Adventure | Science Fiction | Ghost stories | Poetry | Children | History BookOpen Original Text s: the Emperor had his concert
twice a week, at the end of which he held a reception, where many of
the leading people met. A great number of ladies from the best
families were admired alike for the brilliancy of their beauty, and
for their wonderful amiability. One may rightly say that the Polish
ladies inspired with jealousy the charming women of every other
civilised clime. They united, for the most part, to the manners of
good society a fund of information which is not commonly found even
among Frenchwomen, and is very far above anything we see in towns,
where the custom of meeting in public has become a necessity. It
seemed to us that the Polish ladies, compelled to spend the greater
part of the year in their country-houses, applied themselves there to
reading as well as to the cultivation of their talents, and it was
thus that in the chief towns, where they went to pass the winter, they
appeared successful over all their rivals." St. Amand says: "In the
intoxication of their enthusiasm and admiration, the most beautiful
among them--and Poland is the country of beauty--lavished on him,
like sirens, their most seducing smiles...." Josephine was right to be
jealous, for, as the artist Baron Lejeune adds, "They were, moreover,
as graceful as the Creole women so often are."
_A wretched barn_, reached over still more wretched roads. The Emperor
and his horse had nearly been lost in the mud, and Marshal Duroc had a
shoulder put out by his carriage being upset.
_Such things become common property._--So was another event, much to
Josephine's chagrin. On this date Napoleon heard of a son (Leon) born
to him by Eleanore, a former schoolfellow of Madame Murat. M. Masson
thinks this event epoch-making in the life of Napoleon. "Henceforth
the charm is broken, and the Emperor assured of having an heir of his
own blood."
No. 27.
_Warsaw, January 3._--On his way from Pultusk on January 1, he had
received a Polish ovation at Bronie, where he first met Madame
Walewski. The whole story is well told by M. Masson in _Napoleon et
les Femmes_; but here we must content ourselves with the mere facts,
and first, for the sake of comparison, cite his love-letters to the
lady in question:--(1.) "I have seen only you, I have admired only
you, I desire only you. A very prompt answer to calm the impatient
ardour of N." (2.) "Have I displeased you? I have still the right to
hope the contrary. Have I been mistaken? Your eagerness diminishes,
while mine augments. You take away my rest! Oh, give a little joy, a
little happiness to a poor heart all ready to worship you. Is it so
difficult to get a reply? You owe me one.--N." (3.) "There are moments
when too high rank is a burden, and that is what I feel. How can I
satisfy the needs of a heart hopelessly in love, which would fling
itself at your feet, and which finds itself stopped by the weight of
lofty considerations paralysing the most lively desires? Oh, if you
would! Only you could remove the obstacles that lie between us. My
friend Duroc will clear the way. Oh, come! come! All your wishes shall
be gratified. Your native land will be dearer to me when you have had
pity on my poor heart,--N." (4.) "Marie, my sweet Marie! My first
thought is for you, my first desire to see you again. You will come
again, will you not? You promised me to do so. If not, the eagle will
fly to you. I shall see you at dinner, a friend tells me. Deign, then,
to accept this bouquet; let it become a mysterious link which shall
establish between us a secret union in the midst of the crowd
surrounding us. Exposed to the glances of the crowd, we shall still
understand each other. When my hand presses my heart, you will know
that it is full of thoughts of you; and in answer you will press
closer your bouquet. Love me, my bonny Marie, and never let your hand
leave your bouquet.--N." In this letter, in which he has substituted
_tu_ for _vous_, there is more passion than we have seen since 1796.
The fair lady now leaves her decrepit old husband, nearly fifty years
her senior, and takes up her abode in Finckenstein Castle, for nearly
two months of the interval between Eylau and Friedland. "In order,"
says Pasquier, "that nothing should be lacking to characterise the
calm state of his mind and the security of his position, it was soon
known that he had seen fit to enjoy a pleasurable relaxation by
calling to him a Polish gentlewoman of excellent birth, with whom he
had contracted a _liaison_ while passing through Warsaw, and who, as a
consequence of this journey, had the honour of bearing him a son."
Repudiated by her husband, she came to Paris, where she was very
kindly treated by Josephine, who, having once seen her, found in her
no rival, but an enthusiastic patriot, "sacrificed to Plutus," as
Napoleon told Lucien at Mantua a few months later, adding that "her
soul was as beautiful as her face."
No. 28.
_Be cheerful--gai._--This adjective is a favourite one in letters to
his wife, and dates from 1796.
No. 29.
_Roads unsafe and detestable._--The French troops used to say that the
four following words constituted the whole language of the Poles:
_Kleba?_ _Niema._ _Vota?_ _Sara._ ("Some bread? There is none. Some
water? We will go and fetch it.") Napoleon one day passed by a
column of infantry suffering the greatest privations on account of the
mud, which prevented the arrival of provisions. "Papa, kleba?"
exclaimed a soldier. "Niema," replied the Emperor. The whole column
burst into a fit of laughter; they asked for nothing more. Baron
Lejeune, Constant, and Meneval have variants of the same story.
No. 35.
Written from Warsaw, and omitted from the _Correspondence_.
_I hope that you are at Paris._--Madame Junot hints that her husband,
as Governor of Paris, was being sounded by Bonaparte's sister, Murat's
wife (with whom Junot was in love), if he would make Murat Napoleon's
successor, in lieu of Eugene, if the Emperor were killed. If Napoleon
had an inkling of this, he would wish Josephine to be on the spot.
_T._--Is probably Tallien, who had misconducted himself in Egypt.
Madame Junot met him at Madrid, but she and others had not forgotten
the September massacres. "The wretch! how did he drag on his loathsome
existence?" she exclaims.
No. 36.
_Paris._--Josephine arrived here January 31st; Queen Hortense going to
the Hague and the Princess Stephanie to Mannheim.
No. 38.
Probably written from Arensdorf, on the eve of the battle of Eylau
(February 9th), on which day a great ball took place in Paris, given
by the Minister of Marine.
No. 39.
_Eylau._--The battle of Preussich-Eylau was splendidly fought on both
sides, but the Russian general, Beningsen, had all the luck. (1) His
Cossacks capture Napoleon's letter to Bernadotte, which enables him to
escape all Napoleon's plans, which otherwise would have destroyed half
the Russian army. (2) A snowstorm in the middle of the day in the
faces of the French ruins Augereau's corps and saves the Russians
from a total rout. (3)Previous Next |