‘No, no, there’s an end of my illusions; everything warns me of the years accumulating behind me. I am no longer considered good for anything. In days gone by, at Versailles, I was consulted on this, that, and the other, on balls, fêtes, theatres, and so forth. At present my advice is dispensed with. My time is past, _my world_ is dead. You’ll tell me that no man is a prophet in his own country. A company of comedians has invaded the stage to drive me from it, or to hiss should I persist in remaining. My prophecies miss fire on account of the prophet’s age. Tell me honestly, what is the worth of young men nowadays to justify the world in lavishing its favours on them? Envy has never entered my heart until this moment.’ Then he harked back to his past, impelled by the kind of melancholy pleasure we all experience in retracing our road through life, even if it is beset with thorns. ‘I had an intense admiration and passionate love for the science of warfare,’ he added, ‘and I may safely say that from the day I joined the regiment of dragoons from Ligne, I have won all my grades at the point of my sword. That science has been the occupation of my life; my labours have gained me many sterling friends. As a soldier and as a general I have done my duty.’ ‘History will forget neither the taking of Belgrade nor the battle of Maxen, and your glorious share in both. It will also remember the brilliant welcome you received at Versailles when Maria-Theresa sent you thither bearing the news.’ ‘Yes, these are memories of which no one will be able to deprive me, and henceforth I’ll exclusively wrap myself up in them. When the body threatens ruin, memory alone supports the structure, but merely as a hint of our being still alive. To my last moments, as a compensation for the vicissitudes of my own existence I shall be proud of having been on terms of intimate friendship with men upon whom the eyes of the universe were fixed. I may confess to having always been fond of glory; indifference to it is a mere pretence. Well, every succeeding day I become more and more convinced of the emptiness of what people conventionally call celebrity.’ Then he drifted to the happy moments of his life.