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150 of the French courtier could not fail to be most agreeable to the Russian Sovereign. They soon contracted the habit of meeting in the evening, and this habit lasted as long as the conferences. M. de Talleyrand had neglected nothing to convince Napoleon of the fact that he was using to his advantage only the facilities afforded to him by so precious a habit."

Talleyrand, in his Memoirs, states that the use he made of these confidences between himself and Alexander was to betray Napoleon:

"When Napoleon handed to Alexander the draft of the agreement which he was asking him to sign, it was M. de Talleyrand who pointed out to him the serious objections to it, and drafted for him the memorandum which he (Alexander) handed to Napoleon."

The explanation of all this, as Pasquier has no hesitation in declaring, was that Talleyrand was in the pay of the Emperor of Austria, and also that he obtained from him, as part of the price of his treason, the rich alliance of his nephew, Edmond de Périgord, and the daughter of the Duchess of Courland.

Napoleon embarked upon his Spanish campaigns, Talleyrand began to take means