On the 4th of January the First Consul, after dinner, entered our cabinet, where I was employed. "Where is Duroc?" he inquired.—"He has gone to the opera, I believe."—"Tell him, as soon as he returns, that I have promised Hortense to him, and he shall have her. But I wish the marriage to take place in two days at the latest. I will give him 500,000 francs, and name him commandant of the eighth military division; but he must set out the day after his marriage with his wife for Toulon. We must live apart; I want no son-in-law at home. As I wish to come to some conclusion, let me know to-night whether this plan will satisfy him."—"I think it will not."—"Very well! then she shall marry Louis."—"Will she like that?"—"She must like it." Bonaparte gave me these directions in a very abrupt manner, which made me think that some little domestic warfare had been raging, and that to put an end to it he had come to propose his ultimatum. At half-past ten in the evening Duroc returned; I reported to him, word for word, the proposition of the First Consul. "Since it has come to that, my good friend," said he, "tell him he may keep his daughter for me. I am going to see the ——-," and, with an indifference for which I cannot account, he took his hat and went off.
—[Duroc eventually married a Mademoiselle Hervae d'Almenara, the
daughter of a Spanish banker, who was later Minister of Joseph, and
was created Marquis of Abruenara. The lady was neither handsome nor
amiable, but she possessed a vast fortune, and Bonaparte himself
solicited her hand for his aide de camp. After the death of Duroc
his widow married a M. Fabvier, and Napoleon gave his Duchy of
Frioul to his daughter.]—
The First Consul, before going to bed, was informed of Duroc's reply, and Josephine received from him the promise that Louis and Hortense should be married. The marriage took place a few days after, to the great regret of Hortense, and probably to the satisfaction of Duroc. Louis submitted to have forced on him as a wife a woman who had hitherto avoided him as much as possible. She always manifested as much indifference for him as he displayed repugnance for her, and those sentiments have not been effaced.
—[The marriage of Louis Bonaparte took place on the 7th January.
The bride and bridegroom were exceedingly dull, and Mademoiselle
Hortense wept during the whole of the ceremony. Josephine, knowing
that this union, which commenced so inauspiciously, was her own
work, anxiously endeavoured to establish a more cordial feeling
between her daughter and son-in-law. But all her efforts were vain,
and the marriage proved a very unhappy one (Memoirs de Constant).
Napoleon III. was the son of the Queen of Holland (Hortense
Beauharnais).]—
Napoleon said at St. Helena that he wished to unite Louis with a niece of Talleyrand. I can only say that I never heard a word of this niece, either from himself, his wife, or his daughter; and I rather think that at that time the First Consul was looking after a royal alliance for Louis. He often expressed regret at the precipitate marriages of his sisters. It should be recollected that we were now in the year which saw the Consulship for life established, and which, consequently, gave presage of the Empire. Napoleon said truly to the companions of his exile that "Louis' marriage was the result of Josephine's intrigues," but I cannot understand how he never mentioned the intention he once had of uniting Hortense to Duroc. It has been erroneously stated that the First Consul believed that he reconciled the happiness of his daughter with his policy. Hortense did not love Louis, and dreaded this marriage. There was no hope of happiness for her, and the event has proved this. As for the policy of the First Consul, it is not easy to see how it was concerned with the marriage of Louis to Hortense, and in any case the grand policy which professed so loudly to be free from all feminine influences would have been powerless against the intrigues of Josephine, for at this time at the Tuileries the boudoir was often stronger than the cabinet. Here I am happy to have it in my power to contradict most formally and most positively certain infamous insinuations which have prevailed respecting Bonaparte and Hortense. Those who have asserted that Bonaparte ever entertained towards Hortense any other sentiments than those of a father-in-law for a daughter-in-law have, as the ancient knights used to say, "lied in their throats." We shall see farther on what he said to me on this subject, but it is never too soon to destroy such a base calumny. Authors unworthy of belief have stated, without any proof, that not only was there this criminal liaison, but they have gone so far as to say that Bonaparte was the father of the eldest son of Hortense. It is a lie, a vile lie. And yet the rumour has spread through all France and all Europe. Alas! has calumny such powerful charms that, once they are submitted to, their yoke cannot be broken?
