CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN THE QUEEN AND LOUISE DE COCHELET.
In the meanwhile, Hortense was still living with her mother in Novara,
firmly resolved to remain in her retirement, sorrowing over the fate of
the imperial house, but quite indifferent as to her own fate.
But her friends--and even in misfortune Hortense still had friends--and
above all her truest friend, Louise de Cochelet, busied themselves all
the more about her future, endeavoring to rescue out of the general
wreck of the imperial house at least a few fragments for the queen.
Louise de Cochelet was still sojourning in Paris, and the letters which
she daily wrote to the queen at Novara, and in which she informed her of
all that was taking place in the city, are so true a picture of that
strange and confused era, that we cannot refrain from here inserting
some of them.
In one of her first letters Louise de Cochelet relates a conversation
which she had had with Count Nesselrode, in relation to the
queen's future.
"The Bourbons," she writes, "have now been finally accepted. I asked
Count Nesselrode, whom I have just left: 'Do you believe that the queen
will be permitted to remain in France? Will the new rulers consider this
proper?' 'Certainly,' he replied, 'I am sure of it, for we will make it
a condition with them, and without us they would never have come to the
throne at all! It is not the Bourbons, but it is we, it is all Europe,
that arranges and regulates these matters. I therefore trust that they
will never violate the agreement. Rest assured that the Emperor
Alexander will always support the right.'
"All of these strangers here speak of you, madame, with great
enthusiasm. Metternich, who doubtlessly recollects your great kindness
to his wife and children, inquired after you with lively interest.
Prince Leopold is devotedly attached to yourself and the Empress
Josephine, and ardently desires to be able to serve you both. Count
Nesselrode thinks it would be well for you to write to the Emperor
Alexander, as he takes so warm an interest in your affairs.
"The old nobility is already much discontented; it considers itself
debased, because it sees itself mixed with so many new elements."
"Come to Malmaison with the empress," she writes a few days later, "the
Emperor Alexander will then go there at once to meet you; he is anxious
to make your acquaintance, and you already owe him some thanks, as he
devotes himself to your interests as though they were his own. The Duke
of Vicenza, who demeans himself so worthily with regard to the Emperor
Napoleon, requests me to inform you that the future of your children
depends on your coming to Malmaison.
"The Emperor Napoleon has signed an agreement, that secures the future
of all the members of his family; you can remain in France, and retain
your titles. You are to have for yourself and children an income of four
hundred thousand francs.
"It is said here that the Faubourg St. Germain is furious over the
brilliant positions provided for the imperial family and the empress.
This is their gratitude for all her goodness to them.
"You wish to make Switzerland your home. Count Nesselrode thinks you may
be right, that it is a good retreat; but you should not give up the one
you have here, and should in any event retain the right to return
to France.
"Fancy, madame, Count Nesselrode insists on my seeing his emperor! I
have not yet consented, because I do not like to do any thing without
your assent; but I confess I long to make his acquaintance. I am made
quite happy by hearing you so well spoken of here.
"Count Nesselrode said to me yesterday: 'Tell the queen that I shall be
happy to fulfil all her wishes, and that I can do so, that I have the
power.' For great security he wishes to have a future assured you that
shall be independent of the treaty. I do not know what to say to him.
Write to me, and demand something, I conjure you!"
The queen's only response to this appeal was a letter addressed to the
Emperor Napoleon, and sent to Count Nesselrode, with the request that it
should be forwarded to its destination.
"It is strange," wrote Louise de Cochelet in relation to this
matter--"strange that all my efforts to serve you here have had no other
result than your sending a commission to Count Nesselrode to forward to
Fontainebleau a letter addressed to the Emperor Napoleon. He at first
thought I was bringing him the letter he had solicited for his emperor;
but he well knows how to appreciate all that is noble and great, and as
he possesses the most admirable tact, he thinks the letter cannot well
reach the emperor through him, and will therefore send it to the Duke of
Vicenza, at Fontainebleau, to be delivered by him to the Emperor
Napoleon."
