This contempt for the Society of the Jacobins is all the more inexcusable as Fouché himself has not refused his suffrage when he was denounced by the patriots from Nevers, and as he even took refuge on the [president’s] seat of the Jacobins. He was placed there because he had agents in this Society, who had been at Commune-Affranchie. He delivers a great speech to you on his conduct in the mission with which he had been charged. I will not seek to analyse this speech. The Society has judged that Fouché does not want to say anything, as his reflections are insignificant.

It is surprising that the one who, at the time of which I speak, craved the approval of the Society, neglects it when he is denounced, and that he seems to implore, so to speak, the aid of the Convention against the Jacobins. Does he fear the eyes and ears of the people? Does he fear that his sad face visibly presents crime, that six thousand looks fixed on him discover his entire soul in his eyes, and that, in spite of nature which has hidden them, one reads his thoughts there? Does he fear that his speech reveals the embarrassment and the contradictions of a culprit? A reasonable man has to judge that fear is the only motive of Fouché’s conduct ; well, the man who fears the looks of his fellow citizens is a culprit. He uses [the fact] as a pretext that his denunciation is sent to the Committee of Public Safety ; but is he forgetting that the tribunal of the public conscience is the most infallible? Why does he refuse to present himself here?

The obligation to give an account of his mission to the Committees of Public Safety and of General Security, which are the government, and to the Convention, which is its source or, rather, which is the government by definition, this obligation, I say, does not destroy the one of appearing respectable in the eyes of a Society, and does not excuse appearing to put it in contradiction with the Convention. A representative is responsible for his actions to the Convention; but a good citizen does not discard appearing before his fellow citizens. If the system of Fouché could dominate, it would follow that those who have denounced schemes outside of the Convention have committed a crime. This was the conduct of all conspirators, who, from the moment onwards when one has wanted to judge them, shunned this Society and denounced it to the different National Assemblies as a gathering of factious [persons].

I here call Fouché into judgement. He shall respond and he shall say who, among him and us, has borne the rights of the representatives of the people with more dignity, and struck down all factions with more courage? Was it him who unveiled the Héberts and the Chaumettes, when they hatched assassination plots and wanted to debase the Convention? No! It was us who, on this tribune, when the Hébertists claimed to be more patriotic than us, unmasked them openly. It was us who silenced the false denunciations.

They shall say if they would have been listened to here, these men who had only served the Revolution in order to dishonour it and to make it turn to the benefit of the foreign [powers] and of the aristocracy! All the vile agents who have conspired did not see their likes unveiled and punished sooner than they seemed to abandon their cause ; and, because we had dismissed the perfidiously spread calumnies against the Convention, they extended this principle onto themselves in such a way as to render it tyrannical. The slightest words against this kind of men have been regarded as crimes by them; terror was the means which they used in order to force the patriots into silence. They threw those into prison who had the courage to break it; and this is the crime for which I reproach Fouché!

He will not say that it were the principles of the Convention that he has professed ; the intention of the Convention is not to throw terror into the soul of the patriots, nor to carry out the dissolution of the Popular Societies. Which means would thus remain to us, if, while plotters conspire and prepare daggers in order to assassinate us, we could not speak in the presence of the Friends of Liberty?

Robespierre then declares that Fouché is a vile and despicable impostor ; that his move is the confession of his crimes and that the action which he takes is similar to the one of the Brissots and of the other crooks who slander the Society as soon as they are chased from it. He assures that virtue will never sacrificed to baseness, nor [will] liberty [be sacrificed] to men whose hands are full of rapines and crimes. I do not want to add anything, he says while closing; Fouché himself has characterised himself enough. I have made all these observations, so that the conspirators know once and for all that they must never hope to escape the surveillance of the people.

A citizen from Commune-Affranchie reports some serious facts against Fouché. The Society sends them to the Committee of Public Safety and, upon the motion of a member, Fouché is excluded from the Society.

The citizens Tolède and Dessyrier, who found themselves at Commune-Affranchie in the days of Fouché, and who claim to be accused, mount the tribune.

Robespierre observes that these two citizens divert, without wanting it, the attention away from Fouché, and that his cause must not be common with theirs. He recalls that the conspirators have always sought to save themselves by placing themselves beside pure patriots ; he hence invites Tolède and Dessyrier not to interrupt a discussion wherein they are not involved. – After members did justice to the patriotism of these citizens, they descend from the tribune. Robespierre at the Jacobins, July 14 1794

They are strange accomplices of Robespierre, those who, against his will, made a political report on the religious troubles, sheltered from all research in this matter the representatives of the people sent on mission in the departments, defended Tallien, Dubois-Crance, Fouché, Bourdon de l'Oise, and other representatives whom he relentlessly pursued. Réponse des membres des deux anciens Comités de Salut Public et de sûreté générale aux imputations renouvelées contre eux par Laurent Lecointre, de Versailles, et déclarées calomnieuses par décret du 13 fructidor dernier, à la Convention Nationale (1795) by Barère, Collot d’Herbois, Vadier and Billaud-Varennes

One man alone in the Convention appeared to enjoy an inexpugnable popularity: this was Robespierre, a man full of pride and cunning; an envious and vindictive being, who was never satiated with the blood of his colleagues; and who, by his capacity, steadiness, the clearness of his head, and the obstinacy of his character, surmounted circumstances the most appalling. Availing himself of his preponderance in the Committee of Public Safety, he openly aspired, not only to the tyranny of the decemviri, but to the despotism of the dictatorship of Marius and Sylla. One step more would have given him the masterdom of the revolution, which it was his audacious ambition to govern at his will; but thirty victims more were to be sacrificed, and he had marked them out in the convention.

