Piétri rose as soon as he heard the portière withdrawn and the foot on the stairs, and remained standing before the writing-table.
Hansen followed his example.
The emperor slowly descended the steps. It was not the form represented in the life-size portrait; the hand placed commandingly upon the crown and sceptre of France, proudly draped in the imperial mantle, which well became the graceful, slender figure.
It was an old man who descended the stairs; embonpoint had destroyed the elegance of his figure, illness and pain made his carriage feeble and uncertain, his grey hair no longer thickly surrounded his brow, but fell in thin locks over his temples, and his eyes, in former times often veiled though capable of stormy flashes, now looked dull and wearied.
The emperor, dressed in a plain black morning coat, and smoking a cigarette, the strong and excellent aroma of which preceded him in a light blue cloud, carefully descended the stairs, and entered the cabinet.
He walked slowly, with the heaviness of later years.
He stopped before his secretary, gave him a peculiar look from the veiled shadows of his eyes, and bowed low to Hansen. He seemed to scan him completely in a quick momentary examination, and he then turned his head to Piétri, with a slight expression of inquiry.
"Sire," said Piétri, "Monsieur Hansen, a Dane who is completely devoted to his country, and who has also done us good service, for as a Dane he loves France; he has travelled through Germany, seen many personages, and was about to tell me the result of his observations."
The emperor again bowed to Hansen; the amiable and charming kindness with which he could at will exercise a magic influence, shed a glow like sunshine over the weary indifference of his face.
"I know," he said, in his low but clear and penetrating voice, which expressed in a masterly way the finest shades of feeling, "I know that all Danes love their country, and for that reason they have warm hearts for France, their country's friend. Your name is known to me, sir, as that of a man distinguished for his burning and active patriotism, even in so patriotic a country as Denmark."