to Paris had spread everywhere, and it was regarded as a proof of
confidence and cordiality that was most welcome to the Viennese with
their devotion to the reigning family. Consequently their delight and
interest, which had been fed by the festivities and all the details of
the journey, made the sudden return of the mistress of the robes a cause
of surprise and even of anxiety. There were riotous assemblies, and the
affair was the subject of most unfavorable comment. As the Baron of
Méneval has said, "The reconciliation on the part of the aristocracy and
people of Austria was not sincere. Marie Louise's departure from Vienna
was followed by many regrets. Instigated by English and Russian agents,
the populace of Vienna gathered in the streets and public places, and
began to murmur about the sacrifice which they said had been required
of the Emperor. The authorities were obliged to take active measures
against these assemblages." The Emperor of Austria spoke of them himself
to the French Ambassador. Count Otto wrote, March 24, to the Duke of
Cadore: "The Emperor having returned from Linz, I asked for a private
audience to congratulate him on his happy return. Audiences of this sort
are only accorded here to ambassadors of powers related by marriage, and
I took advantage of this occasion to enjoy this honorable distinction.
His Majesty received with his wonted kindness; he had been thoroughly
satisfied with all that took place at Braunau, and with the delicate
attentions paid to Her Majesty the Empress from the moment of her
arrival. 'But what have you done to Madame Lazansky?' the Emperor
went on, 'Why is she sent back? Your master had given my daughter leave
to take a companion with her; and if an exception was to be made, Madame
Lazansky deserved to be the object of it, for she has always been
well disposed towards France. But I must assure you that I attach no
importance to the matter, although the public amuses itself with a
thousand absurd conjectures; last night there were tumults in the city
and the suburbs.' I told His Majesty, in reply, that these disturbances
of the public peace were doubtless the last efforts of a few foreign
intriguers who are always on hand in this city; that since the escorts
were changed at Braunau, nothing was simpler or more natural than Madame
Lazansky's return; and that to allay the excitement, nothing more was
necessary than to spread abroad the rumor that orders had been received
from here recalling that lady as soon as the Empress was accustomed
to her new court. 'That's just what I have already done,' resumed the
Emperor, 'and it is to be hoped that the same things will be said in
France, as the best way of silencing discontent.'"
A few hours later Prince Metternich, the father of the celebrated
minister, who in his son's absence had charge of the Ministry, had an
interview with the Ambassador about this painful incident. "Prince
Metternich," Count Otto adds in the same despatch, "came to see me to
give me some fuller details about the events of the previous night. He
had been kept up until three in the morning, receiving the reports of
the police, and having the ringleaders arrested. They had gone about in
the coffee-houses, and had carried their effrontery so far as to say
that the French army was again in motion, and that Napoleon's sole aim
had been to distract the attention of this court."
Meanwhile Marie Louise was continuing her triumphal journey. At
Stuttgart she found the court and the population as enthusiastic as
at Munich; there, too, even illuminations, a state dinner, a levee, a
theatrical representation. At Stuttgart the Empress received a letter
from Napoleon, brought by the Count of Beauvau. Another letter from the
Emperor was delivered to her by the Count of Bondy at Carlsruhe, where
her reception was no less brilliant than at Munich and Stuttgart.
March 23, Marie Louise was at Rastadt, where the Hereditary Grand Duke
of Baden, who had married Stéphanie de Beauharnais, Napoleon's adopted
daughter, gave her a breakfast. At the bridge over the Rhine, which the
Empress reached at five in the evening, she was met by twenty French
generals and several divisions under arms. The bridge was decorated with
flags; bells were pealing; salvos of artillery were roaring. At the
entrance of the bridge the sovereign was welcomed by the Prefect of the
Lower Rhine, and at the city gates by the Mayor. "It was at Strasbourg,"
says General de Ségur, "that France, in its turn, greeted Marie Louise.
The enthusiasm on this German and military frontier was all the more
lively, sincere, and wide-spread, because the Archduchess was regarded
as the most brilliant trophy of the success of our arms, and it was
thought that after eighteen years of warfare they had in her a pledge of
certain peace."
March 23, Marie Louise wrote to her father, from Strasbourg, a long
letter, in which she apologized for her long silence, pleading the
excessive fatigue of a long journey, during which she had to get up
every morning at five, travel all day, and spend every evening at
receptions and theatrical performances. She added that the programme of
the festivities at Strasbourg had just been submitted to her for her
orders. "I can't tell you, dear papa," she said, "how funny it seems to
me, who have never had any will of my own, to have to give orders." At
Strasbourg she had the pleasure of meeting Count Metternich, who had
left Vienna March 12, and after stopping at many German courts, was
about to push on to Paris. The festivities there were very brilliant. A
newspaper of the town said, March 24, "Among the guests was the Austrian
general, Count Neipperg, who was here on a mission from his government,
as also many officers." Who could have foreseen that this unknown
general would one day be Marie Louise's consort, Napoleon's successor?
