Royal Mistresses: Marie Walewska
I saw no one but you, I admired no one but you, I want no one but you. written by Napoleon Bonaparte to Marie Walewska after their first meeting When you have ceased to love me, remember that I love you still Marie Walewska, inscribed on a locket to Napoleon with a lock of her hair. Imagine that one is a beautiful blonde noblewoman from an aristocratic but impoverished family. You are married to a much, older man to further your family's ambitions. You capture the notice of one of the greatest men the world has ever known who presses his attentions on you, much to your dismay. Your friends tell you that you are your country's greatest hope. What do you do? This was the dilemma faced by the young Marie Walewska in 1806 when she met the Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte. She was born Marie Laczynska on December 7 1786, to a family of little money but aristocratic lineage. The family lived on a rundown estate, where Marie was one of six children, raised by her widowed mother. Marie'...