“It seems to me,” said the princess, smiling, “that from that point of view the present state of things under your regime leaves nothing to be desired.”

A well-bred laugh went round the room, and even the prime minister himself could not help smiling.  The ambassadors seemed impatient for the tale; de Marsay coughed dryly and silence was obtained.

“On a June night in 1800,” began the minister, “about three in the morning, just as daylight was beginning to pale the brilliancy of the wax candles, two men tired of playing at bouillotte (or who were playing merely to keep others employed) left the salon of the ministry of foreign affairs, then situated in the rue du Bac, and went apart into a boudoir.  These two men, of whom one is dead and the other has one foot in the grave, were, each in his own way, equally extraordinary.  Both had been priests; both had abjured religion; both were married.  One had been merely an Oratorian, the other had worn the mitre of a bishop.  The first was named Fouche; I shall not tell you the name of the second;[*] both were then mere simple citizens—­with very little simplicity.  When they were seen to leave the salon and enter the boudoir, the rest of the company present showed a certain curiosity.  A third person followed them,—­a man who thought himself far stronger than the other two.  His name was Sieyes, and you all know that he too had been a priest before the Revolution.  The one who walked with difficulty was then the minister of foreign affairs; Fouche was minister of police; Sieyes had resigned the consulate.

  [*] Talleyrand was still living when de Marsay related these
      circumstances.

“A small man, cold and stern in appearance, left his seat and followed the three others, saying aloud in the hearing of the person from whom I have the information, ‘I mistrust the gambling of priests.’  This man was Carnot, minister of war.  His remark did not trouble the two consuls who were playing cards in the salon.  Cambaceres and Lebrun were then at the mercy of their ministers, men who were infinitely stronger than they.

“Nearly all these statesmen are dead, and no secrecy is due to them.  They belong to history; and the history of that night and its consequences has been terrible.  I tell it to you now because I alone know it; because Louis XVIII. never revealed the truth to that poor Madame de Cinq-Cygne; and because the present government which I serve is wholly indifferent as to whether the truth be known to the world or not.

“All four of these personages sat down in the boudoir.  The lame man undoubtedly closed the door before a word was said; it is even thought that he ran the bolt.  It is only persons of high rank who pay attention to such trifles.  The three priests had the livid, impassible faces which you all remember.  Carnot alone was ruddy.  He was the first to speak.  ‘What is the point to be discussed?’ he asked.  ‘France,’ must have been the answer of the Prince (whom I admire as one of the most extraordinary men of our time).  ‘The Republic,’ undoubtedly said Fouche.  ‘Power,’ probably said Sieyes.”