De Jaucourt was a dyed-in-the wool Royalist, so Roger’s account of Napoleon’s good prospects and intentions had not been given with the least thought of changing his outlook; but the news that the Congress of Vienna was still in session came to him as a great surprise. On the road from the coast he had, on several occasions, heard the Emperor tell officers and functionaries who had come over to him that the English had connived at his escape from Elba and that he had been secretly in communication with his father-in-law, the Emperor of Austria, who favoured his return.
Having long known Napoleon to be the most unscrupulous of liars whenever his own interests were concerned, Roger had had grave doubts about both assertions; but he had taken it for granted that the Emperor had reliable agents in Vienna, so it had not even occurred to him to question the statement that the Congress had broken up, and he had personal knowledge that the four Great Powers had split into two bitterly hostile camps.
With a puzzled frown, he said, ‘When I left Vienna, Metternich and the Czar were hardly even on speaking terms, although some progress had been made on the Polish and Saxon questions. That they should have buried the hatchet overnight and are about to enter into a new alliance positively amazes me.’
The Marquis smiled. ‘Yet it is so; and, of course, ’tis due to the brilliant handling of this new situation by our Prince. To have allowed Bonaparte again to occupy the throne of France would have brought to naught all he has laboured for so consistently these many years.’
Roger needed no telling what Talleyrand’s attitude would have been nor of his extraordinary powers of persuasion. Thoughtfully, he said, ‘If the Alliance holds, it must lead to Bonaparte’s inevitable defeat. But there is no guarantee that it will. The Czar has become a dual personality. He will agree to a thing one day, and violently repudiate it the next. Bonaparte’s intentions are now pacific, and all the other nations are heartily sickened of war, so once he is back on the throne, he may well succeed in splitting the alliance and preventing a renewal of hostilities. And I’ll wager any money that, within the week, he will be issuing his orders from the Tuileries. Tell me, now, how are things going there?’
‘At first they were entirely complacent and felt sure they had nothing to fear. Then, as news came in that Bonaparte was meeting with no opposition and that Lyons had opened its gates to him, they did become quite concerned. But, as you know, the King is incurably lazy and quite incapable of personal leadership. He leaves everything to his favourites: that fool de Blacas, who does his utmost to prevent anyone speaking to the King unless he is present, the reactionary de Vitrolles, who acts as the highly persuasive mouthpiece of the Comte d’Artois, and the Abbé Montesquiou, who is not content with his job of Minister of the Interior and would really like to be the leader of a Liberal Government.
‘As you can imagine, they all quarrel like a gaggle of old washerwomen, and give contrary advice, to which that monstrously fat King of ours listens while reclining with his feet on a gout stool. But all he does is to nod his head without agreeing to take the advice of any of them. He treats our veterans, Berthier and Marmont in the same way, and the other night when Marshal Macdonald paid a surreptitious visit to the Tuileries, he fared no better. As he had just come hotfoot with d’Artois from having abandoned Lyons to Bonaparte, he went there in civilian clothes, so as to be less readily recognised. When he asked the monarch where he wished to retire should we have to abandon Paris, all the reply he got was “My dear Duc de Taranto, we have not come to that yet.” ’
With a slight shrug, Roger remarked, ‘What you tell me confirms my impression that Bonaparte will meet with little organised resistance before he is again master of Paris.’
‘I would not be too certain about that. Yesterday morning, the twelve legions of the National Guard were paraded in the Place Vendôme, and inspected by their Colonel-in-Chief, d’Artois. They gave him a really rousing reception and, although they are under no obligation to leave the city, at his appeal many of them volunteered to form special companies which would march out and assist in repelling Bonaparte.’
‘Oh come, Monsieur le Marquis! What use as soldiers are the National Guard? They are honest bourgeoisie, the majority of whom are middle-aged and incapable of marching five miles carrying full war equipment, let alone forming square and resisting a cavalry charge.’
‘You forget that nearly all of them are old soldiers who fought in Bonaparte’s campaigns, and I am sure you underestimate the opposition he will meet from the people as a whole. Futile as the King is, they recognise his goodness, and that as long as he reigns there will be no war. I assure you the great majority of the Parisians are loyal to him. Had you been here yesterday afternoon, you would have had ample proof of that from their behaviour.’
‘What took place then?’
‘His Majesty crossed the Seine to the Palais Bourbon, and there addressed the combined Assemblies. In spite of the fact that it was pouring with rain, the streets were lined with people and although, contrary to his custom, he was an hour late, they gave him a tremendous ovation. The ceremony, too, was most impressive. Twenty Peers and twenty Deputies received him at the doors of the palace. His two best friends, de Blacas and the Duc du Duras, supported him to the throne, and he made a truly touching speech. Afterwards d’Artois, d’Orleans and the other Princes ran forward, fell on their knees before him and kissed his hands. To a man the Peers and Deputies renewed their oaths of allegiance to him. Some of them even burst into tears and, remember, many of them were Senators who had been the leaders of the people in the old days of the Revolution.’
Again Roger shrugged. ‘You do not surprise me, in view of all that these people stand for. Many of the Peers are émigrés and have everything to lose. The majority, whatever their pasts, are now solid citizens with wealth and property, who fear that Bonaparte’s hope of restoration is based on the power of the mob and that his coming will bring about a return to anarchy. Yet I’ll wager that most of them will alter their tune when they realise that he is a changed man and wishes only to right the wrongs that many sections of the community have suffered at the hands of the Bourbons. I’ll also wager that there are many officials in the present government who served Napoleon in the past, and are still Bonapartists at heart.’
‘That may be so. But measures have been taken to render the most important of them harmless. The King can be credited with at least one shrewd gesture. On the 13th he decided to re-create the office of Prefect of Police, and fill it with a man well acquainted with such influential people who would support Bonaparte. For the post he selected Bourrienne, and he could hardly have made a better choice.’
Roger’s expression remained unchanged, but this unexpected news came as a most welcome surprise to him. For many years Fauvelet de Bourrienne had been one of his closest friends. He felt confident that he could get from him in his new post more accurate information than by talking to a score of other acquaintances. After a moment he said:
‘You are right. Few people have better cause to hate Bonaparte, or know more about his old friends who deserted him only to save their own necks.’
De Jaucourt smiled, ‘And you may be sure he is losing no time in arresting them.’
Smothering a yawn, Roger stood up. ‘I see now that you have good reason for your belief that, on arriving here, Bonaparte will not receive the support he expects. But, Monsieur le Marquis, I am dog-tired. I pray you to excuse me so that I can get a few hours’ sleep.’
‘By all means.’ The Marquis, too, stood up. ‘I am sorry not to have your company for dinner, but we’ll talk again tomorrow. In the meantime, pray do not hesitate to ask for anything you want.’
In the room that had been prepared for him, Roger went straight to bed, well satisfied with his situation. He had come to Paris on the Emperor’s orders, so anything he might do or say there could later be attributed to his having been secretly working in Napoleon’s interests. As against that, having taken advantage of Talleyrand’s standing invitation to stay at his mansion whenever he was in Paris, he had reaffirmed de Jaucourt’s belief that he was in the Royalist camp. This meant that, if Napoleon did triumph, Roger would be able to live honoured and wealthy in France; but, should he fail, Roger would be covered for accompanying Napoleon on the first part of his journey as he had gone to Elba by Wellington’s order, and de Jaucourt would vouch for his activities in Paris.
Freed from all worry by having hedged his bets so satisfactorily, Roger slept solidly for six hours. When he woke he ordered some sandwiches and a bottle of wine to be sent up to him, then made a picnic meal while he shaved and dressed. Soon after ten o’clock, he went out and made his way to the Ministry of Police.
