josephine not allowed to go to poland—fear of divorce—the reconciliation of 1807–1808—the campaign of 1809 and its effect on napoleon.
for two years after she mounted the throne, josephine felt tolerably secure in its possession. it was not until the winter of 1806–1807, when napoleon was busy with war against russia and prussia, that the spectre which had alarmed her at the beginning of the life consulate and again at the proclamation of the empire, arose again. her first alarm came from the fact that when she wanted to go to the emperor from mayence, whither she had taken her household, he put her off. sometimes he even rebuked her for her persistence in clinging to the idea. “talleyrand comes, and tells me that you do nothing but cry,” he wrote her on november 1st. “but what do you want? you have your daughter, your grandchildren, and good news; certainly you have the materials for happiness and contentment.” more often he flattered and petted, as when, on november 28th, he wrote from warsaw: “all the polish women are frenchwomen, but there is only one woman for me. do you know her? i could draw her portrait for you; but i should have to flatter it too much for you to recognize it; nevertheless, to tell the truth, my heart would have only good things to tell you.” and again, a few days later: “i have your letter of november 26th. i notice two things: you say, ‘i don’t read your letters’; that is unjust. i am sorry for your bad opinion. you tell me you are not 400jealous. i have long observed that people who are angry always say that they are not angry, that people who are afraid say they are not afraid; so you are convicted of jealousy; i am delighted! besides, you are mistaken, and in the deserts of fair poland one thinks but little about pretty women. yesterday i was at a ball of the nobility of the province; rather pretty women, rather rich, rather ill dressed, although in the paris fashion.” he continued all through december to try to dissuade her. “i have your letter of november 27th, and i see that your little head is much excited. i remember the line: ‘a woman’s wish is a devouring flame,’ and i must calm you. i wrote to you that i was in poland, that when we should have got into winter quarters you might come; so you must wait a few days. the greater one becomes, the less will one must have; one depends on events and circumstances. you may go to frankfurt or darmstadt. i hope to summon you in a few days, but events must decide. the warmth of your letter convinces me that you pretty women take no account of obstacles; what you want must be; but i must say that i am the greatest slave that lives; my master has no heart, and this master is the nature of things.”
josephine would not give up her plan, however, and in napoleon’s arguments that the trip from mayence to warsaw was too long—the roads too bad, the weather too cold, for her to venture it, that she was needed in paris, she saw only a desire to be free from her presence; and when finally he ordered her to “go back to paris to be happy and contented there,” she obeyed with tears and lamentations. josephine’s jealousy at this time was more than justifiable. for many months, in fact, she had known beyond question of napoleon’s various infidelities, and she suspected that the real reason he refused her request to be allowed to go to him was that he had found a new mistress. or might it not be, 401she asked herself, that he was planning a divorce and re-marriage. the first supposition was true. it was madame walewski who was the chief obstacle to josephine going to warsaw, although the reasons napoleon gave—the danger of the journey and the need of josephine in paris—were plausible enough at the moment.
it was not until july, 1807, that the emperor took up the subject of a divorce, as a political necessity, with his counsellors. while at tilsit with the emperor of russia and the king of prussia, the divorce was discussed, and napoleon ordered that a list of the marriageable princesses of europe be made out for him. no doubt vague rumors of the transactions at tilsit reached josephine. she took them the more to heart because in may of that year (1807) hortense’s eldest son, napoleon-charles, had died. the death of the boy destroyed one of her chief hopes. it removed the child whom she knew napoleon so loved that he would have been well satisfied to have made him his successor. hortense had a second child, napoleon louis; but the emperor did not have the same feeling for him.
when napoleon returned to paris after the meeting at tilsit, josephine was prepared to do all that was possible to reconquer the place in her husband’s heart, which many months’ absence had certainly weakened. she even had hortense’s little son louis with her, a constant reminder to the empire that here was an heir of bonaparte and beauharnais blood. her hopes were soon shattered by fouché, who made an appeal to her. for the sake of the country, the dynasty, napoleon, would she not herself voluntarily offer to withdraw. panicstricken, yet not daring to go directly to her husband to know if this was his will, josephine could only weep. napoleon saw her sorrow, but had not the courage to talk with her. finally talleyrand, taking the case in hand, persuaded josephine to speak first to napoleon. overcome completely, the emperor feigned amazement, stormed at the baseness of fouché, wept over josephine, swore he could not leave her; but he did not deceive her—or himself. josephine took a clever course—she told him she would consent to his will quietly for love of him and for the sake of the throne—if he commanded her. but that napoleon could not do. he ordered that the question of divorce be dropped, gave fouché such treatment as perhaps a man never before received for carrying out his superior’s will, and for a time bestowed upon josephine lover-like attentions so marked that the whole court looked on and wondered.
