# A Committeeman of "The Terror" explained — Short Fiction > Chapter companion for Short Fiction by Thomas Hardy. ## What happens An elderly woman recounts a story from her mother's past about Mademoiselle V——, a French governess who becomes engaged to a man she later discovers was a member of the Revolutionary Committee of Public Safety. Tormented by guilt and a vision of her headless relatives, she flees on the eve of their wedding, only to return after reconsidering. She finds a letter from him releasing her, and she never marries, remaining a governess for life. ## Themes in this chapter ### Deception and Secrecy The foreign gentleman conceals his past as a member of the Committee of Public Safety, and Mademoiselle V—— hides her flight and return from him. ### Sacrifice and Duty Mademoiselle V—— struggles between her love for the man and her duty to her family's memory, ultimately sacrificing her chance at marriage. ### Fate and Coincidence The couple unknowingly travel on the same coach in opposite directions, and the letter from her friend arrives just before the wedding, influencing her decision. ## Character check-ins ### Mademoiselle V—— A French governess, daughter of a good old French family, who becomes engaged to a former member of the Committee of Public Safety. ### Old Mrs. H—— The elderly narrator who recounts the story told to her by her mother. ### The Foreign Gentleman A man of about forty-five to fifty, a former member of the Committee of Public Safety, who becomes engaged to Mademoiselle V——. ### Mrs. Newbold Mademoiselle V——'s employer, who reinstalls her as governess after the failed marriage. ## Key lines > He was about forty-five—possibly fifty—and wore a long coat of faded superfine cloth, with a heavy collar, and a hunched-up neckcloth. He seemed to desire obscurity. The man, around forty-five to fifty years old, was dressed in a worn but high-quality coat and appeared to want to avoid attention. _Describes the foreign gentleman's appearance and demeanor upon arrival._ > At sight of his face, which, as she used to tell us, was unusually distinct in the peering sunlight, she could not help giving a little shriek of horror, for a terrible reason connected with her history, and after walking a few steps further, she sank down against the parapet of the bridge in a fainting fit. Recognizing his face in the bright sunlight, she screamed in horror due to a past trauma and fainted against the bridge railing. _Mademoiselle V——'s first reaction upon seeing the man, hinting at their shared history._ > A procession of her lost relatives—father, brother, uncle, cousin—seemed to cross her chamber between her bed and the window, and when she endeavoured to trace their features she perceived them to be headless, and that she had recognized them by their familiar clothes only. She believed she saw a vision of her deceased relatives, all headless, walking through her room, which she interpreted as a divine sign. _The supernatural vision that reinforces her guilt and leads to her flight._ > He, the greater, persevered; I, the smaller, returned! She reflects that he, the nobler one, continued on his path, while she, the lesser, turned back. _Mademoiselle V——'s self-reproach after discovering they had been on the same coach._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters/a-committeeman-of-the-terror - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_53_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/short_fiction_53_se/chapters