She loves the Republic, the people of France, and feared that I, an unworthy representative of her sons, was hatching treason against our great mother.

That was her first wayward impulse--to stop me before I committed the awful crime, to punish me, or perhaps only to warn me.
Does a young girl calculate, citizens?
She acts as her heart dictates; her reason but awakes from slumber later on, when the act is done.

Then comes repentance sometimes: another impulse of tenderness which we all revere.

Would you extract vinegar from rose leaves?
Just as readily could you find reason in a young girl's head.

Is that a crime?
She wished to thwart me in my treason; then, seeing me in peril, the sincere friendship she had for me gained the upper hand once more.