CHAPTER XXI
FINANCING THE EMPEROR AND “THE CAUSE”
Comte de La Chapelle’s Letters to Napoleon III.[144]
The “Subscription” Assured.
To His Majesty the Emperor.
Undated.
Sire,
I do not know how to express to your Majesty how grieved I am because of the mishap which has occurred, and of which I am the involuntary cause.
Mr. ——, instead of going to Cowes on Friday, as had been arranged, was obliged to spend the day in the City, and he sent word to me in the evening to inquire whether he might present himself before your Majesty on the following day, and whether I could accompany him. As for me, believing that he was going away, and thinking that I had two or three days’ time, I went to Belgium, and only returned yesterday evening.
As Mr. —— did not find me, he thought that he ought to wait for me, and it was only this morning that I was able to get this explanation. He is annoyed to think that your Majesty waited for him. He again repeated to me what he had intended to say himself to your Majesty on the subject of the subscription. He only requires a few more days to complete his business connected with the railways. “And then,” he said, “I shall carry out my promises to a large extent, and you can, in presenting my humble respects and excuses to the Emperor, give the assurance to His Majesty that I and my friends ...” [The concluding words are undecipherable.]
(Signed) A. de La Chapelle.