of the biographers or the eulogy of others. Turquan declares it to be
totally lacking in dignity, with its irritating reiteration of the
sacrifices she had made, and its demand for money. On the other hand
Saint-Amand considers it to be “an eloquent and simple expression of a
true and noble sentiment, in which humility and dignity are perfectly
combined”; and Masson says: “In truth this letter is a masterpiece,
in which is to be found everything to excite the memory of Napoleon,
arouse his former affection, and awaken his pity.”
The best comment on this letter, however, is to be found in the reply
of the Emperor:
COMPIÈGNE, 21 April 1810
Mon amie, I am in receipt your letter of the 19 April; it is in
bad form (_d’un mauvais style_). I am always the same; men
like myself never change. I cannot imagine what Eugène told you.
I have not written you because you have not written, and because
I wished in every way to be agreeable to you.
I am glad to know that you are going to Malmaison, and that you
will be contented. I shall be pleased to hear from you, and to
respond. I shall not say more until you have had a chance to
compare this letter with your own: after that I leave you to
decide which is the better friend, you or myself.
Adieu, mon amie; take care of yourself, and be just, both to
yourself and to me.
NAPOLEON
This letter is written with the old familiar _tutoiement_, so
difficult to render into English, which is employed by Napoleon in all
his letters to Joséphine. We think that the reader will agree that
her letter showed bad form; was unwarranted in its assumptions, and
that Napoleon, on this, as on many other occasions, proved himself the
better friend.
Joséphine’s reply merits quotation in full:
NAVARRE (no date)
A thousand, thousand loving thanks for not having forgotten me.
My son has just brought me your letter. With what eagerness I
read it, and yet I spent plenty of time in doing so, for there
was not a word of it which did not make me weep; but these tears
were very sweet! I have got back my heart entirely, and it will
always be as it is now. Certain feelings are life itself, and
can only finish with life.
I should be in despair if my letter of the nineteenth had
displeased you. I do not remember its exact wording; but I know
how painful was the feeling which dictated it--the sorrow of not
hearing from you.
I wrote you at the time of my departure from Malmaison; and
since then how many times have I not wished to write to you! But
I knew the reason for your silence, and I feared to importune
you by a letter. Yours has been a balm to me. Be happy, be as
happy as you deserve, it is my whole heart which speaks to you.
You have just given me my share of happiness, and a share which
I appreciate to the full. Nothing to me can be worth so much as
a proof of your remembrance.
Adieu, mon amie. I thank you as tenderly as I shall always love
you.
JOSÉPHINE
This letter is very sweet and tender, but somehow it does not ring
true. Masson says, if it is sincere it is _maladroite_; but if she
is playing a rôle, knowing her partner as she does, is it not adroit in
the highest degree?
In answer to her letter, Napoleon wrote briefly from Compiègne on the
28 April, encouraging her to go to the waters and assuring her once
more of his unchanged feelings. He, too, had evidently heard of the
rumors spoken of by Madame de Rémusat, for he said in his letter: “Do
not listen to the babble of Paris; they are idle, and far from knowing
the truth.” In fact there was not the slightest foundation for the
reports.
Napoleon showed himself most willing to fall in with Joséphine’s plans
for the remainder of the year, and the following winter. She wished, to
go first to Malmaison, then at the end of May to some watering-place
for three months. After that she proposed to proceed to the South of
France, Florence, Rome and Naples; to spend the winter with Eugène in
Milan, and return in the spring to Malmaison and Navarre.
The Emperor did not offer to meet the expenses of the repairs at
Navarre, but agreed to advance the six hundred thousand francs left,
after payment of her debts, out of her allowance from the Crown
Treasury for 1810 and 1811; also that the one hundred thousand francs
allowed her for extraordinary expenses at Malmaison should be diverted
to Navarre.
