“They have the King I’ said the Princesse.
“I must go to him!” I cried, “If he is in danger, I must be there.” I turned to Madame de Tourzel.
“Guard the children….”
But one of the guards had come in and he barred the way. He said, “Madame, they are calling for you. It would madden them to see you.
Stay here. Stay with the Dauphin and the Princesse. My son was clutching at my skirts.
“Maman, stay with us. Stay with us he cried. And the guard bade me stand by the wall with my children and Madame de Tourzel and the Princesse de Lamballe and some of the other women who had come running to join us. He put a table before us as a sort of barrier.
Elisabeth said: “They have come for you. I will go. They will think I am you … and that will give you a chance to get away with the children.”
I protested and the guards would not let her go. There is nothing to be done, Madame, but stay here. The mob is all over the Palace. They are surrounding it. There is no way out. To move from here would endanger yourself and do no good to anyone. “
She reluctantly came back to stand behind the table. The National Guard, I realised, had come to protect us. One of them put a red cap on my head and another on the Dauphin which was so large that it covered his face.
We could hear the shouts coming from the room in which they held the King.
I was struck with terror wondering what was happening to my husband. I learned later how once more he won their respect. It is difficult to understand how a man who could not make up his mind, who was laughed at for a fool, could so quell a mob determined to kill him.
It was that extraordinary calm, that ability to look death in the face with indifference. They were never allowed to see my fear, but I showed it in my contempt for them. Louis never lost his tenderness for them. However vile they were, they were his children. His was the true courage.
The guards called out that it was their duty to defend the King with their lives and they intended to do their duty.
But what were a few guards against such a mob?
“A bos Ie veto !’ they cried.
But the guards reminded them that the King’s person should not be harmed. It was in the Constitution.
I cannot discuss the veto with you,” said Louis calmly, ‘though I shall do what the Constitution demands.”
One of the mob strode forward, his knife in his hand.
“Have no fear. Sire,” said one of the guards.
“We will defend you with our lives.”
The King smiled gently.
“Put your hand on my heart,” he said.
“Then you will perceive whether I am afraid or not.”
The man did so, and cried that he was astonished that any man could be so calm at such a time.
None of them could doubt that the King’s pulse was absolutely normal, and they could not fail to be astonished.
Disconcerted in the face of such extraordinary courage they did not know what to do, so one of them held out his red cap on the edge of his pike, and with a natural gesture, which could only have been inspired, Louis took it and put it on his head.
The mob was silent for a moment. Then they cried:
“Vive le Roi!“ The danger was over for the King.
But they bad never felt much rancour against the King. They rushed from the room and came to the Council Chamber, where I stood behind the table holding my children close to me.
A group of guards immediately placed themselves about the table.
They stared at me.
“That’s the one. That’s the Austrian Woman.”
The Dauphin was whimpering: the red cap was suffocating him. One of the guards saw my look and took the cap off the child’s head. The women protested but the soldier cried:
“Would you suffocate a harmless child?”
And the women for they were mostly women were ashamed and did not answer. I felt relieved then. I could feel my son clutching my skirt, hiding his face against me to shut out the horror of all this.
It was so hot; the crowded room was stifling. oh God,” I prayed.
“Let death, come quickly.”
I would welcome it, for if we all died together there could be no more suffering like this.
The soldiers had unsheathed their bayonets; the mob eyed them warily; but they were shouting obscenities about me; and I prayed again: “Oh God, close my children’s ears.” I could only hope that they did not understand.
A man who was carrying a toy gibbet from which hung a female doll approached the table. He chanted: “Antoinette i la lanterne.”
I held my head high and pretended not to see him.
One woman tried to spit at me.
“Whore !’ she cried.
“Vile woman.”
My daughter moved closer to me as though to protect me from this creature. My son clung tighter.
I looked into the woman’s face and said: “Have I ever done you any harm?”
“You have brought misery to the nation.”
Tou have been told so, but you have been deceived. As the wife of the King of France and the mother of the Dauphin I am a Frenchwoman. I shall never see my own country again. I can be happy or unhappy only in France. I was happy when you loved me. “
She was silent and I saw her lips moving; there were tears in her eyes.
I was aware, too, of the stillness about us. Everyone was quiet, listening to me as I spoke.
The woman looked at my child and lifted her eyes to me and said: “I ask pardon, Madame, I did not know you. But I see you are a good woman.”
Then she turned away weeping.
That incident gave me courage. The people must be made aware that they had been fed on lies, for when they came face to face with me they knew they were false.
Another woman said: “She’s only a woman … with children.”
That provoked ribald comments; but something had happened. The woman’s tears had driven murder out of the room. They wanted to get away.
We stood behind the table for a long time and it was eight o’clock before the guards cleared the palace and we made our way over the debris of broken doors and furniture to our apartments.
I guessed that Axel would hear of this new assault and be anxious, so I sat down to write to him at once.
“I am still alive, though by a miracle. The twentieth was a terrible ordeal. But do not be anxious about me. Have faith in my courage.”
Now we were living in a damaged palace and I felt we were on the edge of disaster. As the weather grew hotter I was aware of the rising tension. The assault on the Tuileries would not be an isolated attack, I was sure of that.
I ordered Madame Campan to have a padded under-waistcoat made for the King so that if he should be attacked at any time there might be time for the guards to rescue him. It was made of fifteen folds of Italian taffeta—and comprised a waistcoat and a wide belt. I had had it tested; it resisted ordinary dagger thrust, and even shots fired at it were turned off.
I was afraid that someone would discover it and I wore it myself for three days before I had an opportunity of getting the King to try it on. I was in bed when he did so and I heard him whisper something to Madame Campan. It fitted him and he wore it, and when he had gone I asked Campan what he had said.
She was reluctant, but I said: “You had better tell me. You should understand that it is as well for me to know everything.”
She answered: “His Majesty said: ” It is only to satisfy the Queen that submit to this inconvenience. They will not assassinate me. Their schemes have changed. They will put me to death another way”.”
“I think he is right, Madame Campan,” I said. lie has told me that he believes that what is happening here is an imitation of what once happened in England. The English cut off the head of their King Charles I. I fear they will bring him to trial But I am a foreigner, my dear Madame Campan, not one of them. Perhaps they will have less scruples where I am concerned. They will very likely assassinate me.