nd felt that I must possess
her. Her light-colored hair was shining about her noble head like a
halo; heaven seemed to be reflected in her azure eyes, and the tinge of
melancholy shading her face rendered her still more charming and
seductive. She was an innocent victim of the selfishness of others; I
perceived it at a glance, and have loved her ever since. I took a secret
oath to rescue her from her misery, and, by my love, to restore
happiness to her! And yet she disdains me, Duroc!"

"No, sire, she does not disdain the exalted lover whom she worships; she
is not, however, a flirt, but a virtuous wife. She will not prove
faithless to her husband; she will not break the vows she took upon
herself at the altar. She is engaged in a terrible struggle between duty
and love, for your majesty knows very well that Madame de Walewska loves
you!"

"No, no, she does not love me," exclaimed Napoleon, vehemently. "If she
really loved me, she would listen to no other voice than mine! I
supplicated her with the whole strength of my affection--with all the
anger of a spurned admirer, with all the humility of a doting lover, but
neither my anger nor my supplications were able to move her. And yet she
asserts that she loves me; she dares to say that she shares my passion!
Oh, she is a cold-hearted, cruel coquette; it gladdens her to behold my
sufferings, and to play with my heart!"

"Sire, you are unjust," exclaimed Duroc. "Madame de Walewska is an angel
of virtue and purity; she would joyfully sacrifice her life to save
your majesty a sigh!"

"But she is unwilling to sacrifice to me this chimera of virtue,"
exclaimed Napoleon, "although she has already disregarded it by loving
me. She is not courageous enough to give up the semblance after having
already parted with the substance. Like all women she is timid, and
incapable of a great resolution! How many letters have I not written to
her since I last saw her! After the battle of Eylau--like a miserable
adventurer--a knight-errant--I went in disguise to the village where she
had at length promised to meet me at her brother's house. What a
wretched rendezvous it was! Nothing but a farewell scene! She desires to
go into a convent, and give her heart to God, because she is not allowed
to give it to me. I am no Abelard, however, and do not want her to
become a Heloise! If she goes into a convent, I shall have its walls
torn down, and the order she has joined abolished."

"But she wil