You can remain here, Monsieur de Laval, for your presence
will not be necessary until I send you my orders.'
And so the door closed behind him, and with a long sigh of relief from
everyone, from the Empress to the waiter with the negus, the friendly
chatter began once more, with the click of the counters and the rustle
of the cards just as they had been before he came to help in the
entertainment.
CHAPTER XVI
THE LIBRARY OF GROSBOIS
And now, my friends, I am coming to the end of those singular adventures
which I encountered upon my arrival in France, adventures which might
have been of some interest in themselves had I not introduced the figure
of the Emperor, who has eclipsed them all as completely as the sun
eclipses the stars. Even now, you see, after all these years, in an old
man's memoirs, the Emperor is still true to his traditions, and will not
brook any opposition. As I draw his words and his deeds I feel that my
own poor story withers before them. And yet if it had not been for that
story I should not have had an excuse for describing to you my first and
most vivid impressions of him, and so it has served a purpose after all.
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