"He called his mistress Madame la Princesse de Chimay!"
"Then he deserves his punishment: his mistress is not called the Princesse de Chimay, she is called citizen Tallien."
On another occasion—this, too, happened at table—one place remained empty. The guest who was late was the famous Royalist agent with whom you are acquainted, Fauche-Borel, who, six months later, was reduced to misery by the ingratitude of the Bourbons, and committed suicide by throwing himself from a window at Neuchâtel. He was very intimate at Barras's house and it was said that it was through his mediation that the abortive negotiations were entered into in 1792 between the Bourbons and the old dictator. Well! Fauche-Borel was late: he arrived at the roast course, with tear-stained face, holding his handkerchief in his hands.
"Ah! here you are, my dear Fauche-Borel," Barras exclaimed. "Why are you so late as this?"
"Ah! citizen-general, rather ask why I am so upset."
"Well, my dear fellow, what is the matter?"
"Oh, general, I have seen the most touching, the most moving, the most instructive spectacle ... I have just come from the Tuileries ..."
"Ah! ah!—and was it there you saw this touching, moving, instructive scene? You were very lucky, my friend, to have managed to fall on your feet! Come, tell us what you saw, so that we too may be moved and softened and edified."
"Well, citizen-general, M. le Duc de Bordeaux spilt some water on the floor of the great salon where he was playing."
"Really!"