Read Online Wondrous Beauty: The Life and Adventures of Elizabeth Patterson Bonaparte by Carol Berkin - Free Book Online
Authors: Carol Berkin
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lot with the French? The Federalists were appalled; how could she ignore the implicit insult to American honor contained in the emperor’s dissolution of her marriage? But it was Betsy’s refusal to condemn Napoleon, whose power and ambition she would admire for the rest of her life, that ensured her private crisis would continue to have political overtones.
It was in Washington that Betsy began to hear the rumors of Jérôme’s proposed marriage to the princess of Württemberg. Soon enough she also heard rumors that her own marriage had been annulled; although it was not unexpected, the news, if true, was a terrible blow. Both rumors, of course, proved correct. On July 7, 1807, Napoleon rewarded Jérôme’s loyalty with a kingship. The emperor had been revising the map of Europe, carving new countries out of conquered areas of Prussia and Germany. One of the new kingdoms was tiny Westphalia, lying to the east of Belgium. Jérôme would wear the Westphalian crown. His queen would be Princess Catherine Fredericka Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg.
Jérôme was unlikely to feel the rush of desire to possess his queen-to-be that he had once felt for Betsy Patterson. Nineteen-year-old Catherine was neither pretty nor charming, although she proved herself to be kind and caring during their long marriage. She was short, without the long neck that signaled grace and beauty in the Napoleonic era, and she rarely smiled. The Duchesse d’Abrantès, who believed Jérôme regretted his divorce but simply did not have the “strength of mind” to resist the pressures put upon him, described the poor impression Catherine made on her first meeting with him. The
duchesse,
who was present at the first meeting of the young couple, expressed regret“that no one had the courage to recommend her a different style of dress.” Instead, Catherine wore a gown “in a style which had … been forgotten … with a train exactly resembling the round tail of the beaver.” The meeting was brief; after a short conversation, Jérôme announced, “My brother is waiting for us,” and left the room. Catherine realized the meeting had gone badly. “The colour in her cheeks increased so violently,” the
duchesse
wrote, “that I feared the bursting of a blood-vessel.” Then Catherine fainted. Despite Jérôme’s lack of enthusiasm for his future wife, their wedding took place on August 12, 1807.
Jérôme filled the weeks and months that followed running up bills that quickly drained the Westphalian treasury. In addition to his own dazzlingly extravagant wardrobe—including satin suits embroidered with gold—he dressed members of his palace staff in velvet capes. He was soon borrowing money to cover his debts. Napoleon watched with disgust. Although he spoke bluntly to Jérôme, declaring,“I have seldom seen anyone with so little sense of proportion as yourself,” he knew the censurefell on deaf ears. His younger brother was simply beyond reform. “Jérôme,” Napoleon told a confidant,“cares for nothing but pageantry, women, plays, and fetes.” But no matter how harshly Napoleon criticized him, Jérôme remained confident that he would eventually be forgiven. In the end, it was Catherine who did most of the forgiving, for Jérôme was regularly, and flagrantly, unfaithful to his wife.
While Jérôme was refurbishing royal buildings and appointing incompetent friends to positions of responsibility, Betsy was rebuilding her own life. What might have seemed an ending for an early-nineteenth-century American woman abandoned with a small child was, for Betsy Patterson Bonaparte, only the beginning. Her prince charming had failed her, but she was now ready to create a fairy-tale life for herself.
Chapter Five
“Madame Bonaparte Is Ambitious”
Although at twenty, Betsy was still young and beautiful, by 1805 she was no longer naïve. She had grown cynical, and over the coming years, she would come to share with her father that distrust
It was in Washington that Betsy began to hear the rumors of Jérôme’s proposed marriage to the princess of Württemberg. Soon enough she also heard rumors that her own marriage had been annulled; although it was not unexpected, the news, if true, was a terrible blow. Both rumors, of course, proved correct. On July 7, 1807, Napoleon rewarded Jérôme’s loyalty with a kingship. The emperor had been revising the map of Europe, carving new countries out of conquered areas of Prussia and Germany. One of the new kingdoms was tiny Westphalia, lying to the east of Belgium. Jérôme would wear the Westphalian crown. His queen would be Princess Catherine Fredericka Sophia Dorothea of Württemberg.
Jérôme was unlikely to feel the rush of desire to possess his queen-to-be that he had once felt for Betsy Patterson. Nineteen-year-old Catherine was neither pretty nor charming, although she proved herself to be kind and caring during their long marriage. She was short, without the long neck that signaled grace and beauty in the Napoleonic era, and she rarely smiled. The Duchesse d’Abrantès, who believed Jérôme regretted his divorce but simply did not have the “strength of mind” to resist the pressures put upon him, described the poor impression Catherine made on her first meeting with him. The
duchesse,
who was present at the first meeting of the young couple, expressed regret“that no one had the courage to recommend her a different style of dress.” Instead, Catherine wore a gown “in a style which had … been forgotten … with a train exactly resembling the round tail of the beaver.” The meeting was brief; after a short conversation, Jérôme announced, “My brother is waiting for us,” and left the room. Catherine realized the meeting had gone badly. “The colour in her cheeks increased so violently,” the
duchesse
wrote, “that I feared the bursting of a blood-vessel.” Then Catherine fainted. Despite Jérôme’s lack of enthusiasm for his future wife, their wedding took place on August 12, 1807.
Jérôme filled the weeks and months that followed running up bills that quickly drained the Westphalian treasury. In addition to his own dazzlingly extravagant wardrobe—including satin suits embroidered with gold—he dressed members of his palace staff in velvet capes. He was soon borrowing money to cover his debts. Napoleon watched with disgust. Although he spoke bluntly to Jérôme, declaring,“I have seldom seen anyone with so little sense of proportion as yourself,” he knew the censurefell on deaf ears. His younger brother was simply beyond reform. “Jérôme,” Napoleon told a confidant,“cares for nothing but pageantry, women, plays, and fetes.” But no matter how harshly Napoleon criticized him, Jérôme remained confident that he would eventually be forgiven. In the end, it was Catherine who did most of the forgiving, for Jérôme was regularly, and flagrantly, unfaithful to his wife.
While Jérôme was refurbishing royal buildings and appointing incompetent friends to positions of responsibility, Betsy was rebuilding her own life. What might have seemed an ending for an early-nineteenth-century American woman abandoned with a small child was, for Betsy Patterson Bonaparte, only the beginning. Her prince charming had failed her, but she was now ready to create a fairy-tale life for herself.
Chapter Five
“Madame Bonaparte Is Ambitious”
Although at twenty, Betsy was still young and beautiful, by 1805 she was no longer naïve. She had grown cynical, and over the coming years, she would come to share with her father that distrust
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