Evening star., 1935-01-06
ROCKED THE WORLD

tion of the once great tidal wave of soldiers ever
got back to their own country.
CAFE in the Tuileries Palace with MOSCOW
- nearly 1000 miles away, Napoleon sat- be-
wildered and despairing. How had it hap
pened-what diabolical mind had directed this
annihilating blow? He thought of every pos
sible explanation except the right one-Aimee
Dubuc de Rivery, yelled and secluded in Con-
stantinople, hating him, loving Josephine-
watching the French plow deeper into Russia
and exposing their single line of communica-
tion more and more recklessly
AS for Aimee, never for a moment was sl,e
bewildered. She knew exactly when to strike
She directed Mahmoud to make peace with the
Russian Army-give them anything they asked
in return for their promise (easily granted) to
march north quickly before Napoleon learned
OF their coming. The maneuver succeeded be-
yond Aimee's widest hopes
True, Napoleon escaped capture but not for
long. From that terrible disaster in Russia
neither he nor France ever recovered. The year
following his return the allies overwhelmed
him and he was sent to Elba as prisoner. He
escaped, only to go down again in utter and
irrevocable defeat at Waterloo
Josephine, watching from Paris in 1912
probably did not comprehend to its full extent
the demoniac revenge her cousin Aimee had
TAKEN Tor her, Not so Aimee! From her
seraglio window she watched the white sails
moving up and down the blue Bosporus and
nodded her head with satisfaction With these
Two small Jeweled hands she had crushed the
towering Napoleon. His destruction was lit.
tie present from her to Josephine
IN Constantinople," writes Morton in his
history OF Aimee, there exists only the yaeuest
memory OF the French sultana It is in Nantes
ana Martinique where the memory of her seems
" chlg IKE the elusive fragrance of an almost
vanished perfume"
Aimee is buried in Constantinople beneath
the soaring dome of the mosque of Mohammed
II. On her tomb is this epitaph, translated bv
Morton as follows:
1he Great King (Mahmoud), judicious and
'Dase. the Sun to his Empire,
4" ~hose ve'ns noble foreign blood is ,ninoled
., ptth that of the founder of his Dynasty.
ne opened the gates of the Orient to ne,p Hol.t.
May his mothers beauty never be FORGOTTEN
Nay her fame and glory neuer be unue,led.
W her the majestic Emperor. the Sultan of the
a0orld, - "'~
Mdhnoud, OF soul shining as cloud OF heapea.
aDas begotten
The Beautiful One. her NAME The Queen
Mother, she Uas
her head" "l>''
Ihere Is much more to the story of this fas-
cinating figure. But lack of space has prevented,
my telling 1t here. In Morton's "Veiled Em-
press" this remarkable chapter from the past
is written down in detail. Had he not incon-
testable documentary evidence for every line
OF his biography of Aimee. it would seem like
the most fantastic fiction. But the full evi-
dence is there. The story is fact And for first
telling it. for first bringing to light this major
historical character and revealing the tre-
mendous role she played in world events Nor.
ton deserves the greatest praise His book is
sending me, for one, back to Constantinopla
to make pilgrimage to the mosque of Mo-
manned and pay my respects to the tomb of
the girl from Martinique, who wrecked Napo-
leon.
<Copyrght, 1850