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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/3575.txt b/3575.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..4168ad7 --- /dev/null +++ b/3575.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2872 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of Private Life of Napoleon, by Constant, v8 +NB#25 in our Napoleon series + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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Jardin, who was holding his horse's head. "No, Sire, it is +Soliman."--"I asked you if that was not the bishop," repeated his +Majesty, pointing to the prelate. M. Jardin, intent on business, and +thinking only of the Emperor's horse which bore the name of Bishop, again +replied, "Sire, you forget that you rode him on the last relay." The +Emperor now perceived the mistake, and broke into a laugh. I was witness +at Wagram of an act which furnished a fine illustration of the Emperor's +kindness of heart and consideration for others, of which I have already +given several instances; for, although in the one I shall now relate, he +was forced to refuse an act of clemency, his very refusal challenges +admiration as an exhibition of the generosity and greatness of his soul. + +A very rich woman, named Madame de Combray, who lived near Caen, allowed +her chateau to be occupied by a band of royalists, who seemed to think +they upheld their cause worthily by robbing diligences on the highway. +She constituted herself treasurer of this band of partisans, and +consigned the funds thus obtained to a pretended treasurer of Louis +XVIII. Her daughter, Madame Aquet, joined this troop, and, dressed in +men's clothing, showed most conspicuous bravery. Their exploits, +however, were not of long duration; and pursued and overcome by superior +forces, they were brought to trial, and Madame Aquet was condemned to +death with her accomplices. By means of a pretended illness she obtained +a reprieve, of which she availed herself to employ every means in her +power to obtain a pardon, and finally, after eight months of useless +supplications, decided to send her children to Germany to intercede with +the Emperor. Her physician, accompanied by her sister and two daughters, +reached Schoenbrunn just as the Emperor had gone to visit the field of +Wagram, and for an entire day awaited the Emperor's return on the steps +of the palace; and these children, one ten, the other twelve, years old, +excited much interest. Notwithstanding this, their mother's crime was a +terrible one; for although in political matters opinions may not be +criminal, yet under every form of government opinions are punished, if +thereby one becomes a robber and an assassin. The children, clothed in +black, threw themselves at the Emperor's feet, crying, "Pardon, pardon, +restore to us our mother." The Emperor raised them tenderly, took the +petition from the hands of the aunt, read every word attentively, then +questioned the physician with much interest, looked at the children, +hesitated--but just as I, with all who witnessed this touching scene, +thought he was going to pronounce her pardon, he recoiled several steps, +exclaiming, "I cannot do it!" His changing color, eyes suffused with +tears, and choking voice, gave evidence of the struggle through which he +was passing; and witnessing this, his refusal appeared to me an act of +sublime courage. + +Following upon the remembrance of these violent crimes, so much the more +worthy of condemnation since they were the work of a woman, who, in order +to abandon herself to them, was forced to begin by trampling under foot +all the gentle and modest virtues of her sex, I find recorded in my notes +an act of fidelity and conjugal tenderness which well deserved a better +result. The wife of an infantry colonel, unwilling to be parted from her +husband, followed the march of his regiment in a coach, and on the days +of battle mounted a horse and kept herself as near as possible to the +line. At Friedland she saw the colonel fall, pierced by a ball, hastened +to him with her servant, carried him from the ranks, and bore him away in +an ambulance, though too late, for he was already dead. Her grief was +silent, and no one saw her shed a tear. She offered her purse to a +surgeon, and begged him to embalm her husband's corpse, which was done as +well as possible under the circumstances; and she then had the corpse +wrapped in bandages, placed in a box with a lid, and put in a carriage, +and seating herself beside it, the heart-broken widow set out on her +return to France. A grief thus repressed soon affected her mind; and at +each halt she made on the journey, she shut herself up with her precious +burden, drew the corpse from its bog, placed it on a bed, uncovered its +face, and lavished on it the most tender caresses, talking to it as if it +was living, and slept beside it. In the morning she replaced her husband +in the box, and, resuming her gloomy silence, continued her route. For +several days her secret remained unknown, and was discovered only a few +days before she reached Paris. + +The body had not been embalmed in such a manner as to preserve it long +from decay; and this soon reached such a point, that, when she arrived at +an inn, the horrible odor from the box aroused suspicion, and the unhappy +wife's room was entered that evening, and she was found clasping in her +arms the already sadly disfigured corpse of her husband. "Silence," she +cried to the frightened innkeeper. "My husband is asleep, why do you +come to disturb his glorious rest?" With much difficulty the corpse was +removed from the arms of the insane woman who had guarded it with such +jealous care, and she was conveyed to Paris, where she afterward died, +without recovering her reason for an instant. + +There was much astonishment at the chateau of Schoenbrunn because the +Archduke Charles never appeared there; for he was known to be much +esteemed by the Emperor, who never spoke of him except with the highest +consideration. I am entirely ignorant what motives prevented the prince +from coming to Schoenbrunn, or the Emperor from visiting him; but, +nevertheless, it is a fact, that, two or three days before his departure +from Munich, his Majesty one morning attended a hunting-party, composed +of several officers and myself; and that we stopped at a hunting-box +called la Venerie on the road between Vienna and Bukusdorf, and on our +arrival we found the Archduke Charles awaiting his Majesty, attended by a +suite of only two persons. The Emperor and the archduke remained for a +long while alone in the pavilion; and we did not return to Schoenbrunn +until late in the evening. + +On the 16th of October at noon the Emperor left this residence with his +suite, composed of the grand marshal, the Duke of Frioul; Generals Rapp, +Mouton, Savary, Nansouty, Durosnell and Lebrun; of three chamberlains; of +M. Labbe, chief of the topographical bureau; of M. de Meneval, his +Majesty's secretary, and M. Yvan; and accompanied by the Duke of Bassano, +and the Duke of Cadore, then minister of foreign relations. + +We arrived at Passau on the morning of the 18th; and the Emperor passed +the entire day in visiting Forts Maximilian and Napoleon, and also seven +or eight redoubts whose names recalled the principal battles of the +campaign. More than twelve thousand men were working on these important +fortifications, to whom his Majesty's visit was a fete. That evening we +resumed our journey, and two days after we were at Munich. + +At Augsburg, on leaving the palace of the Elector of Treves, the Emperor +found in his path a woman kneeling in the dust, surrounded by four +children; he raised her up and inquired kindly what she desired. The +poor woman, without replying, handed his Majesty a petition written in +German, which General Rapp translated. She was the widow of a German +physician named Buiting, who had died a short time since, and was well +known in the army from his faithfulness in ministering to the wounded +French soldiers when by chance any fell into his hands. The Elector of +Treves, and many persons of the Emperor's suite, supported earnestly this +petition of Madame Buiting, whom her husband's death had reduced almost +to poverty, and in which she besought the Emperor's aid for the children +of this German physician, whose attentions had saved the lives of so many +of his brave soldiers. His Majesty gave orders to pay the petitioner the +first year's salary of a pension which he at once allowed her; and when +General Rapp had informed the widow of the Emperor's action, the poor +woman fainted with a cry of joy. + +I witnessed another scene which was equally as touching. When the +Emperor was on the march to Vienna, the inhabitants of Augsburg, who had +been guilty of some acts of cruelty towards the Bavarians, trembled lest +his Majesty should take a terrible revenge on them; and this terror was +at its height when it was learned that a part of the French army was to +pass through the town. + +A young woman of remarkable beauty, only a few months a widow, had +retired to this place with her child in the hope of being more quiet than +anywhere else, but, frightened by the approach of the troops, fled with +her child in her arms. But, instead of avoiding our soldiers as she +intended, she left Augsburg by the wrong gate, and fell into the midst of +the advance posts of the French army. Fortunately, she encountered +General Decourbe, and trembling, and almost beside herself with terror, +conjured him on her knees to save her honor, even at the expense of her +life, and immediately swooned away. Moved even to tears, the general +showed her every attention, ordered a safe-conduct given her, and an +escort to accompany her to a neighboring town, where she had stated that +several of her relatives lived. The order to march was given at the same +instant; and, in the midst of the general commotion which ensued, the +child was forgotten by those who escorted the mother, and left in the +outposts. A brave grenadier took charge of it, and, ascertaining where +the poor mother had been taken, pledged himself to restore it to her at +the earliest possible moment, unless a ball should carry him off before +the return of the army. He made a leather pocket, in which he carried +his young protege, arranged so that it was sheltered from the weather. +Each time he went into battle the good grenadier dug a hole in the +ground, in which he placed the little one, and returned for it when the +battle was over; and though his comrades ridiculed him the first day, +they could not but fail to admire the nobility of his conduct. The child +escaped all danger, thanks to the incessant care of its adopted father; +and, when the march to Munich was again begun, the grenadier, who was +singularly attached to the little waif, almost regretted to see the +moment draw near when he must restore it to its mother. + +It may easily be understood what this poor woman suffered after losing +her child. She besought and entreated the soldiers who escorted her to +return; but they had their orders, which nothing could cause them to +infringe. Immediately on her arrival she set out again on her return to +Augsburg, making inquiries in all directions, but could obtain no +information of her son, and at last being convinced that he was dead, +wept bitterly for him. She had mourned thus for nearly six months, when +the army re-passed Augsburg; and, while at work alone in her room one +day, she was told that a soldier wished to see her, and had something +precious to commit to her care; but he was unable to leave his corps, and +must beg her to meet him on the public square. Little suspecting the +happiness in store for her, she sought the grenadier, and the latter +leaving the ranks, pulled the "little good man" out of his pocket, and +placed him in the arms of the poor mother, who could not believe the +evidence of her own eyes. Thinking that this lady was probably not rich, +this excellent man had collected a sum of money, which he had placed in +one of the pockets of the little one's coat. + +The Emperor remained only a short time at Munich; and the day of his +arrival a courier was sent in haste by the grand marshal to M. de Lucay +to inform him that his Majesty would be at Fontainebleau on the 27th of +October, in the evening probably, and that the household of the Emperor, +as well as that of the Empress, should be at this residence to receive +his Majesty. But, instead of arriving on the evening of the 27th, the +Emperor had traveled with such speed, that, on the 26th at ten o'clock in +the morning, he was at the gates of the palace of Fontainebleau; and +consequently, with the exception of the grand marshal, a courier, and the +gate-keeper of Fontainebleau, he found no one to receive him on his +descent from the carriage. This mischance, which was very natural, since +it had been impossible to foresee an advance of more than a day in the +time appointed, nevertheless incensed the Emperor greatly. He was +regarding every one around him as if searching for some one to scold, +when, finding that the courier was preparing to alight from his horse, on +which he was more stuck than seated, he said to him: "You can rest to- +morrow; hasten to Saint-Cloud and announce my arrival," and the poor +courier recommenced his furious gallop. + +This accident, which vexed his Majesty so greatly, could not be +considered the fault of any one; for by the orders of the grand marshal, +received from the Emperor, M. de Lucay had commanded their Majesties' +service to be ready on the morning of the next day. Consequently, that +evening was the earliest hour at which the service could possibly be +expected to arrive; and he was compelled to wait until then. + +During this time of waiting, the Emperor employed himself in visiting the +new apartments that had been added to the chateau. The building in the +court of the Cheval-Blanc, which had been formerly used as a military +school, had been restored, enlarged, and decorated with extraordinary +magnificence, and had been turned entirely into apartments of honor, in +order, as his Majesty said, to give employment to the manufacturers of +Lyons, whom the war deprived of any, outside market. After repeated +promenades in all directions, the Emperor seated himself with every mark +of extreme impatience, asking every moment what time it was, or looking +at his watch; and at last ordered me to prepare writing materials, and +took his seat all alone at a little table, doubtless swearing internally +at his secretaries, who had not arrived. + +At five o'clock a carriage came from Saint-Cloud; and as the Emperor +heard it roll into the court he descended the stairs rapidly, and while a +footman was opening the door and lowering the steps, he said to the +persons inside: "Where is the Empress?" The answer was given that her +Majesty the Empress would arrive in a quarter of an hour at most. "That +is well," said the Emperor; and turning his back, quickly remounted the +stairs and entered a little study, where he prepared himself for work. + +At last the Empress arrived, exactly at six o'clock. It was now dark. +The Emperor this time did not go down; but listening until he learned +that it was her Majesty, continued to write, without interrupting himself +to go and meet her. It was the first time he had acted in this manner. +The Empress found him seated in the cabinet. "Ah!" said his Majesty, +"have you arrived, Madame? It is well, for I was about to set out for +Saint-Cloud." And the Emperor, who had simply lifted his eyes from his +work to glance at her Majesty, lowered them again, and resumed his +writing. This harsh greeting, distressed Josephine exceedingly, and she +attempted to excuse herself; but his Majesty replied in such a manner as +to bring tears to her eyes, though he afterwards repented of this, and +begged pardon of the Empress, acknowledging that he had been wrong. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +It is not, as has been stated in some Memoirs, because and as a result of +the slight disagreement which I have related above, that the first idea +of a divorce came to his Majesty. The Emperor thought it necessary for +the welfare of France that he should have an heir of his own line; and as +it was now certain that the Empress would never bear him one, he was +compelled to think of a divorce. But it was by most gentle means, and +with every mark of tender consideration, that he strove to bring the +Empress to this painful sacrifice. He had no recourse, as has been said, +to either threats or menaces, for it was to his wife's reason that he +appealed; and her consent was entirely voluntary. I repeat that there +was no violence on the part of the Emperor; but there was courage, +resignation, and submission on that of the Empress. Her devotion to the +Emperor would have made her submit to any sacrifice, she would have given +her life for him; and although this separation might break her own heart, +she still found consolation in the thought that by this means she would +save the one she loved more than all beside from even one cause of +distress or anxiety. And when she learned that the King of Rome was +born, she lost sight of her own disappointment in sympathizing with the +happiness of her friend; for they had always treated each other with all +the attention and respect of the most perfect friendship. + +The Emperor had taken, during the whole day of the 26th, only a cup of +chocolate and a little soup; and I had heard him complain of hunger +several times before the Empress arrived. Peace being restored, the +husband and wife embraced each other tenderly, and the Empress passed on +into her apartments in order to make her toilet. During this time the +Emperor received Messieurs Decres and De Montalivet, whom he had +summoned in the morning by a mounted messenger; and about half-past seven +the Empress reappeared, dressed in perfect taste. In spite of the cold, +she had had her hair dressed with silver wheat and blue flowers, and wore +a white satin polonaise, edged with swan's down, which costume was +exceedingly becoming. The Emperor interrupted his work to regard her: +"I did not take long at my toilet, did I?" said she, smiling; whereupon +his Majesty, without replying, showed her the clock, then rose, gave her +his hand, and was about to enter the dining-room, saying to Messieurs De +Montalivet and Decres, "I will be with you in five minutes."--"But," said +the Empress, "these gentlemen have perhaps not yet dined, as they have +come from Paris."--"Ah, that is so!....." and the ministers entered the +dining-room with their Majesties. But hardly had the Emperor taken his +seat, than he rose, threw aside his napkin, and re-entered his cabinet, +where these gentlemen were compelled to follow him, though much against +their inclinations. + +The day ended better than it had begun. In the evening there was a +reception, not large, but most agreeable, at which the Emperor was very +gay, and in excellent humor, and acted as if anxious to efface the memory +of the little scene with the Empress. Their Majesties remained at +Fontainebleau till the 14th of November. The King of Saxony had arrived +the evening before at Paris; and the Emperor, who rode on horseback +nearly all the way from Fontainebleau to Paris, repaired on his arrival +to the Palace de l'Elysee. The two monarchs appeared very agreeably +impressed with each other, and went in public together almost every day, +and one morning early left the Tuileries on foot, each accompanied by a +single escort. I was with the Emperor. They directed their steps, +following the course of the stream, towards the bridge of Jena, the work +on which was being rapidly carried to completion, and reached the Place +de la Revolution, where fifty or sixty persons collected with the +intention of accompanying the two sovereigns; but as this seemed to annoy +the Emperor, agents of the police caused them to disperse. When he had +reached the bridge, his Majesty examined the work attentively; and +finding some defects in the construction, had the architect called, who +admitted the correctness of his observations, although, in order to +convince him, the Emperor had to talk for some time, and often repeated +the same explanations. His Majesty, turning then towards the King of +Saxony, said to him, "You see, my cousin, that the master's eye is +necessary everywhere."