The middle of May, Joséphine returned to Malmaison, then in all its
spring glory. For the first time she is able to enjoy her hyacinths and
tulips imported from Holland, for, as she once complained, “Bonaparte
always summons me to him just at the moment they are in flower.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
1810
AIX-LES-BAINS AND GENEVA
Joséphine’s Court at Malmaison--Her Anxiety About Hortense--A
Call from the Emperor--Joséphine Goes to Aix-les-Bains--Her Life
There--A Visit from Eugène--The Emperor Announces the Abdication
of Louis--Joséphine’s Narrow Escape from Death--Arrival of
Hortense--Joséphine’s Tour of Switzerland--She is Upset by
the Reports Regarding Marie-Louise--Advice of Madame de
Rémusat--Joséphine’s Return
The last week in April 1810, Napoleon left Compiègne with Marie-Louise
for a visit of five weeks to Belgium. Madame de La Tour du Pin, the
wife of the French prefect at Brussels at that time, has given us in
her _Recollections_ a striking picture of the young Empress,
whom she saw frequently while the Court was at Laeken. She says that
Marie-Louise was insignificant, absolutely devoid of intelligence, and
entirely unworthy of the great man whose destiny she shared; that she
seemed to make it a point to be as disagreeable as possible to every
one with whom she came in contact.
The new Empress was no more popular at Paris, where Joséphine was more
and more regretted. During the absence of the Emperor, Joséphine held
a regular Court at Malmaison. “The crowd rushed there, all the more
eager because Their Majesties were at Antwerp, and they had no fear
of displeasing Marie-Louise.” The astute courtiers already perceived
signs of a return to power of the old favorite. The Emperor had
invited Eugène to accompany him, and during the journey had treated
him with marked distinction. Joséphine had discreetly revealed to
her confidential friends that she had received from the Emperor a
letter full of affection, in which he gave her permission to remain
at Malmaison, even after the return of the Court to Saint-Cloud, and
promised to pay her an early visit. This letter, which bears no date,
runs as follows:
_To the Empress Joséphine, at Malmaison_
Mon amie, I am in receipt your letter. Eugène will give you news
of my trip, and of the Empress. I highly approve of your going
to the waters, and hope they will do you good.
I much desire to see you. If you are at Malmaison at the end
of the month I will come to see you. I count upon being at
Saint-Cloud the thirtieth of the month.
My health is very good; I lack nothing but the knowledge that
you are contented and well. Let me know the name that you would
like to assume en route.
Never doubt the entire sincerity of my affection for you; it
will endure as long as I live; you would be very unjust not to
believe it.
NAPOLEON
At this time Joséphine was very anxious about her daughter. After the
stay of the Court at Compiègne, the Emperor had ordered Hortense to
go to Amsterdam to rejoin her husband, with whom she had not lived
since the birth of Louis-Napoleon two years before. Her health was
still very bad, and she complied with the Emperor’s order with great
reluctance. The letters of Joséphine during the month of May all
manifest her great anxiety, and express her desire that Hortense should
accompany her to the waters, either to Aix-la-Chapelle, her first idea,
or to Aix-les-Bains, in Savoie, where she finally decided to go. The
condition of Hortense finally became so alarming that, at the end of
May, her husband consented to her going to Plombières.
Napoleon’s promised visit to Malmaison finally took place on the 13
June, twelve days after his return to Saint-Cloud. In a letter to her
daughter, written the following day, Joséphine records her joy:
_To Queen Hortense, at Plombières_
MALMAISON, 14 June 1810
My dear Hortense, ... You ask me what I am doing. I had an hour
of happiness yesterday: the Emperor came to see me. His presence
made me happy, although it renewed my sorrows. Such emotions one
would willingly go through often. All the time that he stayed
with me I had sufficient courage to keep back the tears which I
felt were ready to flow; but after he was gone I could not keep
them back and I became very unhappy. He was kind and amiable
to me as usual, and I hope that he read in my heart all the
affection and all the devotion for him which fills me.
I spoke to him about your position and he listened to me with
interest. He thinks that you should not return again to Holland,
the King not having behaved as he ought to have done.... The
Emperor’s advice therefore is that you should take the waters
for the necessary time and that then you should write to your
husband that the advice of the physicians is that you should
live in a warm climate for some time, and in consequence you are
going to Italy, to your brother’s; as for your son, he will give
orders that he is not to leave France.... Your son, who is here
just now, is very well. He is pink and white.
JOSÉPHINE
A few days later, on the 18 June, Joséphine set out for Aix-les-Bains,
travelling under the name of the Comtesse d’Arberg, and accompanied
only by four members of her household. She had chosen this place in
preference to her old resort, Plombières, because “her health required
distraction above all, and she hoped to find more of that in a place
which she had not yet seen, and whose situation was picturesque,” also
because “the waters are especially renowned for the nerves.”
