By the way, Monsieur de Laval, he is your uncle upon your
mother's side, is he not?'
I may have flushed with shame as I acknowledged it, for the Emperor read
my feelings.
'Well, well, he has not a very savoury trade, it is true, and yet I can
assure you that it is one which is very necessary to me. By the way,
this uncle of yours, as I understand, holds the estates which should
have descended to you, does he not?'
'Yes, Sire.'
His blue eyes flashed suspicion at me.
'I trust that you are not joining my service merely in the hope of
having them restored to you.'
'No, Sire. It is my ambition to make a career for myself.'
'It is a prouder thing,' said the Emperor, 'to found a family than
merely to perpetuate one. I could not restore your estates, Monsieur de
Laval, for things have come to such a pitch in France that if one once
begins restorations the affair is endless. It would shake all public
confidence. I have no more devoted adherents than the men who hold land
which does not belong to them. As long as they serve me, as your uncle
serves me, the land must remain with them.
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