402
empress josephine.
fragment from the picture of the marriage of jerome bonaparte and the princess catherine.
403the fall of 1807 the emperor strove to make very gay, and during the sojourns at rambouillet for the hunt and the month at fontainebleau the empress was really at the height of her power. he could not give her up, could not, in spite of his dynasty, in spite of mme. walewski, the woman who had sacrificed herself to him for the sake of poland, and for whom he had a great respect as well as ardent passion. josephine was necessary to him. it was a tenderness born of association—of all of the thousand sweet ties which twelve years of life together had wrought. what matter if she was growing old; what matter that he might have a royal princess for his wife—that his heart was with mme. walewski, it was josephine, and no one ever had aroused such a wealth of tenderness as she—no one could again. the court could only look on and wonder to see the weakness of the tyrant before this woman. they even noted how jealous he was of her that fall, when the young german prince of mecklenburg-schwerin fell in love with her and did not hesitate to show it. josephine herself laughed at the young man’s ardor, but napoleon looked askance and doubled his tenderness.
the winter of 1807 and 1808 was spent in paris, and the shadow was not large. it was true that mme. walewski 404was now in the city; but if josephine knew anything of this liaison, she ignored it completely. so long as she was empress infidelities had little effect on her. mme. de remusat says that not only did josephine shut her eyes to them, but she “pushed her complacency to the point of granting particular favors to some of his mistresses.” in the spring and summer her hold on the emperor seemed to herself and to those about her to have been strengthened by the four and a half months which the two spent with only a small suite at bayonne, where the emperor’s presence was necessary to direct the affairs with spain. napoleon had preceded the empress, who waited in bordeaux for news of hortense, to whom a third son was born on april 20, 1808. the news brought great joy to josephine, and no doubt had something to do with her happiness in the next few months. it provided a second heir, and made divorce seem less imperative.
in spite of the sinister events of the sojourn at bayonne—it was here that the king of spain, charles iv., and his heir, ferdinand, abdicated their rights and that joseph bonaparte was made king of spain—there was much gaiety around josephine. there were dinners and fêtes and drives, and the french empress and the spanish queen louise seemed to enjoy each other’s society as if a throne were not changing hands and a noble house falling, because of the disgraceful inaction and jealousy of one ruler and the cynical ambition and self-confidence of the other.
the really delightful part of josephine’s life at bayonne was the informal intimacy which she and napoleon enjoyed. never since the days at malmaison had they been together so long and so freely. they made the most of their liberty, even romping before the eyes of the members of their small suite in a most unroyal way. the castle of marrac, which they occupied, was near the shore, and they spent much time 405on the beach, where the emperor, dragging the empress to the water, would push her into it or dash sand over her, laughing like a teasing boy as he did so. in one of these romps the little, low silk slippers which the empress always wore slipped off, and napoleon, seizing them, threw them into the surf, making josephine walk back to her carriage in stocking feet. it was with such frolics that the two enlivened the days at marrac, in the summer of 1808. their journey back to paris was a triumphal procession, wherein josephine, by her tact, her amiability, her unflagging interest, won every heart. never had she seemed more admirable to napoleon as an empress, never more charming as a woman.
it was in august, 1808, that josephine returned to paris, after four and a half months with her husband. a few days later, he left her for erfurth, where he was to meet alexander of russia and the german sovereigns, for a conference on the affairs of europe. at a gathering of the magnitude and splendor of this at erfurth it would have been fitting that the empress be present, but napoleon did not deem it wise for her to leave france. that napoleon meant to indicate by leaving her at home that his decision to have a divorce was taken and that this was the beginning of the separation is not clear, though it is certain that the subject was much in his mind at erfurth. the stability an heir would give to his throne and the value of an alliance with one of the old houses of europe, now became clearer than ever to him, and undoubtedly napoleon came back to josephine with the idea more firmly fixed in mind than before. those who saw them together after erfurth said to themselves, “he is meditating the divorce again.” josephine feared it. what else could mean his short brusque remarks, his evident desire to escape her company, his averted eyes.
