Mdlle. Gerbaut, who feared that the condition of the wounded man would not be improved by his remaining on the ground floor in direct communication with the street, begged us to carry M. de Malmy into a chamber where the surgeon could pay, without inconvenience, all the cares necessary to a man in his condition.
I assisted M. Saulnier—a sufficiently difficult job—to carry a man who could use neither his left arm nor his right leg. Afterwards, as I saw that my presence was not welcome to Mdlle. Sophie, and as I felt no particular interest in the wounded man, I retired, so as not to lose a single scene of the drama which was being played out before my eyes, and which was nothing less than a duel between a King and a nation.
CHAPTER XXXI.
THE RETURN OF ROYALTY IN ARREST.
In the midst of the tumult which was produced by the disarming of M. de Choiseul and M. de Damas, and the cries of “Vive la nation!” shouted out by the hussars, to the great delight of the people, M. de Goguelot, profiting by a moment of inattention on the part of his guards, rushed up-stairs, and, all bleeding as he was, entered the chamber of the King.
His head had been cut open by the fall, but he did not feel the wound.
The appearance of the chamber had changed. It had become a prison.
Marie Antoinette, who was in reality the strength and life of the family, was overwhelmed. She had heard the cries, the shots, and she saw M. de Goguelot return all covered with blood.
The King, standing upright, prayed M. Sauce, the grocer, to assist them; as if he had the power, even had he wished to do so.