After his divorce from the Empress Josephine, the Emperor appeared much
preoccupied; and as it was known that he thought of marrying again, all
persons at the chateau and in his Majesty's service were greatly
concerned about this marriage, though all our conjectures concerning the
princess destined to share the Imperial crown proved to be wrong. Some
spoke of a Russian princess, while others said the Emperor would marry
none but a French woman; but no one thought of an Austrian archduchess.
When the marriage had been decided, nothing was spoken of at the court
but the youth, grace, and native goodness of the new Empress. The
Emperor was very gay, and paid more attention to his toilet, giving me
orders to renew his wardrobe, and to order better fitting coats, made in
a more modern style. The Emperor also sat for his portrait, which the
Prince de Neuchatel carried to Marie Louise; and the Emperor received at
the same time that of his young wife, with which he appeared delighted.

The Emperor, in order to win Marie Louise's affection, did more
undignified things than he had ever done for any woman. For instance,
one day when he was alone with Queen Hortense and the Princess Stephanie,
the latter mischievously asked him if he knew how to waltz; and his
Majesty replied that he had never been able to go beyond the first
lesson, because after two or three turns he became so dizzy that he was
compelled to stop. "When I was at l'ecole militaire," added the Emperor,
"I tried again and again to overcome dizziness which waltzing produced,
but I could not succeed. Our dancing-master having advised us, in
learning to waltz, to take a chair in our arms instead of a lady, I never
failed to fall with the chair, which I pressed so lovingly that it broke;
and thus the chairs in my room, and that of two or three of my
companions, were destroyed, one after the other." This tale told in the
most animated and amusing manner by his Majesty excited bursts of