mother; she took him in her arms
and caressed him a few moments, then returned him to his nurse, and began
to read the papers. The child grew tired, and the lady in charge took
him away. At four o'clock the mother went to visit her son; that is to
say, Marie Louise went down into the king's apartments, carrying with her
some embroidery, on which she worked at intervals. Twenty minutes after
she was informed that M. Isabey or M. Prudhon had arrived for the lesson
in painting or drawing, whereupon the Empress returned to her apartments.

Thus passed the first months which followed the birth of the King of
Rome. In the intervals between fetes, the Emperor was occupied with
decrees, reviews, monuments, and plans, constantly employed, with few
distractions, indefatigable in every work, and still not seeming to have
anything to occupy his powerful mind, and happy in his private life with
his young wife, by whom he was tenderly beloved. The Empress led a very
simple life, which suited her disposition well. Josephine needed more
excitement; her life had been also more in the outside world, more
animated, more expansive; though this did not prevent her being very
faithful to the duties of her domestic life, and very tender and loving
towards her husband, whom she knew how to render happy in her own way.

One day Bonaparte returned from a hunt worn out with fatigue, and begged
Marie Louise to come to him. She came, and the Emperor took her in his
arms and gave her a sounding kiss on the cheek. Marie Louise took her
handkerchief and wiped her cheek. "Well, Louise, you are disgusted with
me?"--"No," replied the Empress, "I did it from habit; I do the same with
the King of Rome." The Emperor seemed vexed. Josephine was very
different; she received her husband's caresses affectionately, and even
met him half way. The Emperor sometimes said to her, "Louise, sleep in
my room."--"It is too warm there," replied the Empress. In fact, she
could not endure the heat, and Napoleon's apartments were constantly
warmed. She had also an extreme repugnance to odors, and in her own
rooms allowed only vinegar or sugar to be burnt.

VOLUME III.

CHAPTER I.

In September, 1811, the Emperor decided to make a journey into Flanders
in company with the Empress, that he might personally ascertain if his
orders had been carried out in all matters concerning both the civil and
religious administration. Their Majesties left Compiegne on th