The Man of Destiny

General. Giuseppe and the Lieutenant recoil from Napoleon. General: open your coat: you will find the despatches in the breast of it. She puts her hand quickly on his breast. Yes: there they are: I can feel them. Eh? She looks up into his face half coaxingly, half mockingly. Will you allow me, General? She takes a button as if to unbutton his coat, and pauses for permission. Napoleon Inscrutably. If you dare. Lady Thank you. She opens his coat and takes out the despatches. There! To Giuseppe, showing him the despatches. See! Giuseppe Flying to the outer door. No, in heaven’s name! They’re bewitched. Lady Turning to the Lieutenant. Here, Lieutenant: you’re not afraid of them. Lieutenant Retreating. Keep off. Seizing the hilt of the sabre. Keep off, I tell you. Lady To Napoleon. They belong to you, General. Take them. Giuseppe Don’t touch them, excellency. Have nothing to do with them. Lieutenant Be careful, General: be careful. Giuseppe Burn them. And burn the witch, too. Lady To Napoleon. Shall I burn them? Napoleon Thoughtfully. Yes, burn them. Giuseppe: go and fetch a light. Giuseppe Trembling and stammering. Do you mean go alone⁠—in the dark⁠—with a witch in the house? Napoleon Psha! You’re a poltroon. To the Lieutenant. Oblige me by going, Lieutenant. Lieutenant Remonstrating. Oh, I say, General! No, look here, you know: nobody can say I’m a coward after Lodi. But to ask me to go into the dark by myself without a candle after such an awful conversation is a little too much. How would you like to do it yourself? Napoleon Irritably. You refuse to obey my order? Lieutenant Resolutely. Yes, I do. It’s not reasonable. But I’ll tell you what I’ll do. If Giuseppe goes, I’ll go with him and protect him. Napoleon To Giuseppe. There! will that satisfy you? Be off, both of you. Giuseppe Humbly, his lips trembling. W⁠—willingly, your excellency. He goes reluctantly towards the inner door. Heaven protect me! To the lieutenant. After you, Lieutenant. Lieutenant You’d better go first: I don’t know the way. Giuseppe You can’t miss it. Besides imploringly, laying his hand on his sleeve, I am only a poor innkeeper; and you are a man of family. Lieutenant There’s something in that. Here: you needn’t be in such a fright. Take my arm. Giuseppe does so. That’s the way. They go out, arm in arm. It is now starry night. The lady throws the packet on the table and seats herself at her ease on the couch enjoying the sensation of freedom from petticoats. Lady Well, General: I’ve beaten you. Napoleon Walking about. You have been guilty of indelicacy⁠—of unwomanliness. Do you consider that costume a proper one to wear? Lady It seems to me much the same as yours. Napoleon Psha! I blush for you. Lady Naively. Yes: soldiers blush so easily! He growls and turns away. She looks mischievously at him, balancing the despatches in her hand. Wouldn’t you like to read these before they’re burnt, General? You must be dying with curiosity. Take a peep. She throws the packet on the table, and turns her face away from it. I won’t look. Napoleon I have no curiosity whatever, madame. But since you are evidently burning to read them, I give you leave to do so. Lady Oh, I’ve read them already. Napoleon Starting. What! Lady I read them the first thing after I rode away on that poor lieutenant’s horse. So you see I know what’s in them; and you don’t. Napoleon Excuse me: I read them there in the vineyard ten minutes ago. Lady Oh! Jumping up. Oh, General I’ve not beaten you. I do admire you so. He laughs and pats her cheek. This time really and truly without shamming, I do you homage. Kissing his hand. Napoleon Quickly withdrawing it. Brr! Don’t do that. No more witchcraft. Lady I want to say something to you⁠—only you would misunderstand it. Napoleon Need that stop you? Lady Well, it is this. I adore a man who is not afraid to be mean and selfish. Napoleon Indignantly. I am neither mean nor selfish. Lady Oh, you don’t appreciate yourself. Besides, I don’t really mean meanness and selfishness. Napoleon Thank you. I thought perhaps you did. Lady Well, of course I do. But what I mean is a certain strong simplicity about you. Napoleon That’s better. Lady You didn’t want to read the letters; but you were curious about what was in them. So you went into the garden and read them when no one was looking, and then came back and pretended you hadn’t. That’s the meanest thing I ever knew any man do; but it exactly fulfilled your purpose; and so you weren’t a bit afraid or ashamed to do it. Napoleon Abruptly. Where did you pick up all these vulgar scruples⁠—this with contemptuous emphasis conscience of yours? I took you for a lady⁠—an aristocrat. Was your grandfather a shopkeeper, pray? Lady No: he was an Englishman. Napoleon That accounts for it. The English are a nation of shopkeepers. Now I understand why you’ve beaten me. Lady Oh, I haven’t beaten you. And I’m not English. Napoleon Yes, you are⁠—English to the backbone. Listen to me: I will explain the English to you. Lady Eagerly. Do. With a lively air of anticipating an intellectual treat, she sits down on the couch and composes herself to listen to him. Secure of his audience, he at once nerves himself for a performance. He considers a little before he begins; so as to fix her attention by a moment of suspense. His style is at first modelled on Talma’s in Corneille’s Cinna; but it is somewhat lost in the darkness, and Talma presently gives way to Napoleon, the voice coming through the gloom with startling intensity. Napoleon There are three sorts of people in the world, the low people, the middle people, and the high people. The low people and