The emperor bent his head, took a last whiff from his cigar, and said to his secretary, "Stay near me, I may need you."
Piétri withdrew through the large and heavy portière, which concealed the steps leading to his own room.
Scarcely had the folds of the curtain closed behind him, when Drouyn de Lhuys entered the emperor's cabinet. He looked as calm and grave as ever, and had his portfolio under his arm.
"Good morning, my dear minister," cried Napoleon, rising slowly and holding out his hand, "well, are you satisfied with the course of events, and the position which the policy of waiting has procured for us?"
"Not entirely, sire," replied Drouyn de Lhuys gravely and quietly. A cloud passed over the emperor's brow. Then he said in a friendly voice,--
"You are an incorrigible pessimist, my dear minister; what could you require more? Are we not at this moment the umpire of Europe?"
"An umpire, sire," said Drouyn de Lhuys inexorably, "who does not yet know whether the contending parties will accept his award. The best umpire is he who throws his sword into the balance, of which Brennus the ancestor of the Gauls has given us an example."
"I might be listening to the most fiery of my marshals, and not to my Secretary of State and of Foreign Affairs," said the emperor, laughing, "but to speak gravely, why are you not satisfied? I know that we have before us many involved and difficult negotiations, but," he added courteously, "can that alarm you, the experienced statesman, so capable of finding Ariadne's clue in all such labyrinths? I believe that we have won the game if we can only bring matters upon the field of long negotiations. Sudden events are what I most fear. They exclude logic, combination, and the weapons of the mind."
Drouyn de Lhuys was silent for a moment, and his eyes rested on the emperor's face, so much more animated than usual.
"I know," he then said, "that your majesty loves to tie Gordian knots, but you forget that we have to do with a man who is apt to hew through such works of art with his sword, and who has a very sharp sword in his hand!"