I with my splendid mare was soon able to get clear of the throng,
and just after I passed Genappe I overtook the Emperor with the
remains of his Staff. Soult was with him still, and so were
Drouot, Lobau, and Bertrand, with five Chasseurs of the Guard,
their horses hardly able to move.
The night was falling, and the Emperor's haggard face gleamed
white through the gloom as he turned it toward me.
"Who is that?" he asked.
"It is Colonel Gerard," said Soult.
"Have you seen Marshal Grouchy?"
"No, Sire. The Prussians were between."
"It does not matter. Nothing matters now. Soult, I will go
back."
He tried to turn his horse, but Bertrand seized his bridle. "Ah,
Sire," said Soult, "the enemy has had good fortune enough
already." They forced him on among them. He rode in silence
with his chin upon his breast, the greatest and the saddest of
men. Far away behind us those remorseless guns were still
roaring. Sometimes out of the darkness would come shrieks and
screams and the low thunder of galloping hoofs.
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