Database: Jean Gilbert

The gendarme who ruined Marie-Antoinette's escape from the Conciergerie. The queen had pin-pricked a message into a piece of paper in reply to a secret message hidden in the petals of a carnation. *
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* This was an early form of DMing someone.
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The plan (known as the complot d'oeillet) dictated that Gilbert take this message to the queen's allies on the outside in return for 400 louis, a tidy sum equivalent to three years' pay. Many of the queen's captors felt compassion for her; some even brought her flowers (this would greatly annoy Fouquier-Tinville, the public prosecutor). **
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** Bringing her flowers was a terribly idea. She probably had to check every bloody leaf in case there was a message on one. It was an enormous waste of her time.
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Gilbert had second thoughts at the last minute: if the plan failed, it was the guillotine for him too. He spoke up, revealing the escape attempt and ending the queen's last, desperate hope of survival.
Category:Database: People
Category:Helix database entries