Castle of Montebello. Furthermore, Bonaparte himself wished her to
be present.

"This Montebello life is, after all, little else than a dress
rehearsal for what is to come," he said, confidentially, to
Bourrienne, "and Josephine can't afford to be absent. It's a great
business, this being a Dictator and having a court of your own, and
I'm inclined to think I shall follow it up as my regular profession
after I've conquered a little more of the earth."

Surrounded by every luxury, and in receipt for the first time in his
life of a steady income, Bonaparte carried things with a high hand.
He made treaties with various powers without consulting the
Directory, for whom every day he felt a growing contempt.

"What is the use of my consulting the Directory, anyhow?" he asked.
"If it were an Elite Directory it might be worth while, but it isn't.
I shall, therefore, do as I please, and if they don't like what I do
I'll ratify it myself."

Ambassadors waited upon him as though he were a king, and when one
ventured to disagree with the future Emperor he wished he hadn't.
Cobentzel, the envoy of the Austrian ruler, soon discovered this.

"I refuse to accept your ultimatum," said he one day to Napoleon,
after a protracted conference.

"You do, eh?"--said Napoleon, picking up a vase of delicate
workmanship. "Do you see this jug?"