The King of Rome. Charles Desnoyer

DE RHEINFELD:

      I confess I am deeply moved.

      ABBÉ ORSINI:

      Moved! Moved! See here, Baron, you would get a saint damned!

      BARON DE RHEINFELD:

      What do you want, my pious friend? It’s stronger than I am. It’s much stronger— (a cannon shot interrupts his thought) than I am!

      ALL:

      (with great emotion) Twenty-one!

      (A great silence.)

      ALL:

      Nothing more.

      MICHEL LAMBERT:

      Nothing more. We’ve counted wrong, that’s certain.

      ABBÉ ORSINI:

      (overwhelmed with joy) Well, you see, Baron, it’s a girl!

      BARON DE RHEINFELD:

      It’s a girl. I’ll have my key.

      ABBÉ ORSINI:

      I get my hat. Your health, Chamberlain.

      BARON DE RHEINFELD:

      Your health, Cardinal.

      (A cannon shot, much louder than all that preceded it.)

      ABBÉ AND BARON:

      (stupefied) Huh!

      MICHEL LAMBERT:

      Come on; I really knew it was coming.

      USHER:

      (announcing) The Emperor!

      NAPOLEON:

      (entering) Well! Gentlemen, we have a big lad! He had to be dragged by the ear a bit, but at last he’s come.

      (There’s a general shout, both within and without, while Napoleon goes to the balcony to greet the people.)

      PEOPLE:

      (outside) Long Live The Emperor! Long Live the King of Rome!

      NAPOLEON:

      (on the balcony) Thanks, thanks, gentlemen. Ah, this day is the most beautiful of my life. (Baron de Rheinfeld and Abbé Orsini come to bow before him)

      BARON DE RHEINFELD:

      Sire, I lay at your feet the homage and congratulations of the European powers.

      ABBÉ ORSINI:

      And as for me, I bring to the Prince Imperial the blessings of the father of the Church.

      NAPOLEON:

      Thanks, gentlemen, thanks! For a long while I’ve known the feelings of Rome towards me. I receive the wishes of Saint Peter and those of all the sovereigns of Europe. I appreciate all their frankness, and I count on soon thanking them again myself in their palaces.

      MICHEL LAMBERT:

      (aside) Famous! I will be there. Crush the Jesuit and (shouting with all his might in the ears of the Abbé and the Baron who are near him) Long Live the Emperor! Long Live the King of Rome!

      (The shouts of the people mix with those of the characters on stage. Napoleon once again shows himself at the window.)

      ALL:

      Long Live the Emperor! Long Live the King of Rome!

      (The Curtain falls.)

      CURTAIN