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Fwd: Marie Louise & Napoleon
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----- Forwarded message from chaiselongue@earthlink.net -----
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2004 17:47:15 -0800
From: Carolyn <chaiselongue@earthlink.net>
Dear Akiko,
While still a student, Hugh would already have been suffering from a
jealous rage, such as Napoleon´s might have been because..did not
Bonaparte´s second wife Marie Louise betray him and bear two children from
Count Neipperg?
The answer to this question is yes and no. Marie Louise did "betray" the
exiled Napoleon with Neipperg, who was to become after Napoleon's death her
morganatic husband. She did refuse to join Napoleon in Elba & he threatened
to have her forcibly abducted. That seems to have ended the marriage for all
intents and purposes.
However in his will, Napoleon spoke of his child bride with tenderness and
forgave her. Her children with Neipperg were born after Napoleon's death.
She was again widowed and again remarried.
I have a soft spot in my heart for Marie Louise, because the story of her
arranged marriage with Napoleon, whom she had been raised to regard as the
Antichrist, is such a marvelous "Beauty and the Beast" story.
Carolyn
----- End forwarded message -----\
EDNOTE. Personally, I'm more an admirer of Josephine.