“No, father, he was not among them, and I do not know Baron von Moudenfels at all.  According to the descriptions which I heard of him this evening, he is a man already advanced in years, but whose youthful vigor and energy were extravagantly praised and admired.  Baron von Moudenfels has been the originator and director of the whole plan, and has been engaged for months in making preparations for its execution.  Listen to the rest of my story!  On Thursday the plot must be put into action.  On that day the emperor will take a ride in the afternoon, as he always does.  If, by chance, he should show no disposition to do so, they will induce him by some means, and will persuade him to go to the woods near Schoenbrunn.  The emperor likes to dismount there and stroll along the lovely, shady paths, talking with his generals.  To his surprise he will find a most charming little hut which he has not seen before—­for the very good reason that it was erected only the previous day.  The emperor, as is well-known, is curious, and he will go to it.  The conspirators—­and his entire suite is composed of them—­the conspirators will propose going in.  A French song, the signal that everything is ready, will be heard within.  The emperor will enter, his companions will follow.  Inside the hut armed conspirators will be stationed, who, as soon as the emperor enters, will seize and gag him, bind him hand and foot, and thus render him harmless.  Then one of the party who entered with the emperor, Colonel Lejeune, whose figure is exactly like his, will put on a suit of clothes made precisely like the emperor’s, and, donning Napoleon’s three-cornered hat, will leave the hut.  Meanwhile twilight will have gathered, and the conspirators, with the emperor—­that is Colonel Lejeune—­at their head, will return to Schoenbrunn.  The guards will salute as soon as they see the emperor dash into the courtyard.  The chief equerry will hold his stirrup, and help him to dismount.  The emperor, followed by his suite, will enter the castle, and silently, according to his custom, ascend the stairs and go to the hall where he receives his marshals; there, as he so frequently does, he will dismiss all who are present with a wave of his hand and pass on into his study, which adjoins his sleeping-room.”

“Well, it must be admitted that so far the affair has a glimmer of feasibility and probability,” said her father, smiling.  “But I should be very anxious about the continuation.  Would Roustan, who undresses the emperor every evening, also be deceived by the masquerade, or would the conspirators attempt to abduct him also?  And then—­has it been forgotten that before going to rest the emperor now works an hour every evening with his private secretary, Bourrienne?”

“Bourrienne is one of the conspirators.  He will enter the room with his portfolio and remain there an hour, after first bringing to the anteroom the order, in the emperor’s name, to make no further reports to him that evening, as he was wearied and therefore wished to go to rest early.  The Mameluke Roustan could not be bribed, and therefore the attempt was relinquished.  But the day before, through a dose of arsenic which will be administered to him, Roustan will be so dangerously ill that he cannot attend upon the emperor, and Constant will take his place.”