So rigid and intent was he that you might have believed the
muffled figure and the cocked hat to have been the statue of the
man. What he was looking for I could not imagine; but at last he
gave a bitter curse, and, turning on his heel, he went back into
the house, banging the door behind him.
Next day the second aide-de-camp, Duplessis, had an interview
with Massena in the morning, after which neither he nor his horse
was seen again. That night, as I sat in the ante-room, the
Marshal passed me, and I observed him through the window standing
and staring to the east exactly as he had done before. For fully
half an hour he remained there, a black shadow in the gloom.
Then he strode in, the door banged, and I heard his spurs and his
scabbard jingling and clanking through the passage. At the best
he was a savage old man, but when he was crossed I had almost as
soon face the Emperor himself. I heard him that night cursing
and stamping above my head, but he did not send for me, and I
knew him too well to go unsought.
Pages:
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138
139