"I FELT MORE THAN EVER HOW DEAR THE EMPEROR WAS TO ME...". BONAPARTE (Pauline). Autograph letter signed to Jean-Jacques Régis Cambacérès. Nice, December 7th, 1813. 2 pp. 2/3 in-12. "My dear prince, I did not answer rather your kind letter. The fever did not leave me, and I get up today for the first time. I confess that the kind things the Emperor said about me have contributed more to my recovery than all the care imaginable. This redoubling of my suffering had been caused by the grief that events had given me. I felt more than ever how dear the Emperor was to me, and how unhappy I was not to be close to him. I hope that this crisis will be the last, and my doctor shares this hope. In the spring, my dear prince, I shall be in Paris. I am suffering too much from this cruel distance. My patience is wearing thin, especially seeing that my health has gained nothing. I beg you, my dear prince, to be the interpreter of my feelings to the Emperor and Empress. I have also come to ask you to take a small souvenir to the King of Rome and my portrait [Louise-Charlotte Le Tellier de Courtanvaux de Montmirail, Countess de Montesquiou-Fezensac] to the governess. Mr [Jean-Paul Louis] Michelot, my steward, will bring them to you in a while. My dear prince, I don't want to wait until New Year's Day to express the wishes I have for you. They are very sincere. I am sending you a box with a snuffbox that I had made expressly in Rome, knowing that you liked pretty snuffboxes. I wanted to send you my portrait, but the ones they have done of me are not close enough. When I arrive I will have it done from life so that it looks better and I will give it to you next year... Farewell, my dear Archchancellor, take care of your health, trust my experience, it is the first of all possessions. Farewell, write to me and believe in my eternal feelings of attachment. Farewell..."