Charles, Henri, and Marie supped together, and the accomplished Prince of Béarn made the famous anagram from the letters of the lady’s name, “Je charme tout,” which Charles declared he would present to her worked in diamonds, and that it should be her motto.
History does not state that he did so, but no doubt that was a detail which the chroniclers have overlooked, or, of course, it may have been an interpolation of Dumas’.
Dumas’ pen-pictures of the great Napoleon—whom he referred to as “The Ogre of Corsica”—will hardly please the great Corsican’s admirers, though it is in no manner contemptuous. The following is from “The Count of Monte Cristo”:
“‘Monsieur,’ said the baron to the count, ‘all the servants of his Majesty must approve of the latest intelligence which we have from the island of Elba. Bonaparte—’ M. Dandré looked at Louis XVIII., who, employed in writing a note, did not even raise his head. ‘Bonaparte,’ continued the baron, ‘is mortally wearied, and passes whole days in watching his miners at work at Porto-Longone.’
“‘And scratches himself for amusement,’ added the king.
“‘Scratches himself?’ inquired the count. ‘What does your Majesty mean?’
“‘Yes, indeed, my dear count. Did you forget that this great man, this hero, this demigod, is attacked with a malady of the skin which worries him to death, prurigo?’
“‘And, moreover, M. le Comte,’ continued the minister of police, ‘we are almost assured that, in a very short time, the usurper will be insane.’
“‘Insane?’