“Yes,” replied Bonaparte, dreamily, “everything went off nicely, didn’t it?”
“Wonderfully well.”
“I saw you standing near Madame Bonaparte at the ground-floor window of the Pavilion of Flora.”
“I saw you, too, general; you were reading the inscription on the arch of the Carrousel.”
“Yes,” said Bonaparte, “‘August 10,1792. Royalty is abolished in France, and shall never rise again.’”
“Shall I have it removed?” asked Bourrienne.
“Useless,” replied the First Consul, “it will fall of itself.” Then, with a sigh, he added: “Bourrienne, do you know whom I missed to-day?”
“No, general.”
“Roland. What the devil is he doing that he doesn’t give me any news of himself?”
We are about to see what Roland was doing.