CHAPTER IX.
CHARNY ON GUARD.
On the night of the ninth of August, the royal family supped as usual;nothing could disturb the king in his meals. But while PrincessElizabeth and Lady Lamballe wept and prayed, the queen prayed withoutweeping. The king withdrew to go to confession.
At this time the doors opened, and Count Charny walked in, pale, butperfectly calm.
"May I have speech with the king?" he asked, as he bowed.
"At present I am the king," answered Marie Antoinette.
Charny knew this as well as anybody, but he persisted.
"You may go up to the king's rooms, count, but I protest that you willvery much disturb him."
"I understand; he is with Mayor Petion."
"The king is with his ghostly counselor," replied the lady, with anindescribable expression.
"Then I must make my report to your majesty as major-general of thecastle," said the count.
"Yes, if you will kindly do so."
"I have the honor to set forth the effective strength of our forces.The heavy horse-guards, under Rulhieres and Verdiere, to the numberof six hundred, are in battle array on the Louvre grand square; theParis City foot-guards are barracked in the stables; a hundred andfifty are drawn from them to guard at Toulouse House, at need, theTreasury and the discount and extra cash offices; the Paris MountedPatrol, only thirty men, are posted in the princes' yard, at the footof the king's back stairs; two hundred officers and men of the old LifeGuards, a hundred young Royalists, as many noblemen, making some fourhundred combatants, are in the Bull's-eye Hall and adjoining rooms;two or three hundred National Guards are scattered in the gardensand court-yards; and lastly, fifteen hundred Swiss, the backbone ofresistance, are taking position under the grand vestibule and thestaircases which they are charged to defend."
"Do not all these measures set you at ease, my lord?" inquired thequeen.
"Nothing can set me at ease when your majesty's safety is at stake,"returned the count.
"Then your advice is still for flight?"
"My advice, madame, is that you ought, with the king and the royalchildren, be in the midst of us."
The queen shook her head.
"Your majesty dislikes Lafayette? Be it so. But you have confidencein the Duke of Liancourt, who is in Rouen, in the house of an Englishgentleman of the name of Canning. The commander of the troops in thatprovince has made them swear allegiance to the king; the Salis-ChamadeSwiss regiment is echeloned across the road, and it may be relied on.All is still quiet. Let us get out over the swing-bridge, and reachthe Etoille bars, where three hundred of the horse-guards await us. AtVersailles, we can readily get together fifteen hundred noblemen. Withfour thousand, I answer for taking you wherever you like to go."
"I thank you, Lord Charny. I appreciate the devotion which made youleave those dear to you, to offer your services to a foreigner."
"The queen is unjust toward me," replied Charny. "My sovereign'sexistence is always the most precious of all in my eyes, as duty isalways the dearest of virtues."
"Duty--yes, my lord," murmured the queen; "but I believe I understandmy own when everybody is bent on doing theirs. It is to maintainroyalty grand and noble, and to have it fall worthily, like theancient gladiators, who studied how to die with grace."
"Is this your majesty's last word?"
"It is--above all, my last desire."
Charny bowed, and as he met Mme. Campan by the door, he said to her:
"Suggest to the princesses that they should put all their valuablesin their pockets, as they may have to quit the palace without furtherwarning."
While the governess went to speak to the ladies, he returned to thequeen, and said:
"Madame, it is impossible that you should not have some hope beyond thereliance on material forces. Confide in me, for you will please bear inmind that at such a strait, I will have to give an account to the Makerand to man for what will have happened."
"Well, my lord," said the queen, "an agent is to pay Petion two hundredthousand francs, and Danton fifty thousand, for which sums the latteris to stay at home and the other is to come to the palace."
"Are you sure of the go-betweens?"
"You said that Petion had come, which is something toward it."
"Hardly enough; as I understood that he had to be sent for three times."
"The token is, in speaking to the king, he is to touch his righteyebrow with his forefinger--"
"But if not arranged?"
