Empress, and at last it was necessary to announce to his Majesty that the
search had been in vain; whereupon the Emperor gave way to one of those
bursts of anger which were so terrible though fortunately so rare, which
terrified the whole chateau, and the poor usher received orders never to
appear in his sight again. At last Marshal Bessieres, having been told
of this terrible commotion, came to accuse himself. The Emperor was
appeased, the usher restored to favor, and everything forgotten; though
each one was more careful than ever that nothing should be disturbed, and
that the Emperor should find at his finger's end whatever papers he
needed.

The Emperor would not allow any one to be introduced without his
permission, either into the Empress's apartments or his own; and this was
the one fault for which the people of the household could not expect
pardon. Once, I do not exactly remember when, the wife of one of the
Swiss Guard allowed one of her lovers to enter the apartments of the
Empress; and this unfortunate woman, without the knowledge of her
imprudent mistress, took in soft wax an impression of the key of the
jewel-box which I have already mentioned as having belonged to Queen
Marie Antoinette, and, by means of a false key made from this impression,
succeeded in stealing several articles of jewelry. The police soon
discovered the author of the robbery who was punished as he deserved,
though another person was also punished who did not deserve it, for the
poor husband lost his place.




CHAPTER XXV