Many girls had a "Prince Charming" in their hearts: tall, handsome, intelligent, and wealthy.
Such "princes" did exist—in operas and fairy tales, for instance—but truly handsome princes were few and far between in real royal families. King Louis I of Etruria was Louis XV's great-grandson. Twenty-eight years old, he was married to the Spanish princess Maria Luisa. This young king had none of the oppressive presence Napoleon gave Georgiana. He had black eyes, a messy mop of gray hair, thick lips like his great-grandfather Louis XV, a bright scarlet formal coat, and a thick scarf wrapped around his neck.
Louis I's father, Ferdinand, did not have much time left. Though the Kingdom of Etruria was independent in name, French soldiers were stationed throughout its territory. When Napoleon invaded Italy, he had forced Ferdinand to surrender the throne to Louis I. Queen Maria stayed home with the children, so the king had come to this diplomatic event alone.
The Spanish royal family was ruled by the queen, including the present Spanish court. It was said that Prime Minister Godoy was the queen's lover.
Georgiana had seen a portrait of Godoy. He really was quite handsome, but at the time she had been enchanted by Napoleon Bonaparte. She still thought that wild lion, with his distinctly classical Greek features, was better-looking.
If three million metric quintals of grain required thirty million francs to feed Paris's one million residents, then thirty-six million people would require thirty times that amount. Napoleon had to prepare nearly one billion francs at the very least to buy grain abroad.
Naturally, that estimate was not precise. But rather than recruiting new soldiers, he had recalled former veterans. Clearly, he was beginning to deal with the bandit problem at home.
Some people's hearts could never recover after war. Even