He was interrupted in his reverie by an officer bringing in the despatches from London which had just arrived, and he sent word by the officer to have Minister Marbois sent to him immediately.
It was only a few moments until the return of my uncle, but in the interval I could see that Bonaparte was glancing through the despatches with such lightning rapidity that to me, for whom all reading is slow work, it seemed impossible he should have grasped their meaning. As Monsieur Marbois entered the apartment Bonaparte greeted him.
"Citizen Minister," he said, "the despatches from London have arrived. Have you seen them?"
"I was just reading them," replied my uncle, "when you sent for me."
"Did you see that England is preparing for war? That both naval and military preparations are going forward with extraordinary rapidity?"
"Yes," said the minister, "so I understand."
"Perhaps you saw, too, that in the American Congress Mr. Ross proposed that the President should raise fifty thousand troops and capture New Orleans?"
"Yes," repeated my uncle, "I saw it, and I regret greatly that any cause of difference should arise between our countries."
The Consul sprang to his feet and resumed his rapid striding up and down the room without uttering a word for full two minutes, but with a deep frown between his eyes, as I could see whenever he faced me in his hurried pacing to and fro.
Suddenly he stopped and turned to my uncle.