Mérimée, without seeking it, soon had another close connection with the Emperor. Eugénie Montijo, the daughter of his close friends the Count and Countess of Montijo, had been invited to an event at the Palace of Saint Cloud, where she met the new Emperor. In November 1852 she was invited to the Palace of Fontainebleau, where the Emperor proposed marriage to her. They were married fifteen days later at the Tuileries Palace, and she became the Empress Eugénie. Honors followed immediately for Mérimée; he was made a Senator of the Empire, with a salary of 30,000 francs a year, and became the confidant and closest friend of the young Empress.