The excitement at Versailles was less impetuous, but quite as real; the
national guard and the assembly were anxious and irritated. The double
banquet of the household troops, the approbation the queen had expressed,
_J'ai ete enchantee de la journee de Jeudi_--the king's refusal to accept
simply the Rights of Man, his concerted temporizings, and the want of
provisions, excited the alarm of the representatives of the people and
filled them with suspicion. Petion, having denounced the banquets of the
guards, was summoned by a royalist deputy to explain his denunciation, and
make known the guilty parties. "Let it be expressly declared," exclaimed
Mirabeau, "that whosoever is not king is a subject and responsible, and I
will speedily furnish proofs." These words, which pointed to the queen,
compelled the Right to be silent. This hostile discussion was preceded and
succeeded by debates equally animated, concerning the refusal of the
sanction, and the scarcity of provisions in Paris. At length, just as a
deputation was despatched to the king, to require his pure and simple
acceptance of the Rights of Man, and to adjure him to facilitate with all
his power the supplying Paris with provisions, the arrival of the women,
headed by Maillard, was announced.

Their unexpected appearance, for they had intercepted all the couriers who
might have announced it, excited the terrors of the court. The troops of
Versailles flew to arms and surrounded the chateau, but the intentions of
the women were not hostile. Maillard, their leader, had recommended them
to appear as suppliants, and in that attitude they presented their
complaints successively to the assembly and to the king. Accordingly, the
first hours of this turbulent evening were sufficiently calm. Yet it was
impossible but that causes of hostility should arise between an excited
mob and the household troops, the objects of so much irritation. The
latter were stationed in the court of the chateau opposite the national
guard and the Flanders regiment. The space between was filled by women and