d to be able to do nothing
for her just then; but that she might return to Saint-Cloud the next day
at five o'clock in the morning, and meanwhile she and Queen Hortense
would consult together as to the best means of placing her in the
Emperor's way. The young girl returned next day at the appointed hour;
and her Majesty the Empress had her stationed in the green saloon, and
there she awaited ten hours, the moment when the Emperor, coming out from
the council-chamber, would cross this room to enter his cabinet.

The Empress and her august daughter gave orders that breakfast, and then
dinner, should be served to her, and came in person to beg her to take
some nourishment; but their entreaties were all in vain, for the poor
girl had no other thought, no other desire, than that of obtaining her
father's life. At last, at five o'clock in the afternoon, the Emperor
appeared; and a sign being made to Mademoiselle Lajolais by which she
could designate the Emperor, who was surrounded by several councilors of
state and officers of his household, she sprang towards him; and there
followed a touching scene, which lasted a long while. The young girl,
prostrating herself at the feet of the Emperor, supplicated him with
clasped hands, and in the most touching terms, to grant her father's
pardon. The Emperor at first repulsed her, and said in a tone of great
severity, "Your father is a traitor; this is the second time he has
committed a crime against the state; I can grant you nothing."
Mademoiselle Lajolais replied to this outburst of the Emperor, "The first
time my father was tried and found innocent; this time it is his pardon I
implore!" Finally the Emperor, conquered by so much courage and
devotion, and a little fatigued besides by an interview which the
perseverance of the young girl would doubtless have prolonged
indefinitely, yielded to her prayers, and the life of General Lajolais
was spared.

[It is well known that the sentence of General Lajolais was
commuted to four years detention in a prison of state, that his
property was confiscated and sold, and that he died in the Chateau
d'If much beyond the time set for the expiration of his captivity.--
Note by CONSTANT.]

Exhausted by fatigue and hunger, the daughter fell unconscious at the
Emperor's feet; he himself raised her, gave her every attention, and
presenting her to the persons who witnessed this scene, praised her
filial piety in unmeasured terms.

H