in september 1800, charles emmanuel and clotilde left sardinia for florence because the russo-austrian alliance in the war against france raised their hopes of being restored to turin, but the battle of marengo made them flee for rome and then to naples, where they stayed november 1800-march 1801 before returning to rome. in rome they lived as guests of the wealthy colonna family. clotilde nursed her husband's aunt princess maria felicita of savoy through her last illness in naples in 1801. she also attended her favorite lady-in-waiting badia, and during which she was mistaken for a servant woman by the doctor and performed his orders without protests and without telling him who she was or reproaching him when he found out and apologized, an incident which aroused some attention. the couple finally returned to naples in may 1801. except for attending to political affairs via correspondence, clothilde devoted herself to visiting religious places, churches and people.