He well knew that I understood him; and I, therefore, was honoured by being inscribed upon his tablets at the head of those doomed to destruction. I was still on a mission, when he accused me of oppressing the patriots and tampering with the aristocracy. Being recalled to Paris, I dared to call upon him from the tribune, to make good his accusation. He caused me to be expelled from the Jacobins, of whom he was the high-priest; this was for me equivalent to a decree of proscription. I did not trifle in contending for my head, nor in long and secret deliberations with such of my colleagues as were threatened with my own fate. I merely said to them, among others to Legendre, Tallien, Dubois de Crancé, Daunou and Chénier: “You are on the list, you are on the list as well as myself, I am certain of it!” Tallien, Barras, Bourdon de l'Oise and Dubois de Crancé evinced some energy. Tallien contended for two lives, of which one was then dearer to him than his own: he therefore resolved upon assassinating the future dictator, even in the Convention itself. But what a hazardous chance was this! Robespierre’s popularity would have survived him, and we should have been immolated to his manes. I therefore dissuaded Tallien from an isolated enterprise, which would have destroyed the man, but preserved his system.

Convinced that other means must be resorted to, I went straight to those who shared with Robespierre the government of terror, and whom I knew to be envious or fearful of his immense popularity. I revealed to Collot d'Herbois, to Carnot, to Billaud-Varennes, the designs of the modern Appius; and I presented to each of them separately, so lively and so true a picture of the danger of their situation, I urged them with so much address and good fortune, that I insinuated into their breasts more than mistrust, but the courage of henceforth opposing the Tyrant in any further decimating of the Convention. "Count the votes,” said I to them, “in your committee, and you will see, that when you are determined, he will be reduced to the powerless minority of a Couthon and a Saint-Just. Refuse him your votes, and compel him to stand alone by your vis inertiæ.” But what contrivances, what expedients were necessary to avoid exasperating the Jacobin club, the Seides, and the partisans of Robespierre.

My eye was on him; and seeing him reduced to a single faction, I secretly urged such of his enemies who still clung to the committee, at least to remove the artillery from Paris, who were all devoted to Robespierre and the Commune, and to deprive Henriot of his command or at least to suspend him. The first measure I obtained, thanks to the firmness of Carnot, who alleged the necessity of sending reinforcements of artillery to the army. As to depriving Henriot of his command, that appeared too hazardous; Henriot remained, and was near losing all, or rather, to speak the truth, it was he, who on the 9th Thermidor (the 27th July) ruined the cause of Robespierre, the triumph of which was for a short time in his power. But what could be expected from a drunken and stupid ci-devant footman.

What follows is too well known for me to dwell upon it. It is notorious how Maximilian the First perished; a man whom certain authors have compared to the Gracchi, to whom he bore not the slightest resemblance, either in eloquence or elevation of mind. I confess that in the delirium of victory, I said to those who thought that his views tended to the dictatorship: "You do him too much honour; he had neither plan, nor design: far from disposing of futurity, he was drawn along, and did but obey an impulse he could neither oppose nor govern." But at that time I was too near a spectator of events justly to appreciate their history. The sudden overthrow of the dreadful system which suspended the nation between life and death, was doubtless a grand epoch of liberty; but, in this world, good is ever mixed with evil. What took place after Robespierre's fall? that which we have seen to have been the case after a fall still more memorable. Those who had crouched most abjectly before the decemvir, could, after his death, find no expression strong enough to express their detestation of him. Memoirs of Fouché (1825), volume 1, page 18-22

…The fact is that, sent [to Lyon], after the sack of this city, I (Fouché) returned in revolt, with a report against Robespierre, and that, from this moment up until Thermidor, I was his declared rival! Robespierre had established himself at the Jacobins, and I in the Committees, from where I expelled him; you'll see! I was a Jacobin myself, but there were two kinds. As for us, we were not popular; we talked about equality, but deep down we were aristocrats! Yes, more aristocratic than anyone perhaps! The Jacobins of the opposite party, such as Hullin, paved the way; they would shout in the crowd on the floor; we only saw them in the stands. It was Robespierre’s henchmen who flattered this populace; Robespierre was its leader, its soul, attempting to reign through them and crush the Convention! But we were his antagonists there, me at the head! He feared me. […] [The fact that I had humiliated his pride] was enough to be certain that he would be my mortal enemy, his hateful and envious character would never forgive me for it, no more than Lacuée who, if it wasn’t for Carnot, he would have had guillotined! […] I understood that you couldn’t go and fight such a man in his club; that I there would be dominated, crushed, and that to resist it, it was necessary to choose another terrain, that is to say the Convention itself and its Committees. It was therefore there that, on my return from Lyon, I began with a report on what needed to be done to stop the complete disorganization of this province, of which I accused Robespierre. People were surprised and terrified by my audacity, Carnot among others, who in his emotion embraced me, praising my courage, but warning me that it would cost me my head! This did not stop me, I persisted; and, addressing all the enemies of the Dictator, either separately or in meetings that I convened as head of public education, I reassured them, encouraged them, and got the Committee to call Robespierre before it to defend itself. It was putting him in a false position, he did not accept it; he refused to present himself and confined himself to the Jacobins, where I proposed to have him attacked, seized as a rebel and thrown into the river! We were preparing the means when the 9th of Thermidor arrived, the day when Tallien, single-handedly, unexpectedly, without having warned us, without knowing our project, warning us, denounced Robespierre as the tyrant of his colleagues! He cited me in support of this questioning, to which Robespierre replied that this was a duel between him and me! You know the rest. But what we don't know is that, under the Directory, it was again me who destroyed the tail of this party, after having thus fought its head! De 1800 à 1812. Un aide de camp de Napoléon. Mémoires du général compte de Ségar (1894), page 437-438

