No; it was no soldier, but a priest. I
wondered what such a man could be doing there at two in the
morning. Was he French or English? If he were one of the
household I might take him into my confidence. If he were
English he might ruin all my plans.
I crept a little nearer still, and at that moment he entered the
house, a flood of light pouring out through the open door. All
was clear for me now and I understood that not an instant was to
be lost. Bending myself double I ran swiftly forward to the
lighted window.
Raising my head I peeped through, and there was the Emperor lying
dead before me.
My friends, I fell down upon the gravel walk as senseless as if a
bullet had passed through my brain. So great was the shock that
I wonder that I survived it.
And yet in half an hour I had staggered to my feet again,
shivering in every limb, my teeth chattering, and there I stood
staring with the eyes of a maniac into that room of death.
He lay upon a bier in the centre of the chamber, calm, composed,
majestic, his face full of that reserve power which lightened our
hearts upon the day of battle.
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