"He boasts," he said to me, "of having a second time put back the crown on my head, and he threatens to go back again to Germany: what do you think of that, Monsieur de Chateaubriand?"
I replied:
"Your Majesty must have been misinformed; M. de Talleyrand is only tired. If the King consents, I will return to see the minister."
The King appeared gratified; what he liked least was worries; he longed for his repose, even at the expense of his affections.
M. de Talleyrand, in the midst of his flatterers, was more arrogant than ever. I represented to him that, at so critical a moment, he could not dream of going away. Pozzo preached at him in the same sense: although he had not the slightest inclination for him, he liked, at that moment, to see him at the head of affairs, as an old acquaintance; besides, he believed him to be in favour with the Tsar. I made no headway on M. de Talleyrand's mind, the prince's familiars fought against me; even M. Mounier thought that M. de Talleyrand ought to retire. The Abbé Louis, who snapped at everybody, said to me, shaking his jaw three times: "If I were the prince, I should not remain a quarter of an hour at Mons."
I answered:
"Monsieur l'abbé, you and I can go where we please, no one will notice us; it is different with M. de Talleyrand."
I insisted again and said to the prince:
"Do you know that the King is continuing his journey?"
M. de Talleyrand appeared surprised, and then said to me, loftily, as did the Balafré to those who wished to put him on his guard against the designs of Henry III.: