CHAPTER VII

The events of 1814 again--Marmont, Duc de Raguse, Maubreuil and Roux-Laborie at M. de Talleyrand's--The _Journal des Débats_ and the _Journal de Paris_--Lyrics of the Bonapartists and enthusiasm of the Bourbons--End of the Maubreuil affair--Plot against the life of the Emperor--The Queen of Westphalia is robbed of her money and jewels

Let us now try to clear away the litter left by the events of the year 1814. When the Almighty prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem, He said to Ezekiel, "I will make thee eat thy bread prepared with cow-dung" (Ezek. iv. 15). Oh! my God, my God! Thou hast served us more hardly than Thou didst the prophet, and hast made us eat far worse than that at times!

Napoleon was at Fontainebleau, the empress at Blois; a Provisional Government, occult and unknown, carried on its operations on the ground floor of a house in the rue Saint-Florentin. Is it necessary that I should add that the house in the rue Saint-Florentin belonged to M. de Talleyrand? On 16 March Napoleon had written from Rheims:--

"DEAR BROTHER,--In accordance with the verbal instructions I gave you, and the wishes expressed in all my letters, you must on no account allow the Empress and the King of Rome to fall into the hands of the enemy. You will not have any news from me for several days. If the enemy advances upon Paris in such force that you decide any resistance to be useless, send away my son and the regent, the grand dignitaries, ministers, officers of the Senate, presidents of the State Council, chief officers of the Crown, Baron de la Bouillerie and the treasure, towards the Loire. Do not desert my son, and remember that I would rather know that he was in the Seine than that he had fallen into the hands of the enemies of France. The fate of Astyanax, prisoner of the Greeks, has always seemed to me the unhappiest in history.

"NAPOLEON"

This letter was addressed to Joseph. The treasure referred to by Napoleon was, be it understood, his own private possessions. On 28 March the departure of the empress was discussed. MM. de Talleyrand, Boulay (de la Meurthe), the Duc de Cadore and M. de Fermon were of opinion that the empress should remain. Joseph, with the emperor's letter in his hand, insisted upon her departure. It was decided that she should leave on the following day, at nine o'clock in the morning. Afterwards M. de Talleyrand was blamed for having urged that Marie-Louise should stay in Paris. A pale and cold smile flitted over the vast chasm which served the diplomatist for a mouth.

"I knew that the empress would defy me," he said, "and that, if I advised her going, she would stay. I urged that she should stay to further her departure."

O monseigneur, Bishop of Autun! you put into the mouth of Harel, in _le Nain Jaune_, the famous epigram, "Speech was given to man to conceal his thoughts." And, monseigneur, you were eminently capable of exemplifying the truth of the saying yourself.

On the morning of 29 March, through the uncurtained windows of the Tuileries, the empress's women could have been seen in the dubious light of the growing dawn, by the still more dubious light of lamps and dying candles, running about, pale with fatigue and fear, after a whole night spent in preparing for the journey. The departure, as we have said, was fixed for nine o'clock. At ten o'clock the empress had not yet left her apartments. She was hoping to the last that a counter order would arrive either from the emperor or from Joseph. At half-past ten the King of Rome clung to the curtains of the palais des Tuileries in tears; for he too, poor child, did not want to go.

Alas! at a distance of seventeen years between, three children, all suffering through the mistakes of their fathers, clung in vain to those same curtains: for sixty years the Tuileries was little more than a royal hostelry wherein the fleeting dynasties put up in turn. By a quarter to eleven, the empress, clad like an amazon in brown, stepped into a carriage with the King of Rome, surrounded by a strong detachment of the Imperial Guard. On the same day and at the same hour, the emperor set off from Troyes for Paris with his flying squadrons. It is well known that the emperor was arrested at Fromenteau, but what follows is not known, or but imperfectly known.

When time and occasion serve--_apropos_ of the July Revolution, probably--we shall revert to one of the men whom fate, for some unknown reason, branded with a fatal seal. We refer to Marmont. We will show what he was, rather than what he did: he was superb, during that retreat, in which he left neither gun nor prisoner in the hands of the enemy; superb when--like a lion at bay against the walls of the customhouse at Paris, surrounded by Russians and Prussians, in the main street of _Belleville_, his right arm still in a sling, after the battle of Arapiles, holding his sword in his left hand, mutilated at Leipzig, his clothes riddled with bullets, wedged in between the dead and the wounded who fell all round him, with only forty grenadiers behind him--he forced his way to the barrier where he abandoned, pierced with wounds, the fifth horse that had been killed under him since the beginning of the campaign! Alas! why did he not cross Paris from the barrier of Belleville to the barrier of Fontainebleau? Why did he stop at his house in the rue Paradis-Poissonnière? Why did he not go to Napoleon, with his coat in shreds and his face blackened with powder? How determinedly fate seemed to oppose him! How different would have been the verdict of the future! But we, who are now a part of that future, and well-nigh disinterested spectators of all those great events, we who by nature are without private hatreds, and by position have nothing to do with political animosities, it is for us to enlighten posterity, for we are poised between the worlds aristocratic and democratic, the one in its decadence and the other in its adolescence: it is ours to seek for truth wherever it may be buried, and to exalt it wherever it may be found.

