The Recollections of the Private Life of Napoleon by Constant, the premier valet de chambre (i.e. butler) of Napoleon is rich in anecdotes on Napoleon's life and secret liaisons.
At right, Caroline Bonaparte, dressed as a Neopolitan deity.
Napoleon was of the opinion that immorality was the most dangerous vice of a sovereign, because of the evil example it set to his subjects. What he meant by immorality was somewhat different from our modern definition. To him, immorality was doubtless scandalous publicity given to liaisons that might otherwise have remained secret; for, as regards these liaisons themselves, he withstood women no more than any other man when they threw themselves at him. Perhaps another man, surrounded by seductions, attacks and advances of all kinds, would have resisted these temptations still less.
The fact remains that the Emperor was remarkably less involved in liaisons than many other famous sovereigns. That was perhaps due to the fact that Josephine, herself not a model of conjugal fidelity, was jealous, and, in spite of the prudence which the Emperor exercised in his secret liaisons, could not remain entirely ignorant of what was taking place. In addition, Josephine was very vigilant.
In the next several issues, I will cover some of Napoleon's liaisons. We shall start with a direct quotation from Clement's memoires:
Propositions made through a third party were at once accepted; and the beautiful E--- came to the château secretly, but rarely, and remained there only two or three hours. When she became enceinte (i.e. with child), the Emperor had a house rented for her in the Rue Chantereine, where she bore a fine boy, upon whom was settled at his birth an income of thirty thousand francs. He was confided at first to the care of Madame L---, nurse of Prince Achille Murat, who kept him three or four years, and then Monsieur de Ménéval, his Majesty's secretary, was ordered to provide for the education of this child; and when the Emperor returned from the Island of Elba, the son of Mademoiselle E--- was placed in the care of her Majesty, the Empress-mother.
The liaison of the Emperor with Mademoiselle E--- did not last long. She came one day with her mother to Fontainebleau, where the court then happened to be, went up to his Majesty's apartment, and asked me to announce her; and the Emperor, being exceedingly displeased by this step, directed me to say to Mademoiselle E--- that he forbade her to present herself before him again without his permission, and not to remain a moment longer at Fontainebleau. In spite of his harshness to the mother, the Emperor loved the son tenderly; and I brought him to him often, on which occasions he caressed the child, gave him a great many dainties, and was much amused by his vivacity and repartees, which showed remarkable intelligence for his age.
This child and that of the Polish beauty, of whom I will speak later, and the King of Rome, were the only children of the Emperor."
More Amour
1. In the early part of her marriage to Bonaparte, Josephine was involved in a multitude of liaisons, an extensive subject to be covered in future issues.
This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web.
"In 1804, her Imperial highness Princess Murat had in her household a young reader named Mademoiselle E---,-seventeen or eighteen years of age, tall, slender, well made, a brunette, with beautiful black eyes, sprightly, and very coquettish. Some persons who thought it in their interest to create differences between his Majesty and the Empress, his wife, noticed with pleasure the inclination of this young reader to try the power of her glances upon the Emperor, and his disposition to encourage her; so they stirred up the fire adroitly, and one of them took upon himself all the diplomacy of this affair.
At right, Meneval, who had to clean up the mess.
Footnotes
2. Murat was married to Napoleon's sister Caroline, herself not a model of conjugal fidelity either, but, like all the other members of the Bonaparte family, far from being Josephine's friend. The Bonaparte clan led by Napoleon's mother was constantly hostile toward Josephine.
3. We are speaking here of Countess Marie Walewska, a liaison to be covered in a future issue.
4. Here, as we'll see in future issues, Clément is apparently mistaken. He may not have been aware of every detail of the Emperor's life.
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