e due de Frioul thought it very
reasonable, and joined his entreaties to those of the Empress. "It is an
egregious folly," said the Emperor; "but we are obliged to grant it,
because the women wish it, so, Duroc, go to the cabinet of antiques, and
choose whatever is necessary."

M. le due de Frioul soon returned with the finest stones in the
collection, which the crown jeweler mounted magnificently; but this
ornament was of such enormous weight that the Empress never wore it.

Though I may be accused of making tiresome repetitions, I must say that
the Empress seized, with an eagerness which cannot be described, on all
occasions of making benefactions. For instance, one morning when she was
breakfasting alone with his Majesty, the cries of an infant were suddenly
heard proceeding from a private staircase. The Emperor was annoyed at
this, and with a frown, asked sharply what that meant. I went to
investigate, and found a new-born child, carefully and neatly dressed,
asleep in a kind of cradle, with a ribbon around its body from which hung
a folded paper. I returned to tell what I had seen; and the Empress at
once exclaimed, "O Constant! bring me the cradle." The Emperor would
not permit this at first, and expressed his surprise and disapprobation
that it should have been thus introduced into the interior of his
apartments, whereupon her Majesty, having pointed out to him that it must
have been done by some one of the household, he turned towards me, and
gave me a searching look, as if to ask if it was I who had originated
this idea. I shook my head in denial. At that moment the baby began to
cry, and the Emperor could not keep from smiling, still growling, and
saying, "Josephine, send away that monkey!"

The Empress, wishing to profit by this return of good humor, sent me for
the cradle, which I brought to her. She caressed the little new-born
babe, quieted it, and read the paper attached to which was a petition
from its parents. Then she approached the Emperor, insisting on his
caressing the infant himself, and pinching its fat little cheeks; which
he did without much urging, for the Emperor himself loved to play with
children. At last her Majesty the Empress, having placed a roll of
napoleons in the cradle, had the little bundle in swaddling clothes
carried to the concierge of the palace, in order that he might restore it
to its parents.

I will now give another instance of the kindness of heart of her Majesty
the Em