--"Yes," replied the King of Saxony; "especially an +eye so well trained as your Majesty's." + +We had not been long at Fontainebleau, when I noticed that the Emperor in +the presence of his august spouse was preoccupied and ill at ease. The +same uneasiness was visible on the countenance of the Empress; and this +state of constraint and mutual embarrassment soon became sufficiently +evident to be remarked by all, and rendered the stay at Fontainebleau +extremely sad and depressing. At Paris the presence of the King of +Saxony made some diversion; but the Empress appeared more unhappy than +ever, which gave rise to numerous conjectures, but as for me, I knew only +too well the cause of it all. The Emperor's brow became more furrowed +with care each day, until the 30th of November arrived. + +On that day the dinner was more silent than ever. The Empress had wept +the whole day; and in order to conceal as far as possible her pallor, and +the redness of her eyes, wore a large white hat tied under her chin, the +brim of which concealed her face entirely. The Emperor sat in silence, +his eyes fastened on his plate, while from time to time convulsive +movements agitated his countenance; and if he happened to raise his eyes, +glanced stealthily at the Empress with unmistakable signs of distress. +The officers of the household, immovable as statues, regarded this +painful and gloomy scene with sad anxiety; while the whole repast was +simply a form, as their Majesties touched nothing, and no sound was heard +but the regular movement of plates placed and carried away, varied sadly +by the monotonous tones of the household officers, and the tinkling sound +made by the Emperor's striking his knife mechanically on the edge of his +glass. Once only his Majesty broke the silence by a deep sigh, followed +by these words addressed to one of the officers: "What time is it?" An +aimless question of the Emperor's, it seemed, for he did not hear, or at +any rate did not seem to hear, the answer; but almost immediately he rose +from the table, and the Empress followed him with slow steps, and her +handkerchief pressed against her lips as if to suppress her sobs. Coffee +was brought, and, according to custom, a page presented the waiter to the +Empress that she might herself pour it out; but the Emperor took it +himself, poured the coffee in the cup, and dissolved the sugar, still +regarding the Empress, who remained standing as if struck with a stupor. +He drank, and returned the cup to the page; then gave a signal that he +wished to be alone, and closed the door of the saloon. I remained +outside seated by the door; and soon no one remained in the dining-room +except one of the prefects of the palace, who walked up and down with +folded arms, foreseeing, as well as I, terrible events. At the end of a +few moments I heard cries, and sprang up; just then the Emperor opened +the door quickly, looked out, and saw there no one but us two. The +Empress lay on the floor, screaming as if her heart were breaking: "No; +you will not do it! You would not kill me!" The usher of the room had +his back turned. I advanced towards him; he understood, and went out. +His Majesty ordered the person who was with me to enter, and the door was +again closed. I have since learned that the Emperor requested him to +assist him in carrying the Empress to her apartment. "She has," he said, +"a violent nervous attack, and her condition requires most prompt +attention." M. de B----- with the Emperor's assistance raised the +Empress in his arms; and the Emperor, taking a lamp from the mantel, +lighted M. de B----- along the passage from which ascended the little +staircase leading to the apartments of the Empress. This staircase was +so narrow, that a man with such a burden could not go down without great +risk of falling; and M. de B-----, having called his Majesty's attention +to this, he summoned the keeper of the portfolio, whose duty it was to be +always at the door of the Emperor's cabinet which opened on this +staircase, and gave him the light, which was no longer needed, as the +lamps had just been lighted. His Majesty passed in front of the keeper, +who still held the light, and carrying the feet of the Empress himself, +descended the staircase safely with M. de B-----; and they thus reached +the bedroom. The Emperor rang for her women, and when they entered, +retired with tears in his eyes and every sign of the deepest emotion. +This scene affected him so deeply that he said to M. de B----- in a +trembling, broken tone, some words which he must never reveal under any +circumstances. The Emperor's agitation must have been very great for him +to have informed M. de B----- of the cause of her Majesty's despair, and +to have told him that the interests of France and of the Imperial Dynasty +had done violence to his heart, and the divorce had become a duty, +deplorable and painful, but none the less a duty. + +Queen Hortense and M. Corvisart soon reached the Empress, who passed a +miserable night. The Emperor also did not sleep, and rose many times to +ascertain Josephine's condition. During the whole night her Majesty did +not utter a word. I have never witnessed such grief. + +Immediately after this, the King of Naples, the King of Westphalia, the +King of Wurtemberg, and the king and princesses of the Imperial family, +arrived at Paris to be present at the fetes given by the city of Paris to +his Majesty in commemoration of the victories and the pacification of +Germany, and at the same time to celebrate the anniversary of the +coronation. The session of the legislative corps was also about to open. +It was necessary, in the interval between the scene which I have just +described and the day on which the decree of divorce was signed, that the +Empress should be present on all these occasions, and attend all these +fetes, under the eyes of an immense crowd of people, at a time when +solitude alone could have in any degree alleviated her sorrow; it was +also necessary that she should cover up her face with rouge in order to +conceal her pallor and the signs of a month passed in tears. What +tortures she endured, and how much she must have bewailed this elevation, +of which nothing remained to her but the necessity of concealing her +feelings! + +On the 3d of December their Majesties repaired to Notre Dame, where a +'Te Deum' was sung; after which the Imperial cortege marched to the +palace of the Corps Legislatif, and the opening of the session was held +with unusual magnificence. The Emperor took his place amidst +inexpressible enthusiasm, and never had his appearance excited such +bursts of applause: even the Empress was more cheerful for an instant, +and seemed to enjoy these proofs of affection for one who was soon to be +no longer her husband; but when he began to speak she relapsed into her +gloomy reflections. + +It was almost five o'clock when the cortege returned to the Tuileries, +and the Imperial banquet was to take place at half-past seven. During +this interval, a reception of the ambassadors was held, after which the +guests passed on to the gallery of Diana. + +The Emperor held a grand dining in his coronation robes, and wearing his +plumed hat, which he did not remove for an instant. He ate more than was +his custom, notwithstanding the distress under which he seemed to be +laboring, glanced around and behind him every moment, causing the grand +chamberlain continually to bend forward to receive orders which he did +not give. The Empress was seated in front of him, most magnificently +dressed in an embroidered robe blazing with diamonds; but her face +expressed even more suffering than in the morning. + +On the right of the Emperor was seated the King of Saxony, in a white +uniform with red facings, and collar richly embroidered in silver, +wearing a false cue of prodigious length. + +By the side of the King of Saxony was the King of Westphalia, Jerome +Bonaparte, in a white satin tunic, and girdle ornamented with pearls and +diamonds, which reached almost up to his arms. His neck was bare and +white, and he wore no whiskers and very little beard; a collar of +magnificent lace fell over his shoulders; and a black velvet cap +ornamented with white plumes, which was the most elegant in the assembly, +completed this costume. Next him was the King of Wurtemberg with his +enormous stomach, which forced him to sit some distance from the table; +and the King of Naples, in so magnificent a costume that it might almost +be considered extravagant, covered with crosses and stars, who played +with his fork, without eating or drinking. + +On the right of the Empress was Madame Mere, the Queen of Westphalia, the +Princess Borghese, and Queen Hortense, pale as the Empress, but rendered +only more beautiful by her sadness, her face presenting a striking +contrast on this occasion to that of the Princess Pauline, who never +appeared in better spirits. Princess Pauline wore an exceedingly +handsome toilet; but this did not increase the charms of her person +nearly so much as that worn by the Queen of Holland, which, though +simple, was elegant and full of taste. + +Next day a magnificent fete was held at the Hotel de Ville, where the +Empress displayed her accustomed grace and kind consideration. This was +the last time she appeared on occasions of ceremony. + +A few days after all these rejoicings, the Vice-king of Italy, Eugene de +Beauharnais, arrived, and learned from the lips of the Empress herself +the terrible measure which circumstances were about to render necessary. +This news overcame him: agitated and despairing, he sought his Majesty; +and, as if he could not believe what he had just heard asked the Emperor +if it was true that a divorce was about to take place. The Emperor made +a sign in the affirmative, and, with deep grief depicted on his +countenance, held out his hand to his adopted son. "Sire, allow me to +quit your service."--"What!"--"Yes, Sire; the son of one who is no longer +Empress cannot remain vice-king. I wish to accompany my mother to her +retreat, and console her."--"Do you wish to leave me, Eugene? You? Ah, +you do not know how imperious are the reasons which force me to pursue +such a course. And if I obtain this son, the object of my most cherished +wishes, this son who is so necessary to me, who will take my place with +him when I shall be absent? Who will be a father to him when I die? Who +will rear him, and who will make a man of him?" Tears filled the +Emperor's eyes as he pronounced these words; he again took Eugene's hand, +and drawing him to his arms, embraced him tenderly. I did not hear the +remainder of this interesting conversation. + +At last the fatal day arrived; it was the 16th of December. The Imperial +family were assembled in ceremonial costume, when the Empress entered in +a simple white dress, entirely devoid of ornament; she was pale, but +calm, and leaned on the arm of Queen Hortense, who was equally as pale, +and much more agitated than her august mother. The Prince de Beauharnais +stood beside the Emperor, and trembled so violently that it was thought +he would fall every moment. When the Empress entered, Count Regnaud de +Saint-Jean d'Angely read the act of separation. + +This was heard in the midst of profound silence, and the deepest concern +was depicted on every face. The Empress appeared calmer than any one +else in the assemblage, although tears incessantly flowed from her eyes. +She was seated in an armchair in the midst of the saloon, resting her +elbow on a table, while Queen Hortense stood sobbing behind her. The +reading of the act ended, the Empress rose, dried her eyes, and in a +voice which was almost firm, pronounced the words of assent, then seated +herself in a chair, took a pen from the hand of M. Regnaud de Saint-Jean +d'Angely, and signed the act. She then withdrew, leaning on the arm of +Queen Hortense; and Prince Eugene endeavored to retire at the same moment +through the cabinet, but his strength failed, and he fell insensible +between the two doors. The cabinet usher immediately raised him up, and +committed him to the care of his aide-de-camp, who lavished on him every +attention which his sad condition demanded. + +During this terrible ceremony the Emperor uttered not a word, made not a +gesture, but stood immovable as a statue, his gaze fixed and almost wild, +and remained silent and gloomy all day. In the evening, when he had just +retired, as I was awaiting his last orders, the door opened, and the +Empress entered, her hair in disorder, and her countenance showing great +agitation. This sight terrified me. Josephine (for she was now no more +than Josephine) advanced towards the Emperor with a trembling step, and +when she reached him, paused, and weeping in the most heartrending +manner, threw herself on the bed, placed her arms around the Emperor's +neck, and lavished on him most endearing caresses. I cannot describe my +emotions. The Emperor wept also, sat up and pressed Josephine to his +heart, saying to her, "Come, my good Josephine, be more reasonable! +Come, courage, courage; I will always be your friend." Stifled by her +sobs, the Empress could not reply; and there followed a silent scene, in +which their tears and sobs flowed together, and said more than the +tenderest expressions could have done. At last his Majesty, recovering +from this momentary forgetfulness as from a dream, perceived that I was +there, and said to me in a voice choked with tears, "Withdraw, Constant." +I obeyed, and went into the adjoining saloon; and an hour after Josephine +passed me, still sad and in tears, giving me a kind nod as she passed. +I then returned to the sleeping-room to remove the light as usual; the +Emperor was silent as death, and so covered with the bedclothes that his +face could not be seen. + +The next morning when I entered the Emperor's room he did not mention +this visit of the Empress; but I found him suffering and dejected, and +sighs which he could not repress issued from his breast. He did not +speak during the whole time his toilet lasted, and as soon as it was +completed entered his cabinet. This was the day on which Josephine was +to leave the Tuileries for Malmaison, and all persons not engaged in +their duties assembled in the vestibule to see once more this dethroned +empress whom all hearts followed in her exile. They looked at her +without daring to speak, as Josephine appeared, completely veiled, one +hand resting on the shoulder of one of her ladies, and the other holding +a handkerchief to her eyes. A concert of inexpressible lamentations +arose as this adored woman crossed the short space which separated her +from her carriage, and entered it without even a glance at the palace she +was--quitting--quitting forever;--the blinds were immediately lowered, +and the horses set off at full speed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +The marriage of the Emperor to Marie Louise was the first step in a new +career. He flattered himself that it would be as glorious as that he had +just brought to a close, but it was to be far otherwise. Before entering +on a recital of the events of the year 1810, I shall narrate some +recollections, jotted down at random, which, although I can assign them +no precise date, were, nevertheless, anterior to the period we have now +reached. + +The Empress Josephine had long been jealous of the beautiful Madame +Gazani, one of her readers, and treated her coldly; and when she +complained to the Emperor, he spoke to Josephine on the subject, and +requested her to show more consideration for her reader, who deserved it +on account of her attachment to the person of the Empress, and added that +she was wrong in supposing that there was between Madame Gazani and +himself the least liaison. The Empress, without being convinced by this +last declaration of the Emperor, had nevertheless become much more +cordial to Madame Gazani, when one morning the Emperor, who apparently +was afraid the beautiful Genoese might obtain some ascendency over her, +suddenly entered the Empress's apartment, and said to her, "I do not wish +to see Madame Gazani here longer; she must return to Italy." This time +it was the good Josephine who defended her reader. There were already +rumors of a divorce; and the Empress remarked to his Majesty, "You know +well, my friend, that the best means of being rid of Madame Gazani's +presence is to allow her to remain with me. Let me keep her, then. +We can weep together; she and I understand each other well." + +From this time the Empress was a firm friend of Madame Gazani, who +accompanied her to Malmaison and Navarre. What increased the kind +feelings of the Empress for this lady was that she thought her distressed +by the Emperor's inconstancy. For my part, I have always believed that +Madame Gazani's attachment to the Emperor was sincere, and her pride must +have suffered when she was dismissed; but she had no difficulty in +consoling herself in the midst of the homage and adoration which +naturally surrounded such a pretty woman. + +The name of the Empress Josephine recalls two anecdotes which the Emperor +himself related to me. The outrageous extravagance in the Empress's +household was a continual vexation to him, and he had dismissed several +furnishers of whose disposition to abuse Josephine's ready credulity he +had ample proof. + +One morning he entered the Empress's apartments unannounced, and found +there assembled several ladies holding a secret toilet council, and a +celebrated milliner making an official report as to all the handsomest +and most elegant novelties. She was one of the very persons whom the +Emperor had expressly forbidden to enter the palace; and he did not +anticipate finding her there. Yet he made no outburst; and Josephine, +who knew him better than any one else, was the only one who understood +the irony of his look as he retired, saying, "Continue ladies; I am sorry +to have disturbed you." The milliner, much astonished that she was not +put rudely out of the door, hastened to retire; but when she reached the +last step of the stairs leading to the apartments of her Majesty the +Empress, she encountered an agent of the police, who requested her as +politely as possible to enter a cab which awaited her in the Court of the +Carrousel. In vain she protested that she much preferred walking; the +agent, who had received precise instructions, seized her arm in such a +manner as to prevent all reply, and she was obliged to obey, and to take +in this unpleasant company the road to Bicetre. + +Some one related to the Emperor that this arrest had caused much talk in +Paris, and that he was loudly accused of wishing to restore the Bastile; +that many persons had visited the prisoner, and expressed their