their hearts.
I could read this in Axel’s face. I had never seen him so afraid before, and never did I see him afraid for his own safety only for mine.
Saint-Priest was aware of the relationship between Axel and myself, but his one idea was to preserve the Monarchy and he knew that Axel was a good friend, a reliable friend. He could be of service, and who more loyal than a lover?
Saint-Priest immediately called a conference of the loyal ministers who remained. Immediate action was needed, he said. The bridges of the Seine should be guarded by the Flanders regiment; Saint-Cloud and Neuilly should be held. The Queen and the Royal Family should be sent Rambouillet and the King with a strong force of Guards should ride out to meet the marchers. With a thousand horse and armed soldiers he could order the mob to retire, and if they refused there would be no alternative but to open fire.
“And if this did not succeed, if there were armed men and women in the mob, if fighting broke out asked the King.
“Then, Sire, at the head of the troops you would march to Rambouillet.
There you would make plans to join the forces at Metz. “
“Civil war?” asked the King.
“Preferable to revolution. Sire,” replied Axel.
“It means that the King would face danger,” I said.
“Madame,” answered Axel, ‘you are facing clanger at this moment.
The King was wavering. I knew what would happen. He would ride out there but he would never give permission for women to be fired on.
Saint-Priest’s excellent plan would founder because my husband would never stand firm.
I must be with him. I believed it was imperative that I remain at his side. Moreover, I did not wish him to face a danger which I did not share.
I turned to him and said: “I believe we should be together. You should leave with me and all the family now for Rambouillet.”
The King hesitated. Then he decided that he could not run away. He must face these people. And so we talked and Axel grew more and more alarmed and news was brought to us that the marchers were almost on the Palace. Some carried knives; they were shouting threats, they wanted my blood. They wanted to take the King to Paris.
“Sire,” said Saint-Priest, ‘if you let the people take you to Paris you have lost your crown. “
Necker, who was afraid of losing his popularity with the people, advised against the Rambouillet scheme. And Louis oscillated between the two—at one moment turning to Saim-Priest.
“Yes, yes, my dear Comte, you are right. We must do this …” and to Necker, “You are right. I must stand my ground.” And to me: “We must be together. We must not be separated.”
And meanwhile the decisive moments were ticking by. This I suspected was what Louis wished. He would not be forced to make the choice.
Circumstances should do it for him. This was how he had always been.
This was why we now teetered on the edge of revolution. I can see it so clearly now . all the steps which had led to our downfall, the many chances which fate had offered us, and at each one Louis had hesitated undl it was too late and the decision was no longer his.
Down in the courtyards the horses were pawing impatiently; the servant? were awaiting orders. They went on waiting. The rain was teeming down and the women of Paris put their skirts over their heads to protect them while they shouted obscene remarks to each other—and they were about the Queen.
They were in Versailles . cold, wet and angry—and intoxicated, for they’ had raided the wine shops on the way.
Behind the mob rode La Fayette and the National Guard. Whether he intended to curb them we were not sure. We were never sure of La Fayette, except that his actions were always too late to be effective and we suspected that he was not entirely enamoured of this revolution which he had done his best to bring about. He was imbued with American ideas and ideals. He doubtless visualised a speedy conflict and then a new nadon built on the remains of the old, in which liberty, equality and fraternity flourished. But he was not dealing with a band of colonists who fought for an ideal of freedom; his army was made up of agitators and prostitutes, men and women who were fed on envy, who demanded blood all the time not because they wished for freedom, not because they wished to build a new way of life—but because they wanted revenge. La Fayette was a man of honour. He must have realised this. He knew that he had aroused a fury of lust, greed, envy, sloth, coverousness, wrath and pride . all the seven deadliest sins. And I believe he was an uneasy man.
But the very fact that the National Guard was there with its commander showed that this was no ordinary assault. There was purpose behind it; and if the purpose of the women was to kill me, that of the Guards was to take the King to Paris.
Mist had fallen over the town; it seeped into the chateau; it hung in patches like grey ghosts. The marchers now surrounded us. I could hear their chanting: “Du pain. Du pain.”
Then I heard my name. They wanted the Queen. They wanted her head on a pike. They were going to fight over my body. They would make cockades of my entrails. They would tear out my heart and carry it to Paris.
They would slit my throat with their butchers’ knives; they would ram the mouldy bread they had been forced to eat down my throat and make me eat it before they strangled me.
I tried to think of my mother, who bad always told me that I must never be afraid of death. When it came I must welcome it for it was the end of all earthly sorrows. Oh my mother, I thought, how I rejoice that you did not live to see this day.
I thought of my children. They would surely not harm them. Oh God, what would become of us?
The King’s calmness was a help to us all. He refused to believe that his good people would harm any of us. They would not even harm me, for they would know how that would grieve him. And when they said they would send a deputation of women to par ky with him he declared himself very happy to receive them.
Five of the women were chosen to speak to the King and tell him of their grievances. This cheered us greatly, for it seemed a reasonable arrangement.
The women were brought to the King, and they chose for their spokeswoman Louison Chabry, a flower-girl of outstanding beauty, who certainly looked well nourished, so it was evident that all the people of Paris were not starving. I guessed her to be a bold creature, but brought face to face with the courteous manners of the King she was bewildered and tongue-tied. Even Louis, who was so unlike his grandfather, bad inherited a little of that aura which surrounded his ancestors, and bold Louison suddenly realised that she. was in the presence of royalty, and could only goggle with amazement and murmur: “Du pain. Sire.” Perhaps the march in the rain had been too much for her, perhaps she was overcome by excitement, but she fainted and would have fallen if the King had not caught her.
The King called his doctor and the girl was revived. Then he talked to her of her troubles, and all she could do was look at him with round eyes of wonder and murmur: Yes, Sire. No, Sire. “
If only they had all been as easy to handle as Louison I He told her that he regarded himself as the little father of his people and that his one desire was to make them happy and see them well fed. Clearly she believed him and was ready to change her revolutionary ideas and become a loyal subject without more ado. And when she left, Louis kissed her with fervour. It was the first time I ever saw him kiss a woman with relish. He even joked and said that the kiss made it well worth the trouble. Well worth the trouble ! I thought. Of having a howling mob at our gates? Of losing the crown?
There were times when I believed his lethargy was a physical disability. Could any normal man be so calm in the face of such unprecedented disaster?
Louison returned to her friends. How her account of her interview was received no one can imagine. Meanwhile night was falling and the women took off their skirts—as they said, to dry them—and mingled with the soldiers who were supposed to be guarding the chateau.
The uneasy day had passed into uneasy night.
Saint-Priest and Axel wanted immediate action. As they saw it, it was folly to stay.
Louis began to see that we should leave for Rambouillet-not only myself and the children but himself and the rest of the family.
