"Ah, you are hungry, then? You would like to dine?"
"Sire, I believe all the gentlemen entertain the same desire. None of us have tasted food for eight hours."
"Eight hours, and you are already hungry again? Truly, this German air exerts a bad effect upon my brave marshals. Like the Germans, you want to eat all the time. Well, let it so be; as we are in Germany, I will comply with your wishes. Let us dine, therefore, and afterward go to the country-palace of Frederick II. Be kind enough to issue your orders, grand-marshal. Let the horses be ready; we shall set out as soon as we have dined. Tell Roustan to come to me!"
Napoleon was now again the sovereign, and it was in this capacity that he dismissed Duroc, who left the room with a respectful bow. Roustan, who had already heard the order in the anteroom, glided past him, to assist Constant in the emperor's toilet.
[CHAPTER IX.]
SANS-SOUCI.
Duroc hastened once more through the rooms and halls to the corridor, where the palace-steward came to meet him.
"Dinner is ready, grand marshal," he said.
"And have you set another table in the adjoining room?"