The Empress occupied a modest habitation with Madame d’Audenarde, and
the rest of her attendants were lodged in a small adjoining house. A
week after her arrival she was rejoined by Madame de Rémusat.
At Aix, Joséphine led a very simple life. Bathing, excursions, reading
the latest novels from Paris, dinner at eight o’clock, on account of
the heat, a little music or a game afterwards--so passed her days.
She had arrived before the opening of the season, but as soon as her
presence was known visitors began to come from all of the neighboring
towns in France, Switzerland and northern Italy.
[Illustration: FACSIMILE OF LETTER OF JOSÉPHINE]
On the 10 July she had a short visit from her son, who was on his way
to Milan. Eugène had recently been made by the Emperor hereditary
Grand-Duke of Frankfort, which was generally assumed to be the end
of any expectations that he might become King of Italy. It was rumored
that Napoleon intended to unite Italy to the Empire, and that Eugène
would cease to be his adopted son, when he had a son of his own.
Joséphine feared that he would cease to be Viceroy at the same time
that Hortense descended from the throne of Holland. This event had just
been announced to her in a letter from the Emperor:
_To the Empress Joséphine, at Aix_
RAMBOUILLET, 8 July 1810
Mon amie, I have received your letter of the 3 July. You will
have seen Eugène, and his presence will have done you good. I
have learned with pleasure that the waters have benefited you.
The King of Holland has just abdicated the crown, leaving the
regency to the Queen, in accordance with the constitution. He
has departed from Amsterdam, and left the Grand-Duc de Berg.
I have united Holland to France; but this act is fortunate in
that it emancipates the Queen, and this unfortunate girl is
going to return to Paris with her son, the Grand-Duc de Berg:
that will make her entirely happy.
My health is good. I have come here to hunt for several days.
I shall see you with pleasure this autumn. Never doubt my
friendship. I never change.
Take good care of your health; be gay, and believe in the
sincerity of my affections.
NAPOLEON
Although Joséphine, in her letters to Hortense, complains of her quiet
surroundings, and speaks of her melancholy, her life at Aix seems to
have been quite gay. The only incident which produced any excitement
was a narrow escape which she had from death on a visit to the abbey of
Hautecombe, when a sudden storm on the lake nearly caused her boat to
founder. This is referred to in a letter from Napoleon at Trianon: “I
have heard with anxiety the danger which you ran. For a child of the
Isles of the Ocean to perish in a lake would be a catastrophe!”
On her return to Aix from this excursion, which had so nearly proved
fatal, Joséphine found a chamberlain of Queen Hortense, who announced
her arrival on the following day. The meeting of the mother and
daughter was very affecting. The similarity in their situations had
produced a new bond of sympathy between them. At the time of her
arrival, Hortense was ill both in body and soul, threatened with
consumption, and absolutely worn out and discouraged. But in spite of
all her troubles, she was her usual amiable self, and proved a great
consolation to her mother. It was at this time that Hortense was
brought into intimate contact with Charles de Flahaut, whose social
accomplishments had made him a great favorite with Joséphine. Their
intimacy resulted fifteen months later in the birth of the future Duc
de Morny, so well known under the Second Empire.
The visit of Hortense was very short, as she was ordered by the
Emperor to return to Fontainebleau, and rejoin her two sons. She was
therefore unable, as she wished, to accompany her mother on her tour of
Switzerland during the months of September and October.
Leaving Aix the first of September, Joséphine went to Sécheron, a small
village in the suburbs of Geneva. She made this her headquarters during
the two following months while she visited all the principal points of
interest in Switzerland. As she was never fond of travelling, the only
explanation of her course at this time is the report which had just
reached her of the condition of Marie-Louise. We find the first mention
of the subject in a letter to her daughter:
_To Queen Hortense, at Aix_
SÉCHERON, 9 September 1810
My dear Hortense ... I have not heard from the Emperor, but I
thought that I ought to prove to him the interest which I take
in the pregnancy of the Empress. I have just written him on the
subject. I hope that this step will put him at his ease, and
that he will be able to speak to me about it with a confidence
as great as my attachment for him....
Adieu, my dear daughter. I tenderly embrace you.
