And thus it was that he came to relate the four pages which served me as the foundation for the three volumes of "The Companions of Jehu," and the anecdote of Euloge Schneider, from which he declared that I would have made at least ten.
"But," he continued, "some day, my friend, you will write them, and if it is true that any part of us survives, I shall rejoice yonder over your success and shall feel that I have had some share in it."
Well, I have written "The Companions of Jehu," and since the great success which it achieved I have been tormented with a desire to write a great romance, entitled "The Whites and the Blues," from what he told me, taking my point of departure for this new book from Nodier's "Episodes de la Révolution," as I did the motive for a former one from his "Réaction Thermidorienne."
But, as I was about to begin, I was seized by a scruple. This time I wished not only to borrow a few pages from him, but to make him assume a rôle in the action of the drama.
Then I wrote to my dear sister, Marie Mennessier, to request her permission to do what I had already done once without her permission; namely, take a graft from the paternal tree to improve my own stock.
This is what she replied:
Anything and everything that you wish, dear brother Alexandre. I deliver my father to you with as much confidence as if he were your own. His memory is in good hands.
Marie Mennessier-Nodier.
From that moment there was nothing more to stop me; and as I had already outlined my plot, I set to work at once.
I therefore offer this publication to-day; but in giving it to the public, I desire to acquit myself of the following duty:
This book is dedicated to my illustrious friend and collaborator,