The primary object of [Robespierre’s] ambition seemed to be to strike, in the first place, what remained or what might spring up again of those he looked upon as his personal enemies, of whom in his hatred he never lost sight. At the head of those he had marked for death stood Fouché, and as, in view of the point his personal quarrel with Robespierre had reached, he could not but succumb within a very short time, it had been concluded therefrom that he was to be one of those who would deal the first blows at Robespierre.

But the arguments brought into play to convince Fouché of his danger were not sufficient to inspire him with courage. He had certainly been at all times an ultra-Revolutionist, and had shown what he was made of in his support of the system of terror; but he had not exactly hit the idea of Robespierre, or rather he had become his rival, and had given him offence by going even further than he did. Fouché's position was therefore not one to afford him opposite his enemy a frank and clearly defined character enabling him to attack him openly. Robespierre had told Fouché that his face was the expression of crime. Fouché, far from replying, took it as a matter of course; expelled from the Jacobins, he had not been able to return to the fold; he no longer dared show himself even in the Convention, but busied himself actively and with a will with intrigues and machinations of the lowest kind. I sent him hither and thither to inform our friends of what we knew of the intentions of Robespierre, Saint-Just, and Couthon. His personal dread of the triumvirs served but to increase in his eyes the idea of their hostile plans. Everything that he already dreaded most sincerely was artfully exaggerated by him when seeking to stimulate those whom he sought to induce to make up their minds to action. Rising at early morning, he would run round till night calling on deputies of all shades of opinion, saying to each and everyone, "You perish tomorrow if he does not.” To those who mourned Danton, and who were threatened with the resentment of his executioners, Fouché said: ”We may, if we see fit, be avenged tomorrow, and tomorrow only will we be safe.”

In order to instil fresh courage into minds so stricken with fright more than one speech was required to place the question before each and every one in such a way that he should see his own interests in it. Hence it cannot be denied that Fouché, gathering together by his clever intriguing all sentiments against Robespierre, was a genuine resource in the midst of the elements extant ready to make a decisive move against the oppressors of the Convention. […] Matters were growing worse apace; no longer was there any possibility of a reconciliation, even under the mask of mutual deceit. Not only had hostilities been declared, but a war to the knife proclaimed. In spite of all Fouché's prudence, a letter written in his own hand had been intercepted, containing particularly the following line addressed to a colleague in the Convention: ”Ere a fortnight has rolled over us either Maximilien or we shall have ceased to exist." Hence the quarrel could end only by the destruction of one side or the other; nothing was left but to conquer or die.

Even at a time when he was brought face to face with the necessity of defending himself, it was not in Fouché to do so aboveboard. Indirect means, those of ceaseless and underground intrigue, in which he had served his apprenticeship at the Oratory, he was familiar with; and just as everything comes handy in a household, so in a conspiracy, which is itself but an intrigue more serious than others, skill and manoeuvring constitute the necessary elements; and it will be seen that Fouché was to be, if not by his courage, at least by his doings, a useful cooperator in what was about to take place. He has, in later days, boasted that he dealt mortal blows to Robespierre; the fact is that in order to flee from his wrath and, if he could have done so; from his relentless memory, Fouché no longer appeared at the National Convention nor slept at home; it was at night alone that, under various disguises, he would go the rounds of such of his colleagues as were busily engaged in preparing means of defence against Robespierre, and bring and carry from one to the other every particular as to what was taking place, and go on the errands it was requisite should be dextrously done in order to cement the alliances we were forming pending the moment, impossible to positively determine, when the decisive blow was to be struck. Memoirs of Barras, member of the Directorate (1895) page 207-214

Legendre: […] I did not see Fouché during his missions, but I saw him at the Jacobins; he surrounded himself with all the men who, before the 9th of Thermidor, were preparing for this great day. There he openly attacked Robespierre who, wanting to manage him or give himself the means to destroy him, had him named president of the Jacobins. Fouché seized this post to attack Robespierre more openly, and in his responses he designated this tyrant whom it was necessary to strike. I declare that I see Fouché as one of the elements of the day of 9 Thermidor. Tallien: On Germinal 12, at the time when I believed I saw in Fouché a man linked to the conspirators, I had the courage to denounce him. Since that time, I have had no relationship with him, but it is my duty to defend him by attesting to the facts that are within my knowledge. Fouché was proscribed by Robespierre, because he had opposed the measures taken by Collot in Lyon. Fouché courageously unmasked Robespierre, and declared that, even if his head fell, he would make this dictator known to the people. Every day Fouché came to report to us what was happening at the Committee of Public Safety, and the day before the 9th of Thermidor he told us: “The division is complete, tomorrow we must strike.” The next day, the tyrant was no more. Fouché, at the same time, wrote to his sister: “In a short time the tyrant shall be punished. Robespierre only have a few days left to reign.” This letter was intercepted by Bô, who sent it to Robespierre. These are the facts I had to make known. Legendre and Tallien at the Convention, August 9 1794