sympathy, +and there was a procession of carriages constantly before the prison. + +His Majesty took no notice of this, and was much amused by the interest +excited in this seller of topknots, as he called her. "I will," said his +Majesty on this subject, "let the gossips talk, who think it a point of +honor to ruin themselves for gewgaws; but I want this old Jewess to learn +that I put her inside because she had forgotten that I told her to stay +outside." + +Another celebrated milliner also excited the surprise and anger of his +Majesty one day by observations which no one in France except this man +would have had the audacity to make. The Emperor, who was accustomed, as +I have said, to examine at the end of every month the accounts of his +household, thought the bill of the milliner in question exorbitant, and +ordered me to summon him. I sent for him; and he came in less than ten +minutes, and was introduced into his Majesty's apartment while he was at +his toilet. "Monsieur," said the Emperor, his eyes fixed on the account, +"your prices are ridiculous, more ridiculous, if possible, than the +silly, foolish people who think they need your goods. Reduce this to a +reasonable amount or I will do it myself." The merchant, who held in his +hand the duplicate of his bill, began to explain article by article the +price of his goods, and concluded the somewhat long narration with a mild +surprise that the sum total was no more. The Emperor, whom I was +dressing during all this harangue, could hardly restrain his impatience; +and I had already foreseen that this singular scene would end +unpleasantly, when the milliner filled up the measure of his assurance by +taking the unparalleled liberty of remarking to his Majesty that the sum +allowed for her Majesty's toilet was insufficient, and that there were +simple citizens' wives who spent more than that. I must confess that at +this last impertinence I trembled for the shoulders of this imprudent +person, and watched the Emperor's movements anxiously. Nevertheless, to +my great astonishment, he contented himself with crumpling in his hand +the bill of the audacious milliner, and, his arms folded on his breast, +made two steps towards him, pronouncing this word only, "Really!" with +such an accent and such a look that the merchant rushed to the door, and +took to his heels without waiting for a settlement. + +The Emperor did not like me to leave the chateau, as he wished always to +have me within call, even when my duties were over and he did not need +me; and I think it was with this idea of detaining me that his Majesty +several times gave me copying to do. Sometimes, also, the Emperor wished +notes to be taken while he was in bed or in his bath, and said to me, +"Constant, take a pen and write;" but I always refused, and went to +summon M. de Meneval. I have already stated that the misfortunes of the +Revolution had caused my education to be more imperfect than it should +have been; but even had it been as good as it is defective, I much doubt +whether I would ever have been able to write from the Emperor's +dictation. It was no easy thing to fill this office, and required that +one should be well accustomed to it; for he spoke quickly, all in one +breath, made no pause, and was impatient when obliged to repeat. + +In order to have me always at hand, the Emperor gave me permission to +hunt in the Park of Saint-Cloud, and was kind enough to remark that since +I was very fond of hunting, in granting me this privilege he was very +glad to have combined my pleasure with his need of me. I was the only +person to whom permission was given to hunt in the park. At the same +time the Emperor made me a present of a handsome double-barreled gun +which had been presented to him at Liege, and which I have still in my +possession. His Majesty himself did not like double-barreled guns, and +used in preference the simple, small guns which had belonged to Louis +XVI., and on which this monarch, who was an excellent gunsmith, had +worked, it is said, with his own hands. + +The sight of these guns often led the Emperor to speak of Louis XVI., +which he never did except in terms of respect and pity. "That +unfortunate prince," said the Emperor, "was good, wise, and learned. At +another period he would have been an excellent king, but he was worth +nothing in a time of revolution. He was lacking in resolution and +firmness, and could resist neither the foolishness nor the insolence of +the Jacobins. The courtiers delivered him up to the Jacobins, and they +led him to the scaffold. In his place I would have mounted my horse, +and, with a few concessions on one side, and a few cracks of my whip on +the other, I would have reduced things to order." + +When the diplomatic corps came to pay their respects to the Emperor at +Saint-Cloud (the same custom was in use at the Tuileries), tea, coffee, +chocolate, or whatever these gentlemen requested, was served in the +saloon of the ambassadors. M. Colin, steward controller, was present at +this collation, which was served by the domestics of the service. + +There was at Saint-Cloud an apartment which the Emperor fancied very +much; it opened on a beautiful avenue of chestnut-trees in the private +park, where he could walk at any hour without being seen. This apartment +was surrounded with full-length portraits of all the princesses of the +Imperial family, and was called the family salon. Their Highnesses were +represented standing, surrounded by their children; the Queen of +Westphalia only was seated. She had, as I have said, a very fine bust, +but the rest of her figure was ungraceful. Her Majesty the Queen of +Naples was represented with her four children; Queen Hortense with only +one, the oldest of her living sons; the Queen of Spain with her two +daughters; Princess Eliza with hers, dressed like a boy; the Vice-Queen +alone, having no child at the time this portrait was made; Princess +Pauline was also alone. + +The theater and hunting were my chief amusements at Saint-Cloud. During +my stay at this chateau I received a visit from a distant cousin whom I +had not seen for many years. All that he had heard of the luxury which +surrounded the Emperor, and the magnificence of the court, had vividly +excited his curiosity, which I took pleasure in gratifying; and he was +struck with wonder, at every step. One evening when there was a play at +the chateau, I took him into my box, which was near the pit; and the view +which the hall offered when filled so delighted my cousin, that I was +obliged to name each personage in order to satisfy his insatiable +curiosity, which took them all in succession, one by one. It was a short +time before the marriage of the Emperor to the Archduchess of Austria, +and the court was more brilliant than ever. I showed my cousin in +succession their Majesties, the King and Queen of Westphalia, the King +and Queen of Naples, the Queen of Holland, King of Bavaria, their +Highnesses the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Prince and Princess Borghese, +the Princess of Baden, the Grand Duke of Wurzburg, etc., besides the +numerous dignitaries, princes, marshals, ambassadors, etc., by whom the +hall was filled. My cousin was in ecstasy, and thought himself at least +a foot taller from being in the midst of this gilded multitude, and +consequently paid no attention to the play, being much more interested in +the interior of the hall; and when we left the theater could not tell me +what piece had been played. His enthusiasm, however, did not carry him +so far as to make him forget the incredible tales that had been related +to him about the pickpockets of the capital, and the recommendations +which had been made to him on this subject. In the promenades at the +theater, in every assemblage whatever, my cousin watched with anxious +solicitude over his purse, watch, and handkerchief; and this habitual +prudence did not abandon him even at the court theater, for just as we +were leaving our box, to mingle with the brilliant crowd which came out +of the pit and descended from the boxes, he said to me with the utmost +coolness, covering with his hand his chain and the seals of his watch, +"After all, it is well to take precautions; one does not know every one +here." + +At the time of his marriage the Emperor was more than ever overwhelmed +with petitions, and granted, as I shall relate farther on, a large number +of pardons and petitions. + +All petitions sent to the Emperor were handed by him to the aide-de-camp +on duty, who carried them to his Majesty's cabinet, and received orders +to make a report on them the next day; and not even as many as ten times +did I find any petitions in his Majesty's pockets, though I always +examined them carefully, and even these rare instances were owing to the +fact that the Emperor had no aide-de-camp near him when they were +presented. It is then untrue, as has been so often said and written, +that the Emperor placed in a private pocket, which was called the good +pocket, the petitions he wished to grant, without even examining them. +All petitions which deserved it received an answer, and I remember that I +personally presented a large number to his Majesty; he did not put these +in his pocket, and in almost every instance I had the happiness of seeing +them granted. I must, however, make an exception of some which I +presented for the Cerf-Berr brothers, who claimed payment for supplies +furnished the armies of the republic; for to them the Emperor was always +inexorable. I was told that this was because Messieurs Cerf-Berr had +refused General Bonaparte a certain sum which he needed during the +campaign of Italy. + +These gentlemen interested me deeply in their cause; and I several times +presented their petition to his Majesty, and in spite of the care I took +to place it in his Majesty's hands only when be was in good humor, +I received no reply. I nevertheless continued to present the petition, +though I perceived that when the Emperor caught a glimpse of it he always +became angry; and at length one morning, just as his toilet was +completed, I handed him as usual his gloves, handkerchief, and snuff-box, +and attached to it again this unfortunate paper. His Majesty passed on +into his cabinet, and I remained in the room attending to my duties, and +while busied with these saw the Emperor re-enter, a paper in his hand. +He said to me, "Come, Constant, read this; you will see that you are +mistaken, and the government owes nothing to the Cerf-Berr brothers; so +say nothing more to me about it; they are regular Arabs." I threw my +eyes on the paper, and read a few words obediently; and though I +understood almost nothing of it, from that moment I was certain that the +claim of these gentlemen would never be paid. I was grieved at this, and +knowing their disappointment, made them an offer of services which they +refused. The Cerf-Berr brothers, notwithstanding my want of success, +were convinced of the zeal I had manifested in their service, and thanked +me warmly. Each time I addressed a petition to the Emperor, I saw M. de +Meneval, whom I begged to take charge of it. He was very obliging, and +had the kindness to inform me whether my demands could hope for success; +and he told me that as for the Cerf-Berr brothers, he did not think the +Emperor would ever compensate them. + +In fact, this family, at one time wealthy, but who had lost an immense +patrimony in advances made to the Directory, never received any +liquidation of these claims, which were confided to a man of great +honesty, but too much disposed to justify the name given him. + +Madame Theodore Cerf-Berr on my invitation had presented herself several +times with her children at Rambouillet and Saint-Cloud, to beseech the +Emperor to do her justice. This respectable mother of a family whom +nothing could dismay, again presented herself with the eldest of her +daughters at Compiegne. She awaited the Emperor in the forest, and +throwing herself in the midst of the horses, succeeded in handing him her +petition; but this time what was the result? Madame and Mademoiselle +Cerf-Berr had hardly re-entered the hotel where they were staying, when +an officer of the secret police came and requested them to accompany him. +He made them enter a mean cart filled with straw, and conducted them +under the escort of two gens d'armes to the prefecture of police at +Paris, where they were forced to sign a contract never to present +themselves again before the Emperor, and on this condition were restored +to liberty. + +About this time an occasion arose in which I was more successful. +General Lemarrois, one of the oldest of his Majesty's aides-de-camp, a +soldier of well-known courage, who won all hearts by his excellent +qualities, was for some time out of favor with the Emperor, and several +times endeavored to obtain an audience with him; but whether it was that +the request was not made known to his Majesty, or he did not wish to +reply, M. Lemarrois received no answer. In order to settle the matter he +conceived the idea of addressing himself to me, entreating me to present +his petition at an opportune moment. I did this, and had the happiness +to succeed; and in consequence M. Lemarrois obtained an audience with +such gratifying results that a short time after he obtained the +governorship of Magdeburg. + +The Emperor was absent-minded, and often forgot where he had put the +petitions which were handed to him, and thus they were sometimes left in +his coats, and when I found them there I carried them to his Majesty's +cabinet and handed them to M. de Meneval or M. Fain; and often, too, +the, papers for which he was hunting were found in the apartments of the +Empress. Sometimes the Emperor gave me papers to put away, and those I +placed in a box of which I alone had the key. One day there was a great +commotion in the private apartments over a paper which could not be +found. These were the circumstances: + +Near the Emperor's cabinet was a small room in which the secretaries +stayed, furnished with a desk, on which notes or petitions were--often +placed. This room was usually occupied by the cabinet usher, and the +Emperor was accustomed to enter it if he wished to hold a private +conversation without being overheard by the secretaries. When the +Emperor entered this room the usher withdrew and remained outside the +door; he was responsible for everything in this room, which was never +opened except by express orders from his Majesty. + +Marshal Bessieres had several days before presented to the Emperor a +request for promotion from a colonel of the army which he had warmly +supported. One morning the marshal entered the little room of which I +have just spoken, and finding his petition already signed lying on the +desk, he carried it off, without being noticed by my wife's uncle who was +on duty. A few hours after, the Emperor wished to examine this petition +again, and was very sure he had left it in this small room; but it was +not there, and it was thought that the usher must have allowed some one +to enter without his Majesty's orders. Search was made everywhere in +this room and in the Emperor's cabinet, and even in the apartments of the +Empress, and at last it was necessary to announce to his Majesty that the +search had been in vain; whereupon the Emperor gave way to one of those +bursts of anger which were so terrible though fortunately so rare, which +terrified the whole chateau, and the poor usher received orders never to +appear in his sight again. At last Marshal Bessieres, having been told +of this terrible commotion, came to accuse himself. The Emperor was +appeased, the usher restored to favor, and everything forgotten; though +each one was more careful than ever that nothing should be disturbed, and +that the Emperor should find at his finger's end whatever papers he +needed. + +The Emperor would not allow any one to be introduced without his +permission, either into the Empress's apartments or his own; and this was +the one fault for which the people of the household could not expect +pardon. Once, I do not exactly remember when, the wife of one of the +Swiss Guard allowed one of her lovers to enter the apartments of the +Empress; and this unfortunate woman, without the knowledge of her +imprudent mistress, took in soft wax an impression of the key of the +jewel-box which I have already mentioned as having belonged to Queen +Marie Antoinette, and, by means of a false key made from this impression, +succeeded in stealing several articles of jewelry. The police soon +discovered the author of the robbery who was punished as he deserved, +though another person was also punished who did not deserve it, for the +poor husband lost his place. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + + +After his divorce from the Empress Josephine, the Emperor appeared much +preoccupied; and as it was known that he thought of marrying again, all +persons at the chateau and in his Majesty's service were greatly +concerned about this marriage, though all our conjectures concerning the +princess destined to share the Imperial crown proved to be wrong. Some +spoke of a Russian princess, while others said the Emperor would marry +none but a French woman; but no one thought of an Austrian archduchess. +When the marriage had been decided, nothing was spoken of at the court +but the youth, grace, and native goodness of the new Empress. The +Emperor was very gay, and paid more attention to his toilet, giving me +orders to renew his wardrobe, and to order better fitting coats, made in +a more modern style. The Emperor also sat for his portrait, which the +Prince de Neuchatel carried to Marie Louise; and the Emperor received at +the same time that of his young wife, with which he appeared delighted. + +The Emperor, in order to win Marie Louise's affection, did more +undignified things than he had ever done for any woman. For instance, +one day when he was alone with Queen Hortense and the Princess Stephanie, +the latter mischievously asked him if he knew how to waltz; and his +Majesty replied that he had never been able to go beyond the first +lesson, because after two or three turns he became so dizzy that he was +compelled to stop. "When I was at l'ecole militaire," added the Emperor, +"I tried again and again to overcome dizziness which waltzing produced, +but I could not succeed. Our dancing-master having advised us, in +learning to waltz, to take a chair in our arms instead of a lady, I never +failed to fall with the chair, which I pressed so lovingly that it broke; +and thus the chairs in my room, and that of two or three of my +companions, were destroyed, one after the other." This tale told in the +most animated and amusing manner by his Majesty excited bursts of +laughter from the two princesses. + +When this hilarity had somewhat subsided, Princess Stephanie returned to +the charge, saying, "It really is a pity that your Majesty does not know +how to waltz, for the Germans are wild over waltzing, and the Empress +will naturally share the taste of her compatriots; she can have no +partner but the Emperor, and thus she will be deprived of a great +pleasure through your Majesty's fault."