The Washington herald., 1914-08-02

ception ceremony. He was to leave Com
peigne with the princes and princesses
OF the Bonaparte family and go forth to
greet Marie Louise near Scissors, where
in a wood by a brook three tents had
been set up. one for the bride, one for
the groom, and the central one for their
meeting. where Marie Louise was TO fall
on her knees at the sight OF her husband,
who would then lift her up and kiss her.
But at the thought Of waiting another
day merely to go through that stupid
ceremonial, he burst the bounds Of re-
straint and suddenly shouted. 20. he!
o. no. Constant, Order a carriage with
out livery and come dress me-"
The Meeting.
Taking with him only King Murat. the
Emperor impulsively dashed on in a
March downpour. When the postillions
Of the Empress coach. who were labor
iously urging on their horses through
the mud and storm, saw the Emperor
standing out of the rain under the porch
OF a country church they were struck
speechless with astonishment. An
equerry riding beside the coach looked
in the direction OF their startled gaze,
and as he saw the drenched monarch
running toward him he cried LEM
pereur."
The coach step was eIuickIy lowered
and in another moment the Emperor had
his arms around the neck of Marie
Louise. Then he made the highly i'm
portant statement, You are. surely not
afraid OF mud! But Marie Louise made
a far more significant observation. why,
you are much better looking than your
picture!"
The enraptured Emperor having order
ed the drivers to go full speed to Com
piegne. the imperial party few by the
gorgeous tents and whirled through Sios-
sons as II 1t were a flag station, and late
in a stormy evening the soaking postfl-
lions and much bespattered coach drew
up at the foot Of the steps Of the palace
of Compiegne.
After getting rid of the inevitable cere-
monies there in short order, the En-
press retired to her apartments. where
she was soon Joined by the Emperor. He
roof. but on consulting both legal and
religious advisers, he received theNwel-
come assurance that the marriage by
proxy was a marriage in fact, as had
been determined In the instance of Henry
" and Marie de Medici.
Two More weddings.
The couple tarried only a day at Com
piegne. where the Emperor displayed a
boyish humor toward the court. Pulling
the ear of a bachelor courier, he en-
Enthusiastically counselled him, MY dear
fellow, marry no one but German.
They are the best wives in the world:
gentle, good, artless, and fresh as roses"
In the Gallery Of Apollo at st. Cloud.
where Napoleon first seized the refns OF
power and where he was hrst acclaimed
OF the Hapsburgs was confirmed by a
civil marriage, after which a grand entry
into Paris was made for the purpose Of
another religious marriage, but this time
not by proxy. The Emperor and the EN-
press entered the city under the unfnish-
ed Arc de Triomphe de PEtoile, to which
5000 workmen had hastily given the ap-
pearance OF completion by the use Of
wood and canvas. .--. .r
Marie Louise sat in the gilded corona
ton coach where Josephine had sat only
little more than FIVE years before and
wore the crown diamonds that had
sparkled on the brow Of her creole pre-
decessor. But a more disquieting sug-
gestion than that was presented as she
drove across the Place de Ia Concorde,
where her great-aunt, Marie Antoinette,
had died on the scaffold sixteen years be-
fore. suggestion that might have awak-
ened bitter memories in a person having
livelier Imagination.
The beautiful Salon Carre of the
Luovre, from whose walls Mona Lisa
smiles her inscFutable smile and the inn