Madame Collot (d’Herbois) Mademoiselle Robespierre (their titles are common as well as their distress) Per month: 200 pounds Per year: 2400 pounds for special help. Collective decree granting Charlotte a pension from Minister of Police Fouché dated February 8 1805, cited in Charlotte Robespierre et ses amis (1961) by Gabriel Pioro and Pierre Labracherie.

#fouché wanting to throw robespierre into the seine😂😭#fouché #robespierre #maximilien robespierre #charlotte robespierre #joseph fouché #frev friendships #frev #french revolution

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smoooothoperator · 1 year

Text

What A Shame

03: Don't Blame Me

Driver! Charles Leclerc x Singer! OC (Juliette Morelli)

Exes to Lovers, Forced Proximity, Childhood Sweathearts

Summary: feelings and thoughts started to boil, spilling out of the cup

Words: 2.4k

warnings: Juliette being wild and angry, drunken Charles, flashbacks are on italics

Official Playlist

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a/n: hello loves!!!! Today is not race day BUT chapter day!!

🏎️

It was a torture.

Everytime it was the same. Everytime I fell and I tried to get up it was as if the walls of the bottomless pit were higher and higher.

All the dreams were of her. All the memories were of her. All the thoughts were her.

She made me crazy, hearing her all the time. During the dinner, even if everyone in the room was talking, the only voice I could hear was hers and it drove me insane.

And right now, on that bench under the fairy lights, the only thing I could hear instead of the crickets, were her moans. It was like if she did it on purpose, leaving the window open knowing that I was outside and I could hear her.

"Fucking hell" I groan getting up if the bench and walking inside the building, going straight to the bar and ordering the strongest alcohol they had.

I read things about her. I did, because I missed her. Sometimes when I was on my own, alone and on my lower, I searched her name on the internet just to know how she was doing, how her career was developing.

But then I saw everything:

Is the new Italian musical star dating Shawn Mendes?

Juliette Morelli, the new heartbreaker around Hollywood.

Sebastian Stan and Juliette Morelli, the newest hot couple?

Meet Juliette, newest movie star of the UCM and love interest of the Winter Soldier.

Exclusive: Juliette Morelli walking out of Harry Styles' hotel after the Grammys

It hurts. Reading all those articles about her, it was as if I was reading something about someone I never met.

Juliette could never do that. Not my Juliette. She was sweet, loyal and the last caring person I ever met. But... Right, she's no longer mine.

"Dude, what are you doing here?" Carlos frowned when he saw me on the bar, swallowing the whiskey quickly. "Charles! God!"

"I created a monster" I mumbled, already feeling the effects of the alcohol. "I barely recognize her..."

"What?" he frowned. "Juliette?"

I smiled weakly, moving the glass and watching how the ice cubes moved in circles. Carlos knew about Juliette, after all, my last year with her was his first year with me as teammates.

"What are you talking about?" he sighed, taking the glass out of my hand.

"Right now she's fucking with Lando" I scoffed. "And I bet she fucked all her coworkers"

"Mate you are drunk, you shouldn't say those things, you'll regret it" he frowned, looking at me disappointed.

How ironic, that's the same look my mother gave me when I told her that Juliette and I were no longer together.

"You what?" she gasped, standing next to the simulator while I worked on it.

"I won't repeat it" I said, not taking my eyes away from the screen.

"Charles Marc Hervé Perceval Leclerc!" she screamed, the way she said all my name's made my ears ring as a warning.

"What, mother?!" I said furious, stopping the simulator and looking at her. "Yes, I broke up with her"

"Why? What happened?! Yesterday you two were perfectly fine!" she asked me furiously, searching for answers. "What changed!"

"What changed? I realized that I don't love her anymore, mother" lies. Everything is a lie. "That's what changed"

"I can't believe you" she said, looking at me with cold eyes, her voice sounding deeper and her eyebrows frowned. "You father would be so disappointed, just like me and your siblings. I can't believe you left a woman for the first seat of the team. I thought I taught you better than that"

"I regret so many things, Carlos" I scoffed. "One of them is accepting the first seat that season with them"

"Charles..." he sighed and I just moved my hand to the bartender asking for another round.

"I regret lying to my father and telling him that I got the seat while he was dying" I said, taking a long sip of the alcohol, feeling how it burned my throat. "I regret all the bad decisions I made while racing, as well as accepting that Ferrari could change and not listening to people and their warnings"

I looked at the liquid, I'm sure it's whiskey. I'm not a big fan of alcohol, of drinking to forget. But right now, this is the only solution I see to forget her, to forget what I heard.

