'You have no excuse for extravagance, Josephine,' said he, laying his
hand upon her shoulder. 'Diamonds and fine dresses are very necessary
to an ugly woman in order to make her attractive, but _you_ cannot need
them for such a purpose. You had no fine dresses when first I saw you
in the Rue Chautereine, and yet there was no woman in the world who ever
attracted me so. Why will you vex me, Josephine, and make me say things
which seem unkind? Drive back, little one, to Pont de Briques, and see
that you do not catch cold.'
'You will come to the salon, Napoleon?' asked the Empress, whose
bitterest resentment seemed to vanish in an instant at the first kindly
touch from his hand. She still held her handkerchief before her eyes,
but it was chiefly, I think, to conceal the effect which her tears had
had upon her cheeks.
'Yes, yes, I will come. Our carriages will follow yours. See the
ladies into the berline, Constant. Have you ordered the embarkation of
the troops, Berthier? Come here, Talleyrand, for I wish to describe my
views about the future of Spain and Portugal.
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