De Bourrienne’s career was common knowledge. He had been one of the very few friends Bonaparte had made when they were cadets together in the Military College at Brienne. But, instead of going into the Army, Bourrienne had become a diplomat. When the Revolution had developed into the Terror, he had been en poste in Stuttgart. The Committee of Public Safety had recalled him. As an aristocrat he had known that, if he returned to Paris, he would be sent to the guillotine, so he had resigned his post and remained in Germany.
In 1797, after Napoleon’s first triumphant campaign in Italy, he had recalled this clever friend of his youth, and written offering him the post of Chef de Cabinet on his staff, with immunity as an émigré. Bourrienne had accepted, and had more than proved his worth. In addition to having a much wider knowledge of international affairs than his master, he spoke six languages and could write a type of shorthand with such speed that, even in a coach travelling fast over rough roads, he could take down despatches as fast as Napoleon could talk.
For eight years he had been constantly with Napoleon, and his right-hand man. Then, in 1805, it had emerged that he had been unsuccessfully speculating with public funds. Napoleon had dismissed him, but later relented to the extent of appointing him Governor of Hamburg. In 1813 it had come to the Emperor’s knowledge that he had made a great fortune by selling licences to import goods from abroad to the detriment of the blockade imposed by the Continental System. He had then been recalled and finally disgraced.
During the years that Bourrienne had been Napoleon’s Chef de Cabinet, Roger had, on many occasions, been deputed to act as his assistant, so he knew the inside story of Bourrienne’s offences. He had received no regular salary, but been told by Napoleon to draw what he required from the cash in hand and, in view of the fact that the Marshals and Generals were making immense fortunes by looting half the cities in Europe, he could not be greatly blamed for seeking to acquire sufficient capital to ensure a comfortable old age. Regarding Hamburg, in spite of the Emperor’s fanatical desire to ruin Britain’s trade by his Continental System, he had found himself compelled to allow the issue of licences to import certain essentials, and Bourrienne was only one of many officials who had made fortunes by also granting licences for non-essentials. So, while Bourrienne was unquestionably guilty of fraudulent transactions, Roger regarded him as no more culpable than hundreds of other civilians or soldiers, who had consistently acquired illicit wealth while serving Napoleon. Moreover, when Roger had escaped from prison in Berlin and reached Hamburg, it was Bourrienne who had got him out of Germany by secretly arranging a safe passage to England for him.
In consequence, when he was shown up to the private apartments of the Prefect of Police, he was received with surprise and delight. The two old friends embraced affectionately, Bourrienne produced a bottle of fine sillery and glasses, and they happily sat down to talk.
Apart from the fact that Roger had always been a British agent, he had no secrets from Bourrienne and Bourrienne had none at all from him, so they discussed the situation with complete frankness. Having told Bourrienne how he had come with Napoleon from the South of France, Roger ended by saying:
‘And now, cher ami, to the first purpose of my visit. In spite of what some people here appear to think, I’ve not the least doubt that, within the next few days, the little Corsican will again be back in the Tuileries. He already counts you among his enemies, and having become old Louis’s Prefect of Police could cost you your head. So, if you wish to save it, the sooner you quit Paris, the better.’
Bourrienne laughed. ‘Believe me, I’m most grateful for your warning, but it was unnecessary. My bags are packed and I’m ready to go at whatever I judge to be the right moment.’
‘When do you reckon that will be?’
‘Perhaps tomorrow, when it will become generally known that Ney has defected. If not, when the King takes fright. But I must not be seen to run away before Louis and the rest of them take to their heels. You see, in view of the Allies having again become united in Vienna, I regard it as certain that within a few months Napoleon will again be defeated, and Louis put back on his throne. That is why I accepted this post. From Napoleon I can expect nothing; but, by having openly sided with the Bourbons, I shall stand well with them on their return.’
