“Is Napoleon, then, so liberal a paymaster?”
“Your Majesty!” and in genuine distress the courtier hurried on. “If you would listen, Madame! ’Tis true that Jeanne d’Aumerle has found the surest lever to pry His Highness out of Mexico––”
“So good a lever, that you would use it too, to topple over my throne.”
“Not so, Madame. It’s a cunning lever, yes; but I shall use another fulcrum.”
“Really, monsieur, if I were in the mood for riddles and such pretty trifles, I’d ask you to favor Us with a chansonnette.”
“But this is as plain as day. First, our little intrigante knows that if His Majesty tries for the Austrian throne, he must leave Mexico. That is her lever to move him. But suppose we shift it to my fulcrum. Then, whatever encourages his hopes for Austria, will make him but the more determined to cling to Mexico. For to succeed in Austria, he must triumph first in Mexico. He must prove to Europe that he can reign brilliantly. But if he abandons Mexico, as Jacqueline would persuade him, what of his prestige then? What of his glory to dazzle the Austrians? If Your Majesty would suggest to him this phase––”
“And you, meanwhile in Europe?”
“Oh, I shall find his chances good over there, but conditional on his success here.”
270“Monsieur Éloin, I find that I must congratulate you. More, I even regret that you are going, for I dread that some other will replace you in favor with the Emperor who––”
“Who may not be in accord with our views, Your Majesty would say? But if you will permit, Madame, I believe I know quite a different man. Moreover, he has already made an impression on His Highness, during our brief stay at an hacienda in the Huasteca. Now he is here. I brought him to commend as a future loyal follower.”