[Napoleon at Saint Helena, the site of his second exile and eventual death.]
Briefly: Napoleon’s daily routine was perforce limited.
Marchand awakened him early and served coffee in bed. One or more of the valets
washed him and helped him shave, then rubbed him down with a coarse brush and
doused him with eau de cologne (which
soon ran out and was replaced with homemade lavender water) and finally helped
him dress, an elaborate process that required one or two hours.
Weather permitting, he and Las Cases usually went for a long
walk or horseback ride before breakfast. The emperor breakfasted late either in
his room or, in fair weather, in the small garden. When in the mood he followed
this with dictation to Las Cases, Gourgaud or Bertrand. On occasion he received
guests, usually lunched alone in his room, conversed in Italian with O’Meara and
toward evening walked or rode with the ladies in a small open carriage in good
weather but otherwise stayed by the fireplace reading. He often interrupted
this routine with steaming baths that sometimes lasted for three or four hours.
Dinners were formal. The carefully coiffured and gowned
ladies and uniformed generals gathered in the drawing room, everyone standing
to await the emperor’s arrival after which the ladies only were permitted to
sit until dinner was served. Although the food was poor it was eaten off
precious china while equally inferior wine was drunk from exquisite crystal
goblets. Table talk was restrained. If the emperor did not speak no one else
spoke. Dinner normally lasted for forty minutes before the company returned to
the drawing room. Pleasantries there consisted of Madame Montholon warbling a
few French ballads followed by someone, often Napoleon, reading a play, usually
one of Racine, Molière or Voltaire’s tragic dramas. Conversation was normally
light, the emperor twitting the ladies, sometimes rudely, but on occasion
reminiscing, often to the company’s delight. Cards or chess also whiled away
the hours until the emperor retired, usually around eleven.
Robert Asprey, The Reign of Napoleon Bonaparte
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