‘I congratulate you on your foresight,’ Roger smiled. ‘But, mon ami, it is quite possible that Napoleon will succeed in dividing the Allies and be accepted by them in his new guise of a peaceful, constitutional monarch. The patronage of the Bourbons will be of little value to you then. Still, by playing your cards as you have, you have nothing to lose. Meanwhile, I take it you are busying yourself putting our old colleagues into prison?’
Bourrienne returned the smile. ‘I was handed a list of twenty-odd people to arrest, among them Davout, Fouché, Savary, Marat, Lavalette, Syèyes and Excelmans. As you have remarked, there is always the possibility that Napoleon may succeed in coming to terms with the Powers who threaten to crush him. If that occurred, it might prove of value if I had some of his best friends under an obligation to me. So I pulled in only a few of the less important ones and gave the others a chance to go to earth; although, of course, I had to make a show of endeavouring to secure them. The King was particularly anxious to have Fouché behind bars, but I was equally anxious not to put him there, so I evaded the issue by a rather skilful little ruse.
‘My appointment was made late at night, and during the Restoration the office had been allowed to lapse; so I made out the warrant to the effect that ‘the person of the Duke of Otranto is to be secured on the order of the Prefect of Police’. When my men presented the warrant on the following morning, my appointment had not yet been announced, so Fouché—as I felt sure he would have the wit to do—refused to surrender himself, on the grounds that there was no such person as a Prefect of Police. Then, while my men were seeking further instructions, he slipped out of his house, mounted a ladder he had set ready against his garden wall, in case of such an emergency, crossed into the garden next door, at the back of Queen Hortense’s house, and from there drove off in a coach to the country.
After laughing at this clever trick, Roger asked, ‘How have the people reacted to the startling news of Napoleon’s return?’
‘It was hardly startling, at least not to those who remained Bonapartists at heart. From the fall of Paris last year they have looked on his abdication as only temporary. Many were convinced that he would wait only until the spring to leave Elba. Hence the adoption of the colour violet as a symbol, and in conversation between Bonapartists, he is often referred to as “Père Violette”.’
‘However, as no precautions seem to have been taken to prevent his landing, it must have come as a surprise to the government and the Court?’
‘Indeed it did. But what else could one expect from such a collection of ostriches? The émigrès have been far too busy enjoying the fruits of the Restoration to think of looking ahead. Had they done so, even such fools could hardly have failed to realise that if Napoleon did not return in the spring, by summer the people would have risen and again driven them into exile.’
Roger raised an eyebrow. ‘The people seemed reasonably contented when I was here for a short time in the autumn, so I find so swift a change of feeling surprising.’
‘It needed those six months for the yeast to ferment the mixture. Then they were still cock-a-hoop with having been let off so lightly by the Allies, and Louis was the wise, kind old man who would not drag them from their homes to fight more wars. Although he wriggled out of actually signing the undertaking that he would maintain the liberties they had won by the Revolution, at least he was, unlike Napoleon, no despot. But since then they’ve realised the price they are having to pay for the return of the Bourbons.’
Having taken a pinch of snuff, Bourrienne went on, ‘You have seen for yourself how many regiments of the Army have already welcomed Napoleon. Others may resist, but if they do it will be only from loyalty to their Marshals. For twenty years France was inspired by the glory won by her soldiers. That is so no more. The Army itself has been humiliated. Many regiments have been disbanded, a whole host of junior officers have been retired, theoretically on half pay. I say “theoretically” because their pensions are not sent to them. The Legion of Honour has been dragged in the mud by giving it to hundreds of civil servants. The money that should go to ex-soldiers goes instead to the Church. The priests have swarmed back, and again tax the peasantry by demanding tithes. Still worse, the Church and the émigré nobility will not rest content until they get back the lands they owned before the Revolution. As you must know, the Convention confiscated those great estates, and they were sold by the State in small lots to the peasantry. The purchasers became known collectively as the “Proprietors”. There are thousands of them, and now they all live in dread that any day they may hear that a new law has been passed, depriving them of their holdings. Naturally, Napoleon’s return is to them the coming of a Saviour. And had he not returned within three months there would have been a revolution.’
