treated her with delicacy and consideration.

"As soon as the Emperor Alexander knew that the Empress Josephine
had arrived at Malmaison he hastened to pay her a visit. It is not
possible to be more amiable than he was to her. When in the course
of conversation he spoke of the occupation of Paris by the Allies,
and of the position of the Emperor Napoleon, it was always in
perfectly measured language: he never forgot for a single instant
that be was speaking before one who had been the wife of his
vanquished enemy. On her side the ex-Empress did not conceal the
tender sentiments, the lively affection she still entertained for
Napoleon . . . . Alexander had certainly something elevated and
magnanimous in his character, which would not permit him to say a
single word capable of insulting misfortune; the Empress had only
one prayer to make to him, and that was for her children."]--

This visit was soon followed by those of the other Allied Princes.

"The King of Prussia and the Princes, his sons, came rather
frequently to pay their court to Josephine; they even dined with her
several times at Malmaison; but the Emperor Alexander come much more
frequently. The Queen Hortense was always with her mother when she
received the sovereigns, and assisted her in doing the honours of
the house. The illustrious strangers exceedingly admired Malmaison,
which seemed to them a charming residence. They were particularly
struck with the fine gardens and conservatories."

From this moment, however, Josephine's health rapidly declined, and
she did not live to see Napoleon's return from Elba. She often said
to her attendant, "I do not know what is the matter with me, but at