into my head," he stammered;
"you said the chimneys were cracked and might set fire to the villa."

"Spy and traitor," she hissed, "you tried to make it impossible for me
to communicate with Murat. It is your idiotic suspicions that have
roused Camillo's jealousy."

"You have said that you were glad of that jealousy," Celio ventured; and
the Princess laughed bitterly, then softening, said: "I do believe you
thought yourself acting for my good, oh, foolish little dragon. Confess,
my poor boy, that Pauline Borghese has the wit to take care of herself."

Very humbly Celio confessed that this was evident, but his troubles were
by no means over. A fortnight later Italy was electrified by the
startling rumour that the King of Naples had declared war with Austria
and was marching toward Lombardy.

The Princess was struck with consternation, for she knew that Napoleon
could not so soon have perfected his arrangements for making a junction
with Murat. Though she entertained no one it was noticed by her
neighbours that the Pope's chimneys smoked continually, as though the
most elaborate banquets were in preparation and one night the expected
guest arrived.

Murat had intended to give Rome a wide berth, stealing around it by the
Abruzzi. But his left wing had scouts on the western slopes of the
Sabine Mountains and were instructed to keep a lookout for the smoke
signal from Mondragone, and he had ridden across the mountains for a day
and half a night to answer her summons.

She gave him food and a fresh horse, but she sent him back to the
Castello Borghese at Monte Compatri for his lodging, with many
reproaches and gloomy prophecies for his mad precipitation in
anticipating the _mot d'ordre_ of Napoleon.

Theirs was no loving tryst, but a stormy altercation, for Murat defended
his act and refused her entreaties, which were rather in the nature of
commands, to go back to Naples and wait for advice from his general.

"Why should I put myself under his orders?" he demanded. "Austria has
taken alarm and is pouring its forces into Lombardy. If I do not secure
Milan at once it will be too late and the opportunity will be lost. Who
knows when Napoleon will think of us? They say he is at Paris preparing
to meet the allies in Belgium. Our little rendezvous for the excursion
to Vienna is apparently forgotten. He has other matters to attend to.
Well, so have I. I am weary of governing for him. When I am King of
Italy I will rule acc