The secretary half turned in his chair, and his face was more agitated than ever.

‘If it please you, Sire—­’ he stammered.

‘Well, well, what is the matter now?’

’If it please you, Sire, I find some little difficulty in reading what you have written.’

‘Tut, tut, sir.  You see what the report is about.’

‘Yes, Sire, it is about forage for the cavalry horses.’

Napoleon smiled, and the action made his face look quite boyish.

’You remind me of Cambaceres, de Meneval.  When I wrote him an account of the battle of Marengo, he thought that my letter was a rough plan of the engagement.  It is incredible how much difficulty you appear to have in reading what I write.  This document has nothing to do with cavalry horses, but it contains the instructions to Admiral Villeneuve as to the concentration of his fleet so as to obtain command of the Channel.  Give it to me and I will read it to you.’

He snatched the paper up in the quick impulsive way which was characteristic of him.  But after a long fierce stare he crumpled it up and hurled it under the table.

‘I will dictate it to you,’ said he; and, pacing up and down the long room, he poured forth a torrent of words, which poor de Meneval, his face shining with his exertions, strove hard to put upon paper.  As he grew excited by his own ideas, Napoleon’s voice became shriller, his step faster, and he seized his right cuff in the fingers of the same hand, and twisted his right arm in the singular epileptic gesture which was peculiar to him.  But his thoughts and plans were so admirably clear that even I, who knew nothing of the matter, could readily follow them, while above all I was impressed by the marvellous grasp of fact which enabled him to speak with confidence, not only of the line-of-battle ships, but of the frigates, sloops, and brigs at Ferrol, Rochefort, Cadiz, Carthagena, and Brest, with the exact strength of each in men and in guns; while the names and force of the English vessels were equally at his fingers’ ends.  Such familiarity would have been remarkable in a naval officer, but when I thought that this question of the ships was only one out of fifty with which this man had to deal, I began to realise the immense grasp of that capacious mind.  He did not appear to be paying the least attention to me, but it seems that he was really watching me closely, for he turned upon me when he had finished his dictation.

’You appear to be surprised, Monsieur de Laval, that I should be able to transact my naval business without having my minister of marine at my elbow; but it is one of my rules to know and to do things for myself.  Perhaps if these good Bourbons had had the same habit they would not now be living amidst the fogs of England.’

‘One must have your Majesty’s memory in order to do it,’ I observed.