QUEEN HORTENSE A Life picture of the Napoleonic Era BY L. MÜHLBACH AUTHOR OF PRINCE EUGENE AND HIS TIMES, JOSEPH II, AND HIS COURT, MERCHANT OF BERLIN, ETC. TRANSLATED FROM THE GERMAN BY CHAPMAN COLEMAN 1910 CONTENTS. BOOK I. _DAYS OF CHILDHOOD AND OF THE REVOLUTION._ CHAPTER I.--Days of Childhood. II.--The Prophecy. III.--Consequences of the Revolution. IV.--General Bonaparte. V.--The Marriage. VI.--Bonaparte in Italy. VII.--Vicissitudes of Destiny. VIII.--Bonaparte's Return from Egypt. BOOK II. _THE QUEEN OF HOLLAND._ CHAPTER I.--A First Love. II.--Louis Bonaparte and Duroc. III--Consul and King. IV.--The Calumny. V.--King or Emperor. VI.--Napoleon's Heir. VII.--Premonitions. VIII.--The Divorce. IX.--The King of Holland. X.--Junot, the Duke d'Abrantes. XI.--Louis Napoleon as a Vender of Violets. XII.--The Days of Misfortune. XIII.--The Allies in Paris. XIV.--Correspondence between the Queen and Louise de Cochelet. XV.--Queen Hortense and the Emperor Alexander. XVI.--The New Uncles. XVII.--Death of the Empress Josephine. BOOK III. _THE RESTORATION._ CHAPTER I.--The Return of the Bourbons. II.--The Bourbons and the Bonapartes. III.--Madame de Staël. IV.--Madame de Staël's Return to Paris. V.--Madame de Staël's Visit to Queen Hortense. VI.--The Old and New Era. VII.--King Louis XVIII. VIII.--The Drawing-room of the Duchess of St. Leu. IX.--The Burial of Louis XVI. and his Wife. X.--Napoleon's Return from Elba. XI.--Louis XVIII.'s Departure and Napoleon's Arrival. XII.--The Hundred Days. XIII.--Napoleon's Last Adieu. BOOK IV. _THE DUCHESS OF ST. LEU._ CHAPTER I.--The Banishment of the Duchess of St. Leu. II.--Louis Napoleon as a Child. III.--The Revolution of 1830. IV.--The Revolution in Rome and the Sons of Hortense. V.--The Death of Prince Napoleon. VI.--The Flight from Italy. VII.--The Pilgrimage. VIII.--Louis Philippe and the Duchess of St. Leu. IX.--The Departure of the Duchess from Paris. X.--Pilgrimage through France. XI.--Fragment from the Memoirs of Queen Hortense. XII.--The Pilgrim. XIII.--Conclusion. ILLUSTRATIONS. General Bonaparte suppressing the Revolt of the Sections, _Frontispiece_. View of the Tuileries. Portrait of Queen Hortense. Portrait of Madame de Staël. QUEEN HORTENSE. BOOK I. _DAYS OF CHILDHOOD AND OF THE REVOLUTION._ CHAPTER I. DAYS OF CHILDHOOD. "One moment of bliss is not too dearly bought with death," says our great German poet, and he may be right; but a moment of bliss purchased with a long lifetime full of trial and suffering is far too costly. And when did it come for her, this "moment of bliss?" When could Hortense Beauharnais, in speaking of herself, declare, "I am happy? Now, let suffering and sorrow come upon me, if they will; I have tasted felicity, and, in the memories it has left me, it is imperishable and eternal!"