--"You are right!" replied the +Emperor; "well, give me a lesson, and you will have a specimen of my +skill." Whereupon he rose, took a few turns with Princess Stephanie, +humming the air of the Queen of Prussia; but he could not take more than +two or three turns, and even this he did so awkwardly that it increased +the amusement of these ladies. Then the Princess of Baden stopped, +saying, "Sire, that is quite enough to convince me that you will never be +anything but a poor pupil. You were made to give lessons, not to take +them." + +Early in March the Prince de Neuchatel set out for Vienna commissioned to +officially request the hand of the Empress in marriage. The Archduke +Charles, as proxy of the Emperor, married the Archduchess Marie Louise, +and she set out at once for France, the little town of Brannan, on the +frontier between Austria and Bavaria, having been designated as the place +at which her Majesty was to pass into the care of a French suite. The +road from Strasburg was soon filled with carriages conveying to Brannan. +the household of the new Empress. Most of these ladies had passed from +the household of the Empress Josephine into that of Marie Louise. + +The Emperor wished to see for himself if the trousseau and wedding +presents intended for his new wife were worthy of him and of her, +consequently all the clothing and linen were brought to the Tuileries, +spread out before him, and packed under his own eyes. The good taste and +elegance of each article were equaled only by the richness of the +materials. The furnishers and modistes of Paris had worked according to +models sent from Vienna; and when these models were presented to the +Emperor he took one of the shoes, which were remarkably small, and with +it gave me a blow on the cheek in the form of a caress. "See, Constant," +said his Majesty, "that is a shoe of good augury. Have you ever seen a +foot like that? This is made to be held in the hand." + +Her Majesty the Queen of Naples had been sent to Brannan, by the Emperor +to receive the Empress. Queen Caroline, of whom the Emperor once said +that she was a man among her sisters, as Prince Joseph was a woman among +his brothers, mistook, it is said, the timidity of Marie Louise for +weakness, and thought that she would only have to speak and her young +sister-in-law would hasten to obey. On her arrival at Brannan the formal +transfer was solemnly made; and the Empress bade farewell to all her +Austrian household, retaining in her service only her first lady of +honor, Madame de Lajanski, who had reared her and never been absent from +her. Etiquette required that the household of the Empress should be +entirely French, and the orders of the Emperor were very precise in this +regard; but I do not know whether it is true, as has been stated, that +the Empress had demanded and obtained from the Emperor permission to +retain for a year this lady of honor. However that may be, the Queen of +Naples thought it to her interest to remove a person whose influence over +the mind of the Empress she so much feared; and as the ladies of the +household of her Imperial Majesty were themselves eager to be rid of the +rivalry of Madame de Lajanski, and endeavored to excite still more the +jealousy of her Imperial highness, a positive order was demanded from the +Emperor, and Madame de Lajanski was sent back from Munich to Vienna. +The Empress obeyed without complaint, but knowing who had instigated the +blow, cherished a profound resentment against her Majesty the Queen of +Naples. The Empress traveled only by short stages, and was welcomed by +fetes in each town through which she passed. Each day the Emperor sent +her a letter from his own hand, and she replied regularly. The first +letters of the Empress were very short, and probably cold, for the +Emperor said nothing about them; but afterwards they grew longer and +gradually more affectionate, and the Emperor read them in transports of +delight, awaiting the arrival of these letters with the impatience of a +lover twenty years of age, and always saying the couriers traveled +slowly, although they broke down their horses. + +The Emperor returned from the chase one day holding in his hands two +pheasants which he had himself killed, and followed by footmen bearing in +their hands the rarest flowers from the conservatory of Saint-Cloud. He +wrote a note, and immediately said to his first page, "In ten minutes be +ready to enter your carriage. You will find there this package which you +will give with your own hand to her Majesty the Empress, with the +accompanying letter. Above all do not spare the horses; go as fast as +possible, and fear nothing. The Duke of Vicenza shall say nothing to +you." The young man asked nothing better than to obey his Majesty; and +strong in this authority, which gave him perfect liberty, he did not +grudge drink money to the postilions, and in twenty-four hours had +reached Strasburg and delivered his message. + +I do not know whether he received a reprimand from the grand equerry on +his return; but if there was any cause for this, the latter would not +have failed to bestow it, in spite of the Emperor's assurance to the +first page. The Duke of Vicenza had organized and kept in admirable +order the service of the stables, where nothing was done except by his +will, which was most absolute; and it was only with the greatest +difficulty that the Emperor himself could change an order which the grand +equerry had given. For instance, his Majesty was one day en route to +Fontainebleau, and being very anxious to arrive quickly, gave orders to +the outrider who regulated the gait of the horses, to go faster. This +order he transmitted to the Duke of Vicenza whose carriage preceded that +of the Emperor; and finding that the grand equerry paid no attention to +this order, the Emperor began to swear, and cried to the outrider through +the door, "Let my carriage pass in front, since those in front will not +go on." The outriders and postilions were about to execute this maneuver +when the grand equerry also put his head out of the door and exclaimed, +"Keep to a trot, the first man who gallops I will dismiss on arriving." +It was well known that he would keep his word, so no one dared to pass, +and his carriage continued to regulate the pace of the others. On +reaching Fontainebleau the Emperor demanded of the Duke of Vicenza an +explanation of his conduct. "Sire," replied the duke to his Majesty, +"when you allow me a larger sum for the expenses of the stables, you can +kill your horses at your pleasure." + +The Emperor cursed every moment the ceremonials and fetes which delayed +the arrival of his young wife. A camp had been formed near Soissons for +the reception of the Empress. The Emperor was now at Compiegne, where he +made a decree containing several clauses of benefits and indulgences on +the occasion of his marriage, setting at liberty many condemned, giving +Imperial marriage dowries to six thousand soldiers, amnesties, +promotions, etc. At length his Majesty learned that the Empress was not +more than ten leagues from Soissons, and no longer able to restrain his +impatience, called me with all his might, "Ohe ho, Constant! order a +carriage without livery, and come and dress me." The Emperor wished to +surprise the Empress, and present himself to her without being announced; +and laughed immoderately at the effect this would produce. He attended +to his toilet with even more exquisite care than usual, if that were +possible, and with the coquetry of glory dressed himself in the gray +redingote he had worn at Wagram; and thus arrayed, the Emperor entered a +carriage with the King of Naples. The circumstances of this first +meeting of their Imperial Majesties are well known. + +In the little village of Courcelles, the Emperor met the last courier, +who preceded by only a few moments the carriages of the Empress; and as +it was raining in torrents, his Majesty took shelter on the porch of the +village church. As the carriage of the Empress was passing, the Emperor +made signs to the postilions to stop; and the equerry, who was at the +Empress's door, perceiving the Emperor, hastily lowered the step, and +announced his Majesty, who, somewhat vexed by this, exclaimed, "Could you +not see that I made signs to you to be silent?" This slight ill-humor, +however, passed away in an instant; and the Emperor threw himself on the +neck of Marie Louise, who, holding in her hand the picture of her +husband, and looking attentively first at it, then at him, remarked with +a charming smile, "It is not flattered." A magnificent supper had been +prepared at Soissons for the Empress and her cortege; but the Emperor +gave orders to pass on, and drove as far as Compiegne, without regard to +the appetites of the officers and ladies in the suite of the Empress. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +On their Majesties' arrival at Compiegne, the Emperor presented his hand +to the Empress, and conducted her to her apartment. He wished that no +one should approach or touch his young wife before himself; and his +jealousy was so extreme on this point that he himself forbade the senator +de Beauharnais, the Empress's chevalier of honor, to present his hand to +her Imperial Majesty, although this was one of the requirements of his +position. According to the programme, the Emperor should have occupied a +different residence from the Empress, and have slept at the hotel of the +Chancellerie; but he did nothing of the sort, since after a long +conversation with the Empress, he returned to his room, undressed, +perfumed himself with cologne, and wearing only a nightdress returned +secretly to the Empress. + +The next morning the Emperor asked me at his toilet if any one noticed +the change he had made in the programme; and I replied that I thought +not, though at the risk of falsehood. Just then one of his Majesty's +intimate friends entered who was unmarried, to whom his Majesty, pulling +his ears, said, "My dear fellow, marry a German. They are the best wives +in the world; gentle, good, artless, and fresh as roses." From the air +of satisfaction with which the Emperor said this, it was easy to see that +he was painting a portrait, and it was only a short while since the +painter had left the model. After making his toilet, the Emperor +returned to the Empress, and towards noon had breakfast sent up for her +and him, and served near the bed by her Majesty's women. Throughout the +day he was in a state of charming gayety, and contrary to his usual +custom, having made a second toilet for dinner, wore the coat made by the +tailor of the King of Naples; but next day he would not allow it to be +put on again, saying it was much too uncomfortable. + +The Emperor, as may be seen from the preceding details, loved his new +wife most tenderly. He paid her constant attentions, and his whole +conduct was that of a lover deeply enamoured. Nevertheless, it is not +true, as some one has said, that he remained three months almost without +working, to the great astonishment of his ministers; for work was not +only a duty with the Emperor, it was both a necessity and an enjoyment, +from which no other pleasure, however great, could distract him; and on +this occasion, as on every other, he knew perfectly well how to combine +the duties he owed to his empire and his army with those due to his +charming wife. + +The Empress Marie Louise was only nineteen years old at the period of her +marriage. Her hair was blond, her eyes blue and expressive, her carriage +noble, and her figure striking, while her hand and foot might have served +as models; in fact, her whole person breathed youth, health, and +freshness. She was diffident, and maintained a haughty reserve towards +the court; but she was said to be affectionate and friendly in private +life, and one fact I can assert positively is that she was very +affectionate toward the Emperor, and submissive to his will. In their +first interview the Emperor asked her what recommendations were made to +her on her departure from Vienna. "To be entirely devoted to you, and to +obey you in all things," which instructions she seemed to find no +difficulty in obeying. + +No one could resemble the first Empress less than the second, and except +in the two points of similarity of temperament, and an extreme regard for +the Emperor, the one was exactly the opposite of the other; and it must +be confessed the Emperor congratulated himself on this difference, in +which he found both novelty and charm. He himself drew a parallel +between his two wives in these terms: "The one [Josephine] was all art +and grace; the other [Marie Louise] innocence and natural simplicity. At +no moment of her life were the manners or habits of the former other than +agreeable and attractive, and it would have been impossible to take her +at a disadvantage on these points; for it was her special object in life +to produce only advantageous impressions, and she gained her end without +allowing this effort to be seen. All that art can furnish to supplement +attractions was practiced by her, but so skillfully that the existence of +this deception could only be suspected at most. On the contrary, it +never occurred to the mind of the second that she could gain anything by +innocent artifices. The one was always tempted to infringe upon the +truth, and her first emotion was a negative one. The other was ignorant +of dissimulation, and every deception was foreign to her. The first +never asked for anything, but she owed everywhere. The second did not +hesitate to ask if she needed anything, which was very rarely, and never +purchased anything without feeling herself obliged to pay for it +immediately. To sum it all up, both were good, gentle wives, and much +attached to their husband." Such, or very nearly these, were the terms +in which the Emperor spoke of his Empresses. It can be seen that he drew +the comparison in favor of the second; and with this idea he gave her +credit for qualities which she did not possess, or at least exaggerated +greatly those really belonging to her. + +The Emperor granted Marie Louise 500,000 francs for her toilet, but she +never spent the entire amount. She had little taste in dress, and would +have made a very inelegant appearance had she not been well advised. +The Emperor was present at her toilet those days on which he wished her +to appear especially well, and himself tried the effect of different +ornaments on the head, neck, and arms of the Empress, always selecting +something very handsome. The Emperor was an excellent husband, of which +he gave proof in the case of both his wives. He adored his son, and both +as father and husband might have served as a model for all his subjects; +yet in spite of whatever he may have said on the subject himself, I do +not think he loved Marie Louise with the same devoted affection as +Josephine. The latter had a charming grace, a kindness, an intelligence, +and a devotion to her husband which the Emperor knew and appreciated at +its full value; and though Marie Louise was younger, she was colder, and +had far less grace of manner. I think she was much attached to her +husband; but she was reserved and reticent, and by no means took the +place of Josephine with those who had enjoyed the happiness of being near +the latter. + +Notwithstanding the apparent submission with which she had bidden +farewell to her Austrian household, it is certain that she had strong +prejudices, not only against her own household, but also against that of +the Emperor, and never addressed a gracious word to the persons in the +Emperor's personal service. I saw her frequently, but not a smile, a +look, a sign, on the part of the Empress showed me that I was in her eyes +anything more than a stranger. On my return from Russia, whence I did +not arrive until after the Emperor, I lost no time in entering his room, +knowing that he had already asked for me, and found there his Majesty +with the Empress and Queen Hortense. The Emperor condoled with me on the +sufferings I had recently undergone, and said many flattering things +which proved his high opinion of me; and the queen, with that charming +grace of which she is the only model since the death of her august +mother, conversed with me for some time in the kindest manner. The +Empress alone kept silence; and noticing this the Emperor said to her, +"Louise, have you nothing to say to poor Constant?"--"I had not +perceived him," said the Empress. This reply was most unkind, as it was +impossible for her Majesty not to have "perceived" me, there being at +that moment present in the room only the Emperor, Queen Hortense, and I. + +The Emperor from the first took the severest precautions that no one, and +especially no man, should approach the Empress, except in the presence of +witnesses. + +During the time of the Empress Josephine, there were four ladies whose +only duty was to announce the persons received by her Majesty. The +excessive indulgence of Josephine prevented her repressing the jealous +pretensions of some persons of her household, which gave rise to endless +debates and rivalries between the ladies of the palace and those of +announcement. The Emperor had been much annoyed by all these bickerings, +and, in order to avoid them in future, chose, from the ladies charged +with the education of the daughters of the Legion of Honor in the school +at Rouen, four new ladies of announcement for the Empress Marie Louise. +Preference was at first given to the daughters or widows of generals; and +the Emperor decided that the places becoming vacant belonged by right to +the best pupils of the Imperial school of Rouen, and should be given as a +reward for good conduct. A short time after, the number of these ladies +now being as many as six, two pupils of Madame de Campan were named, and +these ladies changed their titles to that of first ladies of the Empress. + +This change, however, excited the displeasure of the ladies of the +palace, and again aroused their clamors around the Emperor; and he +consequently decided that the ladies of announcement should take the +title of first ladies of the chamber. Great clamor among the ladies of +announcement in their turn, who came in person to plead their cause +before the Emperor; and he at last ended the matter by giving them the +title of readers to the Empress, in order to reconcile the requirements +of the two belligerent parties. + +These ladies of announcement, or first ladies of the chamber, or readers, +as the reader may please to call them, had under their orders six femmes +de chambre, who entered the Empress's rooms only when summoned there by a +bell. These latter arranged her Majesty's toilet and hair in the +morning; and the six first ladies took no part in her toilet except the +care of the diamonds, of which they had special charge. Their chief and +almost only employment was to follow the steps of the Empress, whom they +left no more than her shadow, entering her room before she arose, and +leaving her no more till she was in bed. Then all the doors opening into +her room were closed, except that leading into an adjoining room, in +which was the bed of the lady on duty, and through which, in order to +enter his wife's room, the Emperor himself must pass. + +With the exception of M. de Meneval, secretary of orders of the Empress, +and M. Ballouhai, superintendent of expenses, no man was admitted into +the private apartments of the Empress without an order from the Emperor; +and the ladies even, except the lady of honor and the lady of attire, +were received only after making an appointment with the Empress. The +ladies of the private apartments were required to observe these rules, +and were responsible for their execution; and one of them was required to +be present at the music, painting, and embroidery lessons of the Empress, +and wrote letters by her dictation or under her orders. + +The Emperor did not wish that any man in the world should boast of having +been alone with the Empress for two minutes; and he reprimanded very +severely the lady on duty because she one day remained at the end of the +saloon while M. Biennais, court watchmaker, showed her Majesty a secret +drawer in a portfolio he had made for her. Another time the Emperor was +much displeased because the lady on duty was not seated by the side of +the Empress while she took her music-lesson with M. Pier. + +These facts prove conclusively the falsity of the statement that the +milliner Leroy was excluded from the palace for taking the liberty of +saying to her Majesty that she had beautiful shoulders. M. Leroy had the +dresses of the Empress made at his shop by a model which was sent him; +and they were never tried on her Majesty, either by him, or any person of +her Majesty's household, and necessary alterations were indicated by her +femmes de chambre. It was the same with the other merchants and +furnishers, makers of corsets, the shoemaker, glovemaker, etc.; not one +of whom ever saw the Empress or spoke to her in her private apartments. