Who could see the forsaken body
slashed with knives and assegais? Ah! who could dream of
that fond mother's heart, when the end came, which eclipsed
even the disasters of a nation!
One by-day, when my wife and I were riding with the Emperor
through the forest of Compiegne, a rough-looking man in a
blouse, with a red comforter round his neck, sprang out from
behind a tree; and before he could be stopped, seized the
Emperor's bridle. In an instant the Emperor struck his hand
with a heavy hunting stock; and being free, touched his horse
with the spur and cantered on. I took particular notice of
his features and his demeanour, from the very first moment of
the surprise. Nothing happened but what I have described.
The man seemed fierce and reckless. The Emperor showed not
the faintest signs of discomposure. All he said was, turning
to my wife, 'Comme il avait l'air sournois, cet homme!' and
resumed the conversation at the point where it was
interrupted.
Before we had gone a hundred yards I looked back to see what
had become of the offender. He was in the hands of two GENS
D'ARMES, who had been invisible till then.
'Poor devil,' thought I, 'this spells dungeon for you.'
Now, with Kinglake's acrimonious charge of the Emperor's
personal cowardice running in my head, I felt that this
exhibition of SANG FROID, when taken completely unawares,
went far to refute the imputation. What happened later in
the day strongly confirmed this opinion.
After dark, about six o'clock, I took a stroll by myself
through the town of Compiegne. Coming home, when crossing
the bridge below the Palace, I met the Emperor arm-in-arm
with Walewski. Not ten minutes afterwards, whom should I
stumble upon but the ruffian who had seized the Emperor's
bridle? The same red comforter was round his neck, the same
wild look was in his face. I turned after he had passed, and
at the same moment he turned to look at me.
Would this man have been at large but for the Emperor's
orders? Assuredly not. For, supposing he were crazy, who
could have answered for his deeds? Most likely he was
shadowed; and to a certainty the Emperor would be so. Still,
what could save the latter from a pistol-shot? Yet, here he
was, sauntering about the badly lighted streets of a town
where his kenspeckle figure was familiar to every inhabitant.
Call this fatalism if you will; but these were not the acts
of a coward. I told this story to a friend who was well
'posted' in the club gossip of the day. He laughed.
'Don't you know the meaning of Kinglake's spite against the
Emperor?' said he. 'CHERCHEZ LA FEMME. Both of them were in
love with Mrs. - '
This is the way we write our histories.
