myself."--"How! did you venture so far?"--"To be sure. I told him that
my resolution was definite. 'Pshaw! . . . replied he angrily.
'I knew well that you were opposed to me. If we had come to an action I
should have sought you out on the field of battle. I would have shown
you the Medusa's head. Would you have dared to fire on me?'--'Without
doubt,' I replied. `Ah! parbleu this is too much,' he said. 'But your
troops would not have obeyed you. They had preserved all their affection
for me.'--'What could I do?' resumed I. 'You abdicated, you left France,
you recommended us to serve the King--and then you return! Besides; I
tell you frankly, I do not augur well of what will happen. We shall have
war again. France has had enough of that.' Upon this," continued Rapp,
"he assured me that he had other thoughts; that he had no further desire
for war; that he wished to govern in peace, and devote himself solely to
the happiness of his people. When I hinted opposition on the part of the
Foreign Powers, he said that he had made alliances. He then spoke to me
of the King, and I said I had been much pleased with him; indeed, the
King gave me a very gratifying reception on my return from Kiow, and I
see no reason why I should complain, when I am so well used. During the
conversation the Emperor much extolled the conduct of the Duke of
Orleans. He then gave me some description of his passage from the Isle
of Elba and his journey to Paris. He complained of being accused of
ambition; and observing that I looked astonished and doubtful--`What?' he
continued, 'am I ambitious then?' And patting his belly with both his
hands, 'Can a man,' he asked, 'so fat as I am be ambitious?' I could not
for my soul help saying, 'Ah! Sire, your Majesty is surely joking.'
He pretended, however, to be serious, and after a few moments, noticing
my decorations, he began to banter me about the Cross of St. Louis and
the Cross of the Lily, which I still wore."

I asked Rapp whether all was true that had been said about the enthusiasm