given him
by Lucien and other members of his family. It is not an undue stretch
of imagination to conclude that she assured him that her heart was
shared with none other, though the assertion may be regarded as a
daring fabrication. She did not gauge calmly, but she gauged well, the
supreme power she had over the man who had so abjectly shown her such
inflammable love. She knew, too, of his vanity, and hit him
caressingly on the spot. The cry of "he and none other," combined with
a beseeching wail that he should open his heart to an affectionate and
faithful love, was more likely to conquer than any admission of wrong.
Could she forget the oft-repeated declaration that his ruling
principle was that he would have no divided affection? It must be all
or none. The hypothesis is therefore that she played on his vanity,
and not on his confidence or judgment, the sequel being the complete
surrender of Napoleon.

Josephine, whether from fear of the penalty or the purity of her
motives, never again allowed herself to be placed in the same
hazardous position. She had been cured of unfaithfulness, and promised
that Hippolyte Charles should never be allowed to lead her into such
a scrape again. He was put out of her life, and was never more heard
of. He was seen but once more by Napoleon, and the sight of his evil
face nearly caused the Emperor the humiliation of a collapse.

Josephine's matrimonial transgressions, whatever they may have been,
were condoned with exuberant suddenness, and Napoleon rushed into
domestic tranquillity. The zealot of freedom forthwith concentrated
his wondrous talents with aggressive righteousness on the task of
destroying a decadence that was bearing France to her doom. Josephine
was enrolled as patron of deliverance from anarchy, and having all the
essential attributes which make for success in such an enterprise, she
daily filled her salon with men and women who had influence to aid her
husband and his friends in upsetting the Government. She had developed
into an attractive, graceful hostess, and was endowed with the knack
of cajoling which disarmed opposition and enthused supporters, and
unquestionably she played the part given to her with unmeasured
success, and Napoleon did the rest.

The _coup d'etat_ had been dexterously planned, which enabled him to
bring about a bloodless overthrow. Josephine was deployed to win over
her friend Gohier, the President of the Directory. She invited him
and