y-five livres a
month, about seven dollars, for clothes and pocket money. Fifteen
years as lieutenant, fifteen as captain, and, for the rest of his
life, half pay with a decoration--such was the summary of the prospect
before the ordinary commonplace officer in a like situation. Meantime
he was comfortably lodged with a kindly old soul, a sometime
tavern-keeper named Bou, whose daughter, "of a certain age," gave a
mother's care to the young lodger. In his weary years of exile the
Emperor recalled his service at Valence as invaluable. The artillery
regiment of La Fere he said was unsurpassed in personnel and training;
though the officers were too old for efficiency, they were loyal and
fatherly; the youngsters exercised their witty sarcasm on many, but
they loved them all.

During the first months of his garrison service Buonaparte, as an
apprentice, saw arduous service in matters of detail, but he threw off
entirely the darkness and reserve of his character, taking a full
draught from the brimming cup of pleasure. On January tenth, 1786, he
was finally received to full standing as lieutenant. The novelty, the
absence of restraint, the comparative emancipation from the arrogance
and slights to which he had hitherto been subject, good news from the
family in Corsica, whose hopes as to the inheritance were once more
high--all these elements combined to intoxicate for a time the boy of
sixteen. The strongest will cannot forever repress the exuberance of
budding manhood. There were balls, and with them the first experience
of gallantry. The young officer even took dancing-lessons. Moreover,
in the drawing-rooms of the Abbe Saint-Ruf and of his friends, for the
first time he saw the manners and heard the talk of refined
society--provincial, to be sure, but excellent. It was to the special
favor of Monseigneur de Marbeuf, the bishop of Autun, that he owed his
warm reception. The acquaintances there made were with persons of
local consequence, who in later years reaped a rich harvest for their
condescension to the young stranger. In two excellent households he
was a welcome and intimate guest, that of Lauberie and Colombier.
There were daughters in both. His acquaintance with Mlle. de Lauberie
was that of one who respected her character and appreciated her
beauty. In 1805 she was appointed lady in waiting to the Empress, but
declined the appointment because of her duties as wife and mother. In
the intimacy with Mlle. du Colomb