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +Their Majesties' civil marriage was celebrated at Saint-Cloud on Sunday, +the 1st of April, at two o'clock in the afternoon. The religious +ceremony was solemnized the next day in the grand gallery of the Louvre. +A very singular circumstance in this connection was the fact that Sunday +afternoon at Saint-Cloud the weather was beautiful, while the streets of +Paris were flooded with a heavy shower lasting some time, and on Monday +there was rain at Saint-Cloud, while the weather was magnificent in +Paris, as if the fates had decreed that nothing should lessen the +splendor of the cortege, or the brilliancy of the wonderful illuminations +of that evening. "The star of the Emperor," said some one in the +language of that period, "has borne him twice over equinoctial winds." + +On Monday evening the city of Paris presented a scene that might have +been taken from the realms of enchantment: the illuminations were the +most brilliant I have ever witnessed, forming a succession of magic +panorama in which houses, hotels, palaces, and churches, shone with +dazzling splendor, the glittering towers of the churches appeared like +stars and comets suspended in the air. The hotels of the grand +dignitaries of the empire, the ministers, the ambassadors of Austria and +Russia, and the Duke d'Abrantes, rivaled each other in taste and beauty. +The Place Louis XV. was like a scene from fairyland; from the midst of +this Place, surrounded with orange-trees on fire, the eye was attracted +in succession by the magnificent decorations of the Champs-Elysees, the +Garde Meuble, the Temple of Glory, the Tuileries, and the Corps +Legislatif. The palace of the latter represented the Temple of Hymen, +the transparencies on the front representing Peace uniting the august +spouses. Beside them stood two figures bearing shields, on which were +represented the arms of the two empires; and behind this group came +magistrates, warriors, and the people presenting crowns. At the two +extremities of the transparencies were represented the Seine and the +Danube, surrounded by children-image of fecundity. The twelve columns of +the peristyle and the staircase were illuminated; and the columns were +united by garlands of colored lights, the statues on the peristyle and +the steps also bearing lights. The bridge Louis XV., by which this +Temple of Hymen was reached, formed in itself an avenue, whose double +rows of lamps, and obelisks and more than a hundred columns, each +surmounted by a star and connected by spiral festoons of colored lights, +produced an effect so brilliant that it was almost unendurable to the +naked eye. The cupola of the dome of Saint Genevieve was also +magnificently lighted, and each side outlined by a double row of lamps. +At each corner were eagles, ciphers in colored glass, and garlands of +fire suspended between torches of Hymen. The peristyle of the dome was +lighted by lamps placed between each column, and as the columns were not +lighted they seemed as if suspended in the air. The lantern tower was a +blaze of light; and all this mass of brilliancy was surmounted by a +tripod representing the altar of Hymen, from which shot tongues of flame, +produced by bituminous materials. At a great elevation above the +platform of the observatory, an immense star, isolated from the platform, +and which from the variety of many-colored glasses composing it sparkled +like a vast diamond, under the dome of night. The palace of the senate +also attracted a large number of the curious; but I have already extended +too far the description of this wonderful scene which unfolded itself at +every step before us. + +The city of Paris did homage to her Majesty the Empress by presenting her +with a toilet set even more magnificent than that formerly presented to +the Empress Josephine. Everything was in silver gilt, even the arm chair +and the cheval glass. The paintings on the exquisite furniture had been +made by the first artists, and the elegance and finish of the ornaments +surpassed even the rich ness of the materials. + +About the end of April their Majesties set out together to visit the +departments of the North; and the journey was an almost exact repetition +of the one I made in 1804 with the Emperor, only the Empress was no +longer the good, kind Josephine. While passing again through all these +towns, where I had seen her welcomed with so much enthusiasm, and who now +addressed the same adoration and homage to a new sovereign, and while +seeing again the chateaux of Lacken, Brussels, Antwerp, Boulogne, and +many other places where I had seen Josephine pass in triumph, as at +present Marie Louise passed, I thought with chagrin of the isolation of +the first wife from her husband, and the suffering which must penetrate +even into her retreat, as she was told of the honors rendered to the one +who had succeeded her in the Emperor's heart and on the Imperial throne. + +The King and Queen of Westphalia and Prince Eugene accompanied their +Majesties. We saw a vessel with eighty cannon launched at Antwerp, which +received, before leaving the docks, the benediction of M. de Pradt, +Archbishop of Malines. The King of Holland, who joined the Emperor at +Antwerp, felt most unkindly towards his Majesty, who had recently +required of him the cession of a part of his states, and soon after +seized the remainder. He was, however, present in Paris at the marriage +fetes of the Emperor, who had even sent him to meet Marie Louise; but the +two brothers had not ceased their mutual distrust of each other, and it +must be admitted that that of King Louis had only too good foundation. +What struck me as very singular in their altercations was that the +Emperor, in the absence of his brother, gave vent to the most terrible +bursts of rage, and to violent threats against him, while if they had an +interview they treated each other in the most amicable and familiar and +brotherly manner. Apart they were, the one, Emperor of the French, the +other, King of Holland, with opposite interests and views; together they +were no more than, if I may be permitted to so express myself, Napoleon +and Louis, companions and friends from childhood. + +Prince Louis was habitually sad and melancholy. The annoyances he +experienced on the throne, where he had been placed against his will, +added to his domestic troubles, made him evidently very unhappy, and all +who knew him pitied him sincerely; for King Louis was an excellent +master, and an honest man of much merit. It has been said that when the +Emperor had decided on the union of Holland and France, King Louis +resolved to defend himself in the town of Amsterdam to the last +extremity, and to break the dikes and inundate the whole country if +necessary, in order to arrest the invasion of the French troops. I do +not know whether this is true; but from what I have seen of this prince's +character, I am very sure that, while having enough personal courage to +expose his own person to all the chances of this desperate alternative, +his naturally kind heart and his humanity would have prevented the +execution of this project. + +At Middleburg the Emperor embarked on board the Charlemagne to visit the +mouth of the Scheldt and the port and island of Flushing. During this +excursion we were assailed by a terrible tempest, three anchors were +broken in succession; we met with other accidents, and encountered great +dangers. + +The Emperor was made very sick, and every few moments threw himself on +his bed, making violent but unsuccessful efforts to vomit, which rendered +his sickness more distressing. I was fortunate enough not to be at all +inconvenienced, and was thus in a position to give him all the attention +he required; though all the persons of his suite were sick, and my uncle, +who was usher on duty, and obliged to remain standing at the door of his +Majesty's cabin, fell over continually, and suffered agony. During this +time of torment, which lasted for three days, the Emperor was bursting +with impatience. "I think," said he, "that I would have made a pretty +admiral." + +A short time after our return from this voyage, the Emperor wished her +Majesty the Empress to learn to ride on horseback; and for this purpose +she went to the riding-hall of Saint-Cloud. Several persons of the +household were in the gallery to see her take her first lesson, I among +the number; and I noticed the tender solicitude of the Emperor for his +young wife, who was mounted on a gentle, well-broken horse, while the +Emperor held her hand and walked by her side, M. Jardin, Sr., holding the +horse's bridle. At the first step the horse made, the Empress screamed +with fright, whereupon the Emperor said to her, "Come, Louise, be brave. +What have you to fear? Am I not here? "And thus the lesson passed, in +encouragement on one side and fright on the other. The next day the +Emperor ordered the persons in the gallery to leave, as they embarrassed +the Empress; but she soon overcame her timidity, and ended by becoming a +very good horsewoman, often racing in the park with her ladies of honor +and Madame the Duchess of Montebello, who also rode with much grace. A +coach with some ladies followed the Empress, and Prince Aldobrandini, her +equerry, never left her in her rides. + +The Empress was at an age in which one enjoys balls and fetes; but the +Emperor feared above all things her becoming tired, and consequently +rejoicings and amusements were given up at the court and in the city. +A fete given in honor of their Majesties by the Prince of Schwartzenberg, +ambassador from Austria, ended in a frightful accident. + +The prince occupied the former Hotel de la Montesson in the rue de la +Chaussee d'Antin; and in order to give this ball had added to this +residence a broad hall and wooden gallery, decorated with quantities of +flowers, banners, candelabra, etc. Just as the Emperor, who had been +present at the fete for two or three hours, was about to retire, one of +the curtains, blown by the breeze, took fire from the lights, which had +been placed too near the windows, and was instantly in flames. Some +persons made ineffectual efforts to extinguish the fire by tearing down +the drapery and smothering the flames with their hands; but in the +twinkling of an eye the curtains, papers, and garlands caught, and the +wood-work began to burn. + +The Emperor was one of the first to perceive the rapid progress of the +fire, and foresee the results. He approached the Empress, who had +already risen to join him, and got out with her, not without some +difficulty, on account of the crowd which rushed towards the doors; the +Queens of Holland, Naples, Westphalia, the Princess Borghese, etc., +following their Majesties, while the Vice-queen of Italy, who was +pregnant, remained in the hall, on the platform containing the Imperial +boxes. The vice-king, fearing the crowd as much as the fire for his +wife, took her out through a little door that had been cut in the +platform in order to serve refreshments to their Majesties. No one had +thought of this opening before Prince Eugene, and only a few persons went +out with him. Her Majesty the Queen of Westphalia did not think herself +safe, even when she had reached the terrace, and in her fright rushed +into the rue Taitbout, where she was found by a passer-by. + +The Emperor accompanied the Empress as far as the entrance of the Champs- +Elysees, where he left her to return to the fire, and did not re-enter +Saint-Cloud until four o'clock in the morning. From the time of the +arrival of the Empress we were in a state of terrible apprehension, and +every one in the chateau was a prey to the greatest anxiety in regard to +the Emperor. At last he arrived unharmed, but very tired, his clothing +all in disorder, and his face blackened with smoke, his shoes and +stockings scorched and burned by the fire. He went directly to the +chamber of the Empress to assure himself if she had recovered from the +fright she had experienced; and then returned to his room, and throwing +his hat on the bed, dropped on a sofa, exclaiming, "Mon Dieu! What a +fete!" I remarked that the Emperor's hands were all blackened, and he +had lost his gloves at the fire. He was much dejected, and while I was +undressing him, asked if I had attended the prince's fete, and when I +replied in the negative, deigned to give me some details of this +deplorable event. The Emperor spoke with an emotion which I saw him +manifest only two or three times in his life, and which he never showed +in regard to his own misfortunes. "The fire," said his Majesty, "has to- +night devoured a heroic woman. The sister-in-law of the Prince of +Schwartzenberg, hearing from the burning hall cries which she thought +were uttered by her eldest daughter, threw herself into the midst of the +flames, and the floor, already nearly burned through, broke under her +feet, and she disappeared. After all the poor mother was mistaken, and +all her children were out of danger. Incredible efforts were made, and +at last she was recovered from the flames; but she was entirely dead, and +all the attentions of the physicians have been unsuccessful in restoring +her to life." The emotion of the Emperor increased at the end of this +recital. I had taken care to have his bath in readiness, foreseeing he +would need it on his return; and his Majesty now took it, and after his +customary rubbing, found himself in much better condition. Nevertheless, +I remember his expressing fear that the terrible accident of this night +was the precursor of some fatal event, and he long retained these +apprehensions. Three years after, during the deplorable campaign of +Russia, it was announced to the Emperor one day, that the army-corps +commanded by the Prince of Schwartzenberg had been destroyed, and that +the prince himself had perished; afterwards he found fortunately that +these tidings were false, but when they were brought to his Majesty, he +exclaimed as if replying to an idea that had long preoccupied him, "Then +it was he whom the bad omen threatened." + +Towards morning the Emperor sent pages to the houses of all those who had +suffered from the catastrophe with his compliments, and inquiries as to +their condition. Sad answers were brought to his Majesty. Madame the +Princess de la Layen, niece of the Prince Primate, had died from her +wounds; and the lives of General Touzart, his wife, and daughter were +despaired of,--in fact, they died that same day. There were other +victims of this disaster; and among a number of persons who recovered +after long-continued sufferings were Prince Kourakin and Madame Durosnel, +wife of the general of that name. + +Prince Kourakin, always remarkable for the magnificence as well as the +singular taste of his toilet, wore at the ball a coat of gold cloth, and +it was this which saved his life, as sparks and cinders slipped off his +coat and the decorations with which he was covered like a helmet; yet, +notwithstanding this, the prince was confined to his bed for several +months. In the confusion he fell on his back, was for some time, +trampled under foot and much injured, and owed his life only to the +presence of mind and strength of a musician, who raised him in his arms +and carried him out of the crowd. + +General Durosnel, whose wife fainted in the ball-room, threw himself in +the midst of the flames, and reappeared immediately, bearing in his arms +his precious burden. He bore Madame Durosnel into a house on the +boulevard, where he placed her until he could find a carriage in which to +convey her to his hotel. The Countess Durosnel was painfully burned, and +was ill more than two years. In going from the ambassador's hotel to the +boulevard he saw by the light of the fire a robber steal the comb from +the head of his wife who had fainted in his arms. This comb was set with +diamonds, and very valuable. + +Madame Durosnel's affection for her husband was equal to that he felt for +her; and when at the end of a bloody combat, in the second campaign of +Poland, General Durosnel was lost for several days, and news was sent to +France that he was thought to be dead, the countess in despair fell ill +of grief, and was at the point of death. A short time after it was +learned that the general was badly but not mortally wounded, and that he +had been found, and his wounds would quickly heal. When Madame Durosnel +received this happy news her joy amounted almost to delirium; and in the +court of her hotel she made a pile of her mourning clothes and those of +her people, set fire to them, and saw this gloomy pile turn to ashes amid +wild transports of joy and delight. + +Two days after the burning of the hotel of the Prince of Schwartzenberg, +the Emperor received the news of the abdication of his brother Louis, by +which event his Majesty seemed at first much chagrined, and said to some +one who entered his room just as he had been informed of it, "I foresaw +this madness of Louis, but I did not think he would be in such haste." +Nevertheless, the Emperor soon decided what course to take; and a few +days afterwards his Majesty, who during the toilet had not opened his +mouth, came suddenly out of his preoccupation just as I handed him his +coat, and gave me two or three of his familiar taps. "Monsieur +Constant," said he, "do you know what are the three capitals of the +French Empire? "and without giving me time to answer, the Emperor +continued, "Paris, Rome, and Amsterdam. That sounds well, does it not?