d upon such I have some
claims, in consideration, sire, of the boundless attachment
I shall cherish for you while life remains."

She had but just dispatched this letter to Napoleon, when the
folding-doors were thrown open with much state, and the announcement,
"From the emperor," ushered in a page, the bearer of a letter. The
fragile and beautiful youth, whom Josephine immediately recognized, had
so carefully secured the emperor's billet, from fear of losing it, that
it took some time for him, in his slight embarrassment, to extricate it.
Josephine was almost nervously excited till she received the note, and
immediately retired with it to her own private apartment. Half an hour
elapsed before she again made her appearance. Her whole countenance
attested the intensity of the conflicting emotions with which her soul
had been agitated. Her eyes were swollen with weeping, and the billet,
which she still held in her hand, was blurred with her tears. She gave
the page a letter to the emperor in reply, and then presented him, as an
acknowledgment of her appreciation of the tidings he had brought, with a
small morocco case, containing a diamond breastpin, and a thousand
dollars in gold.

She then, with a tremulous voice, and smiling through her tears, read
the emperor's note to her friends. The concluding words of the note
were, "This infant, in concert with _our Eugene_, will constitute my
happiness and that of France." As Josephine read these words with
emphasis, she exclaimed, "Is it possible to be more amiable! Could any
thing be better calculated to soothe whatever might be painful in my
thoughts at this moment, did I not so sincerely love the emperor? This
uniting of my son with his own is indeed worthy of him who, when he
wills, is the most delightful of men. This is it which has so much moved
me."

The emperor often afterward called upon her. He soon, notwithstanding
the jealousy of Maria Louisa, arranged a plan by which he presented to
Josephine, in his own arms, the idolized child. These interviews, so
gratifying to Josephine, took place at the Royal Pavilion, near Paris,
Napoleon and Madame Montesquieu, governess to the young prince, being
the only confidants. In one of Josephine's letters to Napoleon, she
says, "The moment I saw you enter, leading the young Napoleon in your
hand, was unquestionably one of the happiest of my life. It effaced, for
a time, the recollection of all that had preceded it, for