loud; and I heard him say, 'Well, Monsieur, you will never change then.
It is gold you want, always gold. You draw on all foreign banks, and
have no confidence in that of Paris. You have ruined the bank of
Hamburg; you have caused M. Drouet (or Drouaut, for the name was
pronounced very quickly) to lose two millions:

"The Emperor," my uncle continued, "conversed in this strain for a long
while, though the stranger did not reply, or replied in so low a tone
that it was impossible to hear a word; and the scene, which must have
been most trying to the mysterious personage, lasted about twenty
minutes. At last he was permitted to leave, which he did with the same
precautions as on his arrival, and retired from the palace as secretly as
he had come."

Nothing of this scene was known in Paris; and, moreover, neither my uncle
nor I have ever sought to ascertain the name of the person whom the
Emperor overwhelmed with such numerous and severe reproaches.

Whenever circumstances allowed, the Emperor's habits of life were very
regular, his time being almost uniformly divided as follows. Every
morning, at nine o'clock precisely, the Emperor left the imperial
apartments; his exactness in observing hours was carried to an extreme,
and I have sometimes seen him wait two or three moments in order that no
one might be taken by surprise. At nine o'clock his toilet was made for
the whole day. When he had reached the reception-room, the officers on
duty were first admitted, and received his Majesty's orders for their
time of service.

Immediately after this, what was called the grandes entrees took place.
That is to say, personages of high rank were admitted, who had this right