CHAPTER TWELVE

1800–1802

MARRIAGE OF HORTENSE

Louis Bonaparte--His Early Years--Change in His Character--His Life at Paris--He Avoids Marriage--Hortense de Beauharnais--Her Appearance and Character--Love of Her Mother--Pride in Her Father--Early Dislike of Bonaparte--Fancy for Duroc--The Infernal Machine--Narrow Escape of Napoleon and Joséphine--Public Demand for an Heir--Joséphine’s Dismay--Louis Goes to Spain--Joséphine’s Visit to Plombières--Return of Louis--His Marriage to Hortense 104