"But, Carlos" I said looking up at him, my red eyes somehow made his gaze get softer. "The thing I regret the most was leaving her, because without her I'm only a body without a soul, without a heart"

🎤

The bedroom was a mess with clothes on the floor. The bed felt heavy on the side next to me, just like the arm wrapping my waist. I followed it with my eyes, turning my head and finding that curly haired man still sleeping.

I sighed, squirming and getting out of bed without waking him up. I recollected all his clothes and folded them on the chair next to him while I searched for clean clothes so I could go downstairs to have breakfast.

This doesn't feel stranger anymore. I got used to this, leaving without making a single noise, going from bed to bed just searching for a way of getting him out of my mind.

After getting ready without making a noise I walked out of the room with my phone in my hand, going downstairs towards the restaurant and serving myself a coffee with some french pastries.

"I remember that you hated coffee" I heard someone say behind me, making me smile after I recognized the voice.

"Isa" I sighed watching her sitting next to me. "Hey"

"It's been a long time, hm?" she smiled looking at me.

I nodded and smiled weakly. I looked at her. She looks older, of course. The golden band on her ring finger shines with the light of the sun, making my eyes go down to it. Then I noticed her belly.

"Oh, you are pregnant" I smiled surprised, happy for her. "Congratulations"

"Is the second one" she smiled rubbing her belly. "Vera is with Carlos, she's the flower girl"

"Ah... I see" I nodded looking down at the coffee cup. "I guess that I got addicted to it in the US... With a Starbucks on every corner is impossible to not drink and get used to it"

"How are things going, hm?" she smiled at me , her voice sounding like the high of a mother.

"Fine, yeah" I nodded. "Writing songs, producing them... Now I'm an actress too"

"Yeah, I saw" she nodded. "A Marvel star, yeah"

I nodded and took a deep breath. This feels awkward. Isa and I used to be great friends, but it only lasted a year.

"He's not the same, you know?" she sighed, making me look at her frowning.

"I don't want to talk about him" I frowned. "Please"

"Okay" she sighed, rubbing her belly. "I get it, he was the one that cut strings"

"Exactly" I nod, but I just did it to convince myself.

"But answer me something" she sighed looking at me, making my heart go faster. "You still write songs about him, don't you?"

"Of course not" I frowned, lying.

Of course I do. He has always been my musa, the reason why I wrote songs. Even after he broke up with me, he was always in my mind making me write songs about how I felt without him or how much I missed him, or how much pain he gave me.

"Mhm" she nodded, taking a sip of her tea. "Well, I have to say that Vera loves your songs"

"That's... Cute" I smile softly.

It was awkward all the time. It was lime if we never met before, like if we were trying to start a conversation to get to know each other, forgetting how much fun we used to have together, cheering for our respective boyfriends in the garage.

"He won two titles" she said, taking me out of my mind, making me frown.

"I told you that I didn't want to talk about him..." I sighed.

"He left Ferrari, won the titles with Mercedes" she smiled. "Black looks good on him, by the way"

I looked at her frowning. He left Ferrari? But that team was his dream, he wanted to win titles with them like Michael Schumacher did.

"No fucking way!" I heard him gasp, making me get up from the couch and ran to the simulator.

"What? What happened?" I asked worried, nervous. "Charles!"

"I have the seat" he said smiling, tears forming in his eyes. "I have the seat, Juls!"

"Ehm... What?" I frown. "I mean, yeah? You are in Sauber"

"No, Juls" he smiled, placing his hands on my shoulders. "Ferrari. They called me, like, now. I have a seat for the next season"

"Oh my God" I gasped while hugging him. "Oh God, Charles!"

"I know!" he giggled, cupping my cheeks and pressing his lips on mine. "I can't believe it... My dream! Is my dream!"

"He got tired of them, of all the things they promised to him" he sighed. "He did exactly what Schumacher did. Retired a year and came back stronger to Mercedes"

"He retired?" I frown, surprised.

"Yeah, on 2027" she nodded.

I frown and look at her. I missed so many things, but he's not my business anymore.

"Good for him" I nodded, indifferent, wanting to end the conversation about him. "Well, I have to go. I need to make sure the speakers and instruments are fine"

With that I got up from the table and walked out of the room, finding Lando on my way. He just smiled at me and I looked the other way. That's how I work. One night stand is a one night stand, nothing more.

🏎️

My head was exploding. I don't even know how I came to the room and how I got to bed. But I answered myself when I found a glass of water with a headache pill and a piece of paper next to it.

'You should man up for once and stop hiding. Everyone knows you are not the same without her and we're tired of watching you suffer in silence. You better talk to her before we go back to race.

-Carlos'

"Great" I groaned, drinking the glass of water and swallowing the pill. "Fucking great"

I sit on the bed and look at the wall in front of me. I can't remember much of what I did last night, God knows how much alcohol I drank to be like this.

I have to get ready, the last things for tonight's wedding are this morning, one of them is adjusting everything for Juliette.

"Shit" I groan, messing my hair with my hands.

I got out of the bed and got dressed, trying to put on the best face I had to hide my headache and how much I wanted to leave this place. Walking through the corridors towards the restaurant I saw Lado walking out of a room that wasn't his with the same clothes he had yesterday.

