The crowd finally reaches Versailles, and is…
October 1789 CE
Members of the Assembly greet the marchers and invite Maillard into their hall, where he fulminates about the Flanders Regiment and the people's need for bread.
As he speaks, the restless Parisians come pouring into the Assembly and sink exhausted on the deputies' benches.
Hungry, fatigued, and bedraggled from the rain, they seem to confirm that the siege is a simple demand for food.
The unprotected deputies have no choice but to receive the marchers, who shout down most of the speakers and demand to hear from the popular reformist deputy Mirabeau.
The great orator declines this chance at demagoguery but nonetheless mingles familiarly with the market women, even sitting for some time with one of them upon his knee.
A few other deputies welcome the marchers warmly, including Maximilien Robespierre, who is still at that time a relatively obscure figure in politics.
Robespierre gives strong words of support to the women and their plight, and his efforts are received appreciatively; his solicitations help greatly to soften the crowd's hostility towards the Assembly.