The Emperor remained barely ten days at Bordeaux, and set out for Bayonne by himself, leaving the Empress at Bordeaux, he reached Bayonne in the night of April 14-15. Her Majesty the Empress rejoined him two or three days later.

Prince de Neufchâtel and the grand marshal lodged at the château de Marrac. The rest of Their Majesties' suite lodged in Bayonne and the suburbs. The guard camped opposite the château, in a place called the Parterre. In three days everybody was installed.

In the morning of April 15, the Emperor had scarcely had time to recruit himself after the fatigues of his journey when he received the authorities of Bayonne, who came to compliment him, and whom he interrogated, according to his habit, with the greatest particularity. His Majesty afterwards went to visit the port and the fortifications. This occupied him until five o'clock in the evening, when he returned to the government palace, which he lived in until the château de Marrac should be ready to receive him.

His Majesty had expected to find the Infante Don Carlos, whom his brother Ferdinand, Prince of the Asturias, had sent to Bayonne to present his compliments, awaiting him on his return to the palace. He was told, however, that the Infante was ill and could not go out. The Emperor at once ordered one of his own physicians to be sent to him, together with a valet de chambre to wait upon him, and several other persons. The Prince, having come to Bayonne unattended and as if incognito, had no one in his service but some soldiers of the garrison. The Emperor likewise ordered that this service should be replaced in a more honorable fashion by the guard of honor of Bayonne. He sent regularly two or three times a day to inquire after the Infante, who, as everybody was saying at the palace, was only pretending to be ill.

On leaving the government palace in order to establish himself at Marrac, the Emperor gave all needful orders to have it kept in readiness for the King and Queen of Spain, who were expected at Bayonne by the end of the month. His Majesty issued the most express commands that everything should be promptly arranged, so as to render the Spanish sovereigns all the honors due to their rank.

The Emperor had only just entered the château when his ears were saluted by the music of a rural band. The grand marshal came in to tell His Majesty that a great many of the inhabitants, in the costume of the country, had assembled before the gates. The Emperor immediately went to the window. On catching sight of him, seventeen persons, seven men and ten women, began with inimitable grace a character dance called the pamperruque. The dancing women played on tambourines, and the men on castanets; while flutes and guitars composed the orchestra. I went out of doors to get a nearer view of the performance. The women wore short petticoats of blue silk and pink stockings, both embroidered in silver; their heads were dressed with ribbons, and they had large black bracelets, which set off the whiteness of their bare arms. The men were in tight white breeches, silk stockings and big shoulder-knots, loose jackets of very fine red woollen cloth, braided with gold, and their hair in nets, like the Spaniards.

His Majesty took great pleasure in beholding this dance, which is peculiar to the country and very ancient. It is an act of homage which established usage has devoted to great personages. The Emperor remained at the window until the pamperruque was terminated, sending afterwards to compliment the dancers on their talent, and to thank the inhabitants of Bayonne, who had come thither in crowds. A few days later, His Majesty received a letter from His Royal Highness the Prince of the Asturias, in which he announced that he intended shortly to leave Irun, where he then was, in order to have the advantage of making the acquaintance of his brother (this was what Prince Ferdinand styled the Emperor), an advantage to which he had long aspired and which he was at last to have, if his good brother would kindly permit. This letter was handed to the Emperor by an aide-de-camp of the Prince who had accompanied him from Madrid, and who preceded him at Bayonne by ten days only. His Majesty could hardly believe what he read and heard. I have heard him exclaim, and so have several other persons: "What! he is coming here? But you are mistaken; he is deceiving us! That is impossible." I can certify that, in speaking thus, the Emperor was not feigning astonishment.

