"Is a letter from the empress among them?" asked Napoleon, hastily.
"Yes, sire."
The emperor had already found it, and, throwing the others upon the
table, he hastily opened the one from his wife and read it. His
face, which until then had been so stern and gloomy, gradually
assumed a milder and kindlier expression.
"Ah, dear Louisa," he said, when he had read it, "how affectionately
she writes, how she is yearning for me, and how well she knows how
to tell me of the King of Rome, who is constantly inquiring for his
father, and every night, when he goes to bed, calls aloud, 'Dear
papa emperor come back soon!'"
"A call, sire, in which, I am satisfied, all France joins," said
Maret, quickly.
"Ah!" exclaimed the emperor, contemptuously shrugging his shoulders,
"I know well that France--that even my marshals join in it, not from
any devotion to myself, but because they want peace. The little King
of Rome, however, is longing for me, and the empress, too, is
wishing for my return, without caring much whether there is war or
peace. These two love me! Ah, what a happy family would we three be
if a lasting peace could be established! I am tired of war; like all
of you, I am yearning to return home, and to enjoy a little the
fruits of our numerous victories."
"Sire," said Maret, in a low, entreating voice, "it is easy for your
majesty to do so, and to restore peace to Europe.
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