ceremony to the civil contract, the nuptial benediction was on this
occasion privately given by a priest at the house Rue de la Victoire.
Bonaparte also caused the marriage of his sister Caroline,--[The wife of
Murat, and the cleverest of Bonaparte's sisters.]--which had taken place
two years earlier before a mayor, to be consecrated in the same manner;
but he and his wife did not follow the example. Had he already, then, an
idea of separating from Josephine, and therefore an unwillingness to
render a divorce more difficult by giving his marriage a religious
sanction? I am rather inclined to think, from what he said to me, that
his neglecting to take a part in the religious ceremony arose from
indifference.

Bonaparte said at St. Helena, speaking of Louis and Hortense, that "they
loved each other when they married: they desired to be united. The
marriage was also the result of Josephine's intrigues, who found her
account in it." I will state the real facts. Louis and Hortense did not
love one another at all. That is certain. The First Consul knew it,
just as he well knew that Hortense had a great inclination for Duroc, who
did not fully return it. The First Consul agreed to their union, but
Josephine was troubled by such a marriage, and did all she could to
prevent it. She often spoke to me about it, but rather late in the day.
She told me that her brothers-in law were her declared enemies, that I
well knew their intrigues, and that I well knew there was no end to the
annoyances they made her undergo. In fact, I did know all this
perfectly. She kept on repeating to me that with this projected marriage
she would not have any support; that Duroc was nothing except by the
favour of Bonaparte; that he had neither fortune, fame, nor reputation,
and that he could be no help to her against the well-known ill-will of
the brothers of Bonaparte. She wanted some assurance for the future.
She added that her husband was very fond of Louis, and that if she had
the good fortune to unite him to her daughter this would be a
counterpoise to the calumnies and persecutions of her other
brothers-in-law. I answered her that she had concealed her intentions
too long from me, and that I had promised my services to the young
people, and the more willingly as I knew the favourable opinion of the
First Consul, who had often said to me, "My wife has done well; they
suit one another, they shall marry one another. I like Duroc; he is of
good family.