Another letter of Louise de Cochelet is as follows: "I have just seen
Count Nesselrode again; he makes many inquiries concerning you; the
Emperor of Russia now resides on the Elysée Bourbon. The count tells me
a story that is in circulation here, and has reference to the Empress
Marie Louise and the kings her brothers-in-law. They were about to force
her to enter a carriage, in which they were to continue their journey
with her; when she refused to enter, it is said the King of Westphalia
became so violent that he gave her a little beating. She cried for help,
and General Caffarelli[27], who commanded the guards, came to her
rescue. On the following day she and her son were made prisoners, and
all the crown diamonds in her possession seized by the authorities; but
it seems as though capture was precisely what she wished.
[Footnote 27: According to Napoleon's instructions, his brothers were to
prevent the empress and the King of Rome from falling into the hands of
the enemy. De Baussue narrates this scene in his memoirs, and it is
self-evident that it was not so stormy as the gossip of Paris
portrayed it.]
"The Queen of Westphalia has just arrived in Paris; the Emperor
Alexander, her cousin, called on her immediately. It is supposed that
she will return to her father.
"Your brothers future is not yet determined on, but it will certainly be
a desirable and worthy one. There are many intrigues going on in
connection with it, as Count Nesselrode informs me. As for the kingdom
of Naples, it is no longer spoken of. By the details of the last war
with us, narrated to me by the count, I see that he despises many of our
ministers and marshals, and that these must be very culpable; and yet he
tells me that they considered the result uncertain a week before our
overthrow; as late as the 10th of March they believed that peace had
been made with Prussia at least.
"Do not grieve over the fate of the emperor on the island of Elba. The
emperor selected it himself; the allies would have preferred any
other place.
"All the mails arriving at Paris have been seized by the allies. Among
the letters there was one from the Empress Marie Louise to her husband.
She writes that her son is well, but that on awakening from a good
night's rest he had cried and told her he had dreamed of his father;
notwithstanding all her coaxing and promises of playthings, he had,
however, refused to tell what he had dreamed of his father, and that
this circumstance had made her uneasy in spite of her will.
"Prince Leopold resides in the same house with Countess Tascher; he is
incessantly busied with yours and your mother's affairs; he at least is
not oblivious of the kindness you have both shown him. I know that it is
his intention to speak to the Emperor of Russia, and then write to you.
"All your friends say that you must consider the interest of your
children, and accept the future offered you. M. de Lavalette and the
Duke of Vicenza are also of this opinion. You lose enough without this,
and you may well permit the victors to return a small portion of that
which they have taken from you, and which is rightfully yours.
"In short, all your friends demand that you shall repair to Malmaison as
soon as the Emperor Napoleon shall have departed from Fontainebleau. I
am assured that the Emperor Alexander intends to hunt you up in Novara
if you should not come to Malmaison. It will therefore be impossible to
avoid him. Consider that the fate of your children lies in his hands! In
the treaty of Fontainebleau you and your children were provided for
together; this is a great point for you, and proves how highly you are
thought of.
"It is to the Emperor of Russia alone that you owe this; and when the
Duke of Vicenza submitted this article of the treaty to the Emperor
Napoleon for his signature, it met with his entire approval. Your sole
and undivided authority over your children is thereby acknowledged. You
should, therefore, not reject the good offered you for your children. I
do not think it would require much persuasion to induce others to accept
that which is tendered you.
"Madame Tascher, who has proved herself to be your true friend and
relative, has just had her first interview with the Duke of Dalberg, the
member of the provisional government. She spoke of you, and I will here
give you his response, word for word: 'She is considered as being
altogether foreign to the Bonaparte family, because she has separated
herself from her husband. She will be the refuge of her children, who
are left to her. She is so dearly beloved and highly esteemed, that she
can be very happy. She can remain in France, and do whatever she
pleases; but she must now return to Paris.' Countess Tascher came to me
immediately after leaving the duke, in order to acquaint me with what
he had said.
"Friends and foes alike say this about you: 'Those who are not delighted
with what is being done for the queen are bad people! And as for her,
what has she to regret in all this? Only the good she has done! Now, the
world will dare to love her, and to express their love; she has so few
wishes, she is so perfect!'
"In short, it would seem almost that the people are pleased with the
misfortune that places you in the right light, and they say, 'She is far
more worthy in herself than when surrounded by a glittering court!'
