Henceforward, the life of Josephine, passed either at Malmaison or Navarre, offers but few incidents. The emperor would not suffer any change to be made in the regal state to which she had been accustomed at the Tuileries. Her household was on a scale of imperial magnificence. She continued to receive the visits, almost the homage, of the members of the court of Napoleon and Maria Louisa; for it was quickly discovered, that, however unpleasant to her new rival, such visits were recommendations to the emperor's favor. The apartments in which the empress received her guests were elegant, the furniture being covered with needle-work, wrought by the empress and her ladies; but the residence altogether was small--an inconvenience increased through Josephine's veneration of every thing that had been Napoleon's. The apartment he had occupied remained exactly as he had left it; she would not suffer a chair to be moved, and, indeed, very rarely permitted any person to enter, keeping the key herself, and dusting the articles with her own hands. On the table was a volume of history, with the page doubled down where he had finished reading; beside it lay a pen, with the ink dried upon the point, and a map of the world, on which he was accustomed to point out his plans to those in his confidence, and which still showed on its surface many marks of his impatience. These Josephine would allow to be touched on no account. By the wall stood his camp-bed, without curtains; above hung his arms; on different pieces of furniture lay different articles of apparel, just as Napoleon had flung them from him. It was long before the harassed feelings of Josephine were sufficiently calmed to take any interest in common affairs. So severe had been her sufferings, that it was six months before her sight recovered from the effects of inflammation and swelling of the eyes. The first circumstance which produced something like a change for the better, was her removal to Navarre, the repairing of which became at once a source of amusement and a means of benevolence. This once royal residence had suffered from the revolution, and was nearly in a state of dilapidation. The restoration of the buildings and grounds furnished employment to great numbers of people; and Josephine, in addition to the pleasures of planting and agriculture, enjoyed the delight--to her more dear--of spreading comfort and fertility over a region where before reigned extreme misery.