Then the Prince said, "Count Nigra and I are here to put ourselves entirely at your Majesty's service."
The Empress thanked them and said: "What do you think best for me to do?
You see how helpless I am."
The Prince answered that, according to their judgment, the wisest thing for her Majesty to do would be to leave Paris at once, and added that his carriage was there and she could make use of it.
She then put on her hat and cloak and said, "I am ready to follow you."
They went through the Pavilion de Flore and through the Galerie du Louvre until they reached a small door leading out on to the quay, where the two coupes were waiting. The Prince had already thought of one or two friends to whom the Empress could go and remain until they joined her, to help her to devise some means for leaving Paris. He said that during the long walk through the gallery the Empress remained calm and self-possessed, though one could see that she was suffering intensely.
They reached the quay without hindrance and found the carriages. The
Prince opened the door of his and gave his orders to his coachman; but the
Empress suddenly refused, saying that she preferred to go in a cab, and
begged them not to follow her.
There was a cab-stand directly opposite where they stood. They hailed one, and she and Madame Le Breton were about to get in when a little boy cried out, "Voilà l'Impératrice!" Count Nigra, quick as thought, turned on the boy and said in a loud voice, "Comment! tu cries 'Vive la Prusse!" and boxed his ears, so that attention should be diverted from the Empress.
The Prince gave the names of the streets and the numbers of the houses to the cabman where he had proposed to the Empress to go, and the ladies drove away.
"Did you not follow her?" I asked.
"Yes" he answered. "In spite of the Empress's wishes, after allowing enough time for her to get well on her way, we drove to the two addresses given, but did not find her at either of them. We could not imagine what had happened to her."