on, and that it would be publicly proclaimed in the course of
the present year. That is all that you will tell him for the present.
Champagny, I am determined to make this sacrifice for the sake of
France, however painful it may be to my heart. The welfare of my country
and the stability of my throne render it incumbent. After the divorce
has taken place, I shall demand a final and categorical reply from
Russia, and if Alexander is unable to give it--if his mother still
refuse to place her daughter on the most powerful throne in the
world--well, then, I shall break off the negotiations, and remember that
the Archduchess Maria Louisa has some respect and sympathy for me. For
the present we may be content with Austria, and I think the treaty of
Vienna is a work of which we may well be proud. The genius of France
will give it a glorious place on the tablets of history!"

Two days afterward the emperor's travelling-carriage was in front of the
palace gate of Schoenbrunn. Every thing was in readiness for his
departure, and he was about to leave his cabinet. He only wished to see
Grand-Marshal Duroc, who had just arrived from Vienna.

The door opened, and Duroc entered. Napoleon quickly met him. "Well,
Duroc," he asked, "did you see him? Did he name his companions in this
crime?"

"Sire, I have, and conversed with him," said Duroc, gravely. "He refuses
to confess any thing, and talks like a madman."

"What does he say?" exclaimed Napoleon. "Conceal nothing from me. This
young man interests me. I desire to know all."

"Sire, he affirms that your majesty is his only accomplice; the misery
brought by you on Germany, he contends, instigated him to attempt the
deed, and you ought to blame none but yourself."

"He does not repent, then? He does not ask for mercy?"

"He regrets only that he did not succeed, and he asks merely the favor
of being permitted to keep the portrait of his Anna, which he
contemplates continually; and he implores her in touching words to
forgive him the grief he has brought upon her."

"What a strange mixture of ferocity and gentleness!" said the emperor,
thoughtfully. "Has he been closely watched during these two days?"

"Two gendarmes were locked up with him all the time, and they speak with
astonishment of the unruffled tranquillity of the young man. For the
most part he paces the cell with slow steps; at times he kneels down and
prays in silence. Not a word of despair has escaped his lips, not a