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Rh events, there are plenty of passages to show that he did not separate from Josephine without considerable wrench of feeling. When it was suggested to him in 1804 that he ought to look for an heir, he cried out:

"It is from a feeling of justice that I will not divorce my wife. My interests, perhaps the interests of the system, demand that I should marry again. But I have said to myself: 'Why should I put away that good woman simply because I have become greater?' No, it is beyond me. I have the heart of a man, I am not the offspring of a tigress. I will not make her unhappy."

Knowing how much of an actor Napoleon was, it is hard to say whether these excellent sentiments were what he really felt, or desired other people to think he felt; or may not these sentences be the compensation he thought himself bound to make for what he was contemplating? One of the subtle tricks of self-love and selfishness is to imagine that verbal remorse is a sufficient justification for unworthy acts. In 1809, however, the decision so often contemplated was finally made, and was the result of the liaison with Madame Walewska. When Napoleon was in the apogee of his power and glory he spent three months at Schönbrunn, and during that period Madame Walewska was his companion. When she became enceinte Napoleon's hesitation came to an end; he determined to have an heir to his throne.