Majesty
fancied you saw in my features an expression which they had not."--
"You are a physician, Doctor," he replied laughingly; "these folks," he
added, half to himself, "are conversant only with matter; they will
believe in nothing beyond."

In the afternoon of the 25th he was better; but being left alone, a
sudden fancy possessed him to eat. He called for fruits, wine, tried a
biscuit, then swallowed some champagne, seized a bunch of grapes, and
burst into a fit of laughter as soon as he saw Antommarchi return. The
physician ordered away the dessert, and found fault with the maitre
d'hotel; but the mischief was done, the fever returned and became
violent. The Emperor was now on his death-bed, but he testified concern
for every one. He asked Antommarchi if 500 guineas would satisfy the
English physician, and if he himself would like to serve Maria Louisa in
quality of a physician? "She is my wife, the first Princess in Europe,
and after me you should serve no one else." Antommarchi expressed his
acknowledgments. The fever continued unabated, with violent thirst and
cold in the feet. On the 27th he determined to remove from the small
chamber into the salon. They were preparing to carry him. "No," he
said, "not until I am dead; for the present it will be sufficient if you
support me."

Between the 27th and 28th the Emperor passed a very bad night; the fever
increased, coldness spread over his limbs, his strength was quite gone.
He spoke a few words of encouragement to Antommarchi; then in a tone of
perfect calmness and composure he delivered to him the following
instructions: "After my death, which cannot be far off, I wish you to
open my body: I wish also, nay, I require, that you will not suffer any
English physician to touch me. If, however, you find it indispensable to
have some one to assist you, Dr. Arnott is the only one I am willing you
should employ. I am desirous, further, that you should take out my
heart, that you put it in spirits of wine, and that you carry it to Parma
to my dear Maria Louisa: you will tell her how tenderly I have loved her,
that I have never ceased to love her; and you will report to her all that
you have witnessed, all that relates to my situation and my death. I
recommend you, above all, carefully to examine my stomach, to make an
exact detailed report of it, which you will convey to my son. The
vomitings which succeed each other without intermission lead me to
suppose that the stoma