And now, having defined our position, let us return to Napoleon and Marie-Louise. Let us pass over several days and say naught of great betrayals and shameful dishonour; even so we are not, unhappily, at the end of these things. From 29 March to 7 April the following events happened:--

On 30 March, Paris capitulated. On the 31st, the Allied armies entered the capital. On I April, the Senate appointed a Provisional Government. On the 2nd, the Senate declared Napoleon to have forfeited the throne. On the 3rd, the Legislative Body confirmed the forfeiture. On the 4th, Napoleon abdicated in favour of his son. On the 5th, Marmont treated with the enemy. On the 6th, the Senate drew up a scheme for a constitution. On the 7 th, the troops of the Duc de Raguse rose in insurrection and refused to obey his orders. Also, Napoleon made his plans for withdrawing across the Loire.

It will be seen that the Government of the rue Saint-Florentin had been quick about its work. The empress remained at Blois, where she learnt in rapid succession the declaration of dethronement by the Senate, the emperor's first abdication and the defection of the Duc de Raguse. On the 7th, she learned in the morning of the recall of the Bourbons.

Until that moment, as a cloud hid the future from sight, the self-seekers watching and waiting had not yet ventured to show their hands in her presence. But at the news of the return of the Bourbons everyone sought to make his peace with the new power. The same thing that happened to Napoleon happened to Marie-Louise. It was a race as to who could most openly and with the greatest speed desert her; it was a race of ingratitude, it was a steeplechase of treason.

She had left Paris a week before, the daughter of an emperor, the wife of an emperor, the mother of a king! Orléans had saluted her, as she passed through, with the pealing of its bells and the firing of its artillery. She had a court around her, a treasure in her arms; two peoples, those of France and Italy, some forty millions of souls, were her subjects. In a week she lost rank, power, inheritance, kingdom; in an hour she found herself left alone with a poor deserted child, and treasure that was speedily taken away from her. God forbid that I should pity the lot of this woman! But those who betrayed her, those who deserted her, those who immediately robbed her could not plead the excuse of an unknown future still hid from them.

On the 7th, as we have said, the whole court fled. On the morning of the 8th, the two kings, Jérôme and Joseph, also left. On the evening of the 8th, General Schouwaloff arrived with orders from the sovereigns to take her from Blois to Orléans and from Orléans to Rambouillet. Finally, on the morning of the 9th, this announcement appeared in the _Moniteur_:--

"The Provisional Government having been informed that by order of the sovereign whose dethronement was solemnly pronounced on 3 April, considerable funds were taken away from Paris, during the days which preceded the occupation of that city by the allied troops:

It is decreed--

"That these funds be seized wherever they may be found, in whose-soever hands they may be found, and that they be deposited immediately in the nearest bank."

This order was elastic: it did not make any distinction between the public treasure of the nation and the emperor's private property. Moreover, they confided the execution of this order to a man whose hatred for the fallen house would naturally incline him to the most violent measures. They chose M. Dudon. I am happily too young to be able to say who this M. Dudon was; I have therefore asked the Duc de Rovigo, whose accuracy is well known. Here is his reply to my questions:--

"M. Dudon was imprisoned at Vincennes, for having deserted his post, for having left the army of Spain and, full of cowardly fears himself, for having communicated them to whomsoever he met."

Nevertheless, M. Dudon hesitated; he looked about for an intermediary; he did not dare to put his hand directly upon this wealth, which was so much needed to pay for past treacheries and defections to come.

Again, what has M. le Duc de Rovigo to say? Let him be unto us the bronze mouthpiece of truth: I write under his dictation.

"An officer of the special police corps, M. Janin de Chambéry, who is now a general officer, was made use of. He had been charged to escort the money. This young man, seeing the way to make his fortune, gave himself up to M. Dudon. He collected his regiment, carried off, with a very high hand, the coffers which contained the Emperor Napoleon's treasure (for they had not yet been unloaded) and set off for Paris, which he reached without striking a blow."

But even all this did not satisfy them: they had robbed the empress, they would now kill the emperor. "Only the dead do not return," said the man who was felicitously styled the "Anacreon of the guillotine."

So many sayings have been attributed to M. de Talleyrand that we may well borrow one from Barère for a change. Moreover, it must be acknowledged that the question what to do with Napoleon, on 31 March, was a very awkward one. We must not be too angry with the people who wished to rid themselves of him. Who were these people? Maubreuil himself shall name them. A conference was being held in the house in the rue Saint-Florentin.

"Yes," said the president to someone who had not yet opened his lips,--"yes, you are right; we must rid ourselves of this man."

"We must!" cried the other members in concert.

"Well, then, that is decided: we will get rid of him."

"Only one other thing is lacking," said one of the members of the conventicle.

"What is that?"

"The principal thing: the man who will deal the blow."

"I know the man," said a voice.

"A trustworthy man?"

"A ruined man, an ambitious man--one who has fallen from a high position and would do anything for money and a position."

"What is his name?"

"Maubreuil."

