Let’s have another look at Hortense’s Memoirs. If you want to read the book it is available for free at the side bar in English and French. Use the widget on the sidebar to translate the text below into pretty much any language.
Hortense describes how Napoleon didn’t put much effort into niceties but he was eager to help when he could.
Hortense’s memoirs continues:
Several days later I heard through Queen Julie that the King in a letter addressed to the Emperor had declined to come to Paris unless his brother consented to our being divorced.
The Emperor had referred to this suggestion as a mad idea and had not replied. Meanwhile my uncertainty was most painful. It was true that I still had my two sons with me, but I hardly dared console myself with their company. A divorce was contrary to my religious principles, and for any real peace of mind I should have had to have the assurance that I could secure a separation and continue to attend to my children's education.
Finally, after many entreaties I obtained from the Emperor a letter authorizing me to live away from my husband.
The fine weather made the Emperor decide to live at the Elysée in order to take the air without interrupting his work, which was proving too much for his health. One day he sent me an invitation by the Grand Marshal to lunch with him at Malmaison, and he named the persons he should like to have meet him there. I admit that I was reluctant to act as hostess at a house which I had left under such sad circumstances and to which I had never returned since.
Fearing the surroundings would provoke too violent emotions and wishing at least to experience them without being observed, I left Paris that same evening and went to Malmaison. How deeply moved I was to behold once more that place which my mother had adorned and which had now, after having been neglected for so long, become more or less a wilderness! Everything recalled her presence and affected me deeply. I abandoned myself unrestrainedly to my grief. The night calmed me somewhat, and I was ready to receive the Emperor without appearing too much distressed.
He arrived at nine o'clock. It was clear that he too was deeply moved. He walked all over the grounds with me and everywhere he would stop and say, "How all this reminds me of her! I cannot believe she is no longer here."
After lunch he stepped into his carriage with me, Monsieur Molé and Monsieur Denon. He wished to talk to the latter on matters connected with art collections.
The other guests followed us in other carriages. Our drive was a long one, and the talk touched upon a thousand subjects. The Emperor praised the conduct of Monsieur de Sainte-Aulaire, ex-prefet of Toulouse, saying: "His proclamation was that of a good Frenchman who knows the dangers of a foreign invasion. All the Frenchmen should agree on that subject. I also approved of the way he spoke of the Bourbons."
I was glad to hear this favorable comment and I mentioned that it applied to one of my close friends whose character and mind I admired. I spoke to the Emperor about Madame de Staël’s having said she intended to go and see him.
He said "I am sure she and I would become friends. At Elba I read her latest book and I cannot see why in the world the French police forbade its being sold here. I found nothing in it that could give offense to the government."
He spoke also of Monsieur Benjamin Constant. “He has a great deal of talent. His book on the freedom of the press pleased me very much. He reasons well."
He mentioned Monsieur de Talleyrand. "I knew for a long time that he was deceiving me, but I never thought he would go as far as he did. I treated him as I should have treated a gossipy old woman and let him keep on talking without paying attention to what he said."
On our return to the château the newspapers were brought to him. He had me read aloud his letter to Marshal Grouchy, printed by the Moniteur, in which he instructed the Marshal to protect the departure of the Comte d'Artois, who had just been arrested in the south of France.
He seemed satisfied by this act of magnanimity and our approval. Monsieur Molé said to me privately: "His letter is all very well, but I wish he had not insisted upon the return of the crown jewels. It would have been better not to ask for anything."
Before he left, the Emperor received the visits of the authorities of Rueil and the parish priest. On this occasion I again remarked something I had already noticed several times before. When receiving people, the Emperor had no graciousness of manner nor did he make any pretense of affability toward them. He went straight to the point and spoke of the subject which they came to see him about as though he wished to secure information and take some favorable action in regard to the matter.
This attitude on the part of a ruler appeared to me to be superior to that which consists in uttering banal phrases, which may flatter people's self-esteem but which do not hold out any hope for improving conditions.
Just before he stepped into his carriage the Emperor wished to see the room in which my mother had died. "Don't come with me," he said; "it would prove too great a strain for you."
The original French is available below:
