length with him.  The state of things at my country-house did not permit me to be long absent.  I hastened back, therefore, with all possible expedition.  I arrived nearly at the same moment with a French marechal de logis du palais, to whom I was obliged to shew every apartment in the house, and who, to my no small dismay, announced “that the emperor would probably lodge there that night.”  The man, having despatched his errand in great haste, immediately departed.  I communicated the unexpected intelligence to the aid-de-camp of general Pajol, but expressly observed that I had great doubts about it, as the marechal de logis himself had not spoken positively.  The aid-de-camp appeared very uneasy; and, though I strove to convince him that it must be some time before our distinguished guest could arrive, he immediately packed up, and, notwithstanding all my earnest endeavours to detain him, he was gone with his servant in a few minutes.  Seldom have I witnessed such an extraordinary degree of anxiety as this man shewed while preparing for his departure.

The marechal de logis soon returned, and again inspected all the apartments, and even the smallest closets, more minutely than before.  He announced that sa majeste would certainly take up his head-quarters here, and asked for a piece of chalk, to mark each room with the names of the distinguished personages by whom they were to be occupied.  When he had shewn me the apartment destined for the emperor, he desired that a fire might be immediately lighted in it, as his majesty was very fond of warmth.  The bustle soon began; the guards appeared, and occupied the house and all the avenues.  Many officers of rank, with numerous attendants, arrived; and six of the emperor’s cooks were soon busily engaged in the kitchen.  Thus I was soon surrounded on all sides with imperial splendour, and might consider myself for the moment as its centre.  I might possibly have felt no small degree of vanity on the occasion, had I not been every instant reminded that the part which I should have to act would be that of obedience alone.  I heard the beating of drums at a distance, which, as I presently learned, announced that I was shortly to descend into a very subordinate station.  It proclaimed the arrival of the emperor, who came on horseback in a grey surtout.  Behind him rode the duke of Vicenza (Caulincourt), who, since the death of marshal Duroc, has succeeded to his office.  When they had come up to the house, the master of the horse sprung from his steed with a lightness and agility which I should not have expected in such a raw-boned, stiff-looking gentleman, and immediately held that of the emperor.