Whether he was strangled at the instigation of Napoleon, as has been asserted by some historians, is not clear; but Charlotte Brontë apparently believed in Napoleon’s guilt, and in the story causes the ghost of his victim to haunt him.
C. W. H.
NAPOLEON AND THE SPECTRE
Well, as I was saying, the Emperor got into bed.
‘Chevalier,’ says he to his valet, ‘let down those window-curtains, and shut the casement before you leave the room.’
Chevalier did as he was told, and then, taking up his candlestick, departed.
In a few minutes the Emperor felt his pillow becoming rather hard, and he got up to shake it. As he did so a slight rustling noise was heard near the bed-head. His Majesty listened, but all was silent as he lay down again.
Scarcely had he settled into a peaceful attitude of repose, when he was disturbed by a sensation of thirst. Lifting himself on his elbow, he took a glass of lemonade from the small stand which was placed beside him. He refreshed himself by a deep draught. As he returned the goblet to its station a deep groan burst from a kind of closet in one corner of the apartment.
‘Who’s there?’ cried the Emperor, seizing his pistols. ‘Speak, or I’ll blow your brains out.’
This threat produced no other effect than a short, sharp laugh, and a dead silence followed.