il she showed signs of
consciousness, then left her in charge of Meneval and women
attendants. The sight of her grief was too much for him to bear.

Napoleon sought a delusive diversion at Trianon after Josephine had
taken up her abode at Malmaison. His sympathetic and affectionate
attentions from there could not have been more earnestly shown.
Nothing that would appease her grief and add to her comfort was
overlooked by him or allowed to be overlooked by others. An annual
income of three million francs was settled on her for life, which,
should he pre-decease her, was to be paid by his successors. She
retained the title of Empress and every other appearance of
sovereignty.

The negotiations for the second marriage were conducted from Trianon.
The Russian alliance fell through, ostensibly on religious grounds.
Napoleon did not like the thought of having Russian priests about him,
and besides, the Princess Anne was too young to marry, and even if
there had been no other difficulty, the Emperor Napoleon could not
wait. The Saxon alliance did not appeal to him, so he gave preference
to the House of Austria, and on March 11, 1810, His Majesty was
married by proxy at Vienna to the Austrian Archduchess, and on the 1st
of April the civil marriage took place at St. Cloud, and the following
day they were ecclesiastically united.[31]

Better for him and for France had he defied the advocates of royal
alliance and stuck to Josephine, or even married Marie Walewska. If it
was merely the policy of succession that was aimed at, he could have
adopted his natural son, the brilliant Alexander Walewska, whose
subsequent career in the service of France would have justified this
course.

The desire to unite the French Emperor with one of the powerful
reigning families in order to give stability to the Empire and put an
end to incessant warfare was a theory which proved to be a delusion,
and perhaps Napoleon, with his clear vision, foresaw the jealousies
and international complications that would arise through a political
marriage of this character. This, and his unwillingness to part with
Josephine, is a conclusion that may reasonably account for the
vacillation that was so pronounced from time to time.

The flippant attitude (which indicates the scope and summit of an
ill-informed mind) that he was the victim of abnormal ambition to be
connected with one or other of the royal families is ludicrous. If he
had been eager to have such