it was known among us that they had no love for Madame Bonaparte, of
which fact I had many proofs. Mademoiselle Hortense never left her
mother, and they were devotedly attached to each other.

Besides men distinguished by their posts under the government or in the
army, there gathered others also who were not less distinguished by
personal merit, or the position which their birth had given them before
the Revolution. It was a veritable panorama, in which we saw the persons
themselves pass before our eyes. The scene itself, even exclusive of the
gayety which always attended the dinings of Eugene, had its attractions.
Among those whom we saw most frequently were Volney, Denon, Lemercier,
the Prince of Poix, de Laigle, Charles Baudin, General Beurnonville,
Isabey, and a number of others, celebrated in science, literature, and
art; in short, the greater part of those who composed the society of
Madame de Montesson.

Madame Bonaparte and Mademoiselle Hortense often took excursions on
horseback into the country. On these occasions her most constant escorts
were the Prince de Poix and M. de Laigle. One day, as this party was
reentering the court-yard at Malmaison, the horse which Hortense rode
became frightened, and dashed off. She was an accomplished rider, and
very active, so she attempted to spring off on the grass by the roadside;
but the band which fastened the end of her riding-skirt under her foot
prevented her freeing herself quickly, and she was thrown, and dragged by
her horse for several yards. Fortunately the gentlemen of the party,
seeing her fall, sprang from their horses in time to rescue her; and, by
extraordinary good fortune, she was not even bruised, and was the first
to laugh at her misadventure.

During the first part of my stay at Malmaison, the First Consul always