‘There may yet be one, from what I saw of the mobs in Grenoble, Lyons and other places.’
Bourrienne nodded gravely. ‘That is what is most to be feared. Already there is open unrest in the Faubourgs. In the slums there today there were scenes reminiscent of ’93. Gangs of sans culottes parading the streets, shouting “A bas les aristos”, and burning the Comte d’Artois in effigy.
‘It is what Napoleon himself fears. We can only pray that when he gets here he will succeed in controlling that hydra-headed monster.’
For a further half-hour the two old friends continued their talk; then Bourrienne invited Roger to come to see him again on the following night and learn how matters were going at Court. After which they parted.
Next morning Roger breakfasted with de Jaucourt and several of Talleyrand’s other intimates, who had come there to discuss the news, then he went out to see for himself the state of Paris. Having learned from Bourrienne the previous night that Davout, Savary, Lavalette and other leading men whom Napoleon counted on for support had gone into hiding, he realised that it was impossible for him to carry out the mission on which he had been sent; so he wandered the streets, now and then going into a café and getting into conversation with men at neighbouring tables.
An atmosphere of dread mingled with suppressed excitement permeated the city. The bourgeoisie had flourished under the Bourbons, so were anti-Bonapartist. They clearly feared that Napoleon’s coming would disrupt their secure and prosperous lives, and in the cafés they frequented there were many uneasy references to the rowdy gatherings in the Faubourgs which, if not suppressed, might lead to bloodshed and looting.
In other cafés regularly patronised by ex-officers, not even a mention was made of that. They had just learned of Ney’s defection and the talk was joyfully of Napoleon’s advance, or rumours of happenings in parts of the country to which he had not yet penetrated. Although the divisions there were commanded by Marshals loyal to the Bourbons, in certain areas there had been risings in favour of Napoleon.
On March 8th General Count Drouet d’Erlon had declared for the Emperor and led his enthusiastic garrison at Lille out to march on Paris. In the north, too, General Lefebvre-Desnöettes, accompanied by two other Generals, Henri and François Lallemond, had set out with the cavalry of the Guard to seize the arsenal at Le Fère. But it was now said that Marshal Mortier had suppressed the mutiny at Lille and arrested d’Erlon; while at Le Fere, General Aboville had proved loyal to the King, with the result that Lefebvre-Desnöettes and the Lallemond brothers had been repulsed, deserted by their men and taken to flight.
From such happenings Roger formed the conclusion that only the actual sight of the Emperor was sufficient to inflame the troops to a degree at which they would defy their officers; so, although he might reach Paris, that would by no means make him again the master of France.
Late in the day, Roger dined with de Jaucourt and learned that although the King flatly refused to make any plans for abandoning the capital, numerous precautions against his having to do so were being taken. The banker Baron Louis, who was dining there, described a violent scene which had taken place between de Blacas and de Vitrolles. The former was still blandly confident that Napoleon could be checked at Melun, but the other expressed doubts and urged that the crown jewels and the contents of the treasury should be got out of Paris without delay.
Vitrolles had had his way, and the diamonds were entrusted to the King’s chief valet, M. Hue, to take to Calais. But the problem of moving twenty-five million francs was a very different matter. It was proposed that they be loaded on to ammunition wagons, and sent to the Belgian frontier. Baron Louis had then pointed out that there were not enough ammunition wagons in Paris to transport such a tremendous weight in coin, so efforts were now being made to exchange them for bills on London.
After having dined, Roger went for another walk and he saw indications of panic setting in. Quite a number of wealthy people appeared to think that Paris could not be held, and there was much more traffic than usual at that hour on roads leading to the north: coaches with armorial bearings, wagons and barouches, some loaded with pictures, fine carpets and packing cases.
At ten o’clock he went to the Prefecture of Police. There he was told that Bourrienne was at the Tuileries, so he sat down to await his return. The wait proved a long one. It was not until past two o’clock in the morning that the Prefect appeared, took Roger up to his cabinet and told him what had been happening at the Palace.
