The Emperor at this time used to sleep at a village called Pont de Briques, some four miles inland, but his days were spent at the camp, and his continual councils of war were held there.  Here also were his ministers, and the generals of the army corps which were scattered up and down the coast came thither to make their reports and to receive their orders.  For these consultations a plain wooden house had been constructed containing one very large room and three small ones.  The pavilion which we had observed from the Downs served as an ante-chamber to the house, in which those who sought audience with the Emperor might assemble.  It was at the door of this, where a strong guard of grenadiers announced Napoleon’s presence, that my guardian sprang down from his horse and signed to me to follow his example.  An officer of the guard took our names and returned to us accompanied by General Duroc, a thin, hard, dry man of forty, with a formal manner and a suspicious eye.

‘Is this Monsieur Louis de Laval?’ he asked, with a stiff smile.

I bowed.

’The Emperor is very anxious to see you.  You are no longer needed, Lieutenant.’

‘I am personally responsible for bringing him safely, General.’

‘Very good.  You may come in, if you prefer it!’ And he passed us into the huge tent, which was unfurnished, save for a row of wooden benches round the sides.  A number of men in naval and military uniforms were seated upon these, and numerous groups were standing about chatting in subdued tones.  At the far end was a door which led into the Imperial council chamber.  Now and then I saw some man in official dress walk up to this door, scratch gently upon it with his nail, and then, as it instantly opened, slip discreetly through, closing it softly behind him.  Over the whole assembly there hung an air of the Court rather than of the camp, an atmosphere of awe and of reverence which was the more impressive when it affected these bluff soldiers and sailors.  The Emperor had seemed to me to be formidable in the distance, but I found him even more overwhelming now that he was close at hand.

‘You need have no fears, Monsieur de Laval,’ said my companion.  ‘You are going to have a good reception.’

‘How do you know that?’

’From General Duroc’s manner.  In these cursed Courts, if the Emperor smiles upon you everyone smiles, down to that flunkey in the red velvet coat yonder.  But if the Emperor frowns, why, you have only to look at the face of the man who washes the Imperial plates, and you will see the frown reflected upon it.  And the worst of it is that, if you are a plain-witted man, you may never find out what earned you either the frown or the smile.  That is why I had rather wear the shoulder-straps of a lieutenant, and be at the side of my squadron, with a good horse between my knees and my sabre clanking against my stirrup-iron, than have Monsieur Talleyrand’s grand hotel in the Rue Saint Florentin, and his hundred thousand livres of income.’