JOSÉPHINE
As usual, Josephine’s letter to the Emperor is not extant, but his
reply is given in Queen Hortense’s collection:
_To the Empress Joséphine, at Aix_
SAINT-CLOUD, 14 September 1810
Mon amie, I am in receipt your letter of the 9 September. I
am pleased to learn that you are well. The Empress is in fact
_grosse de quatre mois_; she is in good health and much
attached to me....
Adieu, mon amie; do not doubt my interest in you, and my
affection for you.
NAPOLEON
This correspondence seems to furnish a sufficient explanation of
Joséphine’s restlessness. She now showed a great desire to cancel the
program which she herself had submitted to the Emperor in the spring,
and to return at once to Malmaison. She evidently wrote Napoleon on the
subject, for we have his reply:
_To the Empress Joséphine, at Geneva_
FONTAINEBLEAU, 1 October 1810
I have received your letter. Hortense, whom I have seen, will
have told you what I think. Go to see your son this winter; come
back to the waters of Aix next year, or else stay at Navarre for
the spring. I would advise you to go to Navarre at once if I did
not fear that you would grow weary there. My opinion is that you
could only spend the winter conveniently at Milan or Navarre,
but I do not wish in any way to put you out.
Adieu, mon amie.... Be contented, and do not lose your head.
Never doubt my affections.
NAPOLEON
Joséphine returns to the same subject in two letters to her daughter,
from Berne, the following month:
_To Queen Hortense, at Fontainebleau_
BERNE, 12 October 1810
My dear Hortense,... Not a word from you in the twenty days
since our separation. What does your silence mean?... If in
three days from now I do not receive letters telling me what to
do, I shall think that the Emperor has not approved the request
which I made of him. I shall leave for Geneva; ... from Geneva I
shall return to Malmaison; then at least I shall be in France,
and if all the world deserts me I shall dwell there alone,
conscious of having sacrificed my happiness to make that of
others....
JOSÉPHINE
BERNE, 13 October 1810
My dear Hortense, I am to-day in receipt your letter of the
fourth.... After having reflected well, I shall follow the
Emperor’s first idea and shall establish myself at Navarre.
It seems to me very unsuitable to go to Italy, especially in
the winter. If it were for a visit of one or two months, I
should gladly go to see my son; but to stop there longer is
impossible....
All that you tell me of the interest which the Emperor still
has in me, gives me pleasure. I have made for him the greatest
of sacrifices: _the affections of my heart_; I am sure
that he will not forget me, if he says to himself sometimes
that another person would never have had the courage to make
such a sacrifice.... I would like to receive another line from
you before arranging my departure for Navarre, in order to be
sure that the Emperor approves of my passing the winter in that
place. Speak to me frankly on that point.
I confess to you that if I were obliged to remove from France
for more than a month I should die of grief. At Navarre at least
I shall have the pleasure of seeing you sometimes....
JOSÉPHINE
This revelation of the deep affection of Joséphine for Napoleon, in
the confidence of an intimate personal letter to her daughter, seems a
sufficient answer to those writers who have frequently expressed doubts
of her sincerity.
Upon her return to Geneva, the 21 October, Joséphine found a note from
the Emperor, and at once wrote Hortense to announce her final plans:
_To Queen Hortense, at Fontainebleau_
GENEVA, (no date) 1810
The Emperor has written me a very amiable little letter. You
can judge, my dear Hortense, what pleasure it has given me. The
Emperor advises me to go to Milan or Navarre. I have decided for
Navarre....
You will find me much changed, my dear daughter. The past month
I have grown quite thin, and I feel that I need rest, and above
all that the Emperor does not forget me....
Adieu, my dear Hortense, I have just written the Emperor;
I advise him that I count upon leaving Geneva the first of
November, that I shall go to Malmaison for twenty-four hours:
you will be very kind if you come there to make me a little
visit. After that I shall go to stay at Navarre; let me know if
this arrangement suits the Emperor....
JOSÉPHINE
While she was still at Berne, or soon after her return to Geneva,
Joséphine received a very long letter from Madame de Rémusat, in which,
with many flattering phrases, she mingles the advice not to return to
Paris. The letter bears no date, but was probably written early in
October 1810. The note of Paul de Rémusat, in which he assigns the date
to the last of 1812, or the beginning of 1813, is absurd. This letter
is quoted at length in the collection of Queen Hortense, and in many of
the biographies, but it hardly deserves so much space.