The King never slept in his state bedroom, but had a narrow iron bedstead erected for him every night in a small room adjacent to his cabinet. There, his vast bulk overflowing the narrow cot, he had lain listening to an hour-long wrangle between his favourites. De Blacas’s mind appeared to have become paralysed, and he refused to take the responsibility of ordering any action in the King’s name. Others urged flight, one to La Rochelle, a second to La Vendée, and a third to Belgium. De Vitrolles implored Louis to remain and fight. So did Lafayette. The Marquis who had played a leading role early in the liberal revolution, had deserted in ’92 and for seven years been held prisoner by the Austrians. Later he had been allowed to live in retirement in France, but on the Restoration returned to Paris as a supporter of the Bourbons. Both he and de Vitrolles argued that the only means of keeping the troops loyal was for the King to show himself and that he must join his army at Melun, even if he had to be carried there in a litter. The monarch had listened to them with apparent indifference, but he did agree that he would encourage the resistance of the National Guard by inspecting them next morning in the Champs de Mars.
When Bourrienne had finished his account, Roger asked, ‘What news have you of the Emperor?’
‘He is bringing his troops downriver in barges and on rafts, which is much quicker than having them march; but, even so, he won’t wait for them. You know how impatient he is, and he’s now so positive of success that he is driving on miles ahead of his advance guard, with only a few Lancers as escort. He is on his way to Fontainebleau and my agents tell me that, when he arrives there, not only will he be received with the usual rejoicing, but the old servants at the Palace have brought up from the cellars everything he had left there when he abdicated, and have the whole place ready for him to occupy.’
Roger laughed. ‘Then he’ll make good his boast and be here by Sunday. Last night you expressed the opinion that, although he would get to Paris, the Allied armies would put an end to him before many months were past, and you would return in triumph with the Bourbons. But there is no certainly that things will go like that. He may succeed in dividing them, as he has done several times before, and be allowed to remain on here as a constitutional monarch. If that does happen, you would be left high and dry. It occurred to me this morning that you might care to hedge your bet.’
Bourrienne’s eyes narrowed. ‘Only a fool fails to do that if it is possible; but I don’t see how I can, apart from having given a few Bonapartists time to avoid arrest.’
‘I think I could manage it for you, if you are in a position to give me certain information. As you know, having got away from him, I am not committed to either side. But I have decided not to break permanently with him yet; so I shall remain on in Paris. If I can prove that you and I conspired to help him, we will both be back in favour should he come out on top. If he does not, as you will be leaving with the Bourbons, you will still be in their good books.’
‘Your reasoning is sound enough, cher ami. But what is this information you require?’
‘I wish to know where Lavalette has gone to earth.’
‘I cannot tell you at the moment. But, given a few hours, I don’t doubt I could find out.’
‘Excellent,’ Roger smiled. ‘Then I will come to see you again tomorrow at midday.’ Well satisfied at this propitious opening to a plan he had thought up with a view to satisfying Napoleon that he had not remained idle while in Paris, he returned to Talleyrand’s mansion, and so to bed.
Next morning Chateaubriand was among those who breakfasted with de Jaucourt. The famous writer, with his big head of untidy hair and small, pox-pitted face, was a fervent Royalist and had urged that the King must remain in Paris, asserting that if he did so everyone would support him. Tall, red-haired Benjamin Constant, dressed in a yellow suit, was also there. He agreed with Chateaubriand that the King could hold Paris, as his twenty-five thousand National Guards were devoted to him, and all the regular troops who were unreliable and might have gone over to Bonaparte, had now been sent out of the capital to Villejuif and other places.
During the past week the King had issued a number of proclamations denouncing Bonaparte and calling on his people to remain loyal to him. Another had been circulated that morning, and he had announced his intention of reviewing his National Guard in the Champs de Mars.
Marshal Macdonald saw him off in his carriage, surrounded by a glittering escort including Marshals Berthier and Marmont. But, to Macdonald’s surprise, the splendid cortège returned half an hour later. In spite of deafening shouts of ‘Vive le Roi’ from the National Guards, there had been such massive silent crowds lining the route that the King had become frightened, and, cutting short the review, turned back.
At midday Roger was again at the Prefecture of Police. Bourrienne gave him the address of a house in the suburb of Neuilly and said, ‘It belongs to a widow who at one time was Lavalette’s mistress. I have good reason to believe you will find him there.’
Having thanked him, Roger set off in a coach for Neuilly.
During the past few days he had given much thought to his future. He dared not return to England for fear that Mary would carry out her threat to kill Georgina; moreover, apart from the contents of Thatched House Lodge, he now had practically no resources there. On the other hand, in France he still had his little château near St. Maxime, and if Napoleon did succeed in persuading the Allies to let him rule France as a constitutional monarch he, Roger, could continue to live there as General Count de Breuc, in honourable retirement and in receipt of one of those truly handsome annuities that the Emperor paid out both to his nobility and to those officers who had distinguished themselves in his service.
In any case, his opinion was that nothing could now stop Napoleon from arriving in Paris, so anyone who could make it easier for him to maintain law and order when he had installed himself in “the Tuileries had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Hence this decision to seek out Lavalette and propose a daring coup to him.
When he reached the house in Neuilly he sent in his name to the lady who owned it. A few minutes later she received him in her salon, and asked the purpose of his visit. With a smile he asked, ‘Madame, aimez-vous la violette?’
Returning his smile, she replied, ‘Il reviendra au printemps’
These Bonapartist passwords having been exchanged, he handed his visiting card to her and said, ‘Madame, I will not enquire of you the whereabouts of M. le Comte de Lavalette, but should you know it I pray you give him this. We were at one time brother A.D.C.s, so are old friends. Tell him I come from Père Violette and am anxious to disclose a certain project to him.’
After a moment’s hesitation, she replied, ‘I might be able to oblige you, Monsieur. But caution is required in such matters. Return in an hour. If I succeed and Monsieur de Lavalette is willing to meet you, he will be waiting for you here.’
Returning to his coach Roger had himself driven half a mile down to the Marne, where it is joined by the canal, and sat there on the bank for the better part of an hour, idly watching the river traffic. He then drove back to the house, again had himself announced and, on entering the salon, found his handsome friend waiting for him.
After exchanging hearty greetings, Roger told Lavalette how he had accompanied Napoleon from Elba, then from Auxerre had been sent ahead to make contact with leading Bonapartists in the capital. After listening eagerly, Lavalette said:
‘Having been proscribed, I and many of our other friends had to go into hiding. But, from all I hear, within a few days now the Emperor should be here, and we will be able to rally round him.’
‘I’ve not a doubt of it,’ Roger smiled. ‘I am staying with de Jaucourt at Talleyrand’s, so I get all the news. Everyone at breakfast there this morning was packed and ready to get out of Paris—that is, except Chateaubriand. He means to remain, but only because he is desperately enamoured of Juliette Récamier, and cannot persuade her to leave. ’Tis said the King intends to stay and fight, but I’d wager he won’t. He’s too scared of a rising by the mob. The Faubourgs are seething and many cities are reported now to be agitating in favour of the Emperor: Cherbourg, Brest, Strasbourg, Troyes, Rouen—and in Orleans the troops have already mutinied and driven out General Dupont.’
‘What splendid news! If there is any way in which I could help, you have only to let me know it.’
‘Can you raise a dozen brave officers who would be prepared to risk death for the Emperor with you?’
‘Yes, fifty if need be.’
‘A score should be enough. When the Emperor reached Lyons, he decided whom he would appoint as his Ministers. Davout is to have the War Office, Cambacérès the Ministry of Justice, Carnot the Interior …’
‘Carnot! Can you be serious? He is still a Jacobin and would oppose the Emperor on everything.’
‘No. He has matured with age and is no longer a revolutionary. The Emperor has realised that the people will not again submit to a dictatorship. But he must control the mob. He can do that only by ruling through the Assembly. By making Carnot a Minister he will secure the support of the Liberals, and so be able to maintain law and order. But, to continue—you are to be restored to your old office as Minister of Posts.’
Lavalette smacked his hands down on his knees. ‘But this is marvellous! How happy it makes me now to think that I never succumbed to the temptation to go over to the Bourbons.’
‘And I take it you would like to show your gratitude to our old master for having remembered you so handsomely,’ Roger smiled.
‘I would indeed.’
‘There is a way in which you could do so. The Ministry of Posts controls all communications. If, instead of it being in its present hands, it was in those of one of the Emperor’s adherents, messages by semaphore telegraph from the Ministry of War to all army commands throughout the country could be either suppressed or altered. So, too, could Royal proclamations and orders to Prefects of Departments to take various steps to maintain the Royal authority. If you took over the Ministry before the Emperor arrived in Paris, you would be able to render him an immense service.’
‘Mon Dieu, de Breuc, you are right!’ Lavalette exclaimed excitedly. ‘But the National Guard are all loyal to the King, so ’twould be a hazardous business.’
‘A risk, yes, but no really great one. I give those fools at the Tuileries twenty-four hours. They are already scared to death that the mob will storm the palace. Tomorrow, Sunday, the streets will be even fuller than they are today. If you and your friends appeared outside the Ministry tomorrow morning, shouting Vive l’Empereur at the top of your voices, the people would be with you to a man. The National Guard sentries outside the building would not dare fire on you for fear that the mob would tear them to pieces. Now, what say you?’
Lavalette stood up and held out his hand. ‘You are a genius, mon vieux. I’ll do it. I’ll go out tonight and collect a score or more of the Emperor’s diehards. If need be, we’ll hold the place against all comers until he arrives. And I’ll not forget to tell him that it was you who inspired me to the deed.’
As they shook hands, Roger said, ‘That is good of you. But tell him also that, but for an old servant whom he has treated harshly I would not have been able to suggest this to you. I speak of Bourrienne. You were among those whom he had orders to arrest, but he deliberately let most of them slip out of his net. At my request he traced you, in order that we might meet.’
‘Then, I pray you, thank him for me. I always thought him a good fellow, and that the Emperor made a mountain out of a molehill about his speculations. Look at the fortunes he let others make without even a reprimand.’
Roger smiled. ‘That was because they were robbing foreigners, whereas poor Bourrienne made the mistake of robbing the French exchequer. But I must be off now. Good luck with your venture. We’ll meet next in the Tuileries.’
On his way back into central Paris, he saw many more conveyances of one kind and another leaving the city than he had the previous evening and, on several street corners, little crowds of poorly clad people had congregated for no apparent purpose. Back at Talleyrand’s he found that his host had gone to the Tuileries, so he supped early, then went to bed; but he was not destined to sleep the night through.
In the early hours of Sunday morning he was roused by de Jaucourt’s coming into the room and slamming the door behind him. By the light of a shaded candle the Deputy Foreign Minister was carrying, Roger saw that he had on only a chamber robe and was in a furious temper. In a harsh voice de Jaucourt cried:
‘Get up, Breuc! Get up and dress at once. We are leaving as soon as the grooms can get the horses harnessed to the coaches.’
‘What … what has happened?’ Roger asked in swift surprise.
‘I’ve just been woken by a friend who came from the palace. The King has betrayed us. After letting everyone suppose that he meant to stay here and face things out, he left the Tuileries secretly at two o’clock this morning, accompanied only by de Blacas and a few of his other cronies. That bladder of lard had himself carried to a coach, then sneaked out of Paris. Not one word of warning did he give to any of us who were with him this evening, and he hasn’t even let anyone know where he is going.’