Suddenly, a beating at the door, and the screams of many fierce women, upon hearing the words, “The Austrian is there!”
But they had to call masculine help before they forced the door.
They found the Queen unprotected, except by her children, whose presence probably saved their mother from assassination.
Only a few ladies were with her, one of whom was that unhappy Princess de Lamballe, who would not remain in England, who returned to France, and who was one of the first to fall a victim to the Reign of Terror.
The Queen was found by the screaming crowd of women standing as I have described, in a bay window, while between her and the mob, a long, heavy table had been placed across the window.
By the Queen stood her daughter—near fourteen years of age.
The Dauphin—then seven years of age, and extremely handsome—was placed upon the table before her.
The men in the crowd were for the greater part silent; the women were implacable: one of these thrust forward a republican red cap, and told the Austrian to put it on Louis’s head. This she did.
The child took it for a plaything, and smiled.