406dread the future as she might, she could do nothing. to question napoleon was to irritate him, and nothing, she knew, was more unwise. to show a sad face, to weep, was to drive him from her presence, for he detested tears with all the force of the strong reasoning controlled creature who sees nothing but a meaningless waste of strength in them. she knew too well the empire of napoleon over all those about him to attempt to build up a party of her own that at the issue would throw its influence in her favor. there was but one thing to oppose to the imperious will of her husband—his affection for her. to cherish that, doing nothing of which he could complain, nothing which would irritate or weary him; to show him at every meeting her amiability, her devotion, her tact, to win from him the confession that no woman could fill more gracefully and successfully than she was doing her difficult position,—this was josephine’s course, and the one which she followed ceaselessly after the interview in 1807. certainly the fear was continually in her heart after erfurth, but to him she gave no sign. she was gentle, apparently trusting; tactful, and cautious—the very qualities which napoleon admired most in women and found rarest. every day of intercourse made it harder for him to come to a resolution, and every day increased her own anxiety.
it was only ten days after erfurth that the war in spain compelled napoleon to leave paris. josephine was left alone. there was little in the letters she received from spain to disturb her peace of mind; as always, they gave her details of the emperor’s health, expressed concern for hers, gave brief bits of news—optimistic always; rarely a word of a disaster was put into a letter to josephine—directions about fêtes, about the reception of persons to be sent to her, comments and inquiries on family matters: such letters, in short, as she had always received. yet there was an uneasiness 407in josephine’s mind which she could not conquer;—it was fed by rumors from idle and more or less malicious tongues in her circle.
it was not only the uncertainty of her own fate which distressed her; she had further reason for grief in the unhappiness of hortense, who had been reconciled with her husband for a time, but was now more wretched than ever, and whose frequent letters to josephine must have cut her to the heart again and again. her tenderness and her wisdom in her councils to her daughter at this time, indeed at all times, are admirable. it would not have been surprising if in receiving daily the complaints of hortense, at a moment of so much uneasiness regarding her true situation, she had resented the misery of her daughter; but there is never a shadow of irritation in her letters.
in january, josephine had the joy of seeing napoleon return. for the two months and a half he was in paris she watched him closely, but to no purpose. indeed public affairs were in such a condition that the emperor had little or no time to give her. he was working day and night in a frenzied effort to clear france of the traitors who, within his government, indeed within his own family, were plotting his overthrow, and to put an army in order for the war he saw austria and her allies preparing for him. there was no time in the winter of 1808 and 1809 for the consideration of divorce and marriage, and if a decision for a divorce had been taken at erfurth, the realization was far enough off. to all outward appearances, josephine was safe. she was gratified, too, when the day of the emperor’s departure came in april, by being allowed to accompany him as far as strasburg, where she set up her court for the next few months. here were soon gathered about her several of the family: hortense, with her two little sons, the queen of westphalia, and the grand duchess of baden. 408here she received from the emperor himself the first news of the succession of victories with which the campaign of 1809 opened. first it was abensberg, then eckmuhl, then ratisbonne, that he recounted to her. it was a triumphal march, as always; but at ratisbonne something happened which threw josephine into consternation. napoleon was hit by a ball. the news came to the empress indirectly, and she hurriedly sent a courier to find out the actual condition of the wound. “the ball which hit me did not wound me,” he replied, “it scarcely grazed achilles’ heel. my health is very good. it is wrong for you to worry. everything is going well.”