This took place on the evening of 31 March. That same day, Marie-Armand de Guerry, Count de Maubreuil, Marquis d'Orvault, had fastened the cross of the Legion of Honour, which he had won bravely in Spain, to his horse's tail, and showed himself thus in the boulevards and on the place Louis XV. He even did better than this in the place Vendôme. He tied a rope round the neck of the emperor's statue, and, with a dozen other worthy men of his kidney, pulled with might and main; then, seeing that his forces were not strong enough, he attached the rope to his horse. Even that was not enough. They then asked for a relay of horses from the Grand-duke Constantin, who refused, saying, "_It is no business of mine."_

Now, who went to seek this relay? Who made himself Maubreuil's emissary? A very great lord, upon my word, a most excellent name, renowned in history! True, this most puissant seigneur, the bearer of this honourable name, had to forget a slight obstacle--namely, that he owed everything to the emperor. You ask his name. Ah! indeed, search for it as I have done. Maubreuil had indeed fallen from a high rank, as his patron Roux-Laborie had said. There! I see I have named his patron, though I did not mean to name anyone. Never mind! let us continue.

Maubreuil, who was of an excellent family, had fallen indeed. His father, who had married, for his second wife, a sister of M. de la Roche-jaquelein, was killed in the Vendéean Wars, together with thirty other members of his family. M. Roux-Laborie, then Secretary to the Provisional Government, answered for Maubreuil. He did more: he said to M. de Talleyrand, "Come, come! here I am tearing off another mask without thinking what I am doing; upon my word, so much the worse! Since that pale face is unmasked, let it remain!" He did much more: he said to M. de Talleyrand, "I will bring him to you." But M. de Talleyrand, who was always cautious, exclaimed, "What are you thinking of, my dear sir? Bring M. de Maubreuil to me! Why so? He must be conducted to Anglès, he must go to Anglès! You know quite well it is Anglès who is attending to all this." "Very well, be it so; I will take him there," replied the Secretary to the Provisional Government. "When?" "This very evening." "My dear fellow, you are beyond price." "Take back that word, monseigneur." And Roux-Laborie bowed, went out and ran to Maubreuil's house. Maubreuil was not at home.

When Maubreuil was not at home, everyone knew where he was. He was gaming. What game was it? There are so many gambling hells in Paris!

Roux-Laborie ran about all night without finding him, returned to Maubreuil's house and, as Maubreuil had still not returned, he left word with his servant that he would expect Maubreuil at his house the next day, 1 April. He waited for him the whole day. Evening came and still no Maubreuil.

It is distracting to a man of honour to fail in his word. What would M. de Talleyrand think of a man who had promised so much and performed so little? Twice during the day he wrote to Maubreuil: his second note was as pressing as time was. This is what he said--

"Why have you not come? I have expected you all day. You are driving me to desperation!"

Maubreuil returned to change his dress at six o'clock that evening. He found the note: he ran off to Roux-Laborie.

"What is it?"

"You can make your fortune."

"I am your man, then!"

"Come with me."

They entered a carriage and went to M. Anglès'. M. Anglès was at the house in the rue Saint-Florentin. They rushed to the house in the rue Saint-Florentin; M. Anglès had just gone out. They asked to see the prince.

"Impossible! the prince is very busy: he is in the act of betraying. True, he is betraying in good company,--he is betraying along with the Senate." The Senate was next day going to declare that the emperor had forfeited his throne.

Be it remembered that it was this same Senate--_Sénat conservateur_--which, on the return from the disastrous Russian campaign, fifteen months earlier, had said to the emperor--

"Sire, the Senate is established for the purpose of preserving the fourth dynasty; France and posterity will find it faithful to this _sacred duty_, and every one of its members will be ever ready to perish in defence of this _palladium_ of the national prosperity."

We must admit that it was drawn up in very bad French. It is also true that it was drawn up by very poor specimens of Frenchmen.

The next day, Maubreuil and Roux-Laborie returned. The prince was no more visible than on the previous evening; the prince was at the Luxembourg. But it did not matter: they could be introduced into his cabinet presently, which was occupied at the moment. Besides, perhaps he might return. "We will wait," said Roux-Laborie.

And they waited a short while in the green salon,--that green salon which became so famous, you will remember, in history,--they waited, reading the papers. The newspapers were very amusing. The _Journal des Débats_ and the _Journal de Paris_ above all vied with each other in being facetious and witty.

"To-day," said the old _Journal de l'Empire_, which since the previous evening had donned a new cassock and now called itself the _Journal des Débats_,--"to-day _His Majesty_ passed in front of the colonne Vendôme ..."

Forgive me if I pause a moment: I am anxious that there should not be any confusion. _His Majesty_! You would imagine that this meant the Emperor Napoleon, to whom a week before the _Journal de l'Empire_ had published these beautiful lines:--

I

"'Ciel ennemi, ciel, rends-nous la lumière! Disait AJAX, et combats contre nous!' Seul contre tous, malgré le ciel jaloux, De notre Ajax void la voix guerrière: Que les cités s'unissent aux soldats; Rallions-nous pour les derniers combats! Français, la Paix est aux champs de la gloire, La douce Paix, fille de la Victoire.'

II

Il a parlé, le monarque, le père; Qui serait sourd à sa puissante voix? Patrie, honneur! c'est pour vos saintes lois, Nous marchons tous sous la même bannière. Rallions-nous, citoyens et soldats, Rallions-nous pour les derniers combats! Français, la Paix est au champ de la gloire, La douce Paix, fille de Victoire.

