nce of his brother with one of the old
Royalist families might endanger his own ambitious projects, he sent him
away on a military commission, and with his inflexible will and strong
arm broke off the connection. The young lady was soon afterward married
to another gentleman, and poor Louis was plunged into depths of
disappointment and melancholy, from whence he never emerged. Life was
ever after to him but a cloudy day, till, with a grief-worn spirit, he
sank into the grave.

Napoleon, conscious of the wound he had inflicted upon his sensitive
brother, endeavored, in various ways, to make amends. There was very
much in his gentle, affectionate, and fervent spirit to attract the
tender regard of Napoleon, and he ever after manifested toward him a
disposition of peculiar kindness. It was long before Louis would listen
to the proposition of his marriage with Hortense. His affections still
clung, though hopelessly, yet so tenaciously to the lost object of his
idolatry, that he could not think, without pain, of his union with
another. More uncongenial nuptials could hardly have been imagined.
Hortense was a beautiful, merry, thoughtless girl--amiable, but very
fond of excitement and display. In the ball-room, the theater, and other
places of brilliant entertainment, she found her chief pleasures. In
addition to this incongruity, she was already in love with the handsome
Duroc, the favorite aid of Napoleon. It is not strange that such a
young lady should have seen as little to fancy in the disappointed and
melancholy Louis as he could see attractive in one who lived but for the
pageantry of the passing hour. Thus both parties were equally averse to
the match. The tact of Josephine, however, and the power of Napoleon
combined, soon overcame all obstacles, and the mirth-loving maiden and
the pensive scholar were led to their untoward nuptials. Hortense became
more easily reconciled to the match, as her powerful father promised, in
consequence of this alliance, to introduce her to seats of grandeur
where all her desires should be gratified. Louis, resigning himself to
any lot in a world which had no further joy in store for him, suffered
himself to be conducted submissively to the altar.

At the fete given in honor of this marriage, the splendors of ancient
royalty seemed to be revived. But every eye could see the sadness of the
newly-married bride beneath the profusion of diamonds and flowers with
which she was adorned. Louis