e messenger with a wave of his
hand.

The messenger went out. Gohier turned to Fouche.

"Ah!" said he, "the plot is well laid; they inform me of the decree, but
they do not send it to me. Happily you are here to tell me the terms of
it."

"But," said Fouche, "I don't know them."

"What! do you the minister of police, mean to tell me that you know
nothing about this extraordinary session of the Council of the Ancients,
when it has been put on record by a decree?"

"Of course I knew it took place, but I was unable to be present."

"And you had no secretary, no amanuensis to send, who could give you an
account, word for word, of this session, when in all probability this
session will dispose of the fate of France! Ah, citizen Fouche, you are
either a very deep, or a very shallow minister of police!"

"Have you any orders to give me, citizen president?" asked Fouche.

"None, citizen minister," replied the president. "If the Directory
judges it advisable to issue any orders, it will be to men whom it
esteems worthy of its confidence. You may return to those who sent you,"
he added, turning his back upon the minister.

Fouche went, and Gohier immediately rang his bell. An usher entered.

"Go to Barras, Sieyes, Ducos, and Moulins, and request them to come to
me at once. Ah! And at the same time ask Madame Gohier to come into my
study, and to bring with her Madame Bonaparte's letter inviting us to
breakfast with her."

Five minutes later Madame Gohier entered, fully dressed, with the note
in her hand. The invitation was for eight o'clock. It was then half-past
seven, and it would take at least twenty minutes to drive from the
Luxembourg to the Rue de la Victoire.

"Here it is, my dear," said Madame Gohier, handing the letter to her
husband. "It says eight o'clock."

"Yes," replied Gohier, "I was not in doubt about the hour, but about the
day."

Taking the note from his wife's hand, he read it over:

Come, my dear Gohier, with your wife, and breakfast with me
to-morrow at eight o'clock. Don't fail, for I have some very
interesting things to tell you.

"Ah," said Gohier, "there can be no mistake."

"Well, my dear, are we going?" asked Madame Gohier.

"You are, but not I. An event has just happened about which the citizen
Bonaparte is probably well-informed, which will detain my colleagues and
myself at the Luxembourg."

"A serious event?"

"Possibly."

"Then I shall stay with you."

"No, indeed