"Yesterday I saw the new arrivals from Fontainebleau, M. de Lascour and
M. de Lavoestine. They came to me to learn where you were to be found,
and intend visiting you at once, either at Novara or at Malmaison, as
the case may be. These two gentlemen are true knights. 'No matter what
she is to become,' said they; 'we can now show our devotion, without
incurring the risk of being considered flatterers.'
"The last two weeks at Fontainebleau have been a period of the greatest
interest. All these young men, together with M. de Labédoyère and M. de
Montesquieu, wished to accompany the emperor; but he forbade their doing
so, and, in taking leave of them, appealed to them to remain, and to
continue to serve their country zealously.
"Lascour and Lavoestine, together with many other officers of the army,
are much displeased with the generals who left Fontainebleau without
taking leave of the emperor.
"Upon taking leave of the Empress Josephine, the emperor is reported to
have said: 'She was right; my separation from her has brought misfortune
upon my head.'
"It is said that the Duchess of Montebello will leave the Empress Marie
Louise."
But all these entreaties and flatteries, and these appeals to a mother's
heart, were, as yet, powerless to break the queen's pride. She still
considered it more worthy and becoming to remain away from the city in
which the ladies of the Faubourg St. Germain were celebrating the orgies
of their victorious royalism with the soldiers of the allied armies.
Instead of yielding to Louise de Cochelet's entreaties, the queen wrote
her the following letter:
"My dear Louise,--My resolution gives you pain! You all accuse me of
childish waywardness. You are unjust! My mother can follow the Duke de
Vicenza's counsel; she will go to Malmaison, but _I remain here,_ and I
have good reasons for doing so. I cannot separate my interests from
those of my children. It is they, it is their nearest relatives, who are
being sacrificed by all that is taking place, and I am, therefore,
determined not to approach those who are working our ruin. I must be
saddened by our great misfortune, and I will appear so, and abstain from
approaching those who would still consider me a supplicant, even though
I should demand nothing of them.
"I can readily believe that the Emperor Alexander is kindly disposed
toward me; I have heard much good of him, even from the Emperor
Napoleon. Although I was once anxious to make his acquaintance, I at
this moment have no desire to see him. Is he not our vanquisher? In
their hearts, your friends must all approve of my determination,
whatever they may say. I find retirement congenial. When you have seen
enough of your friends, you will return to me. I am suffering in my
breast, and shall perhaps go to some watering-place. I do not know
whether it is due to the air of Novara, but since I have been here I
cannot breathe. My friends maintain that it is due to the mental shocks
resulting from the great events that have transpired; but they are in
error; death has spared us all, and the loss of a glittering position is
not the greatest loss one can sustain. What personal happiness do I
lose? My brother will, I trust, be well and suitably provided for, and
he will be no longer exposed to danger. He must be very uneasy on our
account, and yet I dare not write to him, as my letters would probably
never reach him; if an opportunity should present itself, please let him
know that we are no longer surrounded by dangers. Adieu. I entreat you
once more to undertake nothing in my behalf. I fear your impetuosity and
friendship, and yet I love to be able to count on you. My children are
well. My mother opposes all my plans; she asserts that she has need of
me; but I shall, nevertheless, go to her who must now be more unhappy
than all of us.
HORTENSE."
She of whom Hortense thought that she must be more unhappy than all of
them, was the wife of Napoleon, Marie Louise, who had now left Blois, to
which place she had gone as empress-regent, and repaired to Rambouillet,
to await the decision of the allies with regard to the future of herself
and son. It was certainly one of the most peculiar features of this
period, so rich in extraordinary occurrences, to see the sovereigns of
Europe, the overthrown rulers of France, and those who were about to
grasp the sceptre once more, thrown confusedly together in Paris, and
within a circuit of some fifty miles around that city: a Bourbon in the
Tuileries, Bonaparte at Fontainebleau, his wife and his son at
Rambouillet, the divorced empress at Novara, the Emperors of Russia and
Austria, and the King of Prussia, at Paris; moreover, a whole train of
little German potentates and princes, and the Napoleonic kings and
princes, who were all sojourning in Paris or its vicinity.
The Queen of Holland considered it her duty, in these days of misfortune
and danger, to stand at the side of her whom Napoleon had commanded them
to consider the head of the family, and to serve faithfully in life and
death. Hortense therefore determined to go to the Empress Marie Louise
at Rambouillet, in accordance with the emperor's commands.
