ho were humble peasants,
on an estate near Viterbo, in Italy. I was taught in the schools, and I
made friends among my school-fellows; but that was all the happiness I
had; for my parents were strict and hard with me, and showed me no love.
At twelve years of age I was taken to Rome, and there I entered the
house of Prince Lucien Bonaparte, as page. I was always near the person
of His Highness."

He paused, at sight of a sudden pain in the Cure's face. Sighing, he
continued:

"I travelled with him to France, to Austria, to England, where I learned
to speak the language, and read what the English wrote about the Great
Napoleon. Their hatred angered me, and I began to study what French and
Italian books said of him. I treasured up every scrap of knowledge I
could get. I listened to all that was said in the Prince's palace, and I
was glad when His Highness let me read aloud private papers to him. From
these I learned the secrets of the great family. The Prince was seldom
gentle with me--sometimes almost brutal, yet he would scarcely let me
out of his sight. I had little intercourse then with the other servants,
and less still when I was old enough to become a valet; and a valet I
was to the Prince for twelve years."

The Cure's hand clasped the arm of his chair nervously. His lips
moved, but he said nothing aloud, and he glanced quickly towards Madame
Chalice, who sat moveless, her face flushed, her look fixed on Valmond.
So, he was the mere impostor after all--a valet! Fate had won the
toss-up; not faith, or friendship, or any good thing.

"All these years," Valmond continued presently, his voice growing
weaker, "I fed on such food as is not often within the reach of valets.
I knew as much of the Bonapartes, of Napoleonic history, as the Prince
himself, so much so, that he often asked me of some date or fact of
which he was not sure. In time, I became almost like a private secretary
to him. I lived in a dream for years; for I had poetry, novels,
paintings, music, at my hand all the time, and the Prince, at the end,
changed greatly, was affectionate indeed, and said he would do good
things for me. I became familiar with all the intrigues, the designs of
the Bonapartes; and what I did not know was told me by Prince Pierre,
who was near my own age, and who used me always more like a friend than
a servant.

"One day the Prince was visited by Count Bertrand, who was with the
Emperor in his exile, and I heard him speak of