The whole of Europe, it seemed, would soon be under the yoke of the Corsican tyrant and
his family. Constant could not yet know that the Prussian defeat would also mean the end
of the Weimar he had known under Duke Karl August: after the battle even his friend
Goethe’s house was invaded by French soldiers intent on plunder and indeed the great
man was saved only by the intervention of his wife! Under French military occupation
the civilized and humane Duke of Brunswick would be deposed too, and an entire
constellation of small eighteenth-century German courts would be swept away. Constant
still hoped one day to return to Germany, whatever the circumstances there might be, and
on 10 October 1806 he received a tangible reminder of his life there in the form of an
affectionate letter from Charlotte who had now returned to Paris:
Without knowing the reason for your uncharacteristic silence, I am
making a third attempt to obtain news about you. If it proves as
fruitless as the previous ones it will be the last. But I cannot believe
you are indifferent, and I will prove it by speaking to you with
confidence. I am alone here: Monsieur Du Tertre thinks I am still in
Germany, he is not due to return before the end of the month. You
must believe that I am doing nothing that has not been authorized
by my whole family and that my stay here has no impropriety about
it whatsoever.... It has never been more important that I talk to you
than now when, of the three possible courses of action before me I
must choose one. If you can return to Les Herbages and if you
prefer to see me there rather than here, I shall go there. We shall
spend the day together and decide on our future. I beg you to write
immediately saying either that you have lost interest in me or that
you are still fond of me. I hope to have a reply in the next six days.
If I receive none, I shall know where I stand. I shall finally separate
two lives which until now have always been united in my heart.
(Letter of 8 October 1806^91 )Constant replied and, touched by her unchanging attachment to him, went
to Paris on 18 October. On 20 October, after ‘thirteen years of resistance’
as Constant noted in his journal, they became lovers. At first Constant
seemed unaffected by their new intimacy, but by 22 October he was
writing: ‘Evening with Ch[arlotte]. That woman is an angel of gentleness
and charm. What a prize I have missed in my life!’ (followed by codes
indicating ‘love for Charlotte’ and ‘physical [i.e. sexual] pleasure’).
92
Charlotte had grown tired of a jealous husband heavily reliant on her
money. There had only ever been one man in her life and her patience had
now been rewarded. As for Constant, this was a full-blooded passion such
as he had not known for years. He took Charlotte to see his estate at Les
Herbages then returned to Paris, amazed at ever having failed to realize
Benjamin constant 194