particular liaison but she had less power in Paris, where for a while
Napoleon had a 'love nest' in the rue de Vennes. Here he fornicated and
cuckolded with gusto until a particular incident made him rethink his
amatory strategy. Slipping on the snow outside his secret trysting place
one day, he caught the ironic gleam in his sentry's eye and realized that
he was making a fool of himself in the eyes of his beloved Grand Army;
thereafter he decided to confine himself to a circle of court hetairae.
The snag about infidelity at St-Cloud was that it was too close to
Josephine for comfort. A more serious and long-term amatory adventure
produced a succession of tempestuous rows in the palace. The Murats,
insanely jealous of the continuing favour he showed Josephine, devoted
themselves to finding women who might displace her in the Emperor's
affections. For a time Adele Duchatel seemed the answer to their prayers.
Madame Duchatel was a twenty-year-old beauty, separated or divorced
it is not clear which - from the middle-aged Director-General of
Records. Napoleon took the bait and Murat provided cover by
pretending to be madly in love with Adele. But Josephine was not fooled.
A game of cat and mouse developed between Emperor and Empress.
Josephine found out about the affair from her spies (possibly from
Fouche) and tried to maintain surveillance on her husband in the palace,
but he outfoxed her by creeping along to his mistress's room in his bare
fe et.
Noticing her husband paying unwonted attention to la Duchatel at a
party, Josephine next day summoned Madame Junot (Laure Abrantes as
was), who had been near the couple, to find out what had transpired.
Laure Junot claimed that she and the Emperor had recently gone to bed
together, and that Napoleon had been as ardent as a young lieutenant.
The arrival of her lover cut short the narration and, seeing Napoleon,
Madame Junot hastily took her leave. Josephine repeated the substance of
what her visitor had said, which sparked off a tremendous row. Napoleon
ended it by saying he was the Emperor and no one should presume to
give him laws or tell him what to do. He then smashed several plates,
broke a water jug, tore a tablecloth and stormed out.
Yet Josephine could not be so easily swayed from her purposes. Her
sights were set on Adele Duchatel. One evening at St-Cloud she saw
Duchatel leave the drawing-room and noticed that the Emperor was no
longer present. She left the room and came back half an hour later in a
state of high agitation to tell Claire de Remusat what she had discovered.
She had gone up the private staircase to Napoleon's bedroom and heard
Adele's voice inside. She demanded to be let in and, when Napoleon
finally opened the door, she found him and Duchatel in an advanced state
marcin
(Marcin)
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