It was at Strasbourg that the Empress received her first letter from her
father since her departure from Vienna. She answered it at once: "I beg
of you, dear father, pray for me most warmly. Be sure that I shall try
with all my strength to perform the duty you have assigned to me. I am
easy about my fate. I am sure that I shall be happy. I wish you could
read Napoleon's letter: it is full of kindness." With every step she
made on French soil, Marie Louise became reconciled with her lot. For
his part, the Emperor awaited his new companion with all the impatience
of a youth of twenty, "Every day," says his valet Constant, "he sent a
letter, and she answered regularly. Her first letters were very short
and probably very cool, for the Emperor never mentioned them; but the
later ones were longer and gradually more affectionate, and the Emperor
used to read them with transports of delight.... He complained that his
couriers were lazy though they killed their horses. One day he came back
from hunting, carrying two pheasants in his hand, and followed by some
footmen bearing the rarest flowers from the conservatory at Saint Cloud.
He wrote a note, summoned his first page, and said to him: 'Be ready to
start in ten minutes, by coach. In it you will find these things, which
you will deliver to the Empress with your own hands. And above all,
don't spare the horses. Go as fast as you can, and fear nothing.'
The young man asked nothing better than to obey His Majesty. Thus
authorized, he hurried at full speed, giving his postilions double pay,
and in twenty-four hours he had reached Strasbourg." According to Madame
Durand, "It was evident that Marie Louise read the Emperor's letters
with ever-increasing interest. She awaited them with impatience; and if
the courier was behind time, she asked frequently if he had not come,
and what could have delayed him. This correspondence must have been
charming, since it evoked a feeling destined to acquire great strength.
Napoleon, on his side, was burning with desire to see his young wife;
he was more flattered by this marriage than he would have been by the
conquest of an empire. What most delighted him was to know that she had
given her consent of her own free will."
The Baron de Méneval also tells about Napoleon's correspondence with
this new wife, whom he had not seen and was so impatient to know: "He
wrote to her every day as soon as she had set foot on French soil; he
sent bouquets of the most beautiful flowers along with the letters, and
sometimes game. He was delighted with the answers, some of which were
long, that he received. These replies were written in good French; the
Empress expressed herself with delicacy and decorum: perhaps the Queen
of Naples aided her. She wrote many details, which interested the
Emperor very much."
The Empress left Strasbourg, March 25, in the direction of Nancy. She
dined at Bar-le-Duc, and at Vitry-le-Francois received the Prince of
Schwarzenberg, the Austrian Ambassador, and the Countess Metternich. She
had just made up her mind to hurry her journey, and thus to hasten the
moment set by etiquette for meeting her husband. The hour which Napoleon
had awaited so impatiently was now drawing near. XI.
COMPIÈGNE.
Since the 20th of March, Napoleon had been at Compiègne, denouncing the
cumbrous machinery of etiquette which was retarding the happy moment
when he should at last see his new wife and enfold her in his arms.
He had had the castle repaired and richly furnished, that it might be
worthy to receive a daughter of the Cæsars. The grand gallery had been
decorated with gilded ceilings and stucco columns; the garden had been
replanted and adorned with statues. The waters of the Oise had been
carried there by a system of water-works. All the members of the
Imperial family had arrived; the court was most brilliant. The Emperor
wished to dazzle his young wife with unheard-of splendor.
The minutest details of the meeting of the Imperial couple had been
carefully arranged beforehand; it was settled that this should take
place in all formality, March 28, between Soissons and Compiègne.
The Emperor was to leave the last-named place with the princes and
princesses of his family, preceded and followed by detachments of the
mounted Imperial Guard. Two leagues from Soissons they would find a
pavilion composed of three tents, entered by two flights of steps, one
on the side towards Compiègne, the other on that towards Soissons; the
first one was for Napoleon, the other for Marie Louise. The pavilion,
which was richly decorated with flags, was surrounded by trees; near
it flowed a brook. The central tent, the one in which the Emperor and
Empress were to meet for the first time, was decorated with purple and
gold. It had been settled that Marie Louise should fall on her knees as
soon as she saw her husband, that he should help her to her feet and
kiss her; then that both should get into a state carriage, and both the
escorts should unite and form one.
