The Donaldsonville chief., 1911-11-18

Nanoleon acted toward Eugene with cnlVal
rous loyalty He laid before her all the olsau
vantages Of the brilliant yet uncertain posf
ton he was offering her. He explained 10 nei
his unpopularity with the old French afis.o-
Gratis. the bad will of certain great powers, tne
nossibility of his being assassnated by some
secret ociety of which he had become men'
ber in his adventurous youth. There were nos-
tilities even in the army, In his OPINION 'no
most serious danger; but he could cut 'nem
short by declaring war.
81 would not have it otherwise" she an
swered 81 will take my risks beside you. 30
may be worthy!' 80
Az a queen she lacked dignity. She nao
not been born to the solemn self-apprec1auon
of ROYALTY: and she was a mixture OF hgntness
and austerity generosity and sense, klndness
and Indifference, In which the translllons
were abrupt and disconcerting to French oroer-
Illness.
Alone among the sovereigns OF Europe
Queen Victoria had received her coFulaliy,
more, she had taken up Eugene and imposed
her on the courts of Europe Yet even at
Windsor where the imperial couple We're re-
ceiyed with extraordinary pomp, Eugen1es IN
souciance threatened to play her bad turn
that would have illustrated her un-imperial
attitude
A quarter of an hour before they were to be
received by Victoria and her beloved consort
In the throne room, Eugene discovered that,
among the hundred trunks OF the French Vlsl-
tors hers alone had not arrived! Inc en-
peror was deeply mortified that the discovery
should have been made SO late, as showing
lack of discipline and serene orderliness and
on his advice Eugene had already begun to
pretend headache due to suppressed seaslck-
ness when one Of her ladies dared to offer
her choice Of gowns.
blue dress of the simplest description
seemed the only one that promised well. Great
ladies and maids fell upon it defty, and IN
few minutes the blue gown was readjusted to
the empress. So Eugenie-without Jewels,
flowers at her corsage and flowers In her hair
appeared before the British court in her own
dazzling beauty She made an immense sue
cess
What. most touched victoria's heart, it may
be told, was the pathetic and pretty way II
which the young couple spontaneously confided
certain doubts and fears to her as an expe-
rienced matron and mother Of eight They
had been married two years, and as yet there
was no heir. When the little prince-imperial
was born, one lady only was permitted to be
present with the doctors and the serving
women all the time This was the Countess Of
Ely, Queen Victoria's intimate friend, sent over
from England to help along.
AS had been done for the King Of Rome, it
was announced in advance that should the in
fant be DOy, cannon WOuld ure not twenty
one times, but hundred.
It happened after midnight, and the Paris
fans, awakening, counted the cannon-shots.
When they got past twenty-one, the Parisians
rolled over in their beds and yawned: "Well,
she is lucky!"
The bigamous old Jerome had bitterly per-
secuted her as an interloper. His son, Plon-
Plon, her hater and detractor by Inheritance
was not persona grata with Eugene. So Ma
poleon, who enjoyed smoking cigarettes with
the reprobate father Of the present pretender
Victor, was forced to visit him secretly One
day, some time after the marriage he came
sat down, and said:
Prince, does your wife make you scenes?' r
No. replied the husband of ClotiIde, the
daughter of Victor Emmanuel
There Is no living with Eugenie" sighed
Napoleon. "The moment / give audience with
another woman risk violent quarrel
Crack her the side of the face the next
time she makes you scene," suggested Plon
Plon.
Don't think Of it, exclaimed the emperor
You don't know Eugene; she would open
window of the Tuileries and cry 'Police!'"
To the end women took advantage of this
breezy independence, natural exuberance anf
fneradicable unconventonality of Eugenie t.
lay traps for her. Hers was a continuous per
formance Of the Lady walking amid the rout O.
SoAuo. OluSIS, H1u6. 0S MeLLeTn1Cn
wife OF the Austrian ambassador, seemed tt
have vowed Eugenie's destruction Once. a
Fontainebleau, she almost led he1 into goin,
to the races in short skirts
My dear Pauline" someone asked her
would you counsel your own sovereign t,
get herself up in short sktrts?"
That is different" replied the Metternich
my empress is royal princess, real EN-
press, while yours, my dear, Is Mademol
selle de Montijo!"
Was she only Mademoiselle de Montijo?
Did she not keep her word: 80 may / b.
Worthy!" to the Empire and to France?
Twenty years later, in her dealings wit
Bismarck after the Franco-Prussian war. Ell
genie had practically concluded treaty Will
refusing to concede IAN inch Of French terri
tory" The Republicans, taking the deal out O
ner hands, agreed to the loss Of Alsace an
Lorraine.