The queen took her two children by the hand and advanced a step or
two, but the king held her back.
"Do not go, Marie," he cried, with trembling voice and anxious look.
"No, do not go. It is such a fearful sight, this raging mass at
one's feet, it confuses one's senses. Do not go, Marie!"
But the cry below had now expanded into the volume of a hurricane,
and made the very walls of the palace shake.
"You hear plainly, sire," cried Marie Antoinette; "there is just as
much danger whether we see or do not see it. Let me do, therefore,
what you have done! Come, children!"
And walking between the two little ones, the queen stepped out upon
the balcony with a firm step and raised head, followed by the king,
who placed himself behind Marie Antoinette, as if he were a sentinel
charged with the duty of protecting her life.
But the appearance of the whole royal family did not produce the
effect which Louis had, perhaps, anticipated. The crowd did not now
break out into snouts of joy.
They cried and roared and howled: "The queen alone! No children! We
want no one but the queen! Away with the children!"
It was all in vain that Louis advanced to the edge of the platform;
in vain that he raised his arms as if commanding silence. The sound
of his voice was lost in the roar of the mob, who, with their
clinched fists, their pikes and other weapons, their horrid cry, so
frightened the dauphin that he could not restrain his tears.
Pages:
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341