The preparations were completed March 27. Everything--horses,
carriages, escort, pavilion--was ready. That morning Prince Charles of
Schwarzenberg, the Austrian Ambassador, and the Countess Metternich,
the Minister's wife, arrived at the castle of Compiègne from
Vitry-le-François, where they had seen the Empress, of whom they could
bring news to Napoleon. At noon the Emperor received a letter from Marie
Louise, in which she said that in order to make greater haste she was
leaving Vitry-le-François that very morning for Soissons. When this
letter was handed to him, Napoleon was walking up and down in the
park, as if to overcome the impatience which this interminable waiting
produced. When he learned that his wife was so near, he could wait no
longer, and he decided to turn his back on the etiquette which had been
so laboriously prepared for the next day, and to hasten to meet Marie
Louise. He summoned Murat, whom he wished to have as his sole
companion, and leaving the park secretly by a hidden gate, he and his
brother-in-law got into a modest, undecorated carriage, which was driven
by a coachman not in livery towards Soissons as fast as the horses could
carry it.
Never had the Emperor known time to drag so slowly. A double feeling--of
curiosity and love--set his heart beating as if he were a youth of
twenty. When he had got beyond Soissons, he judged that Marie Louise
could not be far distant, and he alighted at a village called
Courcelles.
The Empress meanwhile had been journeying ever since the morning in the
same carriage as her sister-in-law, Queen Caroline, with no idea of what
was going to happen. She had passed through Châlons and Rheims, and
proposed to dine at Soissons, where she expected to pass the night; for
the meeting with the Emperor was set down for the next day, March 28,
at the pavilion erected two leagues from that town. It was raining
in torrents when Napoleon reached there, and he got down with his
brother-in-law and sought shelter under the porch of the church opposite
the posting-station. No one in the village had a suspicion that the two
strangers seeking refuge from the rain were the great Emperor and
the King of Naples. Suddenly the clatter of wheels was heard, and a
carriage, preceded by an outrider and followed by a great many vehicles,
rolled up. It was she, at last,--Marie Louise, Archduchess of Austria,
Empress of the French, Queen of Italy, the woman who would bring him a
son and heir to the vast empire! Pride and the intoxication of triumph
mingled with the conqueror's joy.
The carriage stopped, and the men began to change the horses. Napoleon
hastened to the carriage-door. He did not want to be recognized for a
few moments yet, but the equerry, d'Audenarde, scarcely believing his
eyes, shouted, "The Emperor!" The happy husband flung himself into the
arms of his wife, who was overcome with surprise and emotion. The first
glance delighted him. That fine young woman, fresh and young, full of
strength and health, with her blonde hair, her blue eyes, her air of
innocence and candor, was the wife he wanted, the Empress of his dreams;
and the words she said to him flattered and touched him, went straight
to his heart! After looking at him for some time, she said timidly and
gently: "You are much better-looking than your portrait."
A courier was despatched to carry the news at full speed to Compiègne,
that the Emperor and Empress would arrive there at about two o'clock,
and the carriage containing Napoleon and Marie Louise, with the King and
Queen of Naples, started in the direction of Soissons, followed by the
carriages containing the Empress's suite. They stopped but a moment at
Soissons. "I had the honor," says M. de Bausset, "to be in the carriage
with Mesdames de Montmorency and de Montemart and the Bishop of Metz. It
seemed to me that these ladies were more contented than I was to leave
the excellent dinner which was awaiting us there." Soissons, which
had made many expensive preparations, had no return for its money and
trouble. As to the ceremonious meeting in the pavilion two leagues off,
which had been prepared for the next day at some expense, it was not to
be thought of. Napoleon showed tact and courtesy by relieving his wife
of this alarming formality, and especially of the necessity of kneeling
before him. He was happily inspired in setting feeling before etiquette,
and in yielding to his impatience to see the face and hear the voice of
his long-awaited wife.
As soon as the courier, sent in advance, reached Compiègne, and
announced the great news, the town was in commotion. The illuminations
were got ready, the triumphal arches were decked with flags, orders were
given to greet the entry of the Emperor and Empress with a salute of a
hundred and one cannon. Marshal Bessières made ready the mounted guard.