III

Napoleon, roi d'un peuple fidèle, Tu veux borner la course de ton char; Tu nous montras _Alexandre_ et _César;_ Oui, nous verrons _Trajan_ et _Marc-Aurèle_! Nous sommes tous _tes enfants, tes soldats_, Nous volons tous à ces derniers combats, Elle est conquise aux nobles champs de gloire, La douce Paix, fille de la Victoire."

For, indeed, it is very easy to call a man His Majesty five days before his abdication and a _monarch_ and a _father_ whom one has just addresssed as _Ajax, Alexander, Cæsar, Trajan_ and _Marcus Aurelius._ Undeceive yourselves! To-day, His Majesty is the Emperor Alexander; as for that other emperor, the Emperor Napoleon, we shall see, or rather we have already seen, what has become of him since his return from the isle of Elba. After having been a _monarch,_ a _father, Ajax, Alexander, Cæsar, Trajan_ and _Marcus Aurelius_, he has become TEUTATÈS. Ah! what a villainous fall was there!

Let us proceed, or we shall never finish: we have had more trouble in getting over this word _Majesty_ than Cæsar had in crossing the Rubicon.

"To-day His Majesty passed in front of the colonne de la place Vendôme, and looking at the statue, he said to the noblemen who surrounded him, 'Were I placed so high, I should be afraid of being giddy.' So philosophic a remark is worthy of a Marcus Aurelius."

Pardon me, Monsieur Bertin, to which Marcus Aurelius do you refer? Is it the one to whom you recently compared Napoleon, or some other Marcus Aurelius with whom we are unacquainted? Ah! Monsieur Bertin, you are like Titus: you have not wasted your day, or rather your night! We will relate what happened during the night in which Monsieur Bertin worked so energetically, and in the course of which the serpent changed his tricoloured skin for a white skin and the _Journal de l'Empire_ became the _Journal des Débats_. It has to be admitted, however, that during the night of 20-21 March 1815 you resumed your old tricoloured skin which you had sold Monsieur Bertin, but which you had not delivered up.

Now let us pass on to the _Journal de Paris_. "It is a good thing to know," quoth the _Journal de Paris_, "that Bonaparte's name is not _Napoleon_, but _Nicolas_."

Really, Mr. Editor, what an excessively sublime apotheosis you make of yesterday's poor emperor! Instead of showing base ingratitude, like your contemporary, you flatter outrageously. Bonaparte did no more than presume to call himself _Napoléon_,--that is, the _lion of the desert_,--and here you make him Nicolas, which means _Conqueror of the peoples_. Ah! my dear Mr. Editor, if your _Journal de Paris_ had been a literary paper, like the _Journal des Débats_, you would have known Greek like your _confrère_--that is to say, like an inhabitant, and you would not have made such blunders. But you did not know Greek. Let us see if you are better acquainted with French. We will complete the quotation.

"It is a good thing to know that Bonaparte's name is not _Napoléon_, but _Nicolas_; not Bonaparte, but Buonaparte; he cut out the U in order to connect himself with a distinguished family of that name."

"You know that the Balzacs of Entraigues make out that you do not belong to their family," said someone once to M. Honoré de Balzac, the author of _Père Goriot_ and of _les Parents pauvres._

"If I do not belong to their family," retorted M. Honoré de Balzac, "so much the worse for them!"

We will return to the _Journal de Paris_, and let it have its say:--

"Many people have amused themselves by making different anagrams from the name of _Buonaparte_ by taking away the U. The following seems to us to depict that personage the best: NABOT PARÉ."[1]

What a misfortune, Mr. Editor, that in order to arrive at such a delightful conclusion you have been obliged to sacrifice your U, like the tyrant himself!

Now, as a sequel to the verses in the _Journal des Débats_, we must quote some lines from the _Journal de Paris_; they only amount to a single strophe, but it alone, in the eyes of all lovers of poetry, is fully equal to three. Besides, these lines are of great importance: M. de Maubreuil actually waxes prophetic in the last line.

TESTAMENT DE BONAPARTE

"Je lègue aux enfers mon génie, Mes exploits aux aventuriers, A mes partisans l'infamie, Le grand-livre à mes créanciers, Aux Français l'horreur de mes crimes, Mon exemple à tous les tyrans, La France à ses rois légitimes, _Et l'hôpital à mes parents_."

Finally, to conclude our series of quotations, we promised to return once more to the _Journal des Débats._ There shall be no cause for complaint: we will return to it twice. We will place a double-columned account, with its _Doit_ and its _Avoir_, before our readers' eyes. There was only an interval of fourteen days between the two articles, as can be seen from the dates.

