"But madame," said the emperor, slightly twirling his moustache, "I cannot see how honour can require him madly to bury himself beneath the ruins of a throne that cannot be upheld. Your husband undertook a great and good cause; that it cannot be carried out is the fault, not of himself, but of circumstances,--no one could reproach him."
A bitter smile curved the lips of the empress.
"My husband does not thus regard it," said she, "he will not pass through life as a dethroned prince,--in his opinion a prince who has once ascended a throne should only abandon it with his life."
"The Emperor Maximilian will not drive this opinion, which really does not apply to present circumstances, to extremes," replied Napoleon. "I will send General Castelnau to him, he shall lay before him in my name a full explanation of the circumstances to which I am forced to yield, the emperor will understand them, he will return, and I heartily beg you, madame, to support the general's mission by your persuasions."
A flush passed quickly over the empress's face, her eyes sparkled, her lips quivered, and she said in a hoarse voice:
"The mission will be in vain, and I will never advise my husband to do anything he holds to be at variance with his honour and his noble chivalrous heart."
The emperor slightly bit his lips, his veiled eyes opened for a moment, and a hard, almost an inimical look, flashed upon the empress.
She saw this look, a shudder passed through her, in violent excitement she pressed her hand to her heart, and she said with a deep breath, fixing her burning eyes upon the emperor:
"Sire, it is not a question of my husband's honour alone; to care for this is certainly our own affair, but something else is staked upon this, something that touches your majesty more nearly,--and that is the honour of France."
The emperor gave a cold smile.