"Charles! H-hey!" he exclaimed with a smile. "You'll never believe what happened"

I look at him taking a deep breath. Right now the way he talks is too much for my headache.

"I slept with Juliette!" he said happily, making me look at him with a poker face. "Come on dude, be happy. Is the first time I get laid in a long time with all this championship going on. And damn, she was fucking amazing"

"I know" I frowned, groaning and really hating the fact that he told me he slept with her. "I practically was the one that taught her all those things"

"What?" He frowned, but I already walked away, mad.

She did the thing I asked her to not do. And that's what made me angrier, because I knew she's not mine and the one to blame here it's only me.

"What the fuck, Juliette!" I exclaimed when I walked out of the building and went towards the ceremony room. She was making sure everything was ready for tonight.

"Good morning to you too, Leclerc" she said through the microphone.

"You really fucked him" I said mad, walking towards her and standing in front of her, clenching my jaw. "Just after I told you to not to"

She looked at me and I saw the smirk showing on her lips slowly. I saw how she crossed her arms in front of her chest and put all her weight on a leg.

"Are you jealous, Leclerc?" she scoffed, taking her hair out of her shoulder. "Well, too bad you let me go, hm? Too bad I'm not yours anymore"

Right. She's not mine.

"You know, Charles?" she said, making me clench my jaw tighter. "The first year after you broke my heart was hard as fuck. I blamed myself, I thought it was my fault. And you know what? The only one here that has to be blamed is you, because instead of having a family with me, you decided to stay on a stupid team that made you believe you were part of them and that made your life a living hell"

I swallowed thickly and looked at her. She knew Ferrari was my dream.

"Tell me something, yeah?" she frowned looking at me. "Did they give you what they promised you? They gave you the first seat? Or they said that Ferrari didn't have a first driver?"

How does she know? Why does she know this?

"You believed all the lies Mattia told you, you followed him like a fucking lost puppy and it was the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen" she scoffed, making my heart break with her words. "Thank you, by the way. For breaking up with me, because thanks to that I didn't saw how ridiculous you were all those seasons with them even if they were like a cancer in your life and career"

"Juliette..." I mumble, feeling my heart breaking.

"Actually... No. I'm not thanking you for breaking my heart" she said, and then I saw her eyes getting wet "Because you made me break the heart of a man that was way better than you. A man that was what you will never be, but instead of that I kept telling myself that I couldn't love him because I loved someone else! Someone that doesn't deserve my love anymore"

"What? What does it mean?"

taglist

@lestappenloverr @racinggirl @roni-midnights @livster @kakorrhaphiphobia

#f1 #f1 x y/n #f1 x oc #f1 x reader #f1 imagine #f1 drabble #f1 serie #formula 1 fic #formula 1 drabble #formula 1 x reader #formula 1 imagine #formula 1 fanfic #formula 1 #charles leclerc #charles leclerc x you #charles leclerc fanfic #charles leclerc x reader #charles leclerc imagine

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leoramage · 7 months

Text

raining in manila

⊹ masterlist ⊹ taglist ⊹

⊹⊱ trigger warning - [politics]

⊹⊱ theme - [social media au]

⊹⊱ pairings - [charles leclerc x daughter of a president!y/n]

⊹⊱ face claim - renee veronica pagano

⊹⊱ keywords - [nepotism baby. "asian chick." second chance. "everyone is a ferrari fan. even if they say they're not, they are ferrari fans." flings? "what are we?"]

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

highsocietysecrets_mnl posted a picture

liked by jimmyfournier and others

highsocietysecrets_mnl pack your bags and rev those engines because this high-profile socialite is jetting off with her father to the singapore grand prix in style! 🛫🏁

while she's known for her passion for ferraris, she's hasn't just been burning rubber on the racetrack. she's often spotted donning ferrari gear, sparking rumors about her passion for the prancing horse in her instagram stories. rumor has it that she left more than just tire tracks during a luxurious vacation in monaco, catching the eye of a famous ferrari driver after his split with his ex who is an architect. 🏖️❤️🏎️

now, allegations of a secret romance are swirling around her, leaving us all to wonder: is she trading love letters for pit stops? 💌🛑 #highsocietysecrets #singaporegrandprix

speedyracer24 the way we immediately knew who that is when that SG blind was posted, its yn, the asia's nepo girl 🙄

⊳ gossipguru4u could never be more envious fr.

racingfanatic_01 lord i see the way you bless other people, but why not me too?!

⊳ racetrackromeo my delulu ass thinking i have a chance with charles because i have the same nationality as y/n

⊳ curiouscat22 girl stop living your parasocial relationship, touch some grass

speeddemon101 girl is taking "live fast, die young, bad girls do it well" motto too much

racerchick22 Y/N WAS LINKED TO CHARLES MARC HERVÉ PERCEVAL LECLERC😭‼️ SINCE WHEN⁉️😬😬

⊳ fashionistachic SHE'S LIVING MY DREAM GOODBYE

charles_leclerc posted a picture

liked by yourusername, carlossainz55 and others

charles_leclerc what happens in monaco, stays in monaco. it's race week, see you in 🇸🇬!

ferrarifanatic23 charles we need to know if you and y/n are for real

⊳ speedsterfanatic girl stop harassing charles!

f1fanaticsophie is the caption a shade towards the blind?

⊳ racingheartbeat DOES HE KNOW?!

ferrarifanatic88 these comments are not it

carlossainz55 lord perceval 🏎️🤴🏻

⊳ charles_leclerc smooth operator 🏎️🇪🇸

⊳ speedygonzalez CHARLES, ONE CHANCE IS ALL I NEED

⊳ instaglamgal @/speedygonzalez bffr 😭

gossipqueen365 monaco, the playground for the rich and famous! 🌟✈️

f1nightrace see you soon!

yourusername posted a picture

liked by jazzychewter, celeste_cortesi and others

yourusername mornings in singapore 🩷

jazzychewter fresh 🌻

⊳ yourusername imy 🥺🤗

⊳ jazzychewter xoxo 🤗

celeste_cortesi goodluck kisses to...? 😗🤣

⊳ yourusername stoooooop 😭

⊳ celeste_cortesi your biggest what if🫢

⊳ yourusername 😵‍💫😵

comments are limited.

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

yourusername posted a picture

liked by jazzychewter, celeste_cortesi and others

yourusername lunch dates ; bon appetit 🥗🍴

jazzychewter with who? 👀

⊳ yourusername dad 🥰

⊳ jazzychewter you can't fool me hahaha

⊳ yourusername but he said hi! 🥹

celeste_cortesi just with tito? nobody else? 🤭

⊳ yourusername and a few guests!

⊳ celeste_cortesi guest list reveal

⊳ yourusername can't do that 💔

comments are limited.

charles_leclerc uploaded a story

seen by arthur_leclerc, lorenzotl, yourbrother and others

TWITTER

INSTAGRAM

yourusername posted a picture

liked by catriona_gray, mickschumacher and others

yourusername from sun down till the clock strikes twelve 🌙🤍 bisou bisou💋

jazzychewter with your dad again?

⊳ yourusername the dinner date? no but my date asked permission 🫶🏻

⊳ celeste_cortesi boy reveal

⊳ yourusername we don't do that here 🥹😭

nadine can he fight?

⊳ yourusername no violence please 😆

⊳ michelledee what if SG meet up?

⊳ yourusername it's too late, we'll be back soon 🥺

⊳ whianwamos did he return you safe before tito's curfew?

⊳ yourusername yes! five minutes before the time 😊

⊳ maxcollinsofficial is he in the likes?

⊳ yourusername calm down please i am alive 😭😭😭

samanthapanlilio_ hope you had fun 🩷

yourusername liked this comment.

missritadaniella 😍😍 miss you bestie

⊳ yourusername miss you too bestie 🥺🫶🏻

piawurtzbach he looks handsome and nice

⊳ yourusername MOMMA PIA 😭😭😭

comments are limited.

yourusername uploaded a story

seen by charles_leclerc, arthur_leclerc, lorenzotl and others

charles_leclerc posted a picture

monaco

liked by yourusername, carlossainz55 and others

charles_leclerc rain check? 🌧️☔ @/apmmonaco keeps me in style whatever weather it is.

apmmonaco looking great, lord perceval!

racedayrover CHARLES! CHARLES LISTEN TO ME THIS IS NOT YOU

⊳ turn1tifosi girl stop, you're embarrassing let him live a life

chequeredchase the women's jewelry of apmmonaco looks stunning 😭

TEAM_CL16 HE IS REPLYING TO Y/N'S IG STORY! 😭

⊳ curvaparabolica it's literally an advertisement, silly

⊳ leclerclove please let it be, i can't handle him being taken yet!

⊳ sennaforever omg you guys are so delusional, stop it!

silverarrowsquad what is bro yappin bout🗣️‼️

⊳ pitlanepro bro is too majestic

yourusername posted a picture

manila, philippines

liked by charles_leclerc, angelicalopezofficial and others

yourusername maulan ba sa inyo 'pag bumubuhos dito? (does it rain there when it pours here?)

michelledee twinning captions? 👀

⊳ yourusername huh? 🤔

⊳ whianwamos hello, she's pretending again that she doesn't know again 😧

⊳ maxcollinsofficial wait, who now? akala ko ba si ano...😮 (i thought it was)

yourbrother i beg please tama na parinig, stop looping the song na. di ka maririnig non, he's too far (he won't hear you)

⊳ yourusername 🥺

⊳ yourbrother do it or i will confiscate your spotify premium

⊳ yourusername i'm not a child! 😭

⊳ yourbrother lah? please use headphones or at least lower down the volume

⊳ yourusername okay 🥹

rociozobel what if may pinaparinggan (you're alluding)

⊳ yourusername wala ah (that's nothing) 😗

comments are limited.

