"I do not believe it," replied the general gravely; "according to all that I have seen and heard here, the emperor is quite determined to withdraw quickly and definitely from the whole affair. If his majesty the Emperor Maximilian wishes to maintain his throne, (which I ardently desire for the sake of an unhappy country robbed by one adventurer after another)--he must not rely on France--he must find supporters in the country itself. Before all, he must endeavour to win back the firmest and mightiest support, which he has lost--the Church and the clergy; they will procure him both money and soldiers. Not here," added the general, "is help to be found; if your majesty takes my advice you will go to Rome--the pope alone can restore to the emperor the mighty power of the Mexican clergy--certainly he would require conditions, but quick action is needful, before it is too late," he added in a gloomy voice.
"Oh!" cried the empress, standing up and walking up and down the room with hasty footsteps, "oh! that my noble, unhappy husband should have listened to the enticing words of that fiend, whom men call Napoleon; that he should have forsaken our beautiful Miramar, to hurl himself into this abyss, in which we sink deeper and deeper. If you knew," she cried, with sparkling eyes, as she stood still before the general, "how I entreated him, this man--he went to St.-Cloud, to avoid me," she cried, speaking quicker and with still greater excitement; "I followed him there, I pressed myself upon him, I begged and implored him, I repressed all the anger in my heart, I prayed to him as we pray to God, I threw myself at his feet, I, the grand-daughter of Louis Philippe, threw myself at the feet of the son of that Hortense--oh! my God!"
She sank back exhausted on the sofa.
"And what did the emperor reply?" asked the general, looking with deep compassion at the unhappy lady, whose diadem weighed so heavily upon her brow.
"Nothing," sighed the empress; "phrases of regret, cold words of comfort, which sounded like scorn from his mouth. General," she cried, rising suddenly, and fixing a tragic look upon him, "general, I fear that my reason will give way. So much sorrow no human soul can bear, so many tears no eyes can shed, without falling a prey to the powers of darkness. At night," she cried, gazing into space as if her mind pursued a vision, "at night, if after long tearful watching an uneasy slumber falls upon me, I see him creep up towards me, this demon--this demon brought forth by hell; he holds out a goblet, green flames dart from it! I shudder to my heart's core, but he holds the goblet to my lips, the flames beat on my brow with frightful pain; I must quaff,--quaff the terrible drink he offers me, and this drink is blood!--the blood of my husband!" she cried, shrieking aloud, and stretching out her hands with a movement of convulsive horror.
"Your majesty! for God's sake, calm yourself!" cried the general, dismayed.
A sound was heard in the antechamber.
A lacquey entered.
"His majesty the emperor has just driven into the porte cochère," he cried, and threw open the folding door leading to the anteroom.
The Empress Charlotte rose quickly. She passed her handkerchief across her brow, the bewildered look vanished from her features, and she said with a calm and sorrowful smile: