A REGICIDE AT THE SERVICE OF THE KING
DURING THE DRAMATIC DAYS BETWEEN THE DEFEAT AT Waterloo and the beginnings of the Second Restoration, a man who might have been thought to have gone abroad or to be hiding in an out-of-the-way farm, because of the intense resentment against him and the opprobrium his name provoked, was in fact pulling the strings behind the scenes. One might almost say that some civilian and military dignitaries relied on him precisely because of his reputation as a Machiavellian. It is worth noting that he looked the part. The ex-seminarian was lean and pale with thin lips and a narrow, angular face. His eyes were often compared to those of a dead fish, because they were cold, gray, and without sparkle. He looked exhausted, distracted, fragile, and seemed completely uninterested in what was going on around him. But in fact, he saw everything and knew everything. He had an unusual capacity for hard work, and his indifference to human suffering had enabled him to create character armor that almost nothing could penetrate. His name was Joseph Fouché, former executioner of Lyon, who had become Minister of Police, the Emperor’s chief spy, and the man who did his dirty work, before breaking with Napoleon and then returning to political prominence. He won 293 votes in the Assembly, second only to Carnot’s 324, for a seat on the provisional executive committee that operated as a temporary government.
Fouché did not like Lafayette, who was everything that he deplored: he was upright, sincere, disinterested, and intransigent on questions of principle. He was, moreover, popular, and that made him dangerous. In addition, Fouché thought Lafayette was muddled and unrealistic. To get rid of this man who might compromise his plans with bold actions or rash outbursts, the simplest thing, Fouché thought, was to appeal to his patriotism and to send him for discussions with the allied powers to try to keep their troops from advancing further. Lafayette agreed, after being assured that the provisional government would not take advantage of his absence to proclaim a regency for Napoleon II, as the still numerous Bonapartists wished.
He thus found himself on the road again in a delegation with a loyal follower of Napoleon, another representative of the Assembly, one from the Chamber of Peers, a career diplomat, and Benjamin Constant as secretary.
The delegation had some difficulty in establishing contact with the allies. Always optimistic, Lafayette imagined that the liking Alexander I had shown for him in 1814 would enable him to win some concessions. This hope did not take into account the capricious character of the tsar, who had an attractive personality but unpredictable conduct, and claimed that he was unable to receive Lafayette. The British and the Prussians did not seem interested in an armistice. They wanted Bonaparte to be handed over and intended to continue their march on Paris. When the British representative demanded that the delegation hand over the ex-emperor before opening negotiations, Lafayette saw red and said he was astonished that they would think the former prisoner of Olmütz could possibly propose such a cowardly act to the French people. Negotiations collapsed, and the delegation returned to Paris. By the time they arrived on July 4, the capitulation had already been signed; French troops not engaged in battle were to retreat toward the Loire. In these circumstances, why was the commission, with four additional members, sent back toward the allied lines with a declaration to the monarchs? This was probably a diversionary tactic dreamed up by Fouché to conceal his dealings with the enemy and the representatives of Louis XVIII. In any event, the delegation was unable to get through the barriers at the gates of Paris. The Prussian Marshal Blücher was in Paris and opposed to their passage. The provisional executive committee announced its resignation. On July 7, Prefect of Police Decazes, who supported the Bourbons, blocked the deputies from entering the Assembly. Louis XVIII, who considered that his reign had not been called into question but merely interrupted by the Hundred Days, prepared to make his second entry. Lafayette had been thoroughly duped. There was nothing for him to do but return to La Grange.