However, it was necessary to get ready for the Prince, since he was absolutely coming. The Prince de Neufchâtel, the Duc de Frioul, and a chamberlain of honor were designated by the Emperor; and the guard of honor received orders to accompany these gentlemen to meet the Spanish Prince, but only outside of the city of Bayonne, the rank the Emperor recognized in Ferdinand not permitting the cortège to go as far as the frontier of the two empires. The Prince made his entry into Bayonne at noon, April 20. A lodging, which would have been insignificant in Paris, but which was handsome for Bayonne, had been prepared for him and his brother, the Infante Don Carlos, who was already installed in it. Prince Ferdinand made a grimace on entering it; but he dared not make any audible complaint, and certainly he would have been very much in the wrong to do so. It was not the fault of the Emperor that there was but one palace at Bayonne, that of the government, which he had lived in himself, and which he was now keeping for the King. For the rest, this house was the finest in the city, large and quite new. Don Pedro de Cevallos, who accompanied the Prince, thought it horrible and unworthy of a royal personage. It was the intendant's house. An hour after Ferdinand's arrival, the Emperor went to see him, and found him at the entrance of the street. He held out his arms at the approach of His Majesty, who embraced and went to his apartments with him. They remained together about half an hour. When they separated, the Prince seemed rather thoughtful. On returning to Marrac, His Majesty sent the grand marshal to invite the Prince and his brother, Don Carlos, the Duo de San Carlos, the Duc de l'Infantado, Don Pedro de Cevallos, and two or three other members of the suite, to dinner with him. At dinner-time, the Emperor's carriages brought the illustrious guests. His Majesty went as far as the foot of the front steps to receive the Prince. This was the limit of the honors paid him. Not once during the dinner did the Emperor address Prince Ferdinand, who was King at Madrid, as Majesty, nor even as Highness, when he went away, he accompanied him no further than the first door of the salon, and afterwards sent him word that he would have no rank but that of Prince of the Asturias, until the arrival of his father, King Charles. At the same time the order was given to have the sentry duty at the house of the princes performed by the Bayonne guard of honor and the imperial guard together, plus a detachment of choice gendarmerie.

The Empress arrived from Bordeaux at seven o'clock in the evening, April 27. She only passed through Bayonne, where her arrival excited little enthusiasm, possibly because people were dissatisfied that she did not stop longer. His Majesty received her very affectionately, questioning her with much solicitude concerning the fatigues she must have experienced on a road difficult at best and horribly spoiled by rains. In the evening, the city and the château were illuminated.

Three days later, April 30, the King and Queen of Spain arrived at Bayonne. It is impossible to give an idea of the respect, the attentions, with which they found themselves surrounded by the Emperor. Duke Charles de Plaisance had gone to Irun, and the Prince de Neufchâtel to the banks of Bidassoa, in order to offer Their Catholic Majesties the compliments of their powerful friend. The King and Queen seemed to feel these marks of consideration deeply. A detachment of choice troops, in superb uniforms, awaited them on the frontier and acted as their escort. The garrison of Bayonne had been put under arms, all the vessels in the harbor hung with flags, all the bells were ringing, and the batteries of the citadel fired noisy salutes.

Learning the arrival of the King and Queen, the Prince of the Asturias and his brother had left Bayonne and gone to meet their parents. At some distance from the city they encountered two or three body-guards coming from Vittoria, who related to them the following incident.

When Their Spanish Majesties entered Vittoria, a detachment of one hundred Spanish body-guards who had accompanied the Prince of the Asturias were in the city, and had taken possession of the palace which the King and Queen were to occupy while there. On the arrival of Their Majesties they put themselves under arms. As soon as the King perceived them, he said in a severe tone: "You would like to have me beg you to quit my palace; you were faithless to your duties at Aranjuez: I have no need of your services, and I will not have them; out with you!" These words, spoken with an energy to which they were not accustomed on the part of King Charles IV., admitted of no reply. The bodyguards withdrew, and the King asked General Verdier to give him a French guard, saying that he was sorry not to have retained his brave carbineers, whose colonel was with him as his captain of guards.

This news could hardly have given the Prince of the Asturias a high opinion of the reception he was likely to get from his father. He was, in fact, very badly received, as I am about to show.

On alighting from their carriage at the government palace, the King and Queen of Spain found the grand marshal, Due de Frioul, who conducted them to their apartments and presented General Count Reille, aide-de-camp of the Emperor, charged with the functions of governor of the palace; M. d'Audenarde, equerry; M. Dumanoir and M. de Baral, chamberlains, charged with the service of honor near Their Majesties.

The grandees of Spain whom Their Majesties found at Bayonne were those who had followed the Prince of the Asturias. The sight of them did not please His Majesty, as might have been expected, and when the ceremony of kissing the hand took place, everybody noticed the painful emotion of the unfortunate sovereigns. This ceremony, which consisted in kneeling to kiss the hand of the King and that of the Queen, was performed in profound silence. Their Majesties spoke to nobody but the Count de Fuentes, who was at Bayonne by chance.

The King hastened this ceremony, which fatigued him horribly, and retired with the Queen into his apartments; the Prince of the Asturias wished to follow them; but his father stopped him at the door of his chamber, and making a gesture as if to push him away, said to him in a trembling voice: "Prince, do you wish to outrage my white hairs again?" These words, they say, were like a thunderbolt to the Prince. For a moment he was overcome, and he withdrew without uttering a single word.

