CHAPTER LIV.
A SOUL IN PURGATORY.
It was the 11th of April. Napoleon, at Fontaineblean, sat at his
desk and stared at the paper before him. It contained an absolute
resignation of his throne for himself and his family. After signing
this document, he was no more Emperor of France, nor his son King of
Rome, nor his consort empress--perhaps, no longer even his wife. By
signing this paper, he accepted all the conditions imposed on him by
the allies; that is to say, he descended from the sovereignty of all
his states and went to the little island of Elba, to live there a
pensioner of Europe; his consort wore no longer, like him, the
imperial title, but became Duchess of Parma; and the King of Rome
became not the heir of his father, the Emperor of Elba, but the heir
of his mother, the Duchess of Parma, and the title of "Duke de
Reichstadt" was to be given him. He renounced not only France, but
his wife and his son!
Napoleon was fondly and sincerely attached to Maria Louisa, and he
loved the King of Rome with passionate tenderness. Before
consenting, therefore, to affix his signature to this act of
abdication, he wished to know whether Maria Louisa agreed to it, and
whether she would not at least ask the allies, one of whom was her
own father, to permit her to reside with her son and her husband on
the island of Elba, sharing the emperor's exile.
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