A Double Sacrifice — Aileen Armitage

As a child, Marie Louise, daughter of the Emperor of Austria, was taught by example and experience to loathe and fear Napoleon Bonaparte. When his Josephine fails to provide him with a son, however, Napoleon seeks a new wife, and the beautiful archduchess is given a chance to know the real man and conqueror.

Initially Marie-Louise is stoical about the match, resigned to the idea of acting in her country's best interests. Yet from the moment he leaps into her carriage on the road from Austria, having convinced her he is a bandit, her little husband-to-be is full of surprises, and soon Marie is happier than she ever thought possible. The joy of the couple is sealed by the birth of a baby boy yet, as the years pass, Marie wonders if her childish beliefs about her husband might have been correct after all . . .