"But madame," said the emperor, slightly twirling his moustache, "I cannot see how honour can require him madly to bury himself beneath the ruins of a throne that cannot be upheld. Your husband undertook a great and good cause; that it cannot be carried out is the fault, not of himself, but of circumstances,--no one could reproach him." A bitter smile curved the lips of the empress. "My husband does not thus regard it," said she, "he will not pass through life as a dethroned prince,--in his opinion a prince who has once ascended a throne should only abandon it with his life." "The Emperor Maximilian will not drive this opinion, which really does not apply to present circumstances, to extremes," replied Napoleon. "I will send General Castelnau to him, he shall lay before him in my name a full explanation of the circumstances to which I am forced to yield, the emperor will understand them, he will return, and I heartily beg you, madame, to support the general's mission by your persuasions." A flush passed quickly over the empress's face, her eyes sparkled, her lips quivered, and she said in a hoarse voice: "The mission will be in vain, and I will never advise my husband to do anything he holds to be at variance with his honour and his noble chivalrous heart." The emperor slightly bit his lips, his veiled eyes opened for a moment, and a hard, almost an inimical look, flashed upon the empress. She saw this look, a shudder passed through her, in violent excitement she pressed her hand to her heart, and she said with a deep breath, fixing her burning eyes upon the emperor: "Sire, it is not a question of my husband's honour alone; to care for this is certainly our own affair, but something else is staked upon this, something that touches your majesty more nearly,--and that is the honour of France." The emperor gave a cold smile. "My armies only withdraw from Mexico at my command, and they bring rich laurels with them," he said. "Laurels?" cried the empress with flashing eyes, "yes, the soldiers who have bravely fought bring laurels with them, and laurels grow on the graves of the fallen, but the banners of France, who now desert the throne raised by France's emperor, the prince who went thither at the call of France, and who is rewarded by humiliation and desertion,--these banners should be veiled in crape, for they have forsaken France's honour! Oh! sire," she exclaimed, restraining herself with a great effort, "I beg you once more--I conjure you--recall your hard decision!" The emperor's brow wore a gloomy frown, an icy smile was on his lips. "Madame," he said, "your majesty will allow that I am the best, the only competent judge of what the honour of France demands." The eyes of the empress flashed, a look of proud contempt appeared on her face.