HOME OF THE EMPRESS JOSEPHINE. 315 
Of the first years of this illustrious child we know 
little. She resided here with her parents until ten 
years of age, when she was sent to the convent at 
Fort Royal, where she remained until fifteen. During 
the brief period which elapsed between her return 
from the convent and her marriage to Beauharnais, 
she dwelt with her family, engaged in domestic duties 
and in the education of her sisters. At the age of 
sixteen she was married to Alexander de Beauhar- 
nais, in France. In 1788, having separated from her 
husband, she returned to her birthplace, and passed 
three tranquil years. With her little daughter, the 
charming Hortense, then five years old, she rambled 
over the hills and valleys endeared to her by the 
memory of her childhood days. 
With a loving mother and father, and in the com- 
pany of her youngest sister, surrounded by sympa- 
thetic neighbors, she seems to have passed some of 
the happiest days of her existence. Thus she writes 
of her retreat, during the separation from Beauhar- 
nais: 
* Nature, rich and sumptuous, has covered our fields 
with a carpeting which charms as well by the variety 
of its colors as of its objects. She has strewn the 
banks of our rivers with flowers, and planted the fresh- 
est forests around our fertile borders. I cannot resist 
the temptation to breathe the pure aromatic odors 
wafted on the zephyr’s wings. I love to hide myself 
in the green woods that skirt our dwelling; there I 
tread on flowers which exhale a perfume as rich as 
that of the orange grove, and more grateful to the 
senses. How many charms has this retreat for one 
in my situation! . . . I find myself in the midst of 
