p retirement and physical
grandeur, became quite a favorite retreat. She had but little heart for
any society but that of the solitudes of nature.

About the first of October Hortense returned, by the advice of the
Emperor, to Fontainebleau, where she was reunited to her two sons.
Josephine was, in the mean time, taking a short tour in Switzerland. We
have previously spoken of Hortense's taste for music, and her skill as a
composer. One of the airs, or _romances_, as they were called, composed
by Hortense still retains in Europe perhaps unsurpassed popularity. It
was termed familiarly _Beau Dunois_, or the Knight Errant. Its full
title was "_Partant pour la Syrie, le jeune et beau Dunois._"[E]

[Footnote E: The writer remembers that forty years ago this was a
favorite song in this country. At Bowdoin College it was the popular
college song. It is now, in France, one of the favorite national airs.]

Josephine, writing from Geneva to Hortense at Fontainebleau, says: "I
have heard sung all over Switzerland your romance of Beau Dunois! I have
even heard it played upon the piano with beautiful variations."
Josephine soon returned to Navarre, which at that time she preferred to
Malmaison, as it was farther removed from the capital, and from the
tumult of joy with which the birth of the child of Maria Louisa would be
received. On the 20th of March, 1811, all France resounded with
acclamations at the birth of the young King of Rome. Hortense, devoting
herself to her children, remained in Paris and its environs. In the
autumn of this year Josephine left Navarre, and returned to Malmaison to
spend the winter there. Hortense and her husband, though much estranged
from each other, and living most of the time apart, were still not
formally separated, and occasionally dwelt together. The ostensible
cause of the frequent absence of Hortense from her husband was the state
of her health, rendering it necessary for her to make frequent visits to
the springs, and the griefs of her mother requiring often the solace of
her daughter's presence.

Louis Bonaparte owned a very beautiful estate, called St. Leu, in
France. Early in May, 1812, Napoleon left Paris for the fatal campaign
to Moscow. Just before his departure, he called at Malmaison and took an
affectionate leave of Josephine. Hortense was at St. Leu, with her
children. After a short visit which Josephine made to St. Leu, and which
she describes as delightful, she returned to Malma