It was obvious that my Colonel had some idea of what was in the wind.  If he had not known that it was to my advantage, he would not have been so cruel as to congratulate me.  My heart glowed with joy as this conviction grew upon me, and I sat down to write to my mother and to tell her that the Emperor was waiting, at that very moment, to have my opinion upon a matter of importance.  It made me smile as I wrote it to think that, wonderful as it appeared to me, it would probably only confirm my mother in her opinion of the Emperor’s good sense.

At half-past three I heard a sabre come clanking against every step of my wooden stair.  It was Lasalle, and with him was a lame gentleman, very neatly dressed in black with dapper ruffles and cuffs.  We did not know many civilians, we of the army, but, my word, this was one whom we could not afford to ignore!  I had only to glance at those twinkling eyes, the comical, upturned nose, and the straight, precise mouth, to know that I was in the presence of the one man in France whom even the Emperor had to consider.

‘This is Monsieur Etienne Gerard, Monsieur de Talleyrand,’ said Lasalle.

I saluted, and the statesman took me in from the top of my panache to the rowel of my spur, with a glance that played over me like a rapier point.

’Have you explained to the lieutenant the circumstances under which he is summoned to the Emperor’s presence?’ he asked, in his dry, creaking voice.

They were such a contrast, these two men, that I could not help glancing from one to the other of them:  the black, sly politician, and the big, sky-blue hussar with one fist on his hip and the other on the hilt of his sabre.  They both took their seats as I looked, Talleyrand without a sound, and Lasalle with a clash and a jingle like a prancing charger.

‘It’s this way, youngster,’ said he, in his brusque fashion; ’I was with the Emperor in his private cabinet this morning when a note was brought in to him.  He opened it, and as he did so he gave such a start that it fluttered down on to the floor.  I handed it up to him again, but he was staring at the wall in front of him as if he had seen a ghost.  “Fratelli dell’ Ajaccio,” he muttered; and then again, “Fratelli dell’ Ajaccio.”  I don’t pretend to know more Italian than a man can pick up in two campaigns, and I could make nothing of this.  It seemed to me that he had gone out of his mind; and you would have said so also, Monsieur de Talleyrand, if you had seen the look in his eyes.  He read the note, and then he sat for half an hour or more without moving.’

‘And you?’ asked Talleyrand.

’Why, I stood there not knowing what I ought to do.  Presently he seemed to come back to his senses.

’"I suppose, Lasalle,” said he, “that you have some gallant young officers in the Tenth?”

’"They are all that, sire,” I answered.

’"If you had to pick one who was to be depended upon for action, but who would not think too much—­you understand me, Lasalle—­which would you select?” he asked.