Page:Helen Leah Reed - Napoleons young neighbour.djvu/241

Rh "Whatever British sailors take in hand," said Napoleon, "they never leave undone."

A marble bust of the King of Rome was sent to Napoleon, probably by Maria Louisa. Napoleon gazed on it with proud satisfaction and he seemed pleased with the praises of Betsy and her mother.

"You ought to be proud to be the father of so beautiful a boy," said Mrs. Balcombe.

Smiles lit Napoleon's face, and Betsy, child though she was, was impressed by his expression of paternal fondness.

The bust was of white marble and executed by Caracci, and it bore the names Napoleon François Charles Joseph. The child was shown wearing the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor. It had been brought from Leghorn by the gunner of a ship bound to St. Helena, and although it had come so mysteriously, people generally understood that Maria Louisa herself had taken the trouble to have it sent in this way to Napoleon, her husband.

"Now, come," said Madame Bertrand, after the sisters had spent some time admiring Napoleon's gifts, "let me show you my presents;"