"JOURNAL DES DÉBATS "JOURNAL DE L'EMPIRE PARIS, 7 _mars_ 1815 PARIS, 21 _mars_ 1815 (PEAU BLANCHE) (PEAU TRICOLORE)

DOIT AVOIR

Buonaparte s'est evade de l'île La famille des Bourbons est partie d'Elbe, où l'imprudente magnanimité cette nuit; on ignore encore en des souverains alliés lui avait route qu'elle a prise. Paris offre donne une souveraineté, pour prix l'aspect _de la sécurité et de la joie_; de la désolation qu'il avait portée les boulevards sont couverts d'une dans leurs États. foule immense, impatiente de voir l'armée et LE HÉROS _qui lui est Cet homme, qui, en abdiquant le rendu._ Le petit nombre de troupes pouvoir, n'a jamais abdiqué son qu'on avait eu l'espoir _insensé_ de ambition et ses fureurs, cet homme, lui opposer s'est rallié _aux aigles_, _tout couvert du sang des générations,_ et toute la milice française, devenue vient, au bout d'un an, essayer de nationale, marche sous les drapeaux disputer, au nom de l'usurpation, la _de la gloire et de la patrie._ SA légitime autorité du roi de France; MAJESTÉ L'EMPEREUR a traversé à la tête de quelques centaines deux cents lieues de pays avec la d'ltaliens et de Polonais, _il ose rapidité de l'éclair, au milieu d'une mettre le pied sur une terre qui le population _saisie d'admiration_ et de repoussa pour jamais._ respect, pleine du bonheur présent et de la certitude du bonheur à Quelques pratiques ténébreuses, venir. quelques manœuvres dans l'ltalie, excitée par son aveugle beau-frère, _Ici, des propriétaires se félicitant ont enflé l'orgueil du LACHE GUERRIER de la garantie réelle que leur assure de Fontainebleau. Il s'expose ce retour miraculeux;_ là, des à mourir de la mort des héros: Dieu hommes bénissant l'evènement inespéré permettra qu'il meure de la mort qui fixe irrévocablement la des traîtres. La terre de France liberté des cultes; plus loin, de l'a rejeté. Il y revient, la terre de braves militaires pleurant de joie de France le dévorera. revoir leur ancien général; des plébéiens, convaincus que l'honneur Ah! toutes les classes le repoussent, et les vertus seront redevenus le tous les Français le repoussent premier titre de la noblesse, et avec horreur, et se réfugient dans le qu'on acquerra, dans toutes les sein d'un roi qui nous a apporté la carrières, la splendeur et la gloire miséricorde, l'amour et l'oubli du pour les services rendus à la patrie. passé. Tel est le tableau qu'offrait cette Cet _insensé_ ne pouvait donc trouver marche ou plutôt cette course triomphale, en France de partisans que parmi les dans laquelle L'EMPEREUR n'a trouvé artisans éternels de troubles et de d'autre ennemi que le _misérables révolutions. libelles_ qu'on s'est vainement plu à répandre sur son passage, Mais nous ne voulons ni de troubles contraste bien étrange avec les ni de révolutions. Ils désigneront sentiments d'enthousiasme qui vainement des victimes pour leur éclataient à son approche. Ces sentiments, TEUTATÈS; un seul cri sera le cri justifiés par la lassitude des de toute la France: onze mois qui viennent de s'écouler, ne le sont pas moins par les garanties MORT AU TYRAN! VIVE LE ROI! que donnent à tous les rangs les proclamations de SA MAJESTÉ, et Cet homme, qui débarqua à Fréjus qui sont lues avec une extrême contre tout espoir, nous semblait avidité. Elles respirent la modération alors appelé de Dieu pour rétablir qui accompagne aujourd'hui la en France la monarchie légitime; force, et qui est toujours inséparable cet homme, entrant par sa _noire de la véritable grandeur. destinée_, et comme pour mettre le dernier sceau à la Restauration, _P.S._--Huit heures du soir revient aujourd'hui pour peser comme un rebelle sur cette même L'empereur est arrive ce soir au terre où il fut reçu, il y a quinze palais des Tuileries, _au milieu des ans, par un peuple abusé, et détrompé plus vives acclamations._ Au moment depuis par douze ans de où nous écrivons, les rues, les tyrannie." places, les boulevards, les quais, sont couverts d'une foule immense, et les cris de VIVE L'EMPEREUR! retentissent de toutes parts, depuis Fontainebleau jusqu'à Paris. Toute la population des campagnes, ivre de joie, s'est portée sur la route de Sa Majesté, que cet empressement a forcée d'aller au pas."

M. de Maubreuil and Roux-Laborie had no need to feel bored with such entertainment as the above before their eyes! Therefore, although they were in the green salon nearly an hour, they thought they had hardly been in it ten minutes when the door of the cabinet of the Prince de Talleyrand opened. They entered.

Now do not fancy we are writing a romance: it is history, the record, not of fair and pleasant events, but of sad and ugly ones. If you doubt it, consult the report drawn up by MM. Thouret and Brière de Valigny, deputies of the _procureur impérial_, in the month of June 1815, about this affair, and laid before one of the Chambers of the Court of First Instance of the Seine. If Napoleon had returned but to restore unto us this official paper, it would have been almost sufficient to justify his return.

M. de Maubreuil was taken inside M. de Talleyrand's study. Roux-Laborie made him sit down in the prince's own armchair, and said to him--

"You are anxious to recover your position, to retrieve your broken fortunes; it depends upon yourself whether you obtain far more than even that which you desire."

"What must I do?" asked Maubreuil.

"You have courage, resolution: rid us of the emperor. If he were dead, France, the army, everything would be ours, and you would receive an income of 200,000 livres; you would be made a duke, lieutenant-general and governor of a province."[2]

"I do not quite see how I could accomplish it."

"Nothing easier."

"Tell me how."

"Listen."

"I am listening."