—[Bourrienne's account of this marriage, and his denial of the vile
calumny about Napoleon, is corroborated by Madame Rémusat. After
saying that Hortense had refused to marry the son of Rewbell and
also the Comte de Nun, she goes on: "A short time afterwards Duroc,
then aide de camp to the Consul, and already noted by him, fell in
love with Hortense. She returned the feeling, and believed she had
found that other half of herself which she sought. Bonaparte looked
favourably on their union, but Madame Bonaparte in her turn was
inflexible. 'My daughter,' said she, 'must marry a gentleman or a
Bonaparte.' Louis was then thought of. He had no fancy for
Hortense; defeated the Beauharnais family, and had a supreme
contempt for his sister-in-law. But as he was silent, he was
believed to be gentle; and as he was severe by character, he was
believed to be upright. Madame Louis told me afterwards that at the
news of this arrangement she experienced violent grief. Not only
was she forbidden to think of the man she loved, but she was about
to be given to another of whom she had a secret distrust" (Rémusat,
tome i. p. 156). For the cruel treatment of Hortense by Louis see
the succeeding pages of Rémusat. As for the vile scandal about
Hortense and Napoleon, there is little doubt that it was spread by
the Bonapartist family for interested motives. Madame Louis became
enceinte soon after her marriage. The Bonapartists, and especially
Madame Murat (Caroline); had disliked this marriage because Joseph
having only daughters, it was forseen that the first son of Louis
and the grandson of Madame Bonaparte would be the object of great
interest. They therefore spread the revolting story that this was
the result of a connection of the First Consul with his
daughter-in-law, encouraged by the mother herself. "The public
willingly believed this suspicion.' Madame Murat told Louis," etc.
(Rémusat, tome i, p. 169). This last sentence is corroborated by
Miot de Melito (tome ii. p. 170), who, speaking of the later
proposal of Napoleon to adopt this child, says that Louis
"remembered the damaging stories which ill-will had tried to spread
among the public concerning Hortense Beauharnais before he married
her, and although a comparison of the date of his marriage with
that of the birth of his son must have shown him that these tales
were unfounded, he felt that they would be revived by the adoption
of this child by the First Consul." Thus this wretched story did
harm in every way. The conduct of Josephine must be judged with
leniency, engaged as she was in a desperate struggle to maintain
her own marriage,—a struggle she kept up with great skill; see
Metternich, tome ii. p. 296. "she baffled all the calculations,
all the manoeuvres of her adversaries." But she was foolish enough
to talk in her anger as if she believed some of the disgraceful
rumours of Napoleon. "Had he not seduced his sisters, one after
the other?" (Rémusat, tome i. p. 204). As to how far this scandal
was really believed by the brothers of Napoleon, see Iung's Lucien
(tome ii. pp. 268-269), where Lucien describes Louis as coming
three times to him for advice as to his marriage with Hortense,
both brothers referring to this rumour. The third time Louis
announces he is in love with Hortense. "You are in love? Why the
devil, then, do you come to me for advice? If so, forget what has
been rumoured, and what I have advised you. Marry, and may God
bless you."
Thiers (tome iii. p. 308) follows Bourrienne's account. Josephine,
alluding to Louis Bonaparte, said, "His family have maliciously
informed him of the disgraceful stories which have been spread on
the conduct of my daughter and on the birth of her son. Hate
assigns this child to Napoleon." (Rémusat, tome i, p. 206). The
child in question was Napoleon Charles (1802-1807).]—
CHAPTER VIII.
1802-1803.
Bonaparte President of the Cisalpine Republic—Meeting of the
deputation at Lyons—Malta and the English—My immortality—Fete
given by Madame Murat—Erasures from the emigrant list—Restitution
of property—General Sebastiani—Lord Whitworth—Napoleon's first
symptoms of disease—Corvisart—Influence of physical suffering on
Napoleon's temper—Articles for the Moniteur—General Andreossi—
M. Talleyrand's pun—Jerome Bonaparte—Extravagance of Bonaparte's
brothers—M. Collot and the navy contract.