The Emperor, a step behind Cartouche, fixed his eyes on Duvernet. No use was it for Cartouche to refrain from mentioning who his first guest was. Duvernet turned quite green, his jaw fell, and he backed up against the wall.
“My God!” he murmured. “The toga is a regular rag!” and mopped his brow frantically.
The Emperor evidently enjoyed the poor manager’s predicament, and pushing back his hat, revealed himself so there was no mistaking him. Duvernet could only mutter, in an agony:
“My God! The Emperor! My God! The toga!”
“Duvernet,” said Cartouche, shaking him, “you behave as if you were drunk.”
“Perhaps I am—oh, I must be,” replied Duvernet, continuing to mop his brow.
“Come, Duvernet,” said the Emperor, laughing, “never mind about the toga. I am not going to eat you. I came to see my old acquaintance, Cartouche, whom I have known ever since we met at the end of a bridge on the tenth of May, 1796. And, although I have enough money to pay for myself and my two friends, I accept Cartouche’s invitation to see the performance as his guests. He has promised us the one-franc seats—don’t forget, Cartouche—nothing under a franc.”
“Certainly, Sire,” replied Cartouche. “But if Duvernet doesn’t come to himself, I don’t know whether we can have any performance or not; because he is the Roman senator in our play to-night—a tragedy composed by Monsieur Duvernet himself.”
Duvernet, at this, brought his wits together after a fashion, and escorted the party within the theater, and gave them franc seats as promised. It was then time for Cartouche to go and dress, but Duvernet, not having to appear as the Roman senator until the second act, could remain some time still with his guests.
Afterward Duvernet said that in the half-hour which followed, the Emperor found out all about theaters of the class of Duvernet’s, rent, lighting, wages, and told him more than he had ever known before about his own business. But Duvernet was in no way reassured, and his complexion was yet green, when Cartouche, peeping through a hole in the curtain, saw him still talking to the Emperor—or rather answering the Emperor’s questions.