In the midst of these troubles and various counsels and differing decisions they debated what should be done. Some wanted to hold out to the last, proposing a retreat on the Loire, a second Vendée and a Chouans war. Others took a more desponding view of the fortunes of the Monarchy and advised a prompt flight. The dauphin, who had tried to snatch Marshal Marmont's sword from him, had cut his fingers and was sulking like a child. The marshal considered he had been insulted and shut himself up in his room, without a word. At eight o'clock, Rambouillet was already half deserted: the courtiers (those who had dined that very day at the king's table) had disappeared, some of them in such haste that, they had not even stopped to pick up their hats. The soldiers alone remained at their posts although they were moody, sullen and depressed. It was through this funereal atmosphere, then, that MM. de Schonen, Odilon Barrot and Marshal Maison had to pass to reach Charles X. The old king received them with frowning face and a curtness of manner most unusual to him. "What more do you want of me, messieurs?" he asked. "Sire, we have come on behalf of the lieutenant-general." "Well, but I have come to an agreement with him and everything is settled between us." The commissioners kept silence. "Did he not receive the letter I sent him by M. de Latour-Foissac, which contained my abdication and that of the dauphin?" "Yes, sire; but has he replied to it?" "No, true, he has not. But what need had he to reply, as he answered my two earlier letters, in each of which he assured me of his devotion?" The commissioners again remained silent. "Come, gentlemen, speak," said Charles X. "Sire, we have come from the Lieutenant-General of the Kingdom, to warn your Majesty that the people of Paris are marching upon Rambouillet." "But my grandson?... Henri V.?" exclaimed Charles X. For the third time, the commissioners made no reply. "His rights cannot be challenged, surely," Charles X. resumed with vehemence; "his rights are reserved by my act of abdication; I have fifteen thousand men round me ready to die to preserve his rights!... Answer me, gentlemen! By all that France holds dear, I adjure you to answer me!" Marshal Maison made a backward movement, in distress at the sight of the overwhelming grief that revealed itself on the old man's countenance. "Sire," said Odilon Barrot, "you must not found the throne of your grandson on bloodshed." "And," added Marshal Maison, "may the king ponder on the fact of sixty thousand men marching towards Rambouillet!" The king stopped short in front of Marshal Maison and, after a moment's silence, he said-- "Two words aside with you, Monsieur le Maréchal." The other commissioners drew back. "I am at the king's commands," said the marshal. The king signed to the marshal to come to him, and the marshal obeyed.