Far different was the reception given by Their Majesties to the Prince of the Peace when he rejoined them at Bayonne. He might have been taken for the nearest and dearest relative of Their Majesties. All three shed abundant tears on meeting; so at least I was told by one of the attendants, of whom I learned all I have just related.

At five o'clock, His Majesty the Emperor came to visit the King and Queen of Spain. In this interview, which was very long, the two sovereigns recounted to His Majesty the outrages to which they had been subjected and the dangers they had incurred during a month; they complained sharply of the ingratitude of many men loaded with their benefits, and especially of the body-guards who had so shamefully betrayed them. "Your Majesty," said the King, "does not know what it is to have to complain of a son; please Heaven such a grief may never befall you! Mine is the cause of all that we have suffered."

The Prince of the Peace had come to Bayonne accompanied by Colonel Martès, aide-de-camp to Prince Murat, and a valet de chambre, the only domestic who had remained faithful to him. I had occasion to chat with this loyal servant; he spoke French very well, having been brought up near Toulouse. He told me he had not been able to obtain permission to remain with his master during his captivity; that this unhappy prince had suffered unimaginable torments; that never a day went by without some one coming to his dungeon to tell him to prepare for death, because he would undergo the last penalty that very evening or the following morning. He told me that they sometimes left the prisoner thirty hours without nourishment; that he had nothing for his bed but straw, no linen, no books, no light, and no communication with the outside world. When he issued from his dungeon to be handed over to Colonel Martès, he was frightful to look at on account of his long beard, and the lankness to which he had been reduced by chagrin and bad food. His eyes had grown unaccustomed to sunlight; he was obliged to close them, and the fresh air made him faint.

On the road to Bayonne, the Prince was handed a letter from the King and Queen. The paper was all blotted with tears. After reading it, the Prince said to his valet de chambre: "This is the first consolation I have received for a month; everybody abandons me except my excellent masters. The body-guards who have betrayed and sold their King will betray and sell his son also. As for myself, I no longer hope for anything; let me but find an asylum in France for my children and myself." M. Martès having shown him the public papers in which it was said that the Prince possessed a fortune of five millions, he loudly denied it, saying that it was an atrocious calumny which he defied his worst enemies to prove.

As has been shown, Their Majesties did not have a numerous suite; on the other hand, they were followed by a quantity of baggage-wagons filled with furniture, stuffs, and precious objects. Their carriages were old-fashioned, but Their Majesties were very comfortable in them, especially the King, who was even very much embarrassed when, being invited to dinner by the Emperor the day after his arrival at Bayonne, he was obliged to get into a modern vehicle with double foot-boards. He was afraid to step on these frail machines, which he dreaded to break by leaning his weight on them, and the oscillatory movement of the box made him tremble lest it should upset.

At table I had an opportunity to examine the King and Queen at my ease. The former was of medium height; he was not handsome, but he looked good-natured, had a long nose, and was loud and curt in speech. He walked in a slouching fashion and without the least majesty, which I attributed to his gout. He ate a great deal of everything that was served him, excepting vegetables, which he always refused, saying that herbs were only good for beasts. He drank nothing but water; it was served in two carafes, one of which was iced; he took them both together. His Majesty had advised that care should be taken with the dinner, knowing that the King was something of an epicure. He did honor to French cooking, which seemed to be much to his taste, for at each new dish served him he would say to the Queen: "Louise, eat some of that, it is good;" which greatly amused the Emperor, whose moderation is well known.

The Queen was short and stout, dressed very badly, and had neither grace nor figure; her face was red, her glance hard and haughty; she held her head up, talked very loud, and in a tone still more brief and cutting than that of her husband. She was generally believed to have more character and abilities than he.

Before dinner that day, there was a question of dressing a little. The Empress proposed to the Queen that her hair-dresser, M. Duplan, should give her ladies some lessons in French toilet. This proposition was accepted, and the Queen soon issued from the hands of M. Duplan, better gowned doubtless, and better hair-dressed, but not beautified; his talent could not go so far as that.

The Prince of the Asturias, now King Ferdinand VII., had few exterior graces; he walked heavily, seemed anxious, and scarcely spoke.

