Maillard sheathes his sword, takes that of the Swiss under one arm, the musket of the woman under the other, picks up his hat, which had fallen to the ground during the struggle, puts it upon his head, and then leads his victorious troops through the Tuileries, where, in fulfilment of the promise he had made, no sort of damage was committed by them.
Let us, therefore, allow them to continue their way quietly through the Cours la Reine, and go on towards Sèvres, where they separated into two bands, and let us return to what was going on at Paris.
These seven thousand women had not very nearly drowned the electors, hanged the Abbé Lefevre and Maillard, and burned the Hôtel de Ville, without making a certain degree of noise.
On hearing this noise, which had been re-echoed even in the most remote quarters of the capital, Lafayette had hastened towards the Hôtel de Ville.
He was holding a sort of review at the Champ de Mars. He had been on horseback from eight o’clock in the morning; he reached the square of the Hôtel de Ville just as the clock was striking twelve.
The caricatures of those days represented Lafayette as a centaur, the body of which was the famous white horse which had become proverbial. The head was that of the commandant of the National Guard.
From the commencement of the Revolution, Lafayette spoke on horseback, Lafayette eat on horseback, Lafayette gave all his orders on horseback.
It often even happened that he slept on horseback.
And therefore when by chance he could sleep on his bed, Lafayette slept soundly.
When Lafayette reached the Quay Pelletier, he was stopped by a man who had been riding at full gallop on a swift horse.
This man was Gilbert; he was going to Versailles; he was going to forewarn the king of the visit with which he was threatened, and to place himself at his orders.
In two words he related all that had happened to Lafayette.
After that he rode off again at full speed.
Lafayette went on towards the Hôtel de Ville.
Gilbert went towards Versailles; only as the women were going on the right bank of the Seine, he took the left side of the river.
The square before the Hôtel de Ville having been vacated by the women, was soon afterwards filled with men.
These men were National Guards, receiving pay or not receiving it; old French guards, above all, who, having gone over to the people, had lost their privileges of king’s guards,—privileges which had been inherited by the Swiss and the body-guards.
To the noise made by the women had succeeded the noise of the alarm-bell and the drums, calling the people to arms.
Lafayette made his way through the crowd, alighted from his horse at the foot of the steps, and without paying any attention to the acclamations, mingled with threats, excited by his presence, he began to dictate a letter to the king upon the insurrection which had taken place that morning.
He had got to the sixth line of his letter, when the door of the secretary’s office was violently thrown open.
Lafayette raised his eyes. A deputation of grenadiers demanded to be received by the general.
Lafayette made a sign to the deputation that they might come in.
They entered the room.
The grenadier who had been appointed spokesman of the deputation advanced to the table.
“General,” said he, in a firm voice, “we are deputed by ten companies of grenadiers. We do not believe that you are a traitor; but we are betrayed by the Government. It is time that all this should come to an end. We cannot turn our bayonets against women who are asking us for bread. The Provisioning Committee is either peculating, or it is incompetent; in either case, it is necessary that it should be changed. The people are unhappy; the source of their unhappiness is at Versailles. It is necessary to go there to find the king and bring him to Paris. The Flanders regiment must be exterminated, as well as the body-guards, who have dared to trample under foot the national cockade. If the king be too weak to wear the crown, let him abdicate; we will crown his son. A council of regency will be nominated, and all will then go well.”
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