e hovel of a
Saint-Jean-d'Acre rendered abortive!"

And he so far forgot to whom he was speaking, as he followed the shadows
of his vanished dream, that he called Bernadotte "my dear general." The
latter, almost appalled by the magnitude of the project which Bonaparte
had unfolded to him, made a step backward.

"Yes," said Bernadotte, "I perceive what you want, for you have just
betrayed yourself. Orient or Occident, a throne! A throne? So be it; why
not? Count upon me to help you conquer it, but elsewhere than in France.
I am a Republican, and I will die a Republican."

Bonaparte shook his head as if to disperse the thoughts which held him
in the clouds.

"I, too, am a Republican," said he, "but see what has come of your
Republic!"

"What matter!" cried Bernadotte. "It is not to a word or a form that I
am faithful, but to the principle. Let the Directors but yield me the
power, and I would know how to defend the Republic against her internal
enemies, even as I defended her from her foreign enemies."

As he said these words, Bernadotte raised his eyes, and his glance
encountered that of Bonaparte. Two naked blades clashing together never
sent forth lightning more vivid, more terrible.

Josephine had watched the two men for some time past with anxious
attention. She saw the dual glance teeming with reciprocal menace. She
rose hastily and went to Bernadotte.

"General," said she.

Bernadotte bowed.

"You are intimate with Gohier, are you not?" she continued.

"He is one of my best friends, madame," said Bernadotte.

"Well, we dine with him the day after to-morrow, the 18th Brumaire; dine
there yourself and bring Madame Bernadotte. I should be so glad to know
her better."

"Madame," said Bernadotte, "in the days of the Greeks you would have
been one of the three graces; in the Middle Ages you would have been a
fairy; to-day you are the most adorable woman I know."

And making three steps backward, and bowing, he contrived to retire
politely without including Bonaparte in his bow. Josephine followed him
with her eyes until he had left the room. Then, turning to her husband,
she said: "Well, it seems that it was not as successful with Bernadotte
as with Moreau, was it?"

"Bold, adventurous, disinterested, sincere republican, inaccessible
to seduction, he is a human obstacle. We must make our way around him,
since we cannot overthrow him."

And leaving the salon without taking leave of any one, he went to