poured the coffee in the cup, and dissolved the sugar, still regarding the Empress, who remained standing as if struck with a stupor.  He drank, and returned the cup to the page; then gave a signal that he wished to be alone, and closed the door of the saloon.  I remained outside seated by the door; and soon no one remained in the dining-room except one of the prefects of the palace, who walked up and down with folded arms, foreseeing, as well as I, terrible events.  At the end of a few moments I heard cries, and sprang up; just then the Emperor opened the door quickly, looked out, and saw there no one but us two.  The Empress lay on the floor, screaming as if her heart were breaking:  “No; you will not do it!  You would not kill me!” The usher of the room had his back turned.  I advanced towards him; he understood, and went out.  His Majesty ordered the person who was with me to enter, and the door was again closed.  I have since learned that the Emperor requested him to assist him in carrying the Empress to her apartment.  “She has,” he said, “a violent nervous attack, and her condition requires most prompt attention.”  M. de B----- with the Emperor’s assistance raised the Empress in his arms; and the Emperor, taking a lamp from the mantel, lighted M. de B----- along the passage from which ascended the little staircase leading to the apartments of the Empress.  This staircase was so narrow, that a man with such a burden could not go down without great risk of falling; and M. de B-----, having called his Majesty’s attention to this, he summoned the keeper of the portfolio, whose duty it was to be always at the door of the Emperor’s cabinet which opened on this staircase, and gave him the light, which was no longer needed, as the lamps had just been lighted.  His Majesty passed in front of the keeper, who still held the light, and carrying the feet of the Empress himself, descended the staircase safely with M. de B-----; and they thus reached the bedroom.  The Emperor rang for her women, and when they entered, retired with tears in his eyes and every sign of the deepest emotion.  This scene affected him so deeply that he said to M. de B----- in a trembling, broken tone, some words which he must never reveal under any circumstances.  The Emperor’s agitation must have been very great for him to have informed M. de B----- of the cause of her Majesty’s despair, and to have told him that the interests of France and of the Imperial Dynasty had done violence to his heart, and the divorce had become a duty, deplorable and painful, but none the less a duty.

Queen Hortense and M. Corvisart soon reached the Empress, who passed a miserable night.  The Emperor also did not sleep, and rose many times to ascertain Josephine’s condition.  During the whole night her Majesty did not utter a word.  I have never witnessed such grief.