Hortense de Beauharnais Bonaparte was trapped in an unhappy marriage and her mother was not much happier. It is believed that Josephine cheated on Napoleon very flagrantly at the opening of their marriage. After Napoleon found out, he never took fidelity in his marriage seriously. A wrinkle that I have perceived which I feel is backed up by his actions is that Napoleon was really pining all the while for his stepdaughter Hortense.
Hortense’s Memoirs are available here.
In this letter, Hortense is suffering from her own circumstances and those of her mother. Napoleon is having an affair with one of Josephine’s court attendants. Then this mistress goes and stirs up even more trouble with Napoleon’s sister Caroline, Madame Murat.
Dear Eugene,
Saint-Amand, this 29 Messidor, Year XIII, July, 18, 1805
I have just received your letter, my dear Eugene. I promise you that my greatest pleasure is writing to you. I am at this moment far from the court and little aware of what is going on there. So I cannot say what is happening there since last winter.
You have never known the sorrows of all sorts that I have experienced. I am saving it to tell you all upon your return, but, as my life in Saint-Amand is very monotonous, I will tell you all the little intrigues from the court from last winter.
You know all about Mme Duchâtel [Napoleon’s mistress] but what you do not know is that she was some time ago having lunch at Madame Murat's. She said she was very unhappy, that the Empress had done her a great deal of wrong. That she would like it better to be dismissed but what distressed her the most was that the Empress had told her that Madame Murat did not like her.
A wicked woman is dangerous! She can very well have been the mistress of the Emperor. No one would have found fault with it. Too bad for her! But looking to poison everyone is something I do not forgive!
I, who never interfere with anything, seeing the sorrow that all the gossip has given to Mother and the Emperor, I thought I could express myself to General Duroc.
I told him that he would be better off soothing the Emperor, that it was was making him unhappy to tell him how the Empress was telling everybody about his affair. As I had spent some time talking with him in the presence of Murat, he went and told him what we were talking about.
Murat came up to me and told me that I was mistaken about the people who sought to poison the Emperor’s mind. Murat said he was only trying to calm the Emperor down about these matters. I could see that conversation was going nowhere. Not at all. The next day, the Emperor had heard all about it. The Emperor accused me that I, too, was against him.
I told him completely frankly about what had made me speak to these gentlemen. Duroc tells me that it was Murat who had blabbed to the Emperor, and Murat, who gave me a pretty explanation afterwards, told me that it was not him who spoke to the Emperor. He said it was Duroc.
Which one to believe in all this? Nobody, and never meddle with court intrigue.
It has come back to me from all this that the Emperor spoke about me, in the presence of Mme. Ney, who told me, that it was astonishing how good I am and how well I reason. He said that I reason so well that it seems I don’t have feelings but that it is because feel so deeply that one can see that it is my feelings that make me reason so justly. You see that it is very kind.
I tell you old stories, but I'm sure that nice things said about me will always please you. Napoleon [Hortense’s son] wants to write to you and I see Miss de Mornay holding his little hand. I will send you this beautiful epistle.
HORTENSE
Hortense and Josephine Bonaparte’s letters are available here.