Come with
me; and I will show you twenty thousand cowards who will risk
death every day for the price of a glass of brandy. And do you
think there are no women in the army, braver than the men,
because their lives are worth less? Psha! I think nothing of your
fear or your bravery. If you had had to come across to me at
Lodi, you would not have been afraid: once on the bridge, every
other feeling would have gone down before the necessity--the
necessity--for making your way to my side and getting what you
wanted.
And now, suppose you had done all this--suppose you had come
safely out with that letter in your hand, knowing that when the
hour came, your fear had tightened, not your heart, but your grip
of your own purpose--that it had ceased to be fear, and had
become strength, penetration, vigilance, iron resolution--how
would you answer then if you were asked whether you were a
coward?
LADY (rising). Ah, you are a hero, a real hero.
NAPOLEON. Pooh! there's no such thing as a real hero. (He strolls
down the room, making light of her enthusiasm, but by no means
displeased with himself for having evoked it.
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