t regret his death.'

'The less so, since it has made room for you,
Sire.'

'Nothing could have held me down, Talleyrand. I was born to reach
the highest. It has always been the same with me. I remember when
we were arranging the Treaty of Campo Formio--I a young general under
thirty--there was a high vacant throne with the Imperial arms in the
Commissioner's tent. I instantly sprang up the steps, and threw myself
down upon it. I could not endure to think that there was anything above
myself. And all the time I knew in my heart all that was going to
happen to me. Even in the days when my brother Lucien and I lived in
a little room upon a few francs a week, I knew perfectly well that the
day would come when I should stand where I am now. And yet I had no
prospects and no reason for any great hopes. I was not clever at school.
I was only the forty-second out of fifty-eight. At mathematics I had
perhaps some ability, but at nothing else. The truth is that I was
always dreaming when the others were working. There was nothing to
encourage my ambition, for the only thing which I inherited from my
father was a weak stomach. Once, when I was very young, I went up to
Paris with my father and my sister Caroline. We were in the Rue
Richelieu, and we saw the king pass in his carriage. Who would have
thought that the little boy from Corsica, who took his hat off and
stared, was destined to be the next monarch of France? And yet even then
I felt as if that carriage ought to belong to me. What is it, Constant?'

The discreet valet bent down and whispered something to the Emperor.

'Ah, of course,' said he. 'It was an appointment. I had forgotten it.
Is she there?'

'Yes, Sire.'

'In the side room?'

'Yes, Sire.'

Talleyrand and Berthier exchanged glances, and the minister began to
move towards the door.

'No, no, you can remain here,' said the Emperor. 'Light the lamps,
Constant, and have the carriages ready in half-an-hour. Look over this
draft of a letter to the Emperor of Austria, and let me have your
observations upon it, Talleyrand. De Meneval, there is a lengthy report
here as to the new dockyard at Brest. Extract what is essential from
it, and leave it upon my desk at five o'clock to-morrow morning.
Berthier, I will have the whole army into the boats at seven. We will
see if they can embark within three hours. Monsieur de Laval, you will
wait here until we start for Pont de Briques.' So with a