In time, I became almost like a private secretary to him. I
lived in a dream for years; for I had poetry, novels, paintings, music,
at my hand all the time, and the Prince, at the end, changed greatly, was
affectionate indeed, and said he would do good things for me. I became
familiar with all the intrigues, the designs of the Bonapartes; and what
I did not know was told me by Prince Pierre, who was near my own age,
and who used me always more like a friend than a servant.
"One day the Prince was visited by Count Bertrand, who was with the
Emperor in his exile, and I heard him speak of a thing unknown to
history: that Napoleon had a son, born at St. Helena, by a countess well
known in Europe. She had landed, disguised as a sailor, from a merchant-
ship, and had lived in retirement at Longwood for near a year. After the
Emperor died, the thing was discovered, but the governor of the island
made no report of it to the British Government, for the event would have
reflected on himself; and the returned exiles kept the matter a secret.
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