old soldier of the empire has remained faithful to the sacred cause, to the imperial eagles, it is necessary so that her majesty may be assured of a devotion of which she—or rather the legitimate heir to the throne—will perhaps have need sooner than one thinks, that she receives from you a letter in which she will find the expression of your unshakable devotion to the memory of Napoleon III and to the Imperial cause, as well as the expression of your mistrust of the present regime.” G. P. U. Chicago, _July_, 1910. Contents Chapter Page I The Youth of Eugénie 11 II Eugénie’s Marriage to Louis Napoleon 23 III Eugénie’s Personality 36 IV State Visit to England 42 V Birth of the Prince Imperial 49 VI The Empress in Politics 54 VII Private Life of the Empress 62 VIII Paris under the Second Empire 68 IX Eugénie as a Leader of Fashion 79 X Decline of the Empire 88 XI The War of 1870 97 XII Eugénie’s Flight to England 109 XIII The Empress in Exile 119 XIV Death of the Prince Imperial 126 Appendix 136 Illustrations Eugénie _Frontispiece_ Empress Eugénie 30 Napoleon the Third 92 The Empress-Widow 134 Eugénie Empress of the French Chapter I The Youth of Eugénie At the beginning of the last century there dwelt in the city of Malaga in Spain a merchant named Kirkpatrick. Although descended from a Scotch family of distinction that had been forced by the fall of the Stuarts to flee their native land, this later scion of the race earned his livelihood by the sale of wines which he dispensed with his own hand in a room at the rear of his shop. The business prospered and he became a rich man, exporting large quantities of Spanish wines to foreign countries; but he still kept his wine-room in Malaga, assisted by his four daughters, who did much to attract custom.