. It was currently
reported in the committee rooms that Le Merquier had completed his
report, a masterpiece of logic and ferocity, recommending that Jansoulet
be unseated, and that he was certain to carry his point off-hand unless
Mora, whose power in the Assembly was so great, should himself issue
contrary orders. A serious crisis, as will be seen, and one that caused
his cheeks to burn with fever as he studied the expression of his
features and his courtier-like smiles in the bevelled mirrors of his
coupe, striving to prepare an adroit entry into the presence,--one of
his masterstrokes of amiable impudence which had served him so well with
Ahmed and thus far with the French statesman,--the whole accompanied by
a rapid beating of the heart and the shivering sensation between the
shoulders which precedes decisive steps, even when taken in a carriage
with gilded panels.

When he reached the mansion on the river bank, he was greatly surprised
to see that the footman on the quay, as on the days of great receptions,
ordered the carriages to turn into Rue de Lille in order to leave one
gateway free for exit. He said to himself, a little disturbed in mind:
"What is going on?" Perhaps a concert given by the duchess, a charity
bazaar, or some festivity from which Mora had left him out because of
the scandal caused by his last adventure. And his anxiety augmented
when, after crossing the court of honor amid the tumult of slamming
carriage-doors and a constant, dull rumbling on the gravel, he had
ascended the steps and found himself in the vast reception-room filled
to overflowing with a great throng who were allowed to pass none of the
inner doors, but whose anxious steps centred about the table of the
servant in attendance, where all the famous names of aristocratic Paris
were being inscribed. It seemed as if a sudden blast of disaster had
passed through the house, swept away something of its superb
tranquillity and allowed unrest and danger to creep into its
well-being.

"What a misfortune!"

"Ah! yes, it is terrible."

"And so sudden!"

The people around him exchanged such phrases as they met. A thought
passed swiftly through Jansoulet's mind.

"Is the duke ill?" he asked a servant.

"Ah! monsieur. He is dying. He cannot live through the night."

If the roof of the palace had fallen in upon his head, it would not have
crushed him more completely. He saw red butterflies whirling around
before his eyes, then staggere