"Oh, sire, how I wanted to do it, but my brother would not let me!"
"Ah, Mees Betsy," and Napoleon pinched her ear, "tu commences à etre sage. Here, O'Meara, have you brought the fan I promised Miss Betsy?"
"No, sire, there were none pretty enough for her in Solomon's shop."
Betsy's face grew serious.
"Do not look sad," expostulated Napoleon. "You shall have something prettier than a fan;" and Betsy, comprehending, wondered what the present would be that he evidently intended to give her.
In a few days a package came to The Briars, addressed to Betsy. Opening it, she saw a ring of brilliants, forming the letter N, surmounted by a small eagle.
This was a wonderful gift for a little girl, and at first she could hardly believe that it was for her. Later she found there was no mistake. It was really hers, and she kept it always.
Although Betsy was not permitted to carry out Napoleon's proposed plan of revenge on the tale-telling Marquis, she expressed her feelings in a way of her own by relating to Napoleon an anecdote about him.
"The Marquis," she said, "is extremely fond of cauliflower, a vegetable that is very hard to get here on the island. Well, the other day, he dined with us and we had the most delicious cauliflower. Somehow he didn't see it until it was being removed and then he cried to his aide-de-camp, who had neglected to point it out, 'Bête, pourquoi-ne m'a tu pas dit qu'il-y-avait des choux fleurs?' ['Idiot, why didn't you tell me that there was cauliflower?'] Now, wasn't he greedy?" asked Betsy, glad enough to have a story to tell that placed the Marquis at a disadvantage.
The Marquis de Montchenu, for whom Betsy had professed this dislike, was one of the three Commissioners sent by the Allied Powers to keep watch on Napoleon. The other two were the Baron Sturmer, representing Austria, and Count Balmain, sent by Russia. While England provided the prison and jailer for Napoleon, these Commissioners were asked to observe everything and report to their respective countries. France and Austria had ordered their Commissioners to see Napoleon in their official capacity every day in order to assure themselves that he was actually alive. Baron Balmain was instructed by Russia neither to seek nor avoid an occasion to see him. To describe the vain efforts of the French and Austrian Commissioners to see Napoleon would make an entertaining story. Napoleon's orders to his household were not to admit any one presenting a pass from the British authorities. But as Sir Hudson Lowe would permit no one to go to Longwood without a pass from him, those who wished to see Napoleon were in a dilemma.