Apparently Joséphine had wished to meet Marie-Louise, but Madame de
Rémusat assures her that the time has not yet come for such a step.
Then follow long details to show the jealousy of Marie-Louise.
Among those whom the writer had seen was Duroc, the grand marshal of
the palace; from him she gathered that Joséphine had still further
sacrifices to make. “May you not find in the course of a rather more
prolonged journey pleasures which you do not foresee at first? At
Milan there awaits you the sweet spectacle of a son’s merited success.
Florence and Rome too would gratify your tastes.... You would encounter
at every step in Italy memories which the Emperor would see recalled
with no vexation, for to him they are connected with the epoch of his
earliest glories.” There is much more in the same strain, and it is
evidently Napoleon who is speaking through the mouth of Duroc. The
Emperor, however, was too tenderly disposed towards Joséphine to give
her a positive order not to return to France, and she was not a woman
to take a hint.
Before leaving Geneva, Joséphine purchased the château of Prégny, on
the edge of the lake, facing Mont-Blanc, for which she paid nearly
two hundred thousand francs. After this final extravagance, she set
out on the first day of November for her stay of “twenty-four hours”
at Malmaison. Napoleon was still at Fontainebleau with Marie-Louise,
but his own return to the Tuileries was fixed for the 15 November.
As Joséphine was still at Malmaison at that date, the Emperor sent
Cambacérès to hasten her departure. She protested that she could not
leave without time to pack up, and it was not until the 22 November
that she actually reached Navarre.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
1811–1812
NAVARRE, MALMAISON AND MILAN
The Monotonous Life at Navarre--Joséphine’s Health
Improved--Visits from Hortense and Eugène--Joséphine’s
Fête-Day--News of the Birth of the King of Rome--Napoleon
Again Pays Her Debts--She Plans for a New Château at
Malmaison--Napoleon Exchanges Laeken for the Élysée--A Winter at
Malmaison--Visit to Milan--Sojourns at Aix-les-Bains and Prégny
During the absence of Joséphine the interior of the château of
Navarre had been restored as completely as possible, and refurnished
in a simple manner, so that now it was quite habitable. It was still
difficult to heat the immense oval salon, which occupied the centre of
the building: it was paved with marble, and lighted only by windows
in the vestibule, and openings pierced in the lofty dome above. But
the architect had succeeded in arranging around this room a salon,
a music-room and a card-room. A number of comfortable, if not very
luxurious chambers had also been partitioned off, for the members of
the household. By burning an immense quantity of wood and coal in the
fireplaces, it was now possible to make the rooms fairly comfortable.
Large sums had also been spent on the gardens and hothouses, and
Navarre promised in time to become a second Malmaison.
The household was much more numerous than before: Joséphine had brought
with her quite a number of young girls, as pretty as they were poor,
who were supposed to possess some talents as musicians. The life at
the château was nevertheless very monotonous. Joséphine remained in
her room until eleven o’clock, at which hour the déjeuner was served
punctually. After this meal, which lasted three-quarters of an hour,
the young people had music in the salon, while the older persons played
cards or chess. In the afternoon there were promenades through the
gardens and park, or drives in the forest of Évreux. If the weather was
unfavorable, the time was passed in reading the latest novels, of which
a box was received every week from Paris. At four o’clock every one was
free, and Joséphine went to her room, where she usually summoned one of
her old intimates for a confidential chat.
At six o’clock dinner was served, and there were always some invited
guests from the city: the prefect, the mayor, and, most frequently, the
bishop, Mgr. Bourlier. There was only one table, and the service was
very luxurious. After dinner, there was music, cards, and sometimes
dancing. Joséphine was fond of games, and played cards, backgammon, and
billiards equally well. The evening usually ended at eleven o’clock,
when every one retired.
Joséphine, whose health had always been good, had never been so well;
she no longer suffered from the frequent headaches, which were due
mainly to the irregular hours of the Emperor. She began to grow stout
and for the first time in her life was obliged to wear a corset, in
place of the former _brassières_. Her only trouble was with her
eyes, which her physician told her was due to her crying so much,
“nevertheless,” she wrote her daughter, “for some time past I only
weep occasionally.”