Beaming with joy, Eugene returned to Josephine with his father's
sword, and with all the glowing sentiments of thankfulness he
related to her how kindly and obligingly General Bonaparte had
received him, what friendly and affectionate words he had spoken to
him, and how much forbearance and patience he had manifested to his
impassioned request.
Josephine's maternal heart was sensitive and grateful for every
expression of sympathy toward her son, and the goodness and
forbearance of the general affected her the more, that she knew how
bold and wild the boy, smarting under pain, must have been. She
therefore hastened to perform a duty of politeness by calling the
next day on General Bonaparte, to thank him for the kindness he had
shown Eugene.
For the first time General Bonaparte stood in the presence of the
woman who one day was to share his fame and greatness, and this
first moment was decisive as to his and her future. Josephine's
grace and elegance, her sweetness of disposition, her genial
cheerfulness, the expression of lofty womanhood which permeated her
whole being, and which protected her securely from any rough
intrusion or familiarity; her fine, truly aristocratic bearing,
which revealed at once a lady of the court and of the great world;
her whole graceful and beautiful appearance captivated the heart of
Napoleon at the first interview, and the very next day after
receiving her short call he hastened to return it.
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