"
Josephine did as she was asked, and a tear fell from her eyes upon
his fair hair.
"Go, sire," she said, "and may God bless and protect you! If you
ever need my help, call upon me, and be sure that I will never
neglect your voice."
An hour later the wife of the First Consul drove out to St. Cloud.
At the corner of the Rue St. Honore a second carriage joined her
own, and a young man who sat in it greeted Josephine deferentially
as she leaned far out of the carriage to return his salute.
At the barriers the carriage stopped, for the gates of the city were
still closed. But Josephine beckoned the officer of the guard to her
carriage, and, fortunately, he knew the wife of the First Consul.
"It is not necessary," said Josephine, with a charming smile, "it is
not necessary that I should procure a permit from the First Consul
to allow myself and my escort to pass the gate? You do not suppose
that I and my secretary, who sits in the next carriage, belong to
the villains who threaten the life of my husband?"
The officer, enchanted with the grace of Josephine, bowed low, and
commanded the guard instantly to open the gate and allow the two
carriages to pass.
And so the son of the queen was saved. For the second time he left
Paris, to go forth as an exile and an adventurer to meet his fate.
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