I saluted, and the statesman took me in from the top of my panache to
the rowel of my spur, with a glance that played over me like a rapier
point.

'Have you explained to the lieutenant the circumstances under which he
is summoned to the Emperor's presence?' he asked, in his dry, creaking
voice.

They were such a contrast, these two men, that I could not help glancing
from one to the other of them: the black, sly politician, and the big,
sky-blue hussar with one fist on his hip and the other on the hilt of
his sabre. They both took their seats as I looked, Talleyrand without a
sound, and Lasalle with a clash and a jingle like a prancing charger.

'It's this way, youngster,' said he, in his brusque fashion; 'I was with
the Emperor in his private cabinet this morning when a note was brought
in to him. He opened it, and as he did so he gave such a start that it
fluttered down on to the floor. I handed it up to him again, but he was
staring at the wall in front of him as if he had seen a ghost. "Fratelli
dell' Ajaccio," he muttered; and then again, "Fratelli dell' Ajaccio." I
don't pretend to know more Italian than a man can pick up in two
campaigns, and I could make nothing of this. It seemed to me that he had
gone out of his mind; and you would have said so also, Monsieur de
Talleyrand, if you had seen the look in his eyes. He read the note, and
then he sat for half an hour or more without moving.'

'And you?' asked Talleyrand.

'Why, I stood there not knowing what I ought to do. Presently he seemed