So Henri fetched Rougeard, who listened to a little speech from Madame de Salgues, had his hand shaken by Madame de Talmont and Clémence, and emptied a brimming goblet of champagne poured out for him by Emile. As he gave back the goblet, he bent forward and whispered a word or two, which made the lad--unused as he was to self-control--utter an involuntary cry of amazement, and drop the glass upon the ground. Of course every one started and looked at him; and Madame de Salgues asked in alarm, “What is the matter?” “Nothing,” said Emile in confusion, stooping to collect the fragments of the broken glass. “Nothing indeed,” repeated the terrible Stéphanie. “You need not be alarmed, madame; I heard every word he said, and it was only this, ‘_The little corporal has come back_.’ M. Emile, who is the little corporal?” Well might she ask the question, for “all faces gathered blackness.” The party of friends, just before so glad and gay, looked as if a shell had suddenly burst amongst them. M. de Sartines was the first to find a voice. “Garde,” he said, turning solemnly to Rougeard, “since you have spoken these words you are bound to explain them. I daresay it is mere rumour,” he added, addressing the ladies. For a moment Rougeard stood irresolute. He had come to impart his tidings to Emile, whom he knew already as an ardent Buonapartist, ready to venture his life in the good cause; but to proclaim them in the midst of a circle of Royalists had been far from his intention. However, he soon recovered his composure. To-morrow all Paris would know the truth; what did it matter about a few hours? With a simple dignity which was not unbecoming, he answered M. de Sartines, “I have the honour, monsieur, to belong to the Old Guard, therefore I have heard to-day what you will all hear to-morrow. The Emperor has set his foot once more upon the soil of France. He has landed near Fréjus, in the Gulf of St. Juan.” “Then by this time he is a prisoner, if he is not shot, or hanged upon the nearest tree,” said De Cranfort; while Emile sprang to his feet, and shouted, “Vive Napoléon!” “If my grandson cannot behave at my table like a gentleman, I will thank him to leave it,” said Madame de Salgues with a sternness that amazed every one, and was not without its effect upon Emile, who was accustomed to nothing from her but extreme indulgence. Ivan, though his own thoughts were sufficiently sorrowful, felt a compassion for the boy, and a dread, not altogether groundless, of what he might be tempted to do if provoked. Turning to his hostess, near whom he sat, he said to her, unheard by the others, “Madame, I pray of you do not be hard with him. Do not let him leave us in this way. His exclamation was natural. I should certainly have done the same had I heard the Czar was coming.” Cranfort caught the last words, and said with petulance, “It is all his fault.”