urpose of preventing people from
falling overboard when the window was open and the ship had much
motion at sea.

On returning on board after being with Lord Keith, I went into Madame
Bertrand's cabin to see how she was, and found her in bed. I asked
her, how she could be so indiscreet as to attempt to destroy herself?
"Oh! I am driven to desperation," she said; "I do not know what I do;
I cannot persuade my husband to remain behind, he being determined to
accompany the Emperor to St Helena." She then ran into a great deal of
abuse of Napoleon, saying, "If his ends are served, he does not care
what becomes of other people. 'Tis true he has always given Bertrand
lucrative and honourable situations, but the expense attending them is
such, that it was impossible to save money; and he has never given him
a grant of land, or any thing that permanently bettered our
fortune."[9] On another occasion, she came into the cabin which I
occupied, when I was writing, and, after exacting a promise of secrecy
towards the remainder of the suite, she entreated I would take
measures to prevent her husband from accompanying Buonaparte, and
begged me to write a letter in her name to Lord Keith, to induce him
to interfere. I told her it would appear extremely officious in me to
write on such a subject, but that any thing she chose to put on paper
I would deliver to his Lordship. She did write, and I carried the
letter; but his Lordship declined interfering, desiring me to say, he
considered it the duty of every good wife to follow the fortunes of
her husband. In the course of the conversation above-mentioned, she
became extremely warm in speaking of Napoleon, saying, "He deserves
nothing at our hands; and, indeed, there is not one of his people who
would not most gladly quit him." Whenever she became animated, she
could not pour out her feelings in the English language fast enough,
(though she spoke it remarkably well, having received her education
partly in England,) when she had always recourse to French; and though
I frequently reminded her that there was nothing but a piece of
canvass between us and the ward-room, where there were generally some
of the French officers, I could by no means keep her within bounds.
The consequence of which was, that all she said was heard and
understood by one of them. When Madame Bertrand had left me, Count
Montholon requested to speak with me in private. He carried me up to
his cabin on the quarter-deck,