"It is not unlikely that there may be a great battle fought near here in a couple of days. Take a hundred determined men, whom you can clothe in the uniform of the Guards, mingle with the troops at Fontainebleau, and it will be quite easy, either before or during or after the battle, to render us the service I am commissioned to ask of you."

Maubreuil shook his head.

"Do you refuse?" asked Roux-Laborie quickly.

"Not so. I am only thinking that a hundred men would be difficult to find: luckily one would not need a hundred; a dozen would be sufficient. I shall perhaps be able to find them in the army, but I must have power to advance them two or three ranks, and to give them pecuniary recompense, in proportion to the service they will have to undertake."

"You shall have whatever you want. What do ten or a dozen colonels, more or less, matter to us?"

"That's all right."

"You therefore accept?"

"Probably ... but I ask until to-morrow to think it over."

And Maubreuil went out, followed by Roux-Laborie, who was very uneasy because of the delay requested. However, Maubreuil reassured him, promising to give him a definite answer next day. We can understand Maubreuil's hesitation: he had been introduced into the prince's study, he had sat in the prince's chair, but, after all, he had not seen the prince. Now, when one stakes one's head at another's bidding, one prefers to see the person who holds the cards.

Next day they returned to the house. Maubreuil accepted. Roux-Laborie breathed again.

"But," added Maubreuil, "on one condition."

"What is that?"

"I do not look upon your word alone as sufficient authority. I want solid security for your promises. I wish to see M. de Talleyrand himself and to receive my commission from him."

"But, my dear Maubreuil, can't you see how difficult that would be?..."

"I can quite see that; but it must be thus or not at all."

"Then you wish to see M. de Talleyrand?"

"I wish to see M. de Talleyrand and to receive my orders _direct_ from him."

"Oh! oh!" said the lawyer, striking his friend on the chest, "one might think you were afraid!"

"I am not afraid, but I wish to see M. de Talleyrand."

"Very well, so be it," said Roux-Laborie: "you shall see him, and since you demand his guarantee, you shall be satisfied. Wait a few minutes in this salon."

And he went in to M. de Talleyrand. A moment later, he came out.

"M. de Talleyrand is going out; M. de Talleyrand will make you a sign with his hand; M. de Talleyrand will smile upon you. Will that satisfy you?"

"Hum!" returned Maubreuil; "never mind! we will see."

M. de Talleyrand passed out, made the prearranged gesture, and smiled graciously upon Maubreuil.

It is Maubreuil, be it understood, who relates all this.

The gesture seduced Maubreuil, the smile carried him away; but Maubreuil wanted something else--he wanted 200,000 francs. They hesitated, they chaffered, they had not the money--there were so many betrayals to pay for! But, thanks to the decree of the 9th, they made a haul of 13 millions--the private moneys of Napoleon. They did it conscientiously, not leaving anything to Marie-Louise, either money or jewellery: she was reduced to the point of being obliged to borrow a little china and silver from the bishop, with whom she stayed. So they had 13 millions--without reckoning the 10 millions in bullion deposited in the cellars of the Tuileries, on which they had already laid violent hands. This made 23 millions they had already borrowed of Napoleon. What the deuce did it matter? They were quite justified in taking two hundred thousand francs from this sum in order to assassinate him! So they took two hundred thousand francs, and they gave them to Maubreuil.

Maubreuil rushed off to a gambling-house and lost a hundred thousand francs that night. Was he going to assassinate Napoleon for a hundred thousand francs? Not he, indeed!... It was not enough. He had recourse to M. A----. M. A---- was a man of imagination. An idea came into his head.

"The Queen of Westphalia is following in Napoleon's wake ...?"

"Yes."

"We may suppose that the Queen of Westphalia carries the crown jewels with her?"

"Yes."

"Well, then, seize what she has and you will have a good catch."

"Yes, but I want authority to do that."

"Authority? What do you mean?"

"A written order."

"Signed by whom?"

"Signed by you."

"Oh, if that is all, here goes!"

And M. A---- took a pen and signed the following order.

"Pardon me, you say, who is M. A----?"

Good gracious! you have but to read, the signature is at the foot of the order:--

"OFFICE OF THE POLICE

"It is ordered that all officials under orders of the police générale of France, prefects, superintendents and officers, of whatsoever grade, _shall obey the commands_ that M. de Maubreuil shall give them; _they shall carry out his orders and fulfil his wishes without a moments delay_, M. de Maubreuil _being charged with a secret mission of the highest importance._

"ANGLÈS"

This was not enough. Maubreuil wanted another order, a similar one, signed by the Minister of War: he had settled with the civil power, it remained to put himself right with the military. He went to look up the Minister of War. He obtained a similar order to the one we have just given. The Minister of War was General Dupont. There are some very ill-fated signatures! On 22 July 1808 this signature was at the foot of the capitulation treaty of Baylen. On 16 April 1814 it was at the foot of Maubreuil's commission! The one handed over to the enemy, without striking a blow, the liberty of fourteen thousand men; the other gave up the life and the gold of a queen to a thief and an assassin!

In the face of such _errors_ one is proud to be able to boast that one has never put one's name save in the forefront of a play, be it good or bad, save at the end of a book, be it bad or good!

