er refusal, which was one of the causes of the downfall of her
banker husband, whom Napoleon might have saved had his wife been the
emperor's friend." Napoleon certainly resented her refusal, for when
requested to save Recamier's bank he replied: "I am not in love with
Mme. Recamier!" Thus, because his wife preferred the aristocracy to
the favors of Napoleon, the banker lost his fortune.

She, however, bore her misfortunes with great reserve, immediately
selling her jewels and her hotel; after which they both retired to
small apartments, where they were even more honored and had greater
social prestige than ever. She at once made her salon the centre of
hostility against the emperor, who, according to Turquan, did not
banish her, but her friend Mme. de Stael, with whom she passed
over into Switzerland. Here began her romance with Prince August
of Prussia, who became so enamored of her that he asked her hand in
marriage. Encouraged by Mme. de Stael, she even went so far as to ask
her husband for a divorce, that she might wed the royal aspirant. Her
husband generously consented to this, but at the same time set forth
to her the peculiar position which she would occupy, an argument that
opened her eyes to her ingratitude, and she refused the prince.

Upon the fall of Napoleon, Mme. Recamier returned to Paris and, her
husband's fortune being restored, gathered about her all the great
nobles of the ancient regime. But fortune was unkind to her husband
for the second time, and she withdrew to the Abbaye-au-Bois, where she
occupied a small apartment on the third floor. Here her distinguished
friends followed her--such as Chateaubriand and the Duc de
Montmorency. Between her and the famous author of _Le Genie du
Christianisme_ there sprang up a friendship which lasted thirty years.
During this time it is said that he visited her at a certain hour
each day, the people in the neighborhood setting their clocks by his
appearance. When he was absent on missions, he wrote her of every
act of his life. Both, weary of the dissipations of society and
its flatteries, sought a pure and lofty friendship, spiritual and
affectionate, with no improper intimacy. There was mutual admiration
and mutual respect. Even Chateaubriand's wife, who was an invalid and
with whom he spent every evening, encouraged his friendship with Mme.
Recamier. When, through the fall of Charles X., Chateaubriand lost his
power, the friendship did not cease. M. Turqua