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +In the latter part of July large crowds visited the Church of the Hotel +des Invalides, in which were placed the remains of General Saint-Hilaire +and the Duke de Montebello, the remains of the marshal being placed near +the tomb of Turenne. The mornings were spent in the celebration of +several masses, at a double altar which was raised between the nave and +the dome; and for four days there floated from the spire of the dome a +long black banner or flag edged with white. + +The day the remains of the marshal were removed from the Invalides to the +Pantheon, I was sent from Saint-Cloud to Paris with a special message for +the Emperor. After this duty was attended to, I still had a short time +of leisure, of which I availed myself to witness the sad ceremony and bid +a last adieu to the brave warrior whose death I had witnessed. At noon +all the civil and military authorities assembled at the Invalides; and +the body was transferred from the dome into the church, and placed on a +catafalque in the shape of a great Egyptian pyramid, raised on an +elevated platform, and approached through four large arches, the posts of +which were entwined with garlands of laurels interlaced with cypress. +At the corners were statues in the attitude of grief, representing Force, +Justice, Prudence, and Temperance, virtues characteristic of the hero. +This pyramid ended in a funeral urn surmounted by a crown of fire. On +the front of the pyramid were placed the arms of the duke, and medallions +commemorating the most remarkable events of his life borne by genii. +Under the obelisk was placed the sarcophagus containing the remains of +the marshal, at the corners of which were trophies composed of banners +taken from his enemies, and innumerable silver candelabra were placed on +the steps by which the platform was reached. The oaken altar, in the +position it occupied before the Revolution, was double, and had a double +tabernacle, on the doors of which were the commandments, the whole +surmounted by a large cross, from the intersection of which was suspended +a shroud. At the corners of the altar were the statues of St. Louis and +St. Napoleon. Four large candelabra were placed on pedestals at the +corners of the steps, and the pavement of the choir and that of the nave +were covered with a black carpet. The pulpit, also draped in black and +decorated with the Imperial eagle, and from which was pronounced the +funeral oration over the marshal, was situated on the left in front of +the bier; on the right was a seat of ebony decorated with Imperial arms, +bees, stars, lace, fringes, and other ornaments in silver, which was +intended for the prince arch-chancellor of the Empire, who presided at +the ceremony. Steps were erected in the arches of the aisles, and +corresponded to the tribunes which were above; and in front of these +steps were seats and benches for the civil and military authorities, the +cardinals, archbishops, bishops, etc. The arms, decorations, baton, and +laurel crown of the marshal were placed on the bier. + +All the nave and the bottom of the aisles were covered with black with a +white bordering, as were the windows also, and the draperies displayed +the marshal's arms, baton, and cipher. + +The organ was entirely concealed by voluminous hangings which in no wise +lessened the effect of its mournful tones. Eighteen sepulchral silver +lamps were suspended by chains from lances, bearing on their points flags +taken from the enemy. On the pilasters of the nave were fastened +trophies of arms, composed of banners captured in the numerous +engagements which had made the marshal's life illustrious. The railing +of the altar on the side of the esplanade was draped in black, and above +this were the arms of the duke borne by two figures of Fame holding palms +of victory; above was written: "Napoleon to the Memory of the Duke of +Montebello, who died gloriously on the field of Essling, 22d. May, 1809." + +The conservatory of music executed a mass composed of selections from the +best of Mozart's sacred pieces. After the ceremony the body was carried +as far as the door of the church and placed on the funeral car, which was +ornamented with laurel and four groups of the banners captured from the +enemy by his army-corps in the numerous battles in which the marshal had +taken part, and was preceded by a military and religious procession, +followed by one of mourning and honor. The military cortege was composed +of detachments from all branches of the army, cavalry, and light +infantry, and the line, and artillery both horse and foot; followed by +cannon, caissons, sappers, and miners, all preceded by drums, trumpets, +bands, etc.; and the general staff, with the marshal, Prince of Wagram, +at its head, formed of all the general officers, with the staff of the +division and of the place. + +The religious procession was composed of children and old men from the +hospitals, clergy from all the parishes and from the metropolitan church +of Paris, bearing crosses and banners, with singers and sacred music, and +his Majesty's chaplain with his assistants. The car on which was placed +the marshal's body followed immediately after. The marshals, Duke of +Conegliano, Count Serrurier, Duke of Istria, and Prince of Eckmuhl, bore +the corners of the pall. On each side of the car two of the marshal's +aides-de-camp bore a standard, and on the bier were fastened the baton of +the marshal and the decorations of the Duke of Montebello. + +After the car came the cortege of mourning and of honor; the marshal's +empty carriage, with two of his aides-de-camp on horseback at the door, +four mourning carriages for the marshal's family, the carriages of the +princes, grand dignitaries, marshals, ministers, colonel-generals, and +chief inspectors. Then came a detachment of cavalry preceded by +trumpets, and bands on horseback followed the carriages and ended the +procession. Music accompanied the chants, all the bells of the churches +tolled, and thirteen cannon thundered at intervals. + +On arriving at the subterranean entrance of the church of Saint- +Genevieve, the body was removed from the car by grenadiers who had been +decorated and wounded in the same battles as the marshal. His Majesty's +chaplain delivered the body to the arch-priest. The Prince of Eckmuhl +addressed to the new Duke of Montebello the condolences of the army, and +the prince arch-chancellor deposited on the bier the medal destined to +perpetuate the memory of these funeral honors of the warrior to whom they +were paid, and of the services which so well merited them. Then all the +crowd passed away, and there remained in the church only a few old +servants of the marshal, who honored his memory as much and even more by +the tears which they shed in silence than did all this public mourning +and imposing ceremony. They recognized me, for we had been together on +the campaign. I remained some time with them, and we left the Pantheon +together. + +During my short excursion to Paris, their Majesties had left Saint-Cloud +for Rambouillet, so I set out to rejoin them with the equipages of the +marshal, Prince de Neuchatel, who had left court temporarily to be +present at the obsequies of the brave Duke of Montebello. + +It was, if I am not mistaken, on arriving at Rambouillet that I learned +the particulars of a duel which had taken place that day between two +gentlemen, pages of his Majesty. I do not recall the subject of the +quarrel; but, though very trivial in its origin, it became very serious +from the course of conduct to which it led. It was a dispute between +schoolboys; but these school-boys wore swords, and regarded each other, +not without reason, as more than three-fourths soldiers, so they had +decided to fight. But for this fight, two things were necessary,--time +and secrecy; as to their time, it was employed from four or five in the +morning till nine in the evening, almost constantly, and secrecy was not +maintained. + +M. d'Assigny, a man of rare merit and fine character, was then sub- +governor of the pages, by whom his faithfulness, kindness, and justice +had caused him to be much beloved. Wishing to prevent a calamity, he +called before him the two adversaries; but these young men, destined for +army service, would hear of no other reparation than the duel. +M. d'Assigny had too much tact to attempt to argue with them, knowing +that he would not have been obeyed; but he offered himself as second, was +accepted by the young men, and being given the selection of arms, chose +the pistol, and appointed as the time of meeting an early hour next +morning, and everything was conducted in the order usual to such affairs. +One of the pages shot first, and missed his adversary; the other +discharged his weapon in the air, upon which they immediately rushed into +each other's arms, and M. d'Assigny took this opportunity of giving them +a truly paternal lecture. Moreover, the worthy sub-governor not only +kept their secret, but he kept his own also; for the pistols loaded by M. +d'Assigny contained only cork balls; a fact of which the young men are +still ignorant. + +Some persons saw the 25th of August, which was the fete day of the +Empress, arrive with feelings of curiosity. They thought that from a +fear of exciting the memories of the royalists, the Emperor would +postpone this solemnity to another period of the year, which he could +easily have done by feting his august spouse under the name of Marie. +But the Emperor was not deterred by such fears, and it is also very +probable that he was the only one in the chateau to whom no such idea +occurred. Secure in his power, and the hopes that the French nation then +built upon him, he knew well that he had nothing to dread from exiled +princes, or from a party which appeared dead without the least chance of +resurrection. I have heard it asserted since, and very seriously too, +that his Majesty was wrong to fete Saint Louis, which had brought him +misfortune, etc.; but these prognostications, made afterwards, did not +then occupy the thoughts of any one, and Saint Louis was celebrated in +honor of the Empress Marie Louise with almost unparalleled pomp and +brilliancy. + +A few days after these rejoicings, their Majesties held in the Bois de +Boulogne a review of the regiments of the Imperial Guard of Holland, +which the Emperor had recently ordered to Paris. In honor of their +arrival his Majesty had placed here and there in the walks of the Bois +casks of wine with the heads knocked in, so that each soldier could drink +at will; but this imperial munificence had serious results which might +have become fatal. The Holland soldiery more accustomed to strong beer +than to wine, nevertheless found the latter much to their taste, and +imbibed it in such great quantities, that in consequence their heads were +turned to an alarming extent. They began at first with some encounters, +either among themselves or with the curious crowd who observed them too +closely. Just then a storm arose suddenly, and the promenaders of Saint- +Cloud and its environs hastened to return to Paris, passing hurriedly +through the Bois de Boulogne; and these Hollanders, now in an almost +complete state of intoxication, began fighting with each other in the +woods, stopping all the women who passed, and threatening very, rudely +the men by whom, most of them were accompanied. In a flash the Bois +resounded with cries of terror, shouts, oaths, and innumerable combats. +Some frightened persons ran as far as Saint-Cloud, where the Emperor then +was; and he was no sooner informed of this commotion, than he ordered +squad after squad of police to march on the Hollanders and bring them to +reason. His Majesty was very angry, and said, "Has any one ever seen +anything equal to these big heads? See them turned topsy-turvy by two +glasses of wine!" but in spite of this jesting, the Emperor was not +without some anxiety and placed himself at the grating of the park, +opposite the bridge, and in person gave directions to the officers and +soldiers sent to restore order. Unfortunately the darkness was too far +advanced for the soldiers to see in what direction to march; and there is +no knowing how it would have ended if an officer of one of the patrol +guards had not conceived the happy idea of calling out, "The Emperor! +there is the Emperor!" And the sentinels repeated after him, "There is +the Emperor," while charging the most mutinous Hollanders. And such was +the terror inspired in these soldiers by the simple name of his Majesty, +that thousands of armed men, drunken and furious, dispersed before this +name alone, and regained their quarters as quickly and secretly as they +could. A few were arrested and severely punished. + +I have already said that the Emperor often superintended the toilet of +the Empress, and even that of her ladies. In fact, he liked all the +persons surrounding him to be well and even richly dressed. + +But about this time he gave an order the wisdom of which I much admired. +Having often to hold at the baptismal font the children of his grand +officers, and foreseeing that the parents would not fail to dress their +new-born babes in magnificent toilets, the Emperor ordered that children +presented for baptism should wear only a simple long linen robe. +This prudent measure spared at the same time the purse and the vanity of +the parents. I remarked during this ceremony that the Emperor had some +trouble in paying the necessary attention to the questions of the +officiating priest. The Emperor was usually very absentminded during the +services at church, which were not long, as they never lasted more than +ten or fifteen minutes; and yet I have been told that his Majesty asked +if it were not possible to perform them in less time.--He bit his nails, +took snuff oftener than usual, and looked about him constantly, while a +prince of the church uselessly took the trouble to turn the leaves of his +Majesty's book, in order to follow the service. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +The pregnancy of Marie Louise had been free from accident, and promised a +happy deliverance, which was awaited by the Emperor with an impatience in +which France had joined for a long while. It was a curious thing to +observe the state of the public mind, while the people formed all sorts +of conjectures, and made unanimous and ardent prayers that the child +should be a son, who might receive the vast inheritance of Imperial +glory. The 19th of March, at seven o'clock in the evening, the Empress +was taken ill; and from that moment the whole palace was in commotion. +The Emperor was informed, and sent immediately for M. Dubois, who had +been staying constantly at the chateau for some time past, and whose +attentions were so valued at such a time. + +All the private household of the Empress, as well as Madame de +Montesquieu, were gathered in the apartment, the Emperor, his mother, +sisters, Messieurs Corvisart, Bourdier, and Yvan in an adjoining room. + +The Emperor came in frequently, and encouraged his young wife. In the +interior of the palace, the attention was eager, impassioned, clamorous; +and each vied with the other as to who should first have the news of the +birth of the child. At five o'clock in the morning, as the situation of +the Empress continued the same, the Emperor ordered every one to retire, +and himself withdrew in order to take his bath; for the anxiety he had +undergone made a moment of repose very necessary to him in his great +agitation. After fifteen minutes spent in the bath he was hastily +summoned, as the condition of the Empress had become both critical and +dangerous. Hastily throwing on his dressing-gown, he returned to the +apartment of the Empress, and tenderly encouraged her, holding her hand. +The physician, M. Dubois, informed him that it was improbable both mother +and child could be saved; whereupon he cried, "Come, M. Dubois, keep your +wits about you! Save the mother, think only of the mother, I order you." + +As the intense suffering continued, it became necessary to use +instruments; and Marie Louise, perceiving this, exclaimed with +bitterness, "Is it necessary to sacrifice me because I am an Empress?" +The Emperor overcome by his emotions had retired to the dressing-room, +pale as death, and almost beside himself. At last the child came into +the world; and the Emperor immediately rushed into the apartment, +embracing the Empress with extreme tenderness, without glancing at the +child, which was thought to be dead; and in fact, it was seven minutes +before he gave any signs of life, though a few drops of brandy were blown +into his mouth and many efforts made to revive him. At last he uttered a +cry. + +The Emperor rushed from the Empress's arms to embrace this child, whose +birth was for him the last and highest favor of fortune, and seemed +almost beside himself with joy, rushing from the son to the mother, from +the mother to the son, as if he could not sufficiently feast his eyes on +either. When he entered his room to make his toilet, his face beamed +with joy; and, seeing me, he exclaimed, "Well, Constant, we have a big +boy! He is well made to pinch ears for example;" announcing it thus to +every one he met. It was in these effusions of domestic bliss that I +could appreciate how deeply this great soul, which was thought +impressible only to glory, felt the joys of family life. + +From the moment the great bell of Notre Dame and the bells of the +different churches of Paris sounded in the middle of the night, until the +hour when the cannon announced the happy delivery of the Empress, an +extreme agitation was felt throughout Paris. At break of day the crowd +rushed towards the Tuileries, and filled the streets and quays, all +awaiting in anxious suspense the first discharge of the cannon. But this +curious sight was not only seen in the Tuileries and neighboring +districts, but at half-past nine in streets far removed from the chateau, +and in all parts of Paris, people could be seen stopping to count with +emotion the discharges of the cannon. + +The twenty-second discharge which announced the birth of a boy was hailed +with general acclamations. To the silence of expectation, which had +arrested as if by enchantment the steps of all persons scattered over all +parts of the city, succeeded a burst of enthusiasm almost indescribable. +In this twenty-second [It had been announced in the papers that if it, +was a girl a salute of twenty-one guns would be fired; if a boy, one +hundred guns.] boom of the cannon was a whole dynasty, a whole future, +and simultaneously hats went up in the air; people ran over each other, +and embraced those to whom they were strangers amid shouts of "Vive +l'Empereur!" Old soldiers shed tears of joy, thinking that they had +contributed by their labors and their fatigues to prepare the heritage of +the King of Rome, and that their laurels would wave over the cradle of a +dynasty. + +Napoleon, concealed behind a curtain at one of the windows of the +Empress's room, enjoyed the sight of the popular joy, and seemed deeply +touched. Great tears rolled from his eyes, and overcome by emotion he +came again to embrace his son. Never had glory made him shed a tear; but +the happiness of being a father had softened this heart on which the most +brilliant victories and the most sincere testimonials of public +admiration seemed hardly to make an impression. And in truth Napoleon +had a right to believe in his good fortune, which had reached its height +on the day when an archduchess of Austria made him the father of a king, +who had begun as a cadet in a Corsican family. At the end of a few hours +the event which was awaited with equal impatience by France and Europe +had become the personal joy of every household. + +At half-past ten Madame Blanchard set out from L'Ecole Militaire in a +balloon for the purpose of carrying into all the towns and villages +through which she passed, the news of the birth of the King of Rome. + +The telegraph carried the happy news in every direction; and at two +o'clock in the afternoon replies had already been received from Lyons, +Lille, Brussels, Antwerp, Brest, and many other large towns of the +Empire, which replies, as may well be imagined were in perfect accord +with the sentiments entertained at the capital. + +In order to respond to the eagerness of the crowd which pressed +continually around the doors of the palace to learn of the welfare of the +Empress and her august child, it was decided that one of the chamberlains +should stand from morning till evening in the first saloon of the state +apartments, to receive those who