INSTAGRAM

highsocietysecrets_mnl posted a picture

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highsocietysecrets_mnl whispers of romance have once again taken the formula one world by storm! it appears that a certain formula one driver may be rekindling an intriguing connection with the daughter of high socialite elite, following their summer fling after his breakup with an architect girlfriend. 🏁❤️

the singaporean grand prix played a pivotal role in this unfolding drama. on september 14, both parties posted eerily similar location shots, raising eyebrows across the internet. she hinted at a "lunch date," coyly mentioning her father and mysterious guests. meanwhile, charles shared a picture from the same spot with a different companion. coincidence or rendezvous? 🤔🍽️

then came september 15, when she shared pictures from dusk till midnight, with mick schumacher's like setting off alarm bells. rumor has it that mick was her date, even asking her father for permission and getting her back to the hotel just minutes before her curfew. 🌙💏

but the story doesn't end there. she returned home and expressed the rainy manila, while he, in monaco, subtly hinted at a rain check through an advertisement post for apm monaco. coincidence, or are these two playing the long-distance game? ☔🌧️

as weeks passed, silence reigned until she accidentally shared a deleted Instagram story featuring him at the airport this morning? 📸✈️ what's the real story here? stay tuned for more twists and turns in this high-profile affair! 🌟

speedqueenracer 💔 sorry, but I'm still not over charlotte! this new twist is giving me whiplash! 🤷‍♀️🏁

⊳ cclovers same it was just months away charles and you're back in the streets😭

⊳ fastlanefangirl now suddenly we know he's getting another girl again. but at least he didn't went after his ex girlfriend's friend💀

speedyspectator charles and y/n, the power couple we didn't know we needed! please confirm this love story soon!

racefanatic_88 I'M SORRY?? WHO??? MICK AND CHARLES???? THIS GIRL IS LIVING MY DREAMS 😭

⊳ curiouscat_16 she's so lucky but she seems like she's into charles more

⊳ f1foreverfanatic let me bag mick! (i have no chance)

⊳ sunsetchasers bffr now guys

racingroyalties can someone please pick mick up? he's going after his colleagues ex girlfriends again 🙄😒

⊳ speeddemon47 it started from luisa, right? 😭 ⊳ racingroyalties yes, but it also makes sense that y/n is in monaco. it's almost charles' birthday and he wil throw a party. ⊳ f1foreverfanatic is mick coming over? or at least was he invited? ⊳ sirhamilton_44 i highly doubt that, he was entangled dating y/n for a night during the race week in singapore. her father is a mercedes fan and has close connection with toto wolff so that is how mick probably was introduced to y/n. he invested into mercedes when lewis was dominating the grid. mick probably had to let her go because he probably had the sense that y/n likes charles and there were something brewing in between the two. ⊳ charlesofmonaco then how the hell did y/n and charles meet? ⊳ sirhamilton_44 through friends of friends :)

charles_leclerc uploaded a story

seen by mickschumacher, yourbrother and others

yourusername posted a picture

monaco

liked by charles_leclerc, carlossainz55, landonorris and others

yourusername happy birthday lord perceval

michelledee oh! 👀 happy birthday to him

yourbrother enjoying monaco, huh?

⊳ rociozobel you're not there with her?!

⊳ yourbrother no, duty calls.

jazzychewter chat, this is real!

⊳ celeste_cortesi @jazzychewter spill the 🫘

comments are limited.

charles_leclerc posted a picture

monaco

liked by yourusername, yourbrother and others

charles_leclerc maison avec du soleil 🌻

yourbrother i am keeping an eye on you, charles.

⊳ carlossainz55 uh oh

⊳ racefanatic_91 NOT Y/N'S BROTHER COMMENTING A THREAT

⊳ gossipguruf1 bro is getting prosecuted if he breaks y/n's heart

yourfather to love, laughter, and many more wins on and off the track! 🏆 happy birthday charles!

⊳ leclxrc16 Y/N'S FATHER COMMENTED

⊳ ferrarif1lover MAN HAS THE BLESSINGS OF A DAMN COUNTRY

chxrlessss16 MAN WAS DOUBLE TIMING WHILE THROWING A BIRTHDAY PARTY 😭😭😭

⊳ thaweeepon_ann man has his priorities STRAIGHTER than my gender 💔

⊳ racefanatic_91 he was multitasking like there's no tomorrow! 🥹 he said hard launch my pretty girlfriend now

⊳ jensxnnnn_ still faster than a ferrari

scuderiaferrari happy birthday, charles! may your year be filled with lots of wins on and off the track! 🏆🥂

⊳ f1fanaticgirl MAKE YOUR CARS FASTER, PRANCING DONKEYS 😭

⊳ girlgossipf1 the way y/n will have to cope up with charles waking up from ferrari nightmares

⊳ champagneprxblems "box box" 💀

lovestruck_lou still happier than in a ferrari

⊳ racingroyalty you're so jailed for that

⊳ speedsterenthusiast just being realistic, man.

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Author's Note: first smau for charles leclerc! i didn't want this fic to be too political by mentioning any politician in here. but i really enjoyed making this and thankfully it's less hassle than the other smau i made (check out the "competition" series - mick schumacher smau if you have time).. let me know your thoughts, hit that ask box it's open for everyone! 𔘓ฅ[⁠ᓀ⁠˵⁠▾⁠˵⁠ᓂ⁠]𔘓ฅ

Disclaimer: This is a work of fiction created by the user in response to a creative writing prompt. Any resemblance to actual events, persons, or entities, whether living or deceased, is purely coincidental. The characters, events, and dialogue portrayed in this fanfiction are products of the user's imagination and are not meant to infringe upon any copyrights or trademarks associated with the Formula One sport or any real-life individuals. This fanfiction is solely intended for entertainment purposes, and the author acknowledges that the depicted scenarios are not endorsed, authorized, or supported by any official Formula One entities or the individuals mentioned.

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