"I am a little deaf on one side," said I, coldly. "There are some things which I cannot hear. I beg that you will permit me to return to my duties."
"Nay, but you must not be headstrong," rising up and laying his hand upon my shoulder. "You are aware that the Senate has declared against Napoleon, and that the Emperor Alexander refuses to treat with him."
"Sir," I cried, with passion, "I would have you know that I do not care the dregs of a wine-glass for the Senate or for the Emperor Alexander either."
"Then for what do you care?"
"For my own honour and for the service of my glorious master, the Emperor Napoleon."
"That is all very well," said Berthier, peevishly, shrugging his shoulders. "Facts are facts, and as men of the world, we must look them in the face. Are we to stand against the will of the nation? Are we to have civil war on the top of all our misfortunes? And, besides, we are thinning away. Every hour comes the news of fresh desertions. We have still time to make our peace, and, indeed, to earn the highest regard, by giving up the Emperor."
I shook so with passion that my sabre clattered against my thigh.
