"
"It shall be so," said Fouche. "Your will shall be my law. I only
ask that you hasten, for you know well that I have much to do to-
day. I shall take advantage of the time to procure for the young man
the necessary passports for travel. But, madame, you must help him
leave the city. For you know that the gates are all closed."
"I will tell Bonaparte that I am troubled to be in the city, now
that it is so shut in. I will drive out to St. Cloud. His carriage
can follow mine, and if the gate-keeper puts hinderances in the way,
I will command him to let Louis pass. Now let us hasten!"
An hour later Josephine, after dismissing her equipage with the
servants, entered the fiacre which was waiting for her near the
fountain. Fouche received her there, and was unwearied in his
complaints of the poor carriage which the wife of the First Consul
must use.
Josephine smiled, "My dear sir," she said, "there have been times
when I should have been very proud and very happy to have had such a
fiacre as this, and not to have been compelled to walk through the
muddy streets of Paris. Let it be as it is! The present days of
superfluity have not made me proud, and I have a vivid recollection
of the past. But tell me, Fouche, whither are we driving, and where
does the young king live?"
"We are driving, if you graciously approve of it, to my house, and I
have brought the young man there, for in his own house he is no
longer safe.
Pages:
829
830
831
832
833
834
835
836
837
838
839
840
841
842
843
844
845
846
847
848
849
850
851
852
853