Late on a night in the middle of Brumaire, Bonaparte came to Talleyrand's house to arrange details of the _coup d'etat,_ when the noise of carriages stopping outside caused them to pale with fear that their plans were discovered.

At once the diplomatist blew out the lights and hurried to the balcony, when he found that their fright was due merely to an accident to the carriages of the revellers and gamesters returning from the Palais Royal, which were guarded by gendarmes.

The incident closed with laughter and jests; but it illustrates the tension of the nerves of the political gamesters, as also the mental weakness of Bonaparte when confronted by some unknown danger.

It was perhaps the only weak point in his intellectual armour; but it was to be found out at certain crises of his career.
Meanwhile in the legislative Councils there was a feeling of vague disquiet.

The Ancients were, on the whole, hostile to the Directory, but in the Council of Five Hundred the democratic ardour of the younger deputies foreboded a fierce opposition.