No. 58 To the Empress, at Paris
Osterode, March 27, 1807, 7 P.M.
My Dear,—Your letter pains me. There is no question of your dying. You are in good health, and you can have no just ground for grief.
I think you should go during May to St. Cloud; but you must spend the whole month of April at Paris.
My health is good. My affairs prosper.
You must not think of travelling this summer; nothing of that sort is feasible. You ought not to frequent inns and camps. I long as much as you for our meeting and for a quiet life.
I can do other things besides fight; but duty stands first and foremost. All my life long I have sacrificed everything to my destiny—peace of mind, personal advantage, happiness.
Adieu, dear. See as little as possible of that Madame de P——. She is a woman who belongs to the lowest grade of society; she is thoroughly common and vulgar.
Napoleon.
I have had occasion to find fault with M. de T——. I have sent him to his country house in Burgundy. I wish no longer to hear his name mentioned.