arm in
a sling; a gunshot wound that defied the art of the surgeons still
deprived him of his left hand. And there leaned Savary against the
window, his dark eyes riveted on the corps of _gendarmerie_ in the court
beneath; full taller by a head than the largest about him, he seemed
almost gigantic in the massive accoutrements of his service. The fierce
Davoust; the gay and splendid Murat, with his waving plumes and jewelled
dolman; Lefebvre, the very type of his class, moving with difficulty
from a wound in his hip,--all were there: while passing rapidly from
place to place, I remarked a young and handsome man, whose uniform of
colonel bore the decoration of the Legion; he appeared to know and be
known to all. This was Eugene Beauharnais, the stepson of the Emperor.

"Ah, General d'Auvergne!" cried he, approaching with a smile, "his
Majesty desires to see you after the levee. You leave to-night, I
believe?"

"Yes, Colonel; all is in readiness," said the general; while I thought a
look of anxiety at the Emperor's summons seemed to agitate his features.

"One of your staff?" said Beauharnais, bowing, as he looked towards me.

"My aide-de-camp, Lieutenant Burke," replied the general, presenting me.

"Ah! I remember," said the colonel, as he drew himself proudly up, and
seemed as though the recollection were anything but favorable to me.

But just then the wide folding-doors were thrown open, and a loud voice
proclaimed, "Sa Majeste l'Empereur!"

In an instant every voice was hushed, the groups broke up, and fell
back into two long lines, between which lay a passage; along this the
officers of the Palace retired slowly, facing the Emperor, who came step
by step after them. I could but see the pale face, massive and regular,
like the head of an antique cameo; the hair combed straight upon his
fine forehead; and his large, full eyes, as they turned hither and
thither among that crowd, once his equals, now how immeasurably his
inferiors! He stopped every now and then to say a word or two to some
one as he passed, but in so low a tone, that even in the dead silence
around nothing was audible save a murmur. It was a relief to my own
excited feelings, as, with high, beating heart, I gazed on the greatest
monarch of the world, that I beheld the others around, the oldest
generals, the time-worn companions of his battles, not less moved than
myself.

While the Emperor passed slowly along, I could mark that Eugene
Beauharnai