The Emperor was absent-minded, and often forgot where he had put the
petitions which were handed to him, and thus they were sometimes left in
his coats, and when I found them there I carried them to his Majesty's
cabinet and handed them to M. de Meneval or M. Fain; and often, too,
the, papers for which he was hunting were found in the apartments of the
Empress. Sometimes the Emperor gave me papers to put away, and those I
placed in a box of which I alone had the key. One day there was a great
commotion in the private apartments over a paper which could not be
found. These were the circumstances:

Near the Emperor's cabinet was a small room in which the secretaries
stayed, furnished with a desk, on which notes or petitions were--often
placed. This room was usually occupied by the cabinet usher, and the
Emperor was accustomed to enter it if he wished to hold a private
conversation without being overheard by the secretaries. When the
Emperor entered this room the usher withdrew and remained outside the
door; he was responsible for everything in this room, which was never
opened except by express orders from his Majesty.

Marshal Bessieres had several days before presented to the Emperor a
request for promotion from a colonel of the army which he had warmly
supported. One morning the marshal entered the little room of which I
have just spoken, and finding his petition already signed lying on the
desk, he carried it off, without being noticed by my wife's uncle who was
on duty. A few hours after, the Emperor wished to examine this petition
again, and was very sure he had left it in this small room; but it was
not there, and it was thought that the usher must have allowed some one
to enter without his Majesty's orders. Search was made everywhere in
this room and in the Emperor's cabinet, and even in the apartments of the