turned from Graetz to Paris; he
had heard the ominous tones of the voice that threatened the emperor,
and wished to be at his side in the hour of danger.

It was not as the wife, but in the spirit of a Frenchwoman and a queen,
that Hortense received the intelligence of her husband's return. "I am
delighted to hear it," said she; "my husband is a good Frenchman, and he
proves it by returning at the moment when all Europe has declared
against France. He is a man of honor, and if our characters could not be
made to harmonize, it was probably because we both had defects that were
irreconcilable.

"I," added she, with a gentle smile, "I was too proud, I had been
spoiled, and was probably too deeply impressed with a sense of my own
worth; and this defect is not conducive to pleasant relations with one
who is distrustful and low-spirited. But our interests were always the
same, and his hastening to France, to enroll himself with all his
brother Frenchmen, for the defence of his country, is worthy of the
king's character. It is only by doing thus that we can testify our
gratitude for the benefits the people have conferred upon our
family[23]."

[Footnote 23: Cochelet, Memoires sur la reine Hortense, vol. i., p.
167.]

In the first days of January, 1814, the news that the enemy had crossed
the boundaries of France, and that the Austrians, Russians, and
Prussians, were marching on Paris, created a panic throughout the entire
city. For the first time, after so many years of triumph, France
trembled for its proud army, and believed in the possibility of defeat.

In the Tuileries, also, gloom and dejection ruled the hour for the first
time; and while, when the army had heretofore gone forth, the question
had been, "When shall we receive the first intelligence of victory?"
there were now only mute, inquiring glances bent on the emperor's
clouded countenance.

On the 24th of January, Napoleon left Paris, in order to repair to the
army. The empress, whom he had made regent, giving her a council,
consisting of his brothers and the ministers, as a support--the empress
had taken leave of him in a flood of tears, and Queen Hortense, who had
alone been present on this occasion, had been compelled to remain for
some time with the empress, in order to console and encourage her.

But Hortense was far from feeling the confidence which she exhibited in
the presence of the empress and of her own court. She had never believed
in the durat