Old Norpois

Reading Proust, I've always had a soft spot for Old Norpois, the shrewd, some would say cynical and sardonic, master of affairs and stalwart of the reactionary virtues.  You, perhaps, are not impressed. But do you know that Napoleon III might have saved himself had he taken the old scoundrel's advice?

My father was aware that M. de Norpois had been perhaps the only one to warn Napoleon III about Prussia’s growing power and warlike intentions, and that Bismarck had a high regard for his intelligence.

Proust, Marcel (2005-01-25). In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower: In Search of Lost Time, Volume 2 (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) (Kindle Locations 293-295). Penguin Group US. Kindle Edition. 

Later, papa tries to draw the old man out on the regime in Germany:

"I was pretty sure the Kaiser’s recent telegram would not be very much to your taste,” my father said. 

As much as to say, “That man!,” M. de Norpois cast his eyes heavenward: “For one thing, it was an act of arrant ingratitude. It was worse than a crime—it was a mistake! And as for the stupidity of it, the only word for that is monumental. For another thing, if someone doesn’t put a stop to it, the man who gave Bismarck his marching orders is quite capable of repudiating each and every one of Bismarck’s policies. And when that happens, we’ll see a fine mess!”

Proust, Marcel (2005-01-25). In the Shadow of Young Girls in Flower: In Search of Lost Time, Volume 2 (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) (Kindle Locations 748-753). Penguin Group US. Kindle Edition. 

"That man" is pretty clearly Wilhelm II who ascended to the throne as Kaiser in 1888.  I'm a little shaky on just when this conversation would have taken place:  the Kaiser pushed Bismarck out of office in 1890; Bismarck died in 1898.   The scene seems to be set prior to World War I.   The book wasn't finally published until 1919 but Proust had been working on the project for years and I really can't say whether it was written before or after the War (i.e., careful students may know but I do not).  "Worse than a crime, a mistake," I have always heard attributed to that prince of old scoundrels, Talleyrand himself, but apparently there are other contenders.   In either event, it is said to describe "Napoleon’s execution of the Duc d’Enghien in 1804."