Toward the close of the year 1799, Napoleon occupied the palace of the
Luxembourg. Several courtiers thought that a palace in the country
should also be allotted to his use. He had lived at Malmaison, but this
was considered unsuitable for the abode of the chief of a great republic
and it was decided that St. Cloud should be offered him. This he chose
to decline.
In August, 1802, Napoleon was made consul for life. The court then
became such as it had been at Versailles under the Bourbons. A French
writer says, that when at the Tuileries, “he found it a tiresome abode;
there he had no freedom--no liberty. His happiest days were spent at
Malmaison. Great in himself, he appeared still greater in that charming
retreat.”
Having formerly refused St. Cloud at the hands of the people, he now
took it on his own authority. There he had less leisure than at
Malmaison, as etiquette was augmented in proportion to the grandeur of
his establishment.
Josephine suffered more from this new state of things than any other
individual. She was much attached to Malmaison; it was there she had
spent many happy hours with her dearest friends. She was often heard to
say, “How all this excitement fatigues and wearies me! I have not a
moment to myself! I ought to have been the wife of an humble
cottager.”
[Illustration: NAPOLEON AT MALMAISON.]