Their Spanish Majesties had brought with them the Prince of the Peace, whom the Emperor had not invited, and whom the usher on duty detained outside the dining-room on that account. But just as they were about sitting down, the King observed that the Prince was absent. "And Manuel?" said he briskly to the Emperor, "and Manuel, Sire?" Then the Emperor, smiling, made a sign, and Don Manuel Godoy was introduced. It is said he had been a very handsome man; he hardly looked it. Perhaps this was because of the bad treatment he had received.

After the abdication of the princes, the King and Queen, the Queen of Etruria, and the Infante Don Francisco left Bayonne for Fontainebleau, the place designated by the Emperor as their residence until the château of Compiègne should be put into suit able condition for them. The Prince of the Asturias left the same day with his brother, Don Carlos, for the estate of Valençay, belonging to the Prince of Benevento. In passing through Bordeaux, they published a proclamation to the Spanish people in which they confirmed the transmission of all their rights to the Emperor Napoleon.

King Charles, thus disembarrassed of a throne which he had always regarded as a burden too heavy for him, could thenceforward yield himself without constraint to his favorite and tranquil tastes. He loved nothing in the world but the Prince of the Peace, copes, watches, and music. The throne he did not care for. After what had passed, the Prince of the Peace could not return to Spain, and how could the King consent to be parted from him, even if the memory of the outrages to which he had personally been subjected were not enough to disgust him with his kingdom? What he wanted was the life of a private person; hence he found himself much happier when he was at liberty to follow his own simple inclinations. On his arrival at Fontainebleau, he found there M. de Rémusat, first chamberlain; M. de Caqueray, officer of the chase; M. de Luçay, prefect of the palace, and an establishment all in readiness. Mesdames de La Rochefoucauld, Duchâtel, and de Luçay had been designated by the Emperor to perform the service of honor to the Queen.

The King of Spain only stayed at Fontainebleau so long as was necessary to complete the repairs at Compiègne. He soon found the climate of that part of France too cold for his health, and at the end of a few months he went to establish himself at Marseilles, with the Queen of Etruria. In 1811, he left France for Italy, finding himself still unwell at Marseilles. Rome was the residence he selected.

I just now mentioned the King of Spain's fondness for watchmaking; I have been told that at Fontainebleau he made his valet de chambre wear half a dozen of his watches, and that he carried as many himself, alleging as a reason that pocket watches lose by not being carried. I have been told, also, that he always had his confessor close by him, in the antechamber, or else in the salon leading into that in which he found himself, and that when he wished to speak to him he whistled for him, as one whistles to a dog. The confessor never failed to hurry in at this royal summons, and to follow his penitent into the embrasure of a window. In this improvised confessional the King would say what he had on his conscience, receive absolution, and then send away the priest until he felt obliged to whistle for him again.

When the health of the monarch, enfeebled by age and gout, no longer permitted him to follow the chase, he began to play the violin more than he had ever done before, in order, said he, to perfect himself. This was beginning rather late. It is known that he had the celebrated Alexandre Boucher for his first violin; he greatly liked to play with him, but he had a mania for beginning first, without disturbing himself in the least about the time. If it occurred to M. Boucher to make any remark upon this subject, His Majesty would reply with great coolness: Monsieur, it seems to me I was not made to wait for you.

Between the departure of the royal family and the arrival of King Joseph of Naples the time was spent in reviews and military fêtes, which the Emperor frequently honored by his presence. June 7, King Joseph reached Bayonne. It had long been known that his brother was summoning him to exchange his crown of Naples for that of Spain.

On the very evening of King Joseph's arrival the Emperor sent invitations to the members of the Spanish Junta, who for the last fortnight had been coming to Bayonne from all quarters of the kingdom, to assemble at the château of Marrac for the purpose of congratulating the new King.

The deputies accepted this somewhat abrupt invitation without having had time to consult together as to what must be done. On arriving at Marrac, the Emperor presented the sovereign to them, whom they recognized in the name of the grandees of Spain, after a rather lively opposition from the Due de l'Infantado solely. As to the deputations from the council of Hostile, the inquisition, the army, etc., they submitted without the slightest observation. A few days afterward, the King formed his ministry, among whom people were amazed to see M. de Cevallos figuring,—him who had accompanied the Prince of the Asturias to Bayonne and made such a parade of inviolable attachment to the person of him whom he styled his unfortunate master; the same Due de l'Infantado who had opposed as far as he was able the recognition of the foreign monarch was appointed captain of guards. The King then departed for Madrid, after having appointed the Grand Duke of Berg lieutenant-general of the realm.