What I have just written has carried me back almost unconsciously to
happier times. It is necessary, however, to return to the sad stay at
Fontainebleau; and, after what I have said of the dejection in which the
Emperor lived, it is not surprising that, overwhelmed by such crushing
blows, his mind was not disposed to gallantry. It seems to me I can
still see the evidences of the gloomy melancholy which devoured him; and
in the midst of so many sorrows the kindness of heart of the man seemed
to increase in proportion to the sufferings of the dethroned sovereign.
With what amenity he spoke to us in these last days! He then frequently
deigned to question me as to what was said of recent events. With my
usual artless candor I related to him exactly what I had heard; and I
remember that one day, having told him I had heard many persons remark
that the continuation of the last wars which had been so fatal to us was
generally attributed to the Duke of Bassano, "They do poor Maret gross
injustice," said he. "They accuse him wrongfully. He has never done
anything but execute orders which I gave." Then, according to his usual
habit, when he had spoken to me a moment of these serious affairs, he
added, "What a shame! what humiliation! To think that I should have in
my very palace itself a lot of foreign emissaries!"

CHAPTER XXVIII.

After the 12th of April there remained with the Emperor, of all the great
personages who usually surrounded him, only the grand marshal of the
palace and Count Drouot. The destination reserved for the Emperor, and
the fact that he had accepted it, was not long a secret in the palace.
On the 16th we witnessed the arrival of the commissioners of the allies
deputed to accompany his Majesty to the place of his embarkment for the
Island of Elba. These were Count Schuwaloff, aide-de-camp of the Emperor
Alexander from Russia; Colonel Neil Campbell from England; General
Kohler from Austria; and finally Count of Waldburg-Truchsess for Prussia.
Although his Majesty had himself demanded that he should be accompanied
by these four commissioners, their presence at Fontainebleau seemed to
make a most disagreeable impression on him. However, each of these
gentlemen received from the Emperor a different welcome; and after a few
words that I heard his Majesty say, I was convinced on this, as on many
previous occasions, that he esteemed the English far more than all his
other enemies, and Colonel Campbell wa