came, and inform them of the bulletins +which her Majesty's physicians issued twice a day. At the end of a few +hours, special couriers were sent on all roads leading to foreign courts, +bearing the news of the delivery of the Empress; the Emperor's pages +being charged with this mission to the Senate of Italy, and the municipal +bodies of Milan and Rome. Orders were given in the fortified towns and +ports that the same salutes should be fired as at Paris, and that the +fleets should be decorated. A beautiful evening favored the special +rejoicings at the capital where the houses were voluntarily illuminated. +Those who seek to ascertain by external appearances the real feelings of +a people amid events of this kind, remarked that the topmost stories of +houses in the faubourgs were as well lighted as the most magnificent +hotels and finest houses of the capital. Public buildings, which under +other circumstances are remarkable from the darkness of the surrounding +houses, were scarcely seen amid this profusion of lights with which +public gratitude had lighted every window. The boatmen gave an impromptu +fete which lasted part of the night, and to witness which an immense +crowd covered the shore, testifying the most ardent joy. This people, +who for thirty years had passed through so many different emotions, and +who had celebrated so many victories, showed as much enthusiasm as if it +had been their first fete, or a happy change in their destiny. Verses +were sung or recited at all the theaters; and there was no poetic +formula, from the ode to the fable, which was not made use of to +celebrate the event of the 20th of March, 1811. I learned from a well- +informed person that the sum of one hundred thousand francs from the +private funds of the Emperor was distributed by M. Dequevauvilliers, +secretary of the treasury of the chamber, among the authors of the poetry +sent to the Tuileries; and finally, fashion, which makes use of the least +events, invented stuffs called roi-de-Rome, as in the old regime they had +been called dauphin. On the evening of the 20th of March at nine o'clock +the King of Rome was anointed in the chapel of the Tuileries. This was a +most magnificent ceremony. The Emperor Napoleon, surrounded by the +princes and princesses of his whole court, placed him in the center of +the chapel on a sofa surmounted by a canopy with a Prie-Dieu. Between +the altar and the balustrade had been placed on a carpet of white velvet +a pedestal of granite surmounted by a hand some silver gilt vase to be +used as a baptismal font. The Emperor was grave; but paternal tenderness +diffused over his face an expression of happiness, and it might have been +said that he felt himself half relieved of the burdens of the Empire on +seeing the august child who seemed destined to receive it one day from +the hands of his father. When he approached the baptismal font to +present the child to be anointed there was a moment of silence and +religious contemplation, which formed a touching contrast to the +vociferous gayety which at the same moment animated the crowd outside, +whom the spectacle of the brilliant fireworks had drawn from all parts of +Paris to the Tuileries. + +Madame Blanchard, who as I have said had set out in her balloon an hour +after the birth of the King of Rome, to carry the news into all places +she passed, first descended at Saint-Tiebault near Lagny, and from there, +as the wind had subsided, returned to Paris. Her balloon rose after her +departure, and fell at a place six leagues farther on, and the +inhabitants, finding in this balloon only clothing and provisions, did +not doubt that the intrepid aeronaut had been killed; but fortunately +just as her death was announced at Paris, Madame Blanchard herself +arrived and dispelled all anxiety. + +Many persons had doubted Marie Louise's pregnancy. Some believed it +assumed, and I never could comprehend the foolish reasons given by these +persons on this subject which malevolence tried to 'gular' fact which +carries its great number of these evil-thinking, suspicious persons, one +part accused the Emperor of being a libertine, supposing him the father +of many natural children, and the other thought him incapable of +obtaining children even by a young princess only nineteen years of age, +their hatred thus blinding their judgment. If Napoleon had natural +children, why could he not have legitimate ones, especially with a young +wife who was known to be in most flourishing health. Besides, it was not +the first, as it was not the last, shaft of malice aimed at Napoleon; for +his position was too high, his glory too brilliant, not to inspire +exaggerated sentiments whether of joy or hatred. + +There were also some ill-wishers who took pleasure in saying that +Napoleon was incapable of tender sentiments, and that the happiness of +being a father could not penetrate this heart so filled with ambition as +to exclude all else. I can cite, among many others in my knowledge, a +little anecdote which touched me exceedingly, and which I take much +pleasure in relating, since, while it triumphantly answers the calumnies +of which I have spoken, it also proves the special consideration with +which his Majesty honored me, and consequently, both as a father and a +faithful servant, I experience a mild satisfaction in placing it in these +Memoirs. Napoleon was very fond of children; and having one day asked me +to bring mine to him, I went to seek him. Meanwhile Talleyrand was +announced to the Emperor; and as the interview lasted a long time, my +child grew weary of waiting, and I carried him back to his mother. A +short time after he was taken with croup, which cruel disease, concerning +which his Majesty had made a special appeal to the faculty of Paris, [on +the occasion of the death from croup in 1807 of his heir presumptive, the +young son of the King of Holland]. It snatched many children from their +families. Mine died at Paris. We were then at the chateau of Compiegne, +and I received the sad news just as I was preparing to go to the toilet. +I was too much overcome by my loss to perform my duties; and when the +Emperor asked what prevented my coming, and was told that I had just +heard of the death of my son, said kindly, "Poor Constant! what a +terrible sorrow! We fathers alone can know what it is!" + +A short time after, my wife went to see the Empress Josephine at +Malmaison; and this lovely princess deigned to receive her alone in the +little room in front of her bedroom. There she seated herself beside +her, and tried in touching words of sympathy to console her, saying that +this stroke did not reach us alone, and that her grandson, too, had died +of the same disease. As she said this she began to weep; for this +remembrance reopened in her soul recent griefs, and my wife bathed with +tears the hands of this excellent princess. Josephine added many +touching remarks, trying to alleviate her sorrow by sharing it, and thus +restore resignation to the heart of the poor mother. The remembrance of +this kindness helped to calm our grief, and I confess that it is at once +both an honor and a consolation to recall the august sympathy which the +loss of this dear child excited in the hearts of Napoleon and Josephine. +The world will never know how much sensibility and compassion Josephine +felt for the sorrows of others, and all the treasures of goodness +contained in her beautiful soul. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +Napoleon was accustomed to compare Marie Louise with Josephine, +attributing to the latter all the advantages of art and grace, and to the +former all the charms of simplicity, modesty, and innocence. Sometimes, +however, this simplicity had in it something childish, an instance of +which I received from good authority. The young Empress, thinking +herself sick, consulted M. Corvisart, who, finding that her imagination +alone was at fault, and that she was suffering simply from the +nervousness natural to a young woman, ordered, as his only prescription, +a box of pills composed of bread and sugar, which the Empress was to take +regularly; after doing which Marie Louise found herself better, and +thanked M. Corvisart, who did not think proper, as may well be believed, +to enlighten her as to his little deception. Having been educated in a +German court, and having learned French only from masters, Marie Louise +spoke the language with the difficulty usually found in expressing one's +self in a foreign tongue. Among the awkward expressions she often used, +but which in her graceful mouth were not without a certain charm, the one +which struck me especially, because it often recurred, was this: +"Napoleon qu'est ce que veux-to?" The Emperor showed the deepest +affection for his young wife, and at the same time made her conform to +all the rules of etiquette, to which the Empress submitted with the +utmost grace. In the month of May, 1811, their Majesties made a journey +into the departments of Calvados and La Manche, where they were received +with enthusiasm by all the towns; and the Emperor made his stay at Caen +memorable by his gifts, favors, and acts of benevolence. Many young men +belonging to good families received sub-lieutenancies, and one hundred +and thirty thousand francs were devoted to various charities. From Caen +their Majesties went to Cherbourg. The day after their arrival the +Emperor set out on horseback early in the morning, visited the heights of +the town, and embarked on several vessels, while the populace pressed +around him crying "Vive l'Empereur!" The following day his Majesty held +several Councils, and in the evening visited all the marine buildings, +and descended to the bottom of the basin which is cut out of the solid +rock in order to allow the passage of vessels of the line, and which was +to be covered with fifty-five feet of water. On this brilliant journey +the Empress received her share of the enthusiasm of the inhabitants, and +in return, at the different receptions which took place, gave a graceful +welcome to the authorities of the country. I dwell purposely on these +details, as they prove that joy over the birth of the King of Rome was +not confined to Paris alone, but, on the contrary, the provinces were in +perfect sympathy with the capital. + +The return of their Majesties to Paris brought with them a return of +rejoicings and fetes on the occasion of the baptismal ceremony of the +King of Rome, and the fetes by which it was accompanied were celebrated +at Paris with a pomp worthy of their object. They had as spectators the +entire population of Paris, increased by a prodigious crowd of strangers +of every class. + +At four o'clock the Senate left its palace; the Council of State, the +Tuileries; the Corps Legislatif, its palace; the Court of Cassation, the +Court of Accounts, the Council of the University, and the Imperial Court, +the ordinary places of their sittings; the municipal corps of Paris and +the deputations from the forty-nine good towns, the Hotel de Ville. On +their arrival at the Metropolitan Church these bodies were placed by the +master of ceremonies with his aides, according to their rank, on the +right and left of the throne, reaching from the choir to the middle of +the nave. The diplomatic corps at five o'clock took their place on the +platform erected for this purpose. + +At half-past five cannon announced the departure of their Majesties from +the Tuileries. The Imperial procession was dazzlingly magnificent; the +fine bearing of the troops, the richness and elegance of the carriages, +the brilliant costumes, made up a ravishing spectacle. The acclamations +of the people which resounded on their Majesties' route, the houses hung +with garlands and drapery, the banners streaming from the windows, the +long line of carriages, the trappings and accouterments of which +progressively increased in magnificence, following each other as in the +order of a hierarchy, this immense paraphernalia of a fete which inspired +true feeling and hopes for the future-all this is profoundly engraved on +my memory, and often occupies the long leisure hours of the old servitor +of a family which has disappeared. The baptismal ceremony took place +with unusual pomp and solemnity. After the baptism the Emperor took his +august son in his arms, and presented him to the clergy present. +Immediately the acclamations, which had been repressed till then from +respect to the ceremony and the sanctity of the place, burst forth on all +sides. The prayers being ended, their Majesties, at eight o'clock in the +evening, went to the Hotel de Ville, and were there received by the +municipal corps. A brilliant concert and a sumptuous banquet had been +tendered them by the city of Paris. The decorations of the banquet hall +showed the, arms of the forty-nine good cities, Paris, Rome, Amsterdam, +being placed first, and the forty-six others in alphabetical order. +After the banquet their Majesties took their places in the concert hall; +and at the conclusion of the concert they repaired to the throne room, +where all invited persons formed a circle. The Emperor passed round this +circle, speaking affably, sometimes even familiarly, to most of the +persons who composed it, each of whom responded in the most cordial +manner. + +At last, before retiring, their Majesties were invited to pass into the +artificial garden which had been made in the court of the Hotel de Ville, +the decorations of which were very elegant. At the bottom of the garden, +the Tiber was represented by flowing water, the course of which was +directed most artistically, and diffused a refreshing coolness. Their +Majesties left the Hotel de Ville about half-past eleven, and returned to +the Tuileries by the light of most beautiful illuminations and luminous +emblems, designed in most exquisite taste. Perfect weather and a +delightful temperature favored this memorable day. + +The aeronaut Garnerin left Paris at half-past six in the evening, and +descended the morning of the next day at Maule, in the department of +Seine-et-Oise. After resting there a short while, he re-entered his +balloon and continued his journey. + +The provinces vied in magnificence with the capital in celebrating the +fetes of the birth and baptism of the King of Rome. Every imaginable +device, both in emblems and illuminations, had been made use of in order +to add still more pomp to these fetes; and each town had been governed in +the form of homage it rendered to the new king, either by its +geographical position or by its especial industry. For instance, at +Clermont-Ferrand an immense fire had been lighted at ten o'clock in the +evening on the summit of the Puy-de-Dome, at a height of more than five +thousand feet; and several departments could enjoy during the whole night +this grand and singular sight. In the port of Flushing the vessels were +covered with flags and banners of all colors. In the evening the whole +squadron was illuminated; thousands of lanterns hung from the masts, +yards, and rigging, forming a beautiful scene. Suddenly, at the signal +of a gun fired from the admiral's vessel, all the vessels sent forth at +once tongues of flame, and it seemed as if the most brilliant day +succeeded to the darkest night, outlining magnificently those imposing +masses reflected in the water of the sea as in a glass. + +We passed so continually from one fete to another it was almost +confusing. The rejoicings over the baptism were followed by a fete given +by the Emperor in the private park of Saint-Cloud, and from early in the +morning the road from Paris to Saint-Cloud was covered with carriages and +men on foot. The fete took place in the inclosed park and the orangery, +all the boxes of which and the front of the chateau were decorated with +rich hangings, while temples and kiosks rose in the groves, and the whole +avenue of chestnut-trees was hung with garlands of colored glass. +Fountains of barley water and currant wine had been distributed so that +all persons attending the fete might refresh themselves, and tables, +elegantly arranged, had been placed in the walks. The whole park was +illuminated by pots-a-feu concealed among the shrubbery and groups of +trees. + +Madame Blanchard had received orders to hold herself in readiness to set +out at half-past nine at a given signal. + +At nine o'clock, the balloon being filled, she entered the basket, and +was carried to the end of the basin of the swans, in front of the +chateau; and until the moment of departure she remained in this position, +above the height of the tallest trees, and thus for more than half an +hour could be seen by all the spectators present at the fete. At half- +past nine, a gun fired from the chateau having given the expected signal, +the cords which held the balloon were cut; and immediately the intrepid +aeronaut could be seen rising majestically into the air before the eyes +of the crowd assembled in the throne room. Having arrived at a certain +height, she set off an immense star constructed around the basket, the +center of which she thus occupied; and this star for seven or eight +moments threw from its points and angles numerous other small stars, +producing a most extraordinary effect. It was the first time a woman had +been seen to rise boldly into the air surrounded by fireworks, and she +appeared as if sailing in a chariot of fire at an immense height. I +imagined myself in fairyland. + +The whole of the garden which their Majesties traversed presented a view +of which it is impossible to give an idea. The illuminations were +designed in perfect taste; there were a variety of amusements, and +numerous orchestras concealed amid the trees added yet more to the +enchantment. At a given signal three doves flew from the top of a column +surmounted with a vase of flowers, and offered to their Majesties +numerous and most ingenious devices. Farther on German peasants danced +waltzes on a charming lawn, and crowned with flowers the bust of her +Majesty the Empress, and shepherds and nymphs from the opera executed +dances, Finally, a theater had been erected in the midst of the trees, on +which was represented a village fete, a comedy composed by M. Ittienne, +and set to music by Nicolo. The Emperor and Empress were seated under a +dais during this play, when suddenly a heavy shower fell, throwing all +the spectators into commotion. Their Majesties did not notice the rain +at first, protected as they were by the dais, and the Emperor being +engaged in conversation with the mayor of the town of Lyons. The latter +was complaining of the sales of the cloths of that town, when Napoleon, +noticing the frightful rain which was falling, said to this functionary, +"I answer for it that to-morrow you will have large orders." + +The Emperor kept his position during most of the storm, while the +courtiers, dressed in silk and velvet, with uncovered heads, received the +rain with a smiling face. The poor musicians, wet to the skin, at last +could no longer draw any sound from their instruments, of which the rain +had snapped or stretched the cords, and it was time to put an end to this +state of affairs. The Emperor gave the signal for departure, and they +retired. + +On that day Prince Aldobrandini, who in his quality of first equerry of +Marie Louise accompanied the Empress, was very happy to find and borrow +an umbrella in order to shelter Marie Louise; but there was much +dissatisfaction in the group where this borrowing was done because the +umbrella was not returned. That evening the Prince Borghese and Princess +Pauline nearly fell into the Seine in their carriage while returning to +their country house at Neuilly. Those persons who took pleasure in +finding omens, and those especially (a very small number) who saw with +chagrin the rejoicings of the Empire, did not fail to remark that every +fete given to Marie Louise had been attended by some accident. They +spoke affectedly of the ball given by the Prince of Schwartzenberg on the +occasion of the espousals, and of the fire which consumed the dancing- +hall, and the tragic death of several persons, notably of the sister of +the prince. They drew from this coincidence bad auguries; some from ill- +will, and in order to undermine the enthusiasm inspired by the high +fortunes of Napoleon; others from a superstitious credulity, as if there +could have been any serious connection between afire which cost the lives +of several persons, and the very usual accident of a storm in June, which +ruined the toilets, and wet to the skin thousands of spectators. + +It was a very amusing scene for those who had no finery to spoil, and who +ran only the risk of taking cold, to see these poor women drenched with +the rain, running in every direction, with or without a cavalier, and +hunting for shelter which could not be found. + +A few were fortunate enough to find modest umbrellas; but most of them +saw the flowers fall from their heads, beaten down by the rain, or their +finery dripping with water, dragging on the ground, in a pitiable state. +When it was time to return to Paris the carriages were missing, as the +coachmen, thinking that the fete would last till daylight, had prudently +thought that they would not take the trouble to wait all night. Those +persons with carriages could not use them, as the press was so great that +it was almost impossible to move. Several ladies got lost, and returned +to Paris on foot; others lost their shoes, and it was a pitiable sight to +see the pretty feet in the mud. Happily there were few or no accidents, +and the physician and the bed repaired everything. But the Emperor +laughed heartily at this adventure, and said that the merchants would +gain by it. + +M. de Remusat, so good and ready to render a service, always forgetting +himself for others, had succeeded in procuring an umbrella, when he met +my wife and mother-in-law, who were escaping like the others, took them +on his arm, and conducted them to the palace without their having +received the least injury. For an hour he traveled back and forth from +the palace to the park, and from the park to the garden, and had the +happiness to be useful to a great number of ladies whose toilets he saved +from entire ruin. It was an act of gallantry which inspired infinite +gratitude, because it was performed in a manner evincing such kindness of +heart. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +This seemed to be a year of fetes, and I dwell upon it with pleasure +because it preceded one filled with misfortunes. The years 1811 and 1812 +offered a striking contrast to each other. All those flowers lavished on +the fetes of the King of Rome and his august mother covered an abyss, and +all this enthusiasm was changed to mourning a few months later. Never +were more brilliant fetes followed by more overwhelming misfortunes. Let +us, then, dwell a little longer upon the rejoicings which preceded 1812. +I feel that I need to be fortified before entering upon reminiscences of +that time of unprofitable sacrifices, of bloodshed without preserving or +conquering, and of glory without result. On the 25th of August, the +Empress's fete was celebrated at Trianon; and from early in the morning +the road from Paris to Trianon was covered with an immense number of +carriages and people on foot, the same sentiment attracting the court, +the citizens, the people, to the delightful place at which the fete was +held. All ranks were mingled, all went pell-mell; and I have never seen +a crowd more singularly variegated, or which presented a more striking +picture of all conditions of society. Ordinarily the multitude at fetes +of this kind is composed of little more than one class of people and a +few modest bourgeois that is all; very rarely of people with equipages, +more rarely still people of the court; but here there were all, and there +was no one so low that he could not have the satisfaction of elbowing a +countess or some other noble inhabitant of the Faubourg St. Germain, for +all Paris seemed to be at Versailles. That town so beautiful, but yet so +sadly beautiful, which seemed since the last king to be bereft of its +inhabitants, those broad streets in which no one was to be seen, those +squares, the least of which could hold all the inhabitants of Versailles, +and which could hardly contain the courtiers of the Great King, this +magnificent solitude which we call Versailles, had been populated +suddenly by the capital. The private houses could not contain the crowd +which arrived from every direction. The park was inundated with a +multitude of promenaders of every sex and all ages; in these immense +avenues one walked on foot, one needed air on this vast plateau which was +so airy, one felt cramped on this theater of a great public fete, as at +balls given in those little saloons of Paris built for about a dozen +persons, and where fashion crams together a hundred and fifty. + +Great preparations had been made for four or five days in the delightful +gardens of Trianon; but the evening before, the sky became cloudy, and +many toilets which had been eagerly prepared were prudently laid aside; +but the next day a beautiful blue sky reassured every one, and they set +out for Trianon in spite of the recollections of the storm which had +dispersed the spectators at the fete of Saint Cloud. Nevertheless, at +three o'clock a heavy shower made every one fear for a short while that +the evening might end badly. "Afternoon shower making its obeisance," as +the proverb says; but, on the contrary, this only made the fete +pleasanter, by refreshing the scorching air of August, and laying the +dust which was most disagreeable. At six o'clock the sun had reappeared, +and the summer of 1811 had no softer or more agreeable evening. + +All the outlines of the architecture of the Grand Trianon were ornamented +with lamps of different colors. In the gallery could be seen six hundred +women, brilliant with youth and adornments; and the Empress addressed +gracious words to several among them, and all were charmed by the cordial +and affable manners of a young princess who had lived in France only +fifteen months. + +At this fete, as at all the fetes of the Empire, there were not wanting +poets to sing praises of those in whose honor they were given. There was +a play which had been composed for the occasion, the author of which I +remember perfectly was M. Alissan de Chazet; but I have forgotten the +title. At the end of the piece, the principal artists of the opera +executed a ballet which was considered very fine. When the play was +over, their Majesties commenced a promenade in the park of the Petit- +Trianon, the Emperor, hat in hand, giving his arm to the Empress, and +being followed by all his court. They first visited the Isle of Love, +and found all the enchantments of fairyland and its illusions there +united. The temple, situated in the midst of the lake, was splendidly. +illuminated, and the water reflected its columns of fire. A multitude of +beautiful boats furrowed this lake, which seemed on fire, manned by a +swarm of Cupids, who appeared to sport with each other in the rigging. +Musicians concealed on board played melodious airs; and this harmony, at +once gentle and mysterious, which seemed to spring from the bosom of the +waves, added still more to the magic of the picture and the charms of the +illusion. To this spectacle succeeded scenes of another kind, taken from +rural life,--a Flemish living picture, with its pleasant-faced, jolly +people, and its rustic ease; and groups of inhabitants from every +province of France, giving an impression that all parts of the Empire +were convened at this fete. In fine, a wonderful variety of attractions +in turn arrested the attention of their Majesties. Arrived at the saloon +of Polhymnie, they were welcomed by a charming choir, the music composed, +I think, by Paer, and the words by the same M. Alissan de Chazet. At +last, after a magnificent supper, which was served in the grand gallery, +their Majesties retired at one o'clock in the morning. + +There was only one opinion in this immense assembly as to the grace and +perfect dignity of Marie Louise. This young princess was really +charming, but with peculiarities rather than traits of character. I +recall some occurrences in her domestic life which will not be without +interest to the reader. + +Marie Louise talked but little with the people of her household; but +whether this arose from a habit brought with her from the Austrian court, +whether she feared to compromise her dignity by her foreign accent before +persons of inferior condition, or whether it arose from timidity or +indifference, few of these persons could remember a word she had uttered. +I have heard her steward say that in three years she spoke to him only +once. + +The ladies of the household agreed in saying that in private she was kind +and agreeable. She did not like Madame de Montesquieu. This was wrong; +since there were no cares, endearments, attentions of all sorts, which +Madame de Montesquieu did not lavish on the King of Rome. + +The Emperor, however, appreciated highly this excellent lady who was so +perfect in every respect. As a man he admired the dignity, perfect +propriety, and extreme discretion of Madame de Montesquieu; and as a +father he felt an infinite gratitude for the cares she lavished on his +son. Each one explained in his own way the coolness which the young +Empress showed to this lady; and there were several reasons assigned for +this, all more or less untrue, though the leisure moments of the ladies +of the palace were much occupied with it. What appeared to me the most +likely solution, and most in accordance with the artless simplicity of +Marie Louise, was this: The Empress had as lady of honor Madame de +Montebello, a charming woman of perfect manners. Now, there was little +friendship between Madame de Montesquieu and Madame de Montebello, as the +latter feared it is said to have a rival in the heart of her august +friend; and, in fact, Madame de Montesquieu would have proved a most +dangerous rival for this lady, as she combined all those qualities which +please and make one beloved. Born of an illustrious family, she had +received a distinguished education, and united the tone and manners of +the best society with a solid and enlightened piety. Never had calumny +dared to attack her conduct, which was as noble as discreet. I must +admit that she was somewhat haughty; but this haughtiness was tempered by +such elegant politeness, and such gracious consideration, that it might +be considered simple dignity. She was attentive and assiduous in her +devotion to the King of Rome, and was entitled to the deep gratitude of +the Empress; for she afterwards, actuated by the most generous devotion, +tore herself from her country, her friends, her family, to follow the +fate of a child whose every hope was blasted. + +Madame de Montebello was accustomed to rise late. In the morning when +the Emperor was absent, Marie Louise went to converse with her in her +room; and in order not to go through the saloon where the ladies of the +palace were assembled, she entered the apartment of her lady of honor +through a very dark closet, and this conduct deeply wounded the feelings +of the other ladies. I have heard Josephine say that Madame de +Montebello was wrong to initiate the young Empress into the scandalous +adventures, whether true or false, attributed to some of these ladies, +and which a young, pure, simple woman like Marie Louise should not have +known; and that this was one cause of her coldness towards the ladies of +her court, who on their side did not like her, and confided their +feelings to their neighbors and friends. + +Josephine tenderly loved Madame de Montesquieu, and when they were parted +wrote to her often; this correspondence lasted till Josephine's death. +One day Madame de Montesquieu received orders from the Emperor to take +the little king to Bagatelle, where Josephine then was. She had obtained +permission to see this child, whose birth had covered Europe with fetes. +It is well known how disinterested Josephine's love for Napoleon was, and +how she viewed everything that could increase his glory and render it +more durable; and there entered into the prayers she made for him since +the burning disgrace of the divorce, even the hope that he might be happy +in his private life, and that his new wife might bear this child, this +firstborn of his dynasty, to him whom she herself could not make a +father. + +This woman of angelic goodness, who had fallen into a long swoon on +learning her sentence of repudiation, and who since that fatal day had +dragged out a sad life in the brilliant solitude of Malmaison; this +devoted wife who had shared for fifteen years the fortunes of her +husband, and who had assisted so powerfully in his elevation, was not the +last to rejoice at the birth of the King of Rome. She was accustomed to +say that the desire to leave a posterity, and to be represented after our +death by beings who owe their life and position to us, was a sentiment +deeply engraved in the heart of man; that this desire, which was so +natural, and which she had felt so deeply as wife and mother, this desire +to have children to survive and continue us on earth, was still more +augmented when we had a high destiny to transmit to them; that in +Napoleon's peculiar position, as founder of a vast empire, it was +impossible he should long resist a sentiment which is at the bottom of +every heart, and which, if it is true that this sentiment increases in +proportion to the inheritance we leave our children, no one could +experience more fully than Napoleon, for no one had yet possessed so +formidable a power on the earth; that the course of nature having made +her sterility a hopeless evil, it was her duty to be the first to +sacrifice the sentiments of her heart to the good of the state, and the +personal happiness of Napoleon sad but powerful reasoning, which policy +invoked in aid of the divorce, and of which this excellent princess in +the illusion of her devotion thought herself convinced in the depths of +her heart. + +The royal child was presented to her. I know nothing in the world which +could be more touching than the joy of this excellent woman at the sight +of Napoleon's son. She at first regarded him with eyes swimming in +tears; then she took him in her arms, and pressed him to her heart with a +tenderness too deep for words. There were present no indiscreet +witnesses to take pleasure in indulging irreverent curiosity, or observe +with critical irony the feelings of Josephine, nor was there ridiculous +etiquette to freeze the expression of this tender soul; it was a scene +from private life, and Josephine entered into it with all her heart. +From the manner in which she caressed this child, it might have been said +that it was some ordinary, child, and not a son of the Caesars, as +flatterers said, not the son of a great man, whose cradle was surrounded +with so many honors, and who had been born a king. Josephine bathed him +with her tears, and said to him some of those baby words with which a +mother makes herself understood and loved by her new born. It was +necessary at last to separate them. The interview had been short, but it +had been well employed by the loving soul of Josephine. In this scene +one could judge from her joy of the sincerity of her sacrifice, while at +the same time her stifled sighs testified to its extent. Madame de +Montesquieu's visits were made only at long intervals, which distressed +Josephine greatly; but the child was growing larger, an indiscreet word +lisped by him, a childish remembrance, the least thing, might offend +Marie Louise, who feared Josephine. The Emperor wished to avoid this +annoyance, which would have affected his domestic happiness; so he +ordered that the visits should be made more rarely, and at last they were +stopped. I have heard Josephine say that the birth of the King of Rome +repaid her for all sacrifices, and surely never was the devotion of a +woman more disinterested or more complete. + +Immediately after his birth the King of Rome was confided to the care of +a nurse of a healthy, robust constitution, taken from among the people. +This woman could neither leave the palace nor receive a visit from any +man; the strictest precautions were observed in this respect. She was +taken out to ride for her health in a carriage, and even then she was +accompanied by several women. + +These were the habits of Marie Louise with her son. In the morning about +nine o'clock the king was brought to his mother; she took him in her arms +and caressed him a few moments, then returned him to his nurse, and began +to read the papers. The child grew tired, and the lady in charge took +him away. At four o'clock the mother went to visit her son; that is to +say, Marie Louise went down into the king's apartments, carrying with her +some embroidery, on which she worked at intervals. Twenty minutes after +she was informed that M. Isabey or M. Prudhon had arrived for the lesson +in painting or drawing, whereupon the Empress returned to her apartments. + +Thus passed the first months which followed the birth of the King of +Rome. In the intervals between fetes, the Emperor was occupied with +decrees, reviews, monuments, and plans, constantly employed, with few +distractions, indefatigable in every work, and still not seeming to have +anything to occupy his powerful mind, and happy in his private life with +his young wife, by whom he was tenderly beloved. The Empress led a very +simple life, which suited her disposition well. Josephine needed more +excitement; her life had been also more in the outside world, more +animated, more expansive; though this did not prevent her being very +faithful to the duties of her domestic life, and very tender and loving +towards her husband, whom she knew how to render happy in her own way. + +One day Bonaparte returned from a hunt worn out with fatigue, and begged +Marie Louise to come to him. She came, and the Emperor took her in his +arms and gave her a sounding kiss on the cheek. Marie Louise took her +handkerchief and wiped her cheek. "Well, Louise, you are disgusted with +me?"--"No," replied the Empress, "I did it from habit; I do the same with +the King of Rome." The Emperor seemed vexed. Josephine was very +different; she received her husband's caresses affectionately, and even +met him half way. The Emperor sometimes said to her, "Louise, sleep in +my room."--"It is too warm there," replied the Empress. In fact, she +could not endure the heat, and Napoleon's apartments were constantly +warmed. She had also an extreme repugnance to odors, and in her own +rooms allowed only vinegar or sugar to be burnt. + + + + +ETEXT EDITOR'S BOOKMARKS: + +Trying to alleviate her sorrow by sharing it +You were made to give lessons, not to take them + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Private Life of Napoleon, V8 +by Constant. + diff --git a/3575.zip b/3575.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..20e0d2a --- /dev/null +++ b/3575.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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