They were all young, many of them very beautiful; and
when this lovely group were dressed in white crape, adorned with
flowers, their heads crowned with wreaths as fresh as the hues of
their young, laughing, charming faces, it was indeed a bewitching
sight to witness the animated and lively dance in these halls,
through which walked the first consul, surrounded by the men with
whom he discussed and decided the destinies of Europe." [Footnote:
Abrantes, "Memoires," vol. iii., p. 329.]
But the best and most exciting amusement in Malmaison was the
theatre; and nothing delighted Bonaparte so much as this, where the
young troop of lovers in the palace performed little operas and
vaudevilles, and went through their parts with all the eagerness of
real actors, perfectly happy in having the consul and his wife for
audience. In Malmaison, Bonaparte abandoned himself with boundless
joy to his fondness for the theatre; here he applauded with all the
gusto of an amateur, laughed with the laisser-aller of a college-boy
at the harmless jokes of the vaudevilles, and here also he took
great pleasure in the dramatic performances of Eugene, who excelled
especially in comic roles.
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