s placed in the
centre of the apartment. Upon it there was a writing apparatus of gold.
A vacant arm-chair stood before the table. The company gazed silently
upon it as the instrument of the most soul-harrowing execution.

"A side door opened, and Josephine entered. Her face was as white as the
simple muslin robe which she wore. She was leaning upon the arm of
Hortense, who, not possessing the fortitude of her mother, was sobbing
convulsively. The whole assembly, upon the entrance of Josephine,
instinctively arose. All were moved to tears. With her own peculiar
grace, Josephine advanced to the seat provided for her. Leaning her pale
forehead upon her hand, she listened with the calmness of stupor to the
reading of the act of separation. The convulsive sobbings of Hortense,
mingled with the subdued and mournful tones of the reader's voice, added
to the tragic impressiveness of the scene. Eugene, pale and trembling,
stepped forward and took a position by the side of his adored mother, to
give her the moral support of his near presence.

"As soon as the reading of the act of separation was finished,
Josephine, for a moment, in anguish pressed her handkerchief to her
eyes, and rising, in tones clear, musical, but tremulous with repressed
emotion, pronounced the oath of acceptance. She sat down, took the pen,
and affixed her signature to the deed which sundered the dearest hopes
and the fondest ties which human hearts can feel. Eugene could endure
this anguish no longer. His brain reeled, his heart ceased to beat, and
fainting, he fell senseless to the floor. Josephine and Hortense
retired, with the attendants who bore out the inanimate form of the
affectionate son and brother. It was a fitting termination of the
heart-rending yet sublime tragedy.

"Josephine remained in her chamber overwhelmed with speechless grief. A
sombre night darkened over the city, oppressed by the gloom of this
cruel sacrifice. The hour arrived at which Napoleon usually retired for
sleep. The Emperor, restless and wretched, had just placed himself in
the bed from which he had ejected his faithful and devoted wife, when
the private door of his chamber was slowly opened, and Josephine
tremblingly entered.

"Her eyes were swollen with weeping, her hair disordered, and she
appeared in all the dishabille of unutterable anguish. Hardly conscious
of what she did, in the delirium of her woe, she tottered into the
middle of the room and approached the bed