"My wishes are not commands . . . to him!"
"No . . . but an opportunity of making himself agreeable to the Emperor by fulfilling them. And Valenglay is too shrewd a politician. . . ."
"Nonsense! Do you imagine that the French government will commit so illegal an act for the sole pleasure of making itself agreeable to me?"
"That pleasure will not be the sole one."
"What will be the other?"
"The pleasure of serving France by accepting the proposal which will accompany the request for my release."
"I am to make a proposal? I?"
"Yes, Sire."
"What proposal?"
"I do not know, but it seems to me that there is always a favorable ground on which to come to an understanding . . . there are possibilities of agreement. . . ."