affected--just my antipodes; therefore we should
not please each other: they require a year to become acquainted, and I
have too little left of life to waste on formalities.... In this
birthplace of Calvinism I found no trace of its originator, either in
actual relics or asceticism: it was rather the centre of folly and
license."

Baron Bonstetten, savant and philanthropist--whom Lady Morgan styles
"that fresh, frisky old darling"--showed Mme. Bonaparte paternal
kindness. In a morning visit she found him in his library examining
letters. He said, "Asseyez vous un peu, mon enfant, en attendant que je
finisse de ces papiers," and she sat for an hour reading letters from
celebrities which he tossed to her--among others, perhaps inadvertently,
from Mme. de Stael, proving the good baron's admiration for Corinne to
have been "warmer than friendship if colder than love." At a ball at
Bonstetten's, as Mme. Bonaparte entered the room, a stout, handsome man
covered with orders eagerly exclaimed, "Qui est-ce? qui est-ce?"--"La
premiere femme de Jerome Bonaparte," replied the princess Gallitzin. It
was Duke William of Wuertemberg, uncle of Jerome's second wife. He
requested a presentation, took both hands affectionately, and after
conversing half an hour led her to his duchess, to whom he said
afterward, "Mais, mon Dieu! que Jerome a manque son coup. Quelle grace,
quelle beaute, quel esprit! Et ma pauvre niece! il faut etre juste;
jamais ne pourrait-elle regner comme cette belle Americaine, qui par
tout droit est vraiment la reine. Jerome a ete bete de la
quitter."--"Ah," said Bonstetten, "si elle n'est pas reine de
Westphalie, elle est au moins reine des coeurs."

Jerome sent for his son, then a lad, to visit him at Rome, where he
remained several months, treated with affection by his father and with
maternal kindness by the princess, who went two leagues to meet him, and
taking his face between her hands said tearfully, "Ah! mon enfant, je
suis la cause innocente de tous vos malheurs." She evinced always the
utmost interest in her predecessor. Mme. Rubelle was appointed lady of
honor to her when queen of Westphalia, and was meaningly questioned,
"Are all the American ladies as beautiful as yourself?" Prince Woronzow
said of these rival wives, "Je suis amoureux des deux reines de
Westphalie."

On her arrival in France the princess of Wuertemberg halted at Raincy to
meet Prince Jerome, "who had sworn to me," says Mme. Junot, "n