This is camp fare, Monsieur de Laval, but no doubt you will excuse it.' For my own part I had an excellent appetite for the cutlets and the salad, but what I relished above all was to hear the talk of my companions, for I was full of curiosity as to everything which concerned this singular man, whose genius had elevated him so rapidly to the highest position in the world.

The head of his household discussed him with an extraordinary frankness.
'What do they say of him in England, Monsieur de Laval ?' he asked.
'Nothing very good.' 'So I have gathered from their papers.

They drive the Emperor frantic, and yet he will insist upon reading them.

I am willing to lay a wager that the very first thing which he does when he enters London will be to send cavalry detachments to the various newspaper offices, and to endeavour to seize the editors.' 'And the next ?' 'The next,' said he, laughing, 'will be to issue a long proclamation to prove that we have conquered England entirely for the good of the English, and very much against our own inclinations.

And then, perhaps, the Emperor will allow the English to understand that, if they absolutely demand a Protestant for a ruler, it is possible that there are a few little points in which he differs from Holy Church.' 'Too bad! Too bad!' cried de Meneval, looking amused and yet rather frightened at his companion's audacity.