of 1756-1763; and it was in June of the last year
that his daughter, Marie-Joseph-Rose, was born at
the petit bourg of Trois Islets, across the bay from
Fort de France. A t sixteen she went to France to
marry the son of the governor of Martinique, Marquis
de Beauharnais, but after that unhappy union
was dissolved returned to her tropical home to
emerge again in her maturer years and captivate the
great Napoleon amid the gayeties of Paris. T hat
prouder union was destined to a still unhappier dissolution.
Madame de Maintenon was also born in
Martinique and passed her girlhood there as Françoise
d ’Aubigné. History and romance unite with
lavish nature and a peculiar people to give this
island a fascination all its own.
