Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1911-03-31
LITTLE WOMAN IN BLACK
LINKS PAST AND PRESENT

man like his son should marry, underl.n-
ing the word marry"
A description of her as seen at a bull
fight in Madrid at that time and quoted
by Clara Tsehadi in her life of the en-
press is worth reprinting:
Her slender figure is set off by a
bodice which enhances her beauty and ele-
gance. Her HAND is armed with a riding
whip instead of a fan, for she generally
arrives at the circus on a Wild Andalusian
horse, and in her belt she carries a sharp
pointed dagger. Her little feet are en-
cesed in red satin boots. Her head is
crowned by her broad golden plaits inter-
! woven with pearls and rich flowers; her
clear brow shines with youth and beauty,
and her gentle blue eyes sparkle from
beneath the long lashes which almost con-
ceal them The same writer speaks also
of her exquisitely formed nose, her
mouth, fresher than a rosebud, and the
perfect oval of her face, the loneliness Of
which is equalled only by her graceful
bearing"
| With her mother Eugene settled in
Paris in the winter of 1882, a few weeks
before the coup d'etat by which Louis
Napoleon became virtually ruler of
France. A year later he was proclaimed
emperor, and it was just about this time
that he fell under the spell of Mile. de
Montijo's charms. She was then q years
old. Many royal marriages had been sug-
gested to him. Napoleon's infatuation for
her was noted by all the diplomats, but
few of them imagined that he would offer
ifer more than a m~organatic marriage.
When he spoke to her of marriage she
referred him to her mother. After a re-
view in the court of the Tuileries he called
to her at the window from which she had
been watching: Tell me how 1 can reach
you" ITO the right, Sire, by way of the
chapel" she replied promptly. At which
Prince Metternich remarked, We'll
playedI'
She had the entree to the best houses,
but was not invited to the most select
gatherings. Her social position was equiv
ocal.
1t was on New Years eve, 1853, that Ma
poleon asked her in marriage. On jan
uary % the engagement was announced.
The wedding took place in Notre Dame
cathedral on January 20 and 80. The GER
emony was almost a duplicate of that most
splendid of weddings when the first Ma
poleon was married.
One of the first acts of the newly made
| empress seems ominous in the light of
subsequent events. She made Napoleon
, drive her TO Versailles, where she brooded
with mournful interest over the relics of
the Inflated Marie Antoinette, and she
read in the Archives Nationales the let
tiers written by the queen on the day of
! her execution.
Then began a reign Of revelry. The en-
! press had been accustomed to gay license
at her mothers chateau of Carabanchel,
and now she turned Fontainebleau, Com
piegne and the Tuileries into palaces of
folly. The houses were filled with guests
who lived only for enjoyment. Artists,
poets and musicians mingled With the
| praataSt napnaS IN Era nna-ayaapf thpGa
of the old regime, who always held aloof.
In March, 1856, Eugene bore a son, who
seemed to be the idol OF the French peo-
pie.
The Empress Eugene and Queen Vic
toTia exchanged visits and became warm
friends, with a sincere friendship that
lived until Victoria's DEATH.
Eugene dipped into international poll
tics, with results that heaped up disaster
upon her and her husband. 1t was large
ly due TO her that the Franco-Prussian
war was fought, and some historians lay
upon her the blame for the inaptitude of
the French generals at the outset of the
campaign, when, instead of invading the
unprepared Germany, they puttered about
on the defensive until the Prussians per-
fected their organization, invaded France
! and pushed her 2":::.a: &C destruction
Then the crash came bowling mob,
~ NANS h9NSN~ ~ NfAS - 1890
arms, attacked the Tuileries, crying for
the head of the empress. Eugene escaped
by a back door, and DIR. Evans, the Amer
lean dentist, struggled her out of France
and over to England.
AT Chiselhurst the exiled emperor and
empress lived quietly with their son. The
young prince was a lad of great prom
Use and did more than we'll at the English
military college. His father died In 1873.
I IN. Un0io Ypnlnt the cnriNlI. mistake 1f 1Fa1f-
ing the prince imperial as a child and of
Withholding from him the fortune his faith
er left.
The young prince had a clandestine love
affair with a bakers daughter named
Watkins, who did not suspect his high
rank. She bore him a son who still lives.
When the empress learned Of this she was
so angry that the prince went as a volun-
teer with the British army to the Zulu
war. There he was killed by an assegai
of a savage. Eugene journeyed to Afri-
ca and brought home the mutilated body
of the son she adored. She laid It beside
that of her husband in the chapel at CHS
elhurst, and there she has spent years of
her time, weeping and praying.
She goes to Paris sometimes, and from
the windows of the Continental hotel
looks out over the gardens that are all
that is left Of the Tuileries palace. in
which she used to reign. She goes about
France alone and unrecognized, and some
times she meets In Paris the young man
who has a right to call her dead son
father" They say he is the image of
the prince and hat Eugene weeps as she
embraces him. When she was told of the
prince imperials death she said Fate is
very cruel. / feel now that / shall live to
be a hundred"
Perhaps she will, for, though IS now. she
is still strong and active and-wonder OF
| wonders!-she can still smile!
"A BTES