—­[The marriage of Louis Bonaparte took place on the 7th January.  The bride and bridegroom were exceedingly dull, and Mademoiselle Hortense wept daring the whole of the ceremony.  Josephine, knowing that this union, which commenced so inauspiciously, was her own work, anxiously endeavoured to establish a more cordial feeling between her daughter and son-in-law.  But all her efforts were vain, and the marriage proved a very unhappy one (Memoirs de Constant).

     Napoleon iii. was the son of the Queen of Holland (Hortense
     Beauharnais).]—­

Napoleon said at St. Helena that he wished to unite Louis with a niece of Talleyrand.  I can only say that I never heard a word of this niece, either from himself, his wife, or his daughter; and I rather think that at that time the First Consul was looking after a royal alliance for Louis.  He often expressed regret at the precipitate marriages of his sisters.  It should be recollected that we were now in the year which saw the Consulship for life established, and which, consequently, gave presage of the Empire.  Napoleon said truly to the companions of his exile that “Louis’ marriage was the result of Josephine’s intrigues,” but I cannot understand how he never mentioned the intention he once had of uniting Hortense to Duroc.  It has been erroneously stated that the First Consul believed that he reconciled the happiness of his daughter with his policy.  Hortense did not love Louis, and dreaded this marriage.  There was no hope of happiness for her, and the event has proved this.  As for the policy of the First Consul, it is not easy to see how it was concerned with the marriage of Louis to Hortense, and in any case the grand policy which professed so loudly to be free from all feminine influences would have been powerless against the intrigues of Josephine, for at this time at the Tuileries the boudoir was often stronger than the cabinet.  Here I am happy to have it in my power to contradict most formally and most positively certain infamous insinuations which have prevailed respecting Bonaparte and Hortense.  Those who have asserted that Bonaparte ever entertained towards Hortense any other sentiments than those of a father-in-law for a daughter-in-law have, as the ancient knights used to say, “lied in their throats.”  We shall see farther on what he said to me on this subject, but it is never too soon to destroy such a base calumny.  Authors unworthy of belief have stated, without any proof, that not only was there this criminal liaison, but they have gone so far as to say that Bonaparte was the father of the eldest son of Hortense.  It is a lie, a vile lie.  And yet the rumour has spread through all France and all Europe.  Alas! has calumny such powerful charms that, once they are submitted to, their yoke cannot be broken?