Besides these two orders, Maubreuil possessed himself of three others in the same terms: one from Bourrienne, Provisional Director of the Posting Arrangements ... de Bourrienne, do you understand?--But this was not the Bourrienne who was the emperor's secretary?... Excuse me, even the same ... where would have been the infamy of the thing, had it not been so? He placed the posts at the disposition of M. de Maubreuil: one from General Sacken, Governor of Paris; one from General Brokenhausen. Thanks to these two last orders, Maubreuil, who had the police already at his disposal through Anglès' order, the army through Dupont's, the posts through Bourrienne's, got possession also of the allied troops under command of the Russian and Prussian generals.

True, on 3 April, the day following that on which the _Journal des Débats_ and the _Journal de Paris_ issued those clever articles with which the reader is already acquainted, two charming verses, which we propose to bring before your notice, were sung at the Opera, by Laïs, to the tune of _Vive Henri IV.,_ national air though it was:--

Vive Alexandre! Vive ce roi des rois! Sans rien prétendre, Sans nous dicter des lois, Ce prince auguste A le triple renom, De héros, de juste, De nous rendre un Bourbon.

Vive Guillaume! Et ses guerriers vaillants! De ce royaume, Il sauva les enfants; Par sa victoire, Il nous donne la paix, Et compte sa gloire Par ses nombreux bienfaits.

Really, it gives one a certain amount of pleasure to see that these lines are almost as poor as the prose of the _Journal des Débats_ and of the _Journal de Paris_!

So Maubreuil had his five orders all correct, in his pocket. Armed with these, he could act, not against Napoleon direct,--that was too risky a business,--but against the Queen of Westphalia. And, on the whole, was it not a good stroke of business to have made them pay the price of assassinating Napoleon, and then not to assassinate him?

This is what Maubreuil proposed to do. First of all, he allied himself with a person called d'Asies, who, in virtue of his plenary powers, he appointed _Commissioner Royal._ Next, he put himself on the watch at the corner of the rue du Mont-Blanc and the rue Saint-Lazare. The Queen of Westphalia was lodging at Cardinal Fesch's house. Her departure was fixed for the 18th. The orders were signed on the 16th and 17th. Maubreuil was well informed of the Princess Catherine de Wurtemberg's movements. On the 18th, at three o'clock in the morning, the ex-Queen of Westphalia entered her coach and started off _en route_ for Orléans. Princess Catherine was cousin of the Emperor of Russia, and travelled with a passport signed by him and by the Emperor of Austria. Two great names, were they not? Alexander and Francis! Maubreuil had gone on in advance. He learnt from the post-master at Pithiviers (now you see how useful was M. de Bourrienne's authorisation) that the princess would take the road which ran by the Bourgogne. Then he hid himself at Fossard, the posting-house a half-league from Montereau. There was not the slightest danger that Maubreuil would make any mistake, he knew the princess too well for that--he had been her equerry. On the 21 st, at seven o'clock in the morning, the princess's carriage came into sight on the road. Maubreuil rushed out, at the head of a dozen cavaliers, stopped the carriage, obliged the ex-queen to enter a kind of stable, into which all her luggage was removed, piecemeal. There were eleven boxes, and cases: Maubreuil demanded the keys of them. The princess had no means of resistance: she gave him them without appearing to recognise him in any way, without deigning to address a word to him. Maubreuil saw this, but took no notice: he sat down quietly to his breakfast, with d'Asies, in a room on the ground floor of the inn, waiting for a detachment of troops which, taking advantage of his powers, he had requisitioned from Fontainebleau.

Let us, however, be just to Maubreuil. As the weather was bad, as it rained, as it was very cold, he invited his past sovereign to come into the inn; but as she would have been compelled to share the same room with him, she preferred to remain in the courtyard. A woman who had compassion on her fellow-woman brought her a chair, and she sat down. Maubreuil finished his breakfast, and a lieutenant arrived from Montereau, with a dozen men, Mamelukes and infantry. Some sort of explanation had to be given to this officer and to these soldiers; callous though Maubreuil was, it was not to be supposed that he would say, "You see me for what I am--a robber."

No, it was Princess Catherine who was a thief. Princess Catherine had been stopped by Maubreuil because she was carrying off the crown jewels. Four sentries were posted to prevent any travellers coming near--unless such travellers came in a carriage; in which case, willy nilly, the carriage must be requisitioned. Some merchants came from Sens leading a stage-waggon. The stage-waggon and the two horses harnessed thereto were confiscated by Maubreuil. They loaded this stage-waggon with the princess's trunks. Only then did she deign to address a word to Maubreuil, who had been apologising to her for _his mission._

"For shame, monsieur!" she said; "when a man has shared bread with another, he should not undertake such a mission to their detriment.... You are doing an abominable act!"

"Madame," replied Maubreuil, "I am but the commander of the armed force. Speak to the commissioner: I will do whatever he orders."

The commissioner, as we know, was d'Asies. It was a case of Robert Macaire and Bertrand. But the poor princess did not know this, and took d'Asies for a real commissioner.

"Monsieur," she said, "you are robbing me of all I possess. The king has never given any such orders.... I swear to you, on my honour and by my faith as a queen, I have nothing that belongs to the Crown of France."

D'Asies drew himself up.

"Do you take us for thieves, madame?" he said. "Let me tell you that we are acting as ordered. All those boxes must be taken."