This determination filled the hearts of the queen's friends with sorrow;
and Louise had no sooner received the letter in which the queen
announced her impending departure, than she hastened to reply, imploring
her to abandon this intention. M. de Marmold, the queen's equerry,
departed with all speed to bring this letter to the queen at Louis,
where she was to pass the night, and to add his entreaties to those
of Louise.
"M. de Marmold, the bearer of this letter, will deliver it to you at
Louis, if he arrives there in good time," wrote Louise de Cochelet. "If
you go to Rambouillet, you will destroy your own position, and also that
of your children; this is the conviction of all your friends. I was so
happy, for Prince Leopold had written you, in the name of the Emperor
Alexander, and begged you to come to Malmaison. You could not have
avoided seeing him, as he would even have gone to Novara. Instead,
however, of returning with the Empress Josephine, you are on the point
of uniting yourself with a family that has never loved you. With them
you will experience nothing but distress, and they will not be thankful
for the sacrifice you are about to make. You will regret this step when
it is too late. I conjure you, do not go to Rambouillet!
"Your course will touch those to whom you are going but little, and will
displease the allies, who take so much interest in you.
"The empress is a thorough Austrian at heart, and the visits of members
of her husband's family are regarded with disfavor. I tell you this at
the request of Prince Leopold and Madame de Caulaincourt. The latter, if
you do not come here soon, will go to you, in spite of her great age.
She conjures you not to go to Rambouillet, as your lady of honor, and
the friend of your mother; she even forbids your doing so.
"When I informed Prince Leopold of your intention to go to the Empress
Marie Louise at Rambouillet, his eyes filled with tears. 'It is
beautiful to be proud,' said he, 'but she can no longer retreat; she is
already under obligations to the Emperor of Russia, who effected the
treaty of the 11th of April. I await her reply, to deliver it to the
emperor: she owes him a reply.'
"I passed an hour with our good friend Lavalette this morning. This
excellent man knew nothing of the measures we have been taking to
persuade you to return, and said to me: 'How fortunate it would be for
her and her children, if the emperor should desire to see her!' Do come,
do come; show your friends this favor; we shall all be in despair if you
go to Rambouillet!
"Prince Leopold will write you a few lines. He could not be more devoted
to yourself and the Empress Josephine if you were his mother and his
sister. Count Tschernitscheff has been to see me. The Emperor of Austria
arrives here to-morrow, and the new French princes and the king will
soon follow. What a change!
"You must see the Emperor of Russia, because he so much desires it. I
conjure you, on my knees, to do me this favor! The emperor conducts
himself so handsomely that every one is constrained to respect him; one
forgets that he is the conqueror, and can only remember him as the
protector. He seems to be the refuge of all those who have lost all, and
are in distress. His conduct is admirable; he receives none but business
calls, and such others as are absolutely necessary. The fair ladies of
the Faubourg St. Germain cannot boast of his attention to them, and this
does him all the more credit, he being, as it is said, very susceptible
to the fair sex. He told Prince Leopold that he intended going to
Novara, adding: 'You know that I love and esteem this family; Prince
Eugene is the prince of knights; I esteem the Empress Josephine, Queen
Hortense, and Prince Eugene, all the more from the fact that her
demeanor toward the Emperor Napoleon has been so much more noble than
that of so many others, who should have shown him more devotion.' How
could it be possible not to respect a man of such nobility of character?
I trust you will soon have an opportunity of judging of this yourself.
For God's sake, return!
LOUISE."
But these entreaties were all in vain. M. de Marmold arrived at Louis in
time to see the queen; he delivered the letters of her friends, and did
all that lay in his power to persuade her not to go to Rambouillet.
But Hortense held firmly to her intention. "You are right," said she.
"All this is true; but I shall, nevertheless, go to the Empress Marie
Louise, for it is my duty to do so. If unpleasant consequences should
result from this step for me, I shall pay no attention to them, but
merely continue to do my duty. Of all of us, the Empress Marie Louise
must be the most unhappy, and must stand most in need of consolation; it
is, therefore, at her side that I can be of most use, and nothing can
alter my determination."