daughters; Princess Eliza with hers, dressed like a boy; the Vice-Queen
alone, having no child at the time this portrait was made; Princess
Pauline was also alone.

The theater and hunting were my chief amusements at Saint-Cloud. During
my stay at this chateau I received a visit from a distant cousin whom I
had not seen for many years. All that he had heard of the luxury which
surrounded the Emperor, and the magnificence of the court, had vividly
excited his curiosity, which I took pleasure in gratifying; and he was
struck with wonder, at every step. One evening when there was a play at
the chateau, I took him into my box, which was near the pit; and the view
which the hall offered when filled so delighted my cousin, that I was
obliged to name each personage in order to satisfy his insatiable
curiosity, which took them all in succession, one by one. It was a short
time before the marriage of the Emperor to the Archduchess of Austria,
and the court was more brilliant than ever. I showed my cousin in
succession their Majesties, the King and Queen of Westphalia, the King
and Queen of Naples, the Queen of Holland, King of Bavaria, their
Highnesses the Grand Duchess of Tuscany, Prince and Princess Borghese,
the Princess of Baden, the Grand Duke of Wurzburg, etc., besides the
numerous dignitaries, princes, marshals, ambassadors, etc., by whom the
hall was filled. My cousin was in ecstasy, and thought himself at least
a foot taller from being in the midst of this gilded multitude, and
consequently paid no attention to the play, being much more interested in
the interior of the hall; and when we left the theater could not tell me
what piece had been played. His enthusiasm, however, did not carry him
so far as to make him forget the incredible tales that had been related
to him about the pickpockets of the capital, and the recommendations
which had been made to him on this subject. In the promenades at the
theater, in every assemblage whatever, my cousin watched with anxious
solicitude over his purse, watch, and handkerchief; and this habitual
prudence did not abandon him even at the court theater, for just as we
were leaving our box, to mingle with the brilliant crowd which came out
of the pit and descended from the boxes, he said to me with the utmost
coolness, covering with his hand his chain and the seals of his watch,
"After all, it is well to take precautions; one does not know every one
here."

At the time of his marri