This is part of a series where we translate Hortense Bonaparte’s letters to her brother Eugene. A lot of what I’ve been endeavoring to show is the mysterious relationship between Napoleon and his stepdaughter Hortense. Much is made of the romance between Napoleon and Josephine but many don’t know that Napoleon had a stepdaughter who was also his sister in law - who Napoleon never let out of his control as long as he still had control.
Hortense was a quasi “second wife” to Napoleon during both of his marriages. After Napoleon was captured by the English government, Hortense lived to vindicate her stepfather which she did through raising her sons into his way of thinking. Napoleon’s heir, Napoleon François, died young under the control of the Hapsburgs. Hortense had 1 legitimate son who managed to survive and he became Napoleon III. We are doing what we can to unearth the truth about these people using congruent original source material.
Hortense writes:
[Saint-Cloud], this 10th of September [1807]
I received your letter, my dear Eugène, and I want to reply to you immediately, to all the points you made.
As for my sorrow, it will last all my life, but, as you say very well, to find myself near the Emperor and the Empress, to always be treated as their daughter, is a position, if it could last, which
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(8) Hortense remained in Saint-Cloud until September 21.
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could still make me happy; however, you would still not be there.
I see from your letter that you are afflicted by feeling forgotten in the place in which you find yourself; everyone is together, that's right, but is everyone as necessary to the Emperor as you are?
I am very persuaded that if he does not make you come here, it’s because he will go to Italy as he often talks about it (1), or that he cannot do without you there, but do not fear, my dear Eugène, that his feelings have not changed towards you.
No matter how much one says, there is no intrigue; First, they could not touch you, nor the Emperor there; he knows men well enough to appreciate who is truly attached to him.
I also want to scold you for something that is by no means fair. How? 'Or' What! You would find yourself displaced among people covered with glory (2)!
You would believe your value far below what it is! First of all, my dear Eugène, who fulfills the job well which the Emperor has entrusted to you, who does his duty, and who does his duty always has the first rank in society. Besides, during the war, what did you do?
Were you resting or having fun? You know it’s the opposite and even, basically, you must find yourself more deserving for having done something that was less to your liking than if you had fought. And then you don't realize one thing: we are completely in a court; everything comes from the master; if he is happy, everyone is happy; if
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(1) Napoleon left Fontainebleau on November 16, 1807, arrived in Milan on the 21st of the same month and, after having stayed in Padua, in Venice, in Udino and again in Milan, he returned to Paris on January 1, 1808.
(2 ) Eugène had taken part neither in the campaign of 1806, nor in that of 1807.
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the Emperor says good things about you, we will not repeat what he has said, but we will say a hundred times more and from the bottom of our hearts. So don't make a monster of what's new here; it's like everywhere and as it always has been.
The Emperor will always love you, because he knows that you love him and that you put your happiness into serving him.
Your regiment (1) will be delighted to see you again and to always have you as their commander; your family and friends will be as happy as you will be, and the courtiers will kiss your hands, assuring you that, if the Emperor conquered Italy, you were able by your prudence to keep her at peace.
Farewell, my dear Eugène; I hope to have persuaded you that your sorrows are chimerical, don't think of them any more and believe that the only real sorrow for you is that you’re far from all the people who love you and nobody loves you more than me.
I kiss you tenderly as well as my sister. Talk to her a little bit about the Emperour's trip to Italy, where I think I can see that it is a little sad that you’re both not to come to Paris. I will answer her soon.
HORTENSE.
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Cela fait partie d'une série où nous traduisons les lettres d'Hortense Bonaparte à son frère Eugène. Une grande partie de ce que j'ai essayé de montrer est la relation mystérieuse entre Napoléon et sa belle-fille Hortense. Beaucoup est fait de la romance entre Napoléon et Joséphine, mais beaucoup ne savent pas que Napoléon avait une belle-fille qui était aussi sa belle-sœur - que Napoléon n'a jamais laissé échapper de son contrôle tant qu'il avait toujours le contrôle.
Hortense était une quasi «seconde épouse» de Napoléon lors de ses deux mariages. Après que Napoléon a été capturé par le gouvernement anglais, Hortense a vécu pour défendre son beau-père, ce qu'elle a fait en élevant ses fils dans sa façon de penser.
L'héritier de Napoléon, Napoléon François, mourut jeune sous le contrôle des Habsbourg. Hortense a eu 1 fils légitime qui a réussi à survivre et il est devenu Napoléon III. Nous faisons ce que nous pouvons pour dénicher la vérité sur ces personnes en utilisant du matériel original congruent.
