honourable mission with which the King my master has entrusted me." At
these words Napoleon turned his back on Count Truchess.

The Commissioners expected that Napoleon would be ready to set out
without delay; but they were deceived. He asked for a sight of the
itinerary of his route, and wished to make some alterations in it.
The Commissioners were reluctant to oppose his wish, for they had been
instructed to treat him with all the respect and etiquette due to a
sovereign. They therefore suspended the departure, and, as they could
not take upon themselves to acquiesce in the changes wished for by the
Emperor, they applied for fresh orders. On the night of the 18th of
April they received these orders, authorising them to travel by any road
the Emperor might prefer. The departure was then definitively fixed for
the 20th.

Accordingly, at ten on the morning of the 20th, the carriages were in
readiness, and the Imperial Guard was drawn up in the grand court of the
Palace of Fontainebleau, called the Cour du Cheval Blanc. All the
population of the town and the neighbouring villages thronged round the
Palace. Napoleon sent for General Kohler, the Austrian Commissioner, and
said to him, "I have reflected on what I ought to do, and I am determined
not to depart. The Allies are not faithful to their engagements with me.
I can, therefore, revoke my abdication, which was only conditional. More
than a thousand addresses were delivered to me last night: I am conjured
to resume the reins of government I renounced my rights to the crown only
to avert the horrors of a civil war, having never had any other abject in
view than the glory and happiness of France. But, seeing as I now do,
the dissatisfaction inspired by the measures of the new Government, I can
explain to my Guard the reasons which induced me to revoke my abdication.
It is true that the number of troops on which I can count will scarcely