A third alliance was cemented by the marriage of the heir to the Grand Duchy of Baden with Stephanie de Beauharnais, niece of Josephine.
In the early part of 1806 Napoleon might flatter himself with his brilliant success as a match-maker.

Yet, after all, he was less concerned with the affairs of Hymen than with those of Mars and Mercury.

He longed to be at Paris for the settlement of finances; and he burned to hear of the expulsion of the Bourbons from Naples.

For this last he had already sent forth his imperious mandates from Vienna; and, after a brief sojourn at the Swabian capitals, he set out for Paris, where he arrived incognito at midnight of January 26th.
During his absence of one hundred and twenty-five days he had captured or destroyed two armies, stricken a mighty coalition to the heart, shattered the Hapsburg Power, and revolutionized the Germanic system by establishing two Napoleonic kingdoms in its midst.
Yet, as if nothing had been done, and all his hopes and thoughts lay in the future, he summoned his financial advisers to a council for eight o'clock in the morning.

Scarcely did he deign to notice their congratulations on his triumphs.