"Do you come to tell us that the people have taken the palace?" cried the queen, with an angry burst from her very soul.
"Madame," answered the prince, "had that been the case, I should not have been here alive. Only over my body will the rabble enter the palace."
"Ah," muttered Marie Antoinette to herself, "there are men in
Versailles yet, there are brave men yet to defend us!"
"What news do you bring, captain?" asked the king, stepping up.
"Sire, I am come to receive your commands," answered the prince, bowing respectfully. "This mob of shameless shrews is growing more maddened, more shameless every moment. Thousands and thousands of arms are trying the gates, and guns are fired with steady aim at the guards. I beg your majesty to empower me to repel this attack of mad women!"
"What an idea, captain!" cried Louis, shrugging his shoulders.
"Order to attack a company of women! You are joking, prince!"
[Footnote: The king's own words.—See Weber, "Memoires," vol. t, p.
433.]
And the king turned to Count de la Marck, who was entering the room.
"You come with new news. What is it, count?"
"Sire, the women are most desirous of speaking with your majesty, and presenting their grievances."
"I will hear them," cried the king, eagerly. "Tell the women to choose six of their number and bring them into my cabinet. I will go there myself."
"Sire, you are going to give audience to revolution," cried Marie Antoinette, seizing the arm of the king, who was on the point of leaving the room. "I conjure you, my husband, do not be overpowered by your magnanimous heart! Let not the majesty of the realm be defiled by the raging hands of these furies! Remain here. Oh, sire, if my prayers, my wishes have any power with you, remain here! Send a minister to treat with these women in your name. But do not confront their impudence with the dignity of the crown. Sire, to give them audience is to give audience to revolution; and from the hour when it takes place, revolution has gained the victory over the kingly authority! Do not go, oh do not go!"