'My dear Louis,' said he. 'It was really the hope of meeting you here
which brought me over from Grosbois--although you can understand that
living so far from Paris I cannot afford to miss such an opportunity of
showing myself at Court. Nevertheless I can assure you that it was of
you principally that I was thinking. I hear that you have had a
splendid reception from the Emperor, and that you have been taken into
his personal service. I had spoken to him about you, and I made him
fully realise that if he treats you well he is likely to coax some of
the other young emigres into his service.'
I was convinced that he was lying, but none the less I had to bow and
utter a few words of cold thanks.
'I see that you still bear me some grudge for what passed between us the
other day,' said he, 'but really, my dear Louis, you have no occasion to
do so. It was your own good which I had chiefly at heart. I am neither
a young nor a strong man, Louis, and my profession, as you have seen, is
a dangerous one. There is my child, and there is my estate.
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