s, grew anxious and whispered to Napoleon later in the evening that
surely he would not surrender the benefits of his greatest conquest
for the sake of a pretty woman. Whether this admonition was given or
not, the Emperor was respectful and polite, but non-committal. After
dinner he conversed long with his fair guest. To her lady in waiting,
the Countess Voss, he offered snuff--a singular mark of condescension.
Next day, in a note to Josephine, he said that he had been compelled
continually to stand on his guard; and the day following, July eighth,
he again wrote to his Empress: "The Queen is really charming, using
every art to please me; but be not jealous: I am like a waxed cloth
from which all that glides off. It would cost me too much to play the
gallant." The Emperor's courtesy had deceived the poor Queen entirely,
and she is said to have returned to her husband's lodgings at
Piktupoenen in the highest spirits.

On that very night, immediately after the dinner, the step she so much
dreaded was taken, and orders were given to conclude the treaty as it
stood. At the last hour Goltz secured his interview to plead the
expectations awakened in the Queen, but the Emperor coldly explained
that his conduct had been politeness, and nothing more; the house of
Prussia might be glad to recover a crown at all. Talleyrand showed a
completed and final draft of the treaty ready for signature, and said
that his master was in haste, that in two days the documents would be
signed. This was the news which greeted Louisa next morning. She
returned at once to Tilsit, her eyes swollen with weeping; but she
appeared in a stately dress, and with a smile on her lips. Again she
was the object of the most distinguished courtesy from Napoleon's
adjutants, but the expected visit from himself was not made. However,
she was again the Emperor's honored guest at dinner. The host at once
began to speak of her costume. "What, the Queen of Prussia with a
turban! Surely not to gratify the Emperor of Russia, who is at war
with the Turks!" "Rather, I think," replied the Queen, "to propitiate
Rustan," rolling her large, full eyes toward the swarthy Mameluke
behind his master's chair. She had the air, according to Napoleon's
account, of an offended coquette. After the meal it was Murat who took
the part filled the previous evening by the Emperor. "How does your
Majesty pass the time at Memel?" "In reading." "What does your Majesty
read?" "The history of th