Part 46 (1/2)
At the first notes of the trumpet the n.o.bility had hurried on the night of the 10th of August to the Tuileries, which were already filled with grenadiers, Swiss guards, and volunteers of every rank, who had hastened thither to protect the royal family. All the staircases, all the corridors and rooms, were occupied by them.
The ”Chevaliers of the Dagger” marched in solemn procession by them all to the grand reception-room, where were the king, the queen, and the children. With respectful mien they approached the royal pair, imploring the king's permission to die for him, and beseeching the queen to touch their weapons, in order to make them victorious, and to allow them to kiss the royal hand, in order to sweeten death for them. There were cries of enthusiasm and loyalty on all sides, ”Long live the king of our fathers!” cried the young people. ”Long live the king of our children!” cried the old men, taking the dauphin in their arms and raising him above their heads, as if he were the living banner in whose defence they wished to die.
As the morning dawned, the king, at the pressing request of his wife, walked with her and the children through the halls and galleries of the palace, to reanimate the courage of their defenders who were a.s.sembled there, and to thank them for their fidelity.
Everywhere the royal family was received with enthusiasm, everywhere oaths of loyalty to death resounded through the rooms. The king then went, accompanied by a few faithful friends, down into the park, to review the battalions of the National Guard who were stationed there.
When Louis appeared, the cry, ”Long live the king!” began to lose the unanimity which had characterized it in the palace. It was suppressed and overborne by a hostile murmur, and the farther the king advanced, the louder grew these mutterings; till at last, from hundreds and hundreds of throats, the thundering cry resounded, ”Abdication or death! Long live Petion! Resignation or death!”
The king turned hastily around, and, with pale face and forehead covered with drops of cold sweat, he returned to the palace.
”All is lost!” cried the queen, bitterly, ”Nothing more remains for us than to die worthily.”
But soon she raised herself up again, and new courage animated her soul, when she saw that new defenders were constantly pressing into the hall, and that even many grenadiers of the National Guard mingled in the ranks of the n.o.bility.
But these n.o.blemen, these ”Chevaliers of the Dagger,” excited mistrust, and a major of the National Guard demanded their removal with a loud voice.
”No,” cried the queen, eagerly, ”these n.o.blemen are our best friends. Place them before the mouth of the cannon, and they will show you how death for one's king is met. Do not disturb yourselves about these brave people,”
She continued, turning to some grenadiers who were approaching her, ”your interests and theirs are common.
Every thing that is dearest to you and them-wives, children, property-depends upon your courage and your common bravery.”
The grenadiers extended their hands to the chevaliers, and mutual oaths were exchanged to die for the royal family, to save the throne or to perish with it. It was a grand and solemn moment, full of lofty eloquence! The hearts of these n.o.blemen and these warriors longed impatiently for death. With their hands laid upon their weapons, they awaited its coming.
The populace rolled up in great ma.s.ses to the palace. ”Wild shrieks were heard, the thunder of cannon, the harsh cries of women, and the yells of men. Within the palace they listened with suspended breath.
The queen straightened herself up, grasped with a quick movement the hands of her children, drew them to herself, and, with head bent forward and with breathless expectation, gazed at the door, like a lioness awaiting her enemy, and making herself ready to defend her young with her own life.
The door was suddenly opened, and the attorney-general Roderer burst in.
”Sire,” cried he, with impa.s.sioned utterance, ”you must save yourself! All opposition is vain. Only the smallest part of the National Guard is still to be trusted, and even this part only waits the first pretext to fraternize with the populace. The cannoneers have already withdrawn the loading from the cannon, because they are unwilling to fire upon the people. The king has no time to lose.
Sire, there is protection for you only in the National a.s.sembly, and only the representatives of the people can now protect the royal family.”
The queen uttered a cry of anger and horror. ”How!” she cried. ”What do you say? We seek protection with our worst enemies? Never, oh, never! Rather will I be nailed to these walls, than leave the palace to go to the National a.s.sembly!” [Footnote: The queen's own words.-- See Beauchesne, vol. i., p. 90.]
And turning to the king, who stood silent and undecided, she spoke to him with flaming words, with glowing eloquence, addressed him as the father of the dauphin, the successor of Henry IV. and Louis XIV., sought to animate his ambition and touch his heart, and tried for the last time to kindle him with her courage and her decision.
In vain, all in vain. The king remained silent and undecided. A cry, one single cry of grief, burst from the lips of the queen, and one moment her head sank upon her breast.
”Hasten, hasten, sire!” cried Roderer, ”every moment increases the peril. In a quarter of an hour perhaps the queen and the children will be lost beyond remedy!”
These words awakened the king from his reverie. He looked up and nodded his head. ”We can do nothing else,” he said. ”Let us go at once to the National a.s.sembly.”
”Sir,” cried the queen, turning to Roderer, ”is it true that we are deserted by all?”
”Madame,” answered the attorney-general, sadly, ”all opposition is in vain, it will only increase the danger. Would you suffer yourself, the king, your children, and friends, to be killed?”
”G.o.d forbid it! Would that I alone could be the offering!”
”Another minute,” urged Roderer, ”perhaps another second, and it is impossible to guarantee your life, and perhaps that of your husband and children.”