"He will be our prisoner, and I have given the most positive ordersthat he is not to be let quit the palace."
The ringing of a bell was heard.
"What is that?" inquired the queen.
"The general alarm," rejoined Charny.
The princesses rose in alarm.
"What is the matter?" exclaimed the queen. "The tocsin is always thetrumpet of rebellion."
"Madame," said Charny, more affected by the sinister sound than thequeen, "I had better go and learn whether the alarm means anythinggrave."
"But we shall see you again?" asked she, quickly.
"I came to take your majesty's orders, and I shall not leave you untilyou are out of danger."
Bowing, he went out. The queen stood pensive for a space, murmuring: "Isuppose we had better see if the king has got through confessing."
While she was going out, Princess Elizabeth took some garments off asofa in order to lie down with more comfort; from her fichu she removeda cornelian brooch, which she showed to Mme. Campan; the engravedstone had a bunch of lilies and the motto: "Forget offenses, forgiveinjuries."
"I fear that this will have little influence over our enemies," sheremarked; "but it ought not be the less dear to us."
As she was finishing the words, a gunshot was heard in the yard.
The ladies screamed.
"There goes the first shot," said Lady Elizabeth. "Alas! it will not bethe last."
Mayor Petion had come into the palace under the followingcircumstances. He arrived about half past ten. He was not made towait, as had happened before, but was told that the king was ready tosee him; but to arrive, he had to walk through a double row of Swissguards, National Guards, and those volunteer royalists called Knightsof the Dagger. Still, as they knew he had been sent for, they merelycast the epithets of "traitor" and "Judas" in his face as he went upthe stairs.
Petion smiled as he went in at the door of the room, for here the kinghad given him the lie on the twentieth of June; he was going to haveample revenge.
The king was impatiently awaiting.
"Ah! so you have come, Mayor Petion?" he said. "What is the good wordfrom Paris?"
Petion furnished the account of the state of matters--or, at least, anaccount.
"Have you nothing more to tell me?" demanded the ruler.
"No," replied Petion, wondering why the other stared at him. Louiswatched for the signal that the mayor had accepted the bribe.
It was clear that the king had been cheated; some swindler had pocketedthe money. The queen came in as the question was put to Petion.
"How does our friend stand?" she whispered.
"He has not made any sign," rejoined the king.
"Then he is our prisoner," said she.
"Can I retire?" inquired the mayor.
"For God's sake, do not let him go!" interposed the queen.
"Not yet, sir; I have something yet to say to you," responded the king,raising his voice. "Pray step into this closet."
This implied to those in the inner room that Petion was intrusted tothem, and was not to be allowed to go.
Those in the room understood perfectly, and surrounded Petion, who feltthat he was a prisoner. He was the thirtieth in a room where there wasnot elbow-room for four.
"Why, gentlemen, we are smothering here," he said; "I propose a changeof air."
It was a sentiment all agreed with, and they followed him out of thefirst door he opened, and down into the walled-in garden, where he wasas much c
onfined as in the closet. To kill time, he picked up a pebbleor two and tossed them over the walls.
While he was playing thus, and chatting with Roederer, attorney of theprovince, the message came twice that the king wanted to see him.
"No," replied Petion; "it is too hot quarters up there. I remember thecloset, and I have no eagerness to be in it again. Besides, I have anappointment with somebody on the Feuillants' Quay."
He went on playing at clearing the wall with stones.
"With whom have you an appointment?" asked Roederer.
At this instant the Assembly door on the Feuillants' Quay opened.
"I fancy this is just what I was waiting for," remarked the mayor.
"Order to let Mayor Petion pass forth," said a voice; "the Assemblydemands his presence at the bar of the House, to give an account of thestate of the city."
"Just the thing," muttered Petion. "Here I am," he replied, in a loudvoice; "I am ready to respond to the quips of my enemies."
The National Guards, imagining that Petion was to be berated, let himout.
It was nearly three in the morning; the day was breaking. A singularthing, the aurora was the hue of blood.