, which I knew only in part. He told me how he had been
imprisoned with Simon the cobbler, been compelled to sign a
calumniating charge against his mother, etc. He then related to me
the story of his escape and his flight to America, of his return to
reclaim the throne of his fathers, and his arrest in Mantua.
"He portrayed his history with extraordinary life. All the incidents
of the French Revolution were present before him; he spoke with
natural eloquence, and wove in piquant anecdotes very apropos. His
manner of expression smacked once in a while of the soldier, but
there was no lack of the elegance that disclosed his intercourse
with good society.
"'Will you allow me,' I asked him, 'to treat you as a friend and
leave off all titles?'
"'I want exactly that, 'he answered. 'Misfortune has taught me the
good lesson to despise all the vanities of earth. Believe me, my
pride does not lie in this, that I am a king, but that I am a man.'
"After this we had long conversations mornings and evenings, and I
recognized in him a noble, beautiful soul, sensitive to all that is
good. He knew how to win hearts, and even the turnkeys were kind to
him. One of them said to me on coming from the cell of my neighbor:
'I have strong hopes that he will make me chief porter when he is
king; I have had the boldness to ask him for the position, and he
has promised it.
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