In spite of the rain, the inhabitants assembled in crowds to meet the
sovereigns at the stone bridge where Louis XV. had met the Dauphiness,
Marie Antoinette. The courts and galleries of the castle, which were
open to the public, were thronged with inquisitive visitors. A hard
rain was falling, and the night was so dark that nothing could be seen
without torches. At ten o'clock the cannon announced the arrival of
the Imperial couple, who rapidly ascended the Avenue. The princes and
princesses were waiting at the foot of the staircase, and the Emperor
presented them to the Empress. The town authorities were assembled in
a gallery where was the Prince of Schwarzenberg; a band of young girls
dressed in white paid their respects to the Empress, and offered her
flowers. The Emperor then conducted her to her apartments, where she was
delighted, as she was surprised, to find her little dog and her
birds from Vienna, as well as a piece of tapestry which she had left
unfinished at the Burg. This delicate attention of Napoleon's moved her
to tears. She was also pleased to see a magnificent piano. After a quiet
supper, at which the Queen of Naples was the only guest, the Emperor
conducted his wife to the room of his sister Pauline, the Princess
Borghese, who had been prevented by illness from taking part in the
reception. Then he showed her to her own room.
The portrait of the Empress which the Baron de Méneval has drawn, is
as follows: "Marie Louise had all the charm of youth; her figure was
perfectly regular; the waist of her dress was rather longer than was
generally worn at that time, and this added to her natural dignity and
contrasted favorably with the short waists of our ladies; her coloring
was deepened by her journey and her timidity; her fine and thick hair,
of a light chestnut, set off a fresh, full face, to which her gentle
eyes lent a very attractive expression; her lips, which were a little
thick, recalled the type of the Austrian Imperial line, just as a
slightly aquiline nose distinguishes the Bourbon princes; her whole
appearance expressed candor and innocence, and her plumpness, which she
lost after the birth of her son, indicated good health."
The next day, after breakfast, the ladies and officers of the household
who had not met her at Braunau were presented to the Empress, and they
took the oath of allegiance. Then followed the presentation of the
Generals and Colonels of the Guards, of the Ministers and high officers
of the crown, and of the officers and ladies who were to attend her on
leaving Compiègne. She had the pleasure of meeting at the castle her
uncle, the Grand Duke of Würzburg, her father's brother, with whom
she talked for a long time about her country and her family. She
also chatted with the Prince of Schwarzenberg and with the Countess
Metternich. All day Napoleon was in charming humor. Contrary to his
usual custom he dressed for dinner, putting on a coat which his sister
Pauline, an authority on fashions, had commanded of Léger, the tailor of
the King of Naples, who was fond of expensive and handsome clothes. This
coat and a white tie were not becoming to Napoleon; his simple uniforms
and black tie suited him much better. This was the only time he wore the
coat which the Princess Pauline had ordered; on ordinary occasions he
appeared in the green uniform of the Chasseurs of the Guard; and on
Sundays and reception days in his blue uniform with white facings.
March 29, the Count of Praslin set out from Compiègne for Vienna,
carrying two letters, one from Napoleon, the other from Marie Louise,
to the Emperor Francis II. In his letter Napoleon said to his
father-in-law, "Allow me to thank you for the present you have made me.
May your paternal heart rejoice in your daughter's happiness!" Marie
Louise, too, expressed content and joy; after telling her father with
what delicacy her husband had lessened the embarrassment of the first
interview, she went on: "Since that moment I feel almost at home with
him; he loves me sincerely, and I return his affection. I am sure that I
shall have a happy life with him. My health continues good. I am
quite rested from the journey.... I assure you that the Emperor is as
solicitous as you were about my health. If I have the least cold, he
will not let me get up before two o'clock. I only need your presence to
be perfectly happy, and my husband would also be very glad to see you. I
assure you that he desires it as sincerely as I do." Five days later she
wrote: "I am able to tell you, my dear father, that your prophecy has
come true: I am as happy as I can be. The more friendship and confidence
I give my husband, the more he heaps upon me attentions of every
kind.... The whole family are very kind to me, and I can't believe all
the evil that is said of them. My mother-in-law is a very amiable and
most respectable princess who has welcomed me most kindly. The Queens
of Naples, Holland, and Westphalia and the King of Holland are very
amiable. I have also made the acquaintance of the Viceroy of Italy and
his wife. She is very pretty."
The court left Compiègne March 31. At the entrance of the Bois de
Boulogne the Emperor and Empress were met by Count Frochot, Prefect of
the Seine, and a crowd of Parisians. The Prefect made a speech which
concluded with these words: "Escorted from Vienna to this point by the
love of the people, Your Majesty now knows that by the prominence of her
virtues as well as by the graces of her person, her destiny is to rule
over all hearts. Our own, Madame, shall be to make you find again here
in your customary abode, the country that you most love, where you were
most cherished, and to succeed in making worthy of Your Majesty the
homage of our allegiance, of our respect, and of our love."
