the r'ship between Betsy and Napoleon.the adult yet childlike emotions they shared...

Betsy Balcombe spoke French and she was not afraid of His Imperial Majesty. Napoleon's entourage of Counts and Generals would not speak to him unless spoken to; their access to him was rigidly bound by rules, and they did not like this English girl who took liberties with the Emperor. Betsy played rough games with Napoleon; and she watched the way his eyes seemed to change colour from blue to grey to brown. She felt his hair, which was as soft as the hair of a young child, and she wondered why his teeth were so dark, until she realised that it came from eating so much liquorice. She took Napoleon's hands in her own to examine them. She was at an age between childhood and womanhood which allowed her licence to be bad mannered and rough, but keep an edge of flirtatiousness. She told him frankly that she did not like his singing and she was allowed access to him at any time she chose.

fr betsy's memoirs.