chief.' 'Let us work together,' they thereupon said mutually; 'let us keep our secret to ourselves, act together, and do our best to obtain the appointment promptly.'"
XIV.
BARRAS'S MOST DEADLY CHARGE.
Barras proceeds to give another scene in which the statements are even more detestable and shocking. His statements amount to this: that Josephine, accompanied by Napoleon, came to see Barras, penetrated into his cabinet, and there invited her own dishonour. And this is followed by the even more atrocious suggestion that Napoleon not only knew, but approved this hideous traffic for the sake of getting the command in Italy. This is the deadliest of all the charges Barras makes against Napoleon; is it true?
I have not a high opinion of the morality of Napoleon, or of any of his family, but I do not believe this charge. It is possible that Josephine was frail—it is the almost universal belief that she was; but I believe the evidence shows that at this moment at least, in his life, Napoleon was really in love with her. I will give later on the love-letters in which Napoleon poured forth from Italy all the passion and tenderness which this woman inspired in him a passion and tenderness largely due, probably, to the fact that she was the first