four days later, the empress received a special courier from the emperor, who announced to her the surrender of vienna. josephine was very happy. it argued well for a speedy end to the campaign. her happiness was brief. the defeat at essling, and the death of marshall lannes, filled her with foreboding. she, with many others of her day, looked on the career of the emperor with superstitious awe. it was luck—a star. the charm broken, the star obscured, all would go. it is doubtful if josephine, any more than hundreds of others who surrounded the emperor, ever realized his stupendous genius or the gigantic efforts the man made to wrest victories from fate. it was the common story of one who spends himself in achievement, and in the end hears himself called a “lucky fellow”. after the defeat at essling, josephine discerned on every side the joy of napoleon’s enemies, saw the alarm of his friends, heard in her own heart the knell of fate. to complete her misery, she feared she had offended the emperor. hortense, who had been at strasburg for some time, was ordered by her physician to go to baden for the waters. it was the emperor’s order that no one of the royal family should change quarters without his consent. hortense went to baden 409without consulting him, taking with her the two young princes. the emperor was irritated. “my daughter,” he wrote her less than a week after essling, “i am dissatisfied to find that you have left france without my permission, and above all that you have taken my nephews away. since you are at baden, stay; but within an hour after you receive this letter, send my two nephews to strasburg to the empress. they must never leave france. it is the first time i have had any occasion to be dissatisfied with you, but you should never make any arrangements for my nephews without my consent. you must feel the bad effect that would have.”
this letter was sent to hortense through josephine, who opened it, thinking to have news herself from napoleon, about whom she was greatly concerned. it was a new cause of worry. would he not blame her for hortense’s act? at least the two children had already been sent back to her—that was one reason for congratulation; but she hastened to write to hortense urging her to try and appease the emperor. her anxiety became so great that her health began to give way, and she, too, had to leave strasburg, in june, for treatment at plombières, in the vosges.
josephine had been frequently before at plombières, but certainly never before so quietly since she was empress. the usual suite accompanied her, the same imposing livery, the same magnificent wardrobe, but no reception, no balls, no excursions marked her sojourn. she lived like a retired empress almost—scattering charities everywhere, and amusing herself principally with her little grandsons, upon whom she lavished toys of every description in the profusion and extravagance with which she had always heaped jewels and finery upon herself. daily she enjoyed louis more. “i am so happy to have your son here,” she wrote hortense. “he is charming, and i am becoming more and more attached to him.... his little reasonings amuse me exceedingly.”
410
josephine, the first wife of napoleon.
engraved by audouin, after laurent. this portrait “joséphine impératrice des fran?ais, reine d’italie,” is surrounded by an elaborate frame of imperial emblems. after the divorce, josephine’s portrait was erased from the plate, and that of marie louise inserted.
411the rapid recovery of fortune which followed the reverse at essling soon reassured josephine. she saw from napoleon’s letters that, however his critics might feel that his star was waning, he himself had not lost courage. he scorned their exultation. “they have made an appointment to meet at my tomb,” he said, “but they’ll not dare carry it out.” his deeds verified his words. in rapid succession, he sent josephine announcements of the series of victories which marked the latter half of june, 1809, and which culminated in wagram on july 6th. a week later she received notice of the suspension of hostilities.
once more the empress breathed freely; napoleon was safe, and he was victorious. now his letters were longer, gayer, tenderer than they had been for many months. he rejoiced in the reports she sent him from plombières of her gaining strength. “i am glad the waters are doing you so much good,” he wrote; and again, “i hear that you are stout, rosy, and looking very well.” he made no objection to the plans she suggested for herself. stay at plombières if she wished, why not; and when she is ready in august, go to paris. if her letters are long in coming, he chides her. “i have received no letters from you for several days. the pleasures at malmaison, the beautiful hot-houses and gardens, make you forget me. that’s the way it goes, they say.” as the time approached for his return—the negotiations at sch?nbrunn which followed the war lasted into october—he began to show something like eagerness. every day he sent a brief note of his coming return. “i’ll let you know twenty-four hours before my arrival.” “i shall make a fête of our reunion. i am waiting for the moment impatiently.” true, there was nothing of the lover in these daily bulletins (it was hardly to be expected when we 412remember that, during most of the campaign of 1809, mme. de walewski was living in a palace in vienna, where napoleon saw her constantly); but there was confidence, affection, interest; no sign at all of an approaching separation; and yet napoleon undoubtedly left sch?nbrunn in october persuaded that the divorce was a necessity and resolved to tell josephine of his decision as soon as he arrived in france.
