Part 63 (1/2)
whispered Constant.
”Ah, she is not to suspect that her child has come to me!” murmured Josephine, while fresh tears trickled down her cheeks.
”The emperor, besides, implores your majesty not to frighten the prince by a sadness which your majesty, in the generosity and kindness of your heart, has so often overcome.”
”Yes,” said the empress, removing her hands from her face, and hastily drying her tears with her handkerchief, ”I will not weep. It is true, I have often begged that I might see the King of Rome--the child for whom I have suffered so much, and to read in his face whether he is worthy of my sacrifice. The emperor is so kind as to fulfil my wish; tell him that I am profoundly grateful to him, that I will restrain my emotion and not make the prince suspect who I am.
Tell him that I shall not weep when I see the child of the present empress. No, do not tell him that, Constant; it would grieve him-- tell him only that I thank him, and that he shall not be displeased with me. Go! I am ready, and shall be happy to see the boy. It is not HER child, but HIS that I am to embrace.” And greeting Constant with that inimitable smile of grace and kindness peculiar to her, she walked toward the reception-room. ”How my heart throbs!” she murmured; ”it is as if my limbs were failing me--as if I should die.” Nearly fainting, she slowly glided through the adjoining apartment, and entered the reception-room. ”Courage, my heart! for it is HIS child that I am to greet.” Sitting down on an easy-chair near the window, she looked in anxiety and suspense toward the large folding doors.
At length the emperor appeared. Josephine had not seen him for nearly a year, and at first her eyes beheld only him. She read in his pallid and furrowed face the secret history of his sorrows, which he had not, perhaps, communicated to any one, but which he could not conceal from the eye of love. Unutterable sympathy and tender compa.s.sion for him filled her soul. And now she almost timidly looked upon the child that Napoleon led by the hand.
How charming was this child! How proud of him was his father!
Josephine felt this, and she said almost exultingly to herself ”I have not, been sacrificed in vain! This child is an ample indemnity for my tears. I am the boy's real mother, for I have suffered, sorrowed, and prayed for him!” Rejoicing in this sentiment, which seemed to restore the beauty of former days, Josephine stretched out her arms toward the child.
”Go, my son, and embrace the lady,” said Napoleon, dropping the hand of the prince. He advanced, while his father stood at the table in the middle of the room, supporting his right hand on the marble slab. He looked gravely but kindly upon the empress, from whom he felt separated, by the presence of his child, as by an impa.s.sable gulf.
The little prince offered his hand to the empress with a smile, and Josephine drew him into her arms, pressing his head to her bosom. A sigh, in spite of herself, came from the depths of her heart. She slowly bent back the boy's head and gazed at him with a mournful but loving expression. Then her glance fell upon the emperor, and, with an indescribable look of love and tenderness, she said: ”Sire, he is like you; G.o.d bless him for it!”
There was something so touching and heartfelt in these words--in the tone of her voice, and the glance of her eyes, that the emperor was profoundly moved, and responded only by a silent nod, not venturing to speak lest the tremor of his words should betray his emotion.
Even the little king seemed to understand the excellent heart of this lady. He clung to her and said in a sweet voice, ”I love you, madame, and want you to love me, too!”
”I love you, sire,” cried Josephine, ”and shall pray G.o.d every day to preserve you to your father--to your parents,” she corrected herself with the self-abnegation of a true woman. ”You will one day confer happiness on France and your people, for you undoubtedly wish to become as good, great, and wise, as your father.”
”Oh, yes, my papa emperor is very good, and I love him dearly!”
exclaimed the boy, looking toward his father. ”But, papa, why do you not come to us? Why do you not shake hands with this dear lady, who is so good and loves me so well?”
”The emperor is generous,” said Josephine, gently; ”he wished me to have you a moment by yourself, sire; he has you every day, but I have never had you before.”
”Why did you not come and see me?” asked the child. ”You live near Paris; and, if you loved me, you would often come and see how the little King of Rome is getting on. The emperor told me you were a dear and kind-hearted lady, and that every one loved you.”
”Did he tell you so, sire?” exclaimed the empress, drawing the boy into her arms. ”Oh, tell the emperor that I shall always be grateful to him for it, and that these words will forever silence my grief.”
Her eyes glanced in grat.i.tude to the emperor, who softly laid his finger on his mouth, to admonish her to be silent and calm.
The little prince had now, with the facility with which children pa.s.s from one subject to another, turned his attention to a large diamond brooch fastened to Josephine's golden sash. ”How beautiful it is!” he exclaimed--”how it is flas.h.i.+ng as though it were a star fallen from heaven, and fastened to your breast, because it loves you, madame, and because you are so good! And what fine ornaments you have on your watch! Ah, look here, papa emperor; see those pretty things! Come, papa, and look at them!”
”No, sire,” said the emperor, with a strange and mournful smile, ”let me remain here. I can see all those pretty things quite distinctly.”
”They are very beautiful, are they not?” cried the child. ”And if--”
”Well, sire,” asked Josephine, ”why do you pause? Pray speak!”
The boy had suddenly a.s.sumed a grave air, and gazed upon the ornaments of the empress. ”I was just thinking--but you will be angry if I tell you what, madame.”
”Certainly not, sire; tell me what you thought.”
”It occurred to my mind that we met in the forest on our way a poor man who looked haggard and wretched, and begged us to give him something. But papa and I could not, for we had already distributed all our money among the unfortunate persons whom we had previously met. Why are there so many poor people, madame?--why does my papa emperor not order all men to be happy and rich?”
”Because it is impossible for him to do so, sire,” said Josephine.