Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-02-22

and he had conceived the idea of marry
ing Hortense to his brother Louis, in the
hope that an heir might thus be obtained
uniting the Bonaparte and the Beauhar-
nais blood.
Duroc Gives Up Girl.
Accordingly, he sent to Duroc this cal
lous message: Tell him that if he weds
my stepdaughter he will have with her
only a dowry Of five or six hundred
thousand francs, and that / shall give
him an appointment which will necess-
tate his residence at Toulon, whittier
he must take his wife, and that hence
forth he and l are personally strangers
to each other.
The soldier In Duroc overcame the
tower. He relinquished Hortense and
was ever after thrust to the front by
Napoleon until he died in battle. The
forsaken girl was brokenhearted. To
her the future became Indifferent and she
accepted without complaint the marriage
to Louis Napoleon, who, for his part, was
more averse to it. Perhaps in time they
might have learned to love each other.
for she was but nineteen and he twenty
three. But whispered scandal embittered
their lives. The gossips had it that the
emperorS eagernesS for an heir of his
own blood resulted in his bearing a
nearer relationship to the child his
brothers wife was expecting than that of
uncle. But the child was born dead, and
a second son to whom the emperor was
devoted died Of Group at an early age
All Of Napoleon's plans to obtain an
heir, even his divorce of Josephine and
marriage to the Austrian princess, mis-
carried. But perhaps it was as we'll.
When the emperor died there was no
longer an empire to bequeath. One son
of Hortense and Louis did indeed.
after the lapse of nearly three-quarters of
a century, become by usrrpation emperor
of the French, but only led that nation
to the dire disaster of Sedan and the
Smash-up of 1871.
Led a Miserable Life.
The life of Hortense and Louis Ma
poleon was miserable in the extreme. The
palace at The Hague and the throne of
Holland which the emperor gave to his
brother were to them a prison and
seat OF torture. The king Travelled alone
over Europe; the queen frequented Paris
and her mothers home at Malmaison
When the temperor divorced Josephine
in order that he might ally himself mat
rmonially with the royal house of Aus
tria. Louis Napoleon and Hortense be-
sought him to allow them to end their
troubles in the same way. The sublime
egotist and arrant hypocrite refused. His
own divorce and remarriage, he pointed
out were affairs of state. But his fam
lily, not being thus exalted. must not
set to the world an example contrary TO
morals and of laXity in the marriage tie.
So the two fettered ones remained man
and wife, though living in complete sep
aratiOn.
After Waterloo and the exile to ST
Helena, Hortense, in common with all
the Napoeonic family, was forbidden
on pain of death to reside in French ter
ritory. For a long time the allies who
held France, fearing that one of her Ma
poleonic sons might Yet make trouble.
hara ssed her. forcing her to move from
place to place. But gradually this appre-
hension died out, and soon after the death
Of her eldest remaining son. who fell in a
riot in Italy. she dared visit France and
threw herself on the mercy of the reign
ing monarch, Louis Philippe She was
received with kindness. but the moment
was ill-chosen. 1t WAS the 9TH of May,
the anniversary of Napoleon's death,
when all Paris celebrated his fame Her
presence with her son, If known, might
be as the torch to the magazine. So she
was politely sped on her way to England
and never again permitted to cross the
French frontier.
Conspiracy Easily Suppressed.
When the body Of the great emperor
was brought back to Paris to rest under
the gilded dome Of the Invalides, Hortense
and her son were at Baden. Instantly it
was determined that he should hasten to
Paris and offer himself to the army as
the successor to his uncle. 1t was a futile
conspiracy, suppressed without a shot.
and its leader hurried to a French frigate
which conveyed him to America, where