As he said that, d'Asies caught sight of a small square box tied round with tape. He put his hand under it. The little case was very heavy.

"So ho!" he said.

"That little chest, monsieur," said the princess, "contains my gold."

D'Asies and Maubreuil exchanged glances which said as well as words could say, "Your gold, princess; that is exactly what we are looking for."

They withdrew and made a pretence of deliberating. Then, after this cogitation, they came up, and gave orders to the commander of the Mamelukes to take this box away with the others. The princess still disbelieved her eyes and ears.

"But," she cried, "you cannot possibly be taking my private jewels and money! You will leave me and my suite stranded on the highway!"

Then her courage failed this noble creature, the daughter of a king, the wife of a king, the cousin of an emperor. Tears came into her eyes: she asked to be allowed to speak to Maubreuil. Maubreuil came to her.

"What is to become of me, monsieur?" she said. "At least give me back this money: I need it to continue my journey."

"Madame," replied Maubreuil, "I do but carry out the orders of the Government: I must give up your luggage in Paris intact. I can only give you the hundred napoleons in my own purse."

Acting upon the Count de Furstenstein's advice, the princess accepted this offer, thinking it a last token of devotion from a man who had been in her service. Besides, she thought he would give her leave to return to Paris, where she would regain possession of her money. But this was not to be: they made her re-enter her carriage, and the princess continued her journey to Villeneuve-la-Guyare, under the escort of two soldiers, while her boxes, her gold, her jewels, piled on the post-waggon, were sent back to Paris. Had the princess resisted, the two infantry men were ordered to use violence in compelling her to continue her journey. She then asked at least to be allowed to send one of her own servants along with her boxes, as escort. But as the demand was considered outrageous, it was refused.

So the princess's carriage went forward to Villeneuve-la-Guyare. Maubreuil's and d'Asies' consciences were quite easy:--had not the princess a hundred napoleons wherewith to provide her needs? At the next post-house Maubreuil's purse was opened to pay. They found it contained only forty-four napoleons. They left the purse and the forty-four napoleons there and then in the hands of the justice of the peace at Pont-sur-Yonne. When Maubreuil left Fossard, he forbade the post-master to supply horses to anyone before three o'clock.

So far so good. Now they could give their attention to the second part of their mission--the least important to Maubreuil--that of killing the emperor.

It was the 21st of April. On the 19th, the emperor, deserted by everyone, was alone save for a single valet. It was an opportune moment: unluckily, they let it slip. They were lying in wait for the princess in the rue Saint-Lazare; they could not be everywhere at the same time. On the 20th, the day after, the emperor bade farewell to his Guards. It was not in the midst of that pack of brigands that he could be attacked. On the 21 st, as we have seen, they were busily engaged. And it was just at that moment that the emperor left for Fontainebleau, with the commissioners of the four Powers.

Bah! even if they had not killed the emperor, what mattered it? Since they had robbed the Queen of Westphalia, and taken her gold and her jewels, it was just as good. The emperor was not killed.

They returned to Paris, where they spent the night in gambling, losing part of the princess's eighty-four thousand francs. The little chest had contained eighty-four thousand francs in gold. Next day, Maubreuil presented himself at M. Anglès'. He was in despair--first at having lost part of his gold, then for having missed Napoleon. M. Anglès was not in despair: he was furious--furious because the Emperor Alexander knew everything, and the Emperor Alexander was furious. The Emperor Alexander swore that he would avenge his cousin.

The _Journal de Paris_ did not know that _Nicolas_ means _Conqueror of peoples_; but M. Anglès, Minister of the Police, knew well enough that Alexander spells he _who grinds men down._ M. Anglès had no wish to be ground down. He therefore advised Maubreuil to fly.

"Fly!" said Maubreuil. "What of the police?"

"Bah! Am I not responsible for them?"

This assurance did not in the least set Maubreuil's mind at ease. He rushed off to the house of M. de Talleyrand: M. de Talleyrand slammed the door in his face. Is it likely that M. de Talleyrand would recognise a highway robber? Nonsense!

Maubreuil fled. He had not got three leagues before he was apprehended (_empoigné_, as they called it under the Restoration), and thrown into a dungeon, from which he was released on the emperor's return and to which he returned on the accession of Louis XVIII. After two fresh releases and two fresh arrests, Maubreuil, who never believed they would dare to try him, appeared at length before the Royal Court of Douai, the Chamber of the Court of Appeal. The affair created a tremendous scandal, as can very well be imagined. M. de Talleyrand denied, M. Anglès denied, Roux-Laborie denied; everybody denied, except Maubreuil. Maubreuil not only confessed the whole thing, but, from being the accused, he turned accuser. Of course the papers were expressly forbidden to report the proceedings. But Maître Mennesson had a friend who was present at the trial. This friend, no doubt a shorthand writer, took down, transcribed, verified and forwarded him his report. I made two or three copies of this account and distributed them by order of our zealous, faithful and loyal Republican notary. And I kept a copy of the proceedings myself. I do not know that this report has appeared in any history. It is a curiosity, and I give it here.

[1] A dressed-up dwarf.

[2] When one writes of such matters as these, two authorities are better than one. Besides the report of MM. Thouret and Brière de Valigny, see Vaulabelle's _Histoire des deux Restaurations_, vol. ii. p. 15.