At half-past six in the evening Napoleon and Marie Louise arrived at
Saint Cloud, where were assembled in full dress the marshals, the
cardinals, the great dignitaries of the Empire, the senators and the
state councillors. At the palace there was a family dinner, and after
it the ladies of the Palace of the Italian Crown, Countesses Porro,
Visconti, Thiene, Trivulci, and Mesdames Gonfalonieri, Trotti, de Rava,
Fe, Mocenigo, Montecuculli, were presented by the Italian maid-of-honor,
the Duchess Litta, and they all took the oath of allegiance. The civil
marriage was appointed for the next day, April 1, at Saint Cloud, and
the religious ceremony for the next but one, April 2, in the _Salon
Carré_ of the Louvre, between the long gallery of the Museum and the
Apollo Gallery. The formal entry of the Emperor and Empress into their
capital on the day of the religious marriage was to be an occasion
of great pomp. Strangers had gathered from all quarters of Europe to
witness this impressive sight, and as much as six hundred francs was
paid for the smallest room from which the passage of the Imperial
procession could be seen. Never, perhaps, in France or anywhere else,
had any ceremony excited so much curiosity. The Royalists themselves
had come to believe that Napoleon, the miraculous being, had forever
fastened fortune to his triumphal chariot. There was a truce to
recriminations. For a moment the caustic wit of the Parisians turned
into profound admiration. The great conqueror, in light of his
apotheosis, was more like a demigod than a man. Every one was eager to
look upon him and his young Empress.
XII.
THE CIVIL WEDDING.
The civil wedding of Napoleon and Marie Louise was celebrated at Saint
Cloud, Sunday, April 1,1810. At the end of the Apollo Gallery, which was
adorned with Mignard's frescoes, and still full of reminiscences of the
great century, had been placed on a platform two armchairs, each under a
canopy; the one to the right for the Emperor, the other for the Empress.
Below the platform, and to one side, was a table covered with a costly
cloth, on which were an inkstand and the civil registers. At two in the
afternoon the Colonel of the Guard on duty and the high officers of the
crown of France and Italy went to escort Their Majesties. The procession
formed and made its way through the Emperor's study, the Princes'
drawing-room, the throne-room, the Mars room, to the Gallery of Apollo,
in the following order: ushers, heralds-at-arms, pages, assistants to
the masters of ceremonies, the masters of ceremonies, the officers of
the household of the King of Italy, the equerries of the Emperor, his
aides-de-camp, the two equerries on duty, the aide on duty, the Governor
of the Palace, the Secretary of State of the Imperial family, the high
officers of the crown of Italy, the High Chamberlain of France and the
one of Italy, the Grand Master of Ceremonies and the Chief Equerry of
Italy, the Princes who were high dignitaries, the Princes of the family,
the Emperor, the Empress; and behind Their Majesties, the Colonel of the
Guard on duty, the Chief Marshal of the Palace, the Grand Master of
the House of Italy, the Grand Almoner of France, the one of Italy, the
Knight of Honor and the Prince Equerry of the Empress, carrying the
train of her cloak, the maids-of-honor of France and Italy and the Lady
of the Bedchamber, the Princesses of the family, the ladies of the
palace, the maids-of-honor of the Princesses, the officers on duty of
the households of the Princes and Princesses.
When the procession had reached the Apollo Gallery, the ushers, the
heralds-at-arms, and the pages drew up in line to the right and left in
the Mars room, near the door. The officers and high officers of France
and Italy, the maids-of-honor and the Lady of the Bedchamber took their
places behind Their Majesties' chairs, in order of rank. The Emperor and
Empress seated themselves on the throne, the Princes and Princesses on
the right and left of the platform in the following order and according
to their family rank: To the right of the Emperor:
His mother;
Prince Louis Napoleon, King of Holland;
Prince Jerome Napoleon, King of Westphalia;
Prince Borghese, Duke of Guastalla;
Prince Joachim Napoleon, King of Naples;
Prince Eugene, Viceroy of Italy;
The Prince Archchancellor;
The Prince Vice-Grand Elector.
On the Empress's left:--
Princess Julia, Queen of Spain;
Princess Hortense, Queen of Holland;
Princess Catherine, Queen of Westphalia;
Princess Elisa, Grand Duchess of Tuscany;
Princess Pauline, Duchess of Guastalla;
Princess Caroline, Queen of Naples;
The Grand Duke of Würzberg;
Princess Augusta, Vice-Queen of Italy;
Princess Stéphanie, Hereditary Grand Duchess of Baden;
The Hereditary Grand Duke of Baden;
The Prince Archtreasurer;
The Prince Vice-Constable.