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From the manner in which she caressed this child, it might have been said
that it was some ordinary, child, and not a son of the Caesars, as
flatterers said, not the son of a great man, whose cradle was surrounded
with so many honors, and who had been born a king.  Josephine bathed him
with her tears, and said to him some of those baby words with which a
mother makes herself understood and loved by her new born.  It was
necessary at last to separate them.  The interview had been short, but it
had been well employed by the loving soul of Josephine.  In this scene
one could judge from her joy of the sincerity of her sacrifice, while at
the same time her stifled sighs testified to its extent.  Madame de
Montesquieu's visits were made only at long intervals, which distressed
Josephine greatly; but the child was growing larger, an indiscreet word
lisped by him, a childish remembrance, the least thing, might offend
Marie Louise, who feared Josephine.  The Emperor wished to avoid this
annoyance, which would have affected his domestic happiness; so he
ordered that the visits should be made more rarely, and at last they were
stopped.  I have heard Josephine say that the birth of the King of Rome
repaid her for all sacrifices, and surely never was the devotion of a
woman more disinterested or more complete.

Immediately after his birth the King of Rome was confided to the care of
a nurse of a healthy, robust constitution, taken from among the people.
This woman could neither leave the palace nor receive a visit from any
man; the strictest precautions were observed in this respect.  She was
taken out to ride for her health in a carriage, and even then she was
accompanied by several women.

These were the habits of Marie Louise with her son.  In the morning about
nine o'clock the king was brought to his mother; she took him in her arms
and caressed him a few moments, then returned him to his nurse, and began
to read the papers.  The child grew tired, and the lady in charge took
him away.  At four o'clock the mother went to visit her son; that is to
say, Marie Louise went down into the king's apartments, carrying with her
some embroidery, on which she worked at intervals.  Twenty minutes after
she was informed that M. Isabey or M. Prudhon had arrived for the lesson
in painting or drawing, whereupon the Empress returned to her apartments.

Thus passed the first months which followed the birth of the King of
Rome.  In the intervals between fetes, the Emperor was occupied with
decrees, reviews, monuments, and plans, constantly employed, with few
distractions, indefatigable in every work, and still not seeming to have
anything to occupy his powerful mind, and happy in his private life with
his young wife, by whom he was tenderly beloved.  The Empress led a very
simple life, which suited her disposition well.  Josephine needed more
excitement; her life had been also more in the outside world, more
animated, more expansive; though this did not prevent her being very
faithful to the duties of her domestic life, and very tender and loving
towards her husband, whom she knew how to render happy in her own way.

One day Bonaparte returned from a hunt worn out with fatigue, and begged
Marie Louise to come to him.  She came, and the Emperor took her in his
arms and gave her a sounding kiss on the cheek.  Marie Louise took her
handkerchief and wiped her cheek.  "Well, Louise, you are disgusted with
me?"--"No," replied the Empress, "I did it from habit; I do the same with
the King of Rome."  The Emperor seemed vexed.  Josephine was very
different; she received her husband's caresses affectionately, and even
met him half way.  The Emperor sometimes said to her, "Louise, sleep in
my room."--"It is too warm there," replied the Empress.  In fact, she
could not endure the heat, and Napoleon's apartments were constantly
warmed.  She had also an extreme repugnance to odors, and in her own
rooms allowed only vinegar or sugar to be burnt.

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