though much distressed in witnessing the chagrin of her Majesty the Empress, I could not disobey my orders.  That evening on retiring the Emperor said to me, in a very severe tone, that the Empress had informed him she had learned from me, that, at the time she came to question me in regard to him, he was closeted with a lady.  Not at all disturbed, I replied to the Emperor, that of course he could not believe that.  “No,” replied the Emperor, returning to the friendly tone with which he habitually honored me, “I know you well enough to be assured of your discretion; but woe to the idiots who are gossiping, if I can get hold of them.”  The next night the Empress entered, as the Emperor was retiring, and his Majesty said to her in my presence, “It is very bad to impute falsehood to poor Monsieur Constant; he is not the man to make up such a tale as that you told me.”  The Empress, seated on the edge of the bed, began to laugh, and put her pretty little hand over her husband’s mouth; and, as it was a matter concerning myself, I withdrew.  For a few days the Empress was cool and distant to me; but, as this was foreign to her nature, she soon resumed the gracious manner which attached all hearts to her.

The Emperor’s liaison with Madame Gazani lasted nearly a year, but they met only at long intervals.

The following instance of jealousy is not as personal to me as that which I have just related.

Madame de Remusat, [Authoress of the well-known Memoirs.  Born in Paris, 1780, died 1821.  Her husband was first chamberlain to the Emperor.] wife of one of the prefects of the palace, and one of the ladies of honor to whom the Empress was most attached, found her one evening in tears and despair, and waited in silence till her Majesty should condescend to tell her the cause of this deep trouble.  She had not long to wait, however; for hardly had she entered the apartment than her Majesty exclaimed, “I am sure that he is now with some woman.  My dear friend,” added she, continuing to weep, “take this candle and let us go and listen at his door.  We will hear much.”  Madame de Remusat did all in her power to dissuade her from this project, representing to her the lateness of the hour, the darkness of the passage, and the danger they would run of being surprised; but all in vain, her Majesty put the candle in her hand, saying, “It is absolutely necessary that you should go with me, but, if you are afraid, I will go in front.”  Madame de Remusat obeyed; and behold the two ladies advancing on their tiptoes along the corridor, by the light of a single candle flickering in the air.  Having reached the door of the Emperor’s antechamber, they stopped, hardly daring to breathe, and the Empress softly turned the knob; but, just as she put her foot into the apartment, Roustan, who slept there and was then sleeping soundly, gave a formidable and prolonged snore.  These ladies had not apparently remembered that they would find him there; and Madame de Remusat,