The Josephine B. Trilogy (146 page)

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Authors: Sandra Gulland

Tags: #Fiction, #Historical

BOOK: The Josephine B. Trilogy
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*
Napoleon had given Eugène the use of Hôtel Villeroy, 78 Rue de Lille. It is now the German embassy.

*
Belladonna, or deadly nightshade, dilated the pupils, imparting a languorous look of desire.

*
A member of the assembly wrote: “Nothing could have been more comical than the way the Bonaparte sisters acted. One sulked, another held smelling salts under her nose, and the third let the mantle drop.”

*
In crowning himself, Napoleon was following a ceremony Charlemagne had ordered when his son was crowned.

*
Napoleon was sending troops to Milan in order to protect Italy from invasion by Austria, which tended to view northern Italy as its domain.

*
England was involved financially, paying Russia and Austria to send troops against France.

*
Napoleon’s instructions to Eugène on how to rule Italy included these guidelines: “We live in an age where one cannot underestimate the perversity of the human heart. I cannot emphasise enough the importance of circumspection and prudence. Italians are naturally more deceitful than the French. The way to earn their respect is not to trust anyone. Dissimulation is natural at a certain age; for you, it must be a matter of principle. When you have spoken openly, tell yourself that you have made a mistake, and resolve not to do it again.
“There will come a time when you will understand that there is little difference between one nationality and another. The goal of your administration is the well-being of my Italian subjects. You must sacrifice the things you care most about, and embrace customs which you dislike. In Italy, you must forget the glory of being French. You must persuade Italians that you love them. They know that there is no love without respect. Learn their language, socialize, take part in their festivities. Approve of what they approve of, and love what they love.
“Speak as little as possible. You do not have enough training, and your education is insufficient for you to take part freely in discussions. Although Viceroy, you are only twenty-three. People may flatter you, but everyone will realize how little you know. You will earn more respect by virtue of your potential than by what you are today.
“Do not imitate me; you must be more reserved.
“Rarely preside over Council of State. You do not have enough knowledge to do so with success. When you do preside, do not speak. They will listen to you, but they will soon see that you are not competent. One cannot measure the strength of a prince who remains silent.
“Do not be overly friendly to foreigners
—
there is little to be gained from them. An ambassador will never speak well of you because it is his job to speak poorly. The foreign ambassadors are, in a manner of speaking official spies. Preferably, surround yourself with young Italian men; the old ones are useless.”

*
The Austrians believed Napoleon and his army were still on the Channel coast. It was an understandable assumption: never in history had so large an army been moved so quickly.

*
On October 21, 1805, the French-Spanish fleet was defeated by England off Cape Trafalgar, on the southwest coast of Spain.

*
The Russian Tsar Alexandre wrote to a French general after the battle of Austerlitz: “Tell your master that I am going away. Tell him that he performed miracles yesterday, that the battle has increased my admiration for him, that he is a man predestined by Heaven, that it will take a hundred years for my army to equal his.”

*
As of this date, the French Empire officially returned to the Gregorian calendar.

*
Believing that skin eruptions would draw the “morbid humours” out of Louis’s body, Dr. Corvisart was intentionally exposing Louis to scabies by having him wear the unwashed linens of a diseased man. Another treatment involved “bathing” in steaming entrails.

*
Droit de cuissage: the feudal right of a lord to sleep with the bride of a subject on their wedding night.

*
Although Joseph had moved to Naples to reign as king, his wife Julie and their two daughters continued to live in Paris. In Naples Joseph lived openly with the Duchess d’Atri.

*
Napoleon had occasional seizures of an epileptic nature.

*
Madame de Souza’s son, Charles Flahaut, was in love with Hortense. The novel’s main character, Eugène de Rothelin, is believed to be based on Flahaut and the character Athénais on Hortense.

*
A daughter, Eugénie, was born the following day, on December 23.

*
Talleyrand went directly to the Austrians, offering “services” in exchange for one million francs.

*
After a napkin was used once, it was thrown behind the diner’s chair and a new one was supplied.

*
Josephine doubled her usual contribution to charity and, as well, gave away 72 pieces of lace, 380 gowns, 17 shawls, 146 bonnets and hats, 39 lengths of cloth, and 785 pairs of boots and slippers
—
virtually every pair she owned.

*
It was important for Josephine and her children to show public support for the new marriage. Indeed, both Eugène and Hortense (as well as Josephine) were involved in the discussions as to which royal princess should be chosen.

*
The prizes: 4,800 pâtés, 1,200 tongues, 3,000 sausages, 140 turkeys, 360 capons, 360 chickens, and 1,000 legs and 1,000 shoulders of mutton.

*
Eugène’s wife Auguste wrote her brother regarding the Bonaparte family: “When one has known them at close quarters one can only despise them. I could never have conceived anything so abominable as their ill-breeding. It is torture to have to go about with such people.”

*
The water spaniel jumped out the open window of Louis’s carriage at a posting house. It fell under the wheels and was crushed to death.

*
Twenty-one guns announced the birth of a girl, a hundred and one a boy. In Paris, on hearing the decisive twenty-second shot, the
Gazette de France
reported: “One single cry, one alone rose in Paris and made the walls of that old palace where the hero’s son had just been born tremble, and round which the crowd was so thick that there was not room even for a fly. Flags waved in the air, handkerchiefs fluttered
—
people ran hither and thither, embracing one another, announcing the news with laughter and tears of joy.”

*
Madame de Montesquiou has left the following account: “I arranged with Baron de Canisy that I would tell him as I got into the carriage that I left him the choice where we would go. A little time later, I would call out to him that if the baby needed to stop, we would go to Bagatelle. In effect, we arrived there. In entering the courtyard, Baron de Canisy announced, with a show of surprise, that the Empress Josephine was there. I responded that it was too late to turn back
—
it would be improper.”

*
The Grande Armée (Grand Army) was the largest army of all time. It was made up of 200,000 men from France, 150,000 from Germany, 80,000 from Italy, 60,000 from Poland and 110,000 volunteers from other countries.

*
A letter was said to be “crossed” when the letter-writer filled a sheet of paper, then turned the page sideways and continued writing across the filled-in sheet.

*
Josephine wrote: “Sire, I saw in the bulletin that you suffered a great loss and I wept. Your sorrows are mine, they will always be in my heart. I am writing you because I am not able to resist the need to tell you this, in the same way that I am unable to stop loving you with all my heart.”

*
Out of sympathy (and friendship), Tsar Alexandre arranged for the child to be entombed in the chapel of Hortense’s château at Saint-Leu.

†
An autopsy on Josephine’s body revealed an inflamed trachea with a gangrenous spot on the larynx. The lungs were choked with blood.

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