Empress Josephine. Whenever it was convenient the Emperor liked to take
her with him; but she always desired to accompany her husband, whether or
not this was the case.

The Emperor usually kept his journey a profound secret up to the moment
of his departure, and ordered at midnight horses for his departure to
Mayence or Milan, exactly as if a hunt at Saint-Cloud or Rambouillet was
in question.

On one of his journeys (I do not remember which), his Majesty had decided
not to take the Empress Josephine. The Emperor was less disturbed by
this company of ladies and women who formed her Majesty's suite, than he
was by the annoyance of the bandboxes and bundles with which they were
usually encumbered, and wished on this occasion to travel rapidly, and
without ostentation, and spare the towns on his route an enormous
increase of expense.

He therefore ordered everything to be in readiness for his departure, at
one o'clock in the morning, at which hour the Empress was generally
asleep; but, in spite of all precautions, some slight noise warned the
Empress of what was taking place. The Emperor had promised her that she
should accompany him on his first journey; but he had deceived her,
nevertheless, and was about to set out without her! She instantly called
her women; but vexed at their slowness, her Majesty sprang out of bed,
threw on the first clothing she found at hand, and ran out of her room in
slippers and without stockings. Weeping like a little child that is
being taken back to boarding-school, she crossed the apartments, flew
down the staircase, and threw herself into the arms of the Emperor, as he
was entering his carriage, barely in time, however, for a moment later he
set out. As almost always happened at the sight of his wife's tears, the
Emperor's heart was softened; and she, seeing this, had already entered
the carriage, and was cowering down in the foot, for the Empress was
scantily clad. The Emperor covered her with his cloak, and before
starting gave the order in person that, with the first relay, his wife
should receive all she needed.

The Emperor, leaving his wife at Fontainebleau, repaired to Brienne,
where he arrived at six o'clock in the evening, and found Mesdames de
Brienne and Lomenie, with several ladies of the city, awaiting him at the
foot of the staircase to the chateau. He entered the saloon, and
received most graciously all persons who were presented to him, and then
passed into the garden,