But a sudden revulsion of feeling made Marie Antoinette recur to Charny.
"Gentlemen," she said, "one of my bravest officers, most devoted of followers, has been left outside the door, in danger of death. I beg succor for him."
Five or six members sprung away at the appeal.
The king, the queen, and the rest of the royal family, with their attendants, proceeded to the seats intended for the cabinet officers, and took places there.
The Assembly received them standing, not from etiquette, but the respect misfortune compelled.
Before sitting down, the king held up his hand to intimate that he wished to speak.
"I came here to prevent a great crime," he said, in the silence; "I thought I could not be in safety anywhere else."
"Sire," returned Vergniaud, who presided, "you may rely on the firmness of the National Assembly; its members are sworn to die in defending the people's rights and the constitutional authorities."
As the king was taking his seat, a frightful musketry discharge resounded at the doors. It was the National Guards firing, intermingled with the insurgents, from the Feuillants' terrace, on the Swiss officers and soldiers forming the royal escort.