Roederer laughed, 'And so we are rid of our most inveterate enemy through the act of the King he served so well. With him, too, are gone Messieurs Dundas, Grenville, Windham, Spencer, Cornwallis and Castlereagh. The whole pack. That mad monarch deserves that we should put up a statue to him.’
'It is an ill wind ...' agreed Talleyrand. 'Milord Hawkesbury, who has succeeded Milord Grenville as Foreign Minister, seems much more amenable to reason. I have real hopes now that before many months are past we may agree upon a pacification.'
Cambacdres, who had been eating solidly and who, when at a meal, never spoke on any subject except the food, looked up suddenly and said, 'To do justice to your chef. Monsieur le Ministre. I'll take another helping of that lobster pate. 'Tis excellent, and I must beg of you the recipe.'
Roger would have liked to hear more of events in England, but the chef was sent for and there ensued a discussion on whether the flesh of lobsters or crayfish lent itself better to such dishes. Imbecile as he thought the King's bigoted behaviour and sorry as he was that his old master should have been dismissed for having endeavoured honourably to carry out his understanding with the Catholics, he was extremely pleased to hear that at last there was a prospect of the long and costly war coming to an end.
When Cambaceres had resumed his munching, the talk turned to certain fiscal measures that Roederer was advocating to the First Consul, a subject on which Roger knew nothing; and shortly afterwards the party broke up.
The following day being Saturday, it was to be expected that on his return from the coast the First Consul would go direct to Malmaison for the week-end; so in the afternoon, hoping to re-establish at once his position as one of Bonaparte's intimate circle, Roger rode out there. To his delight the great man was in an excellent temper, pulled his ear, invited him to stay to dinner and, while the meal was being prepared, took him out to walk up and down the splendid avenue. ,
As usual Bonaparte was full of his own plans, his immediate preoccupation being with the official restoration of religion in France. Pope Pius VI had been most brutally handled by the Republican Commissioners when the French had occupied Rome, but be had died fifteen months before and Bonaparte was in hopes of coming to an agreement with his successor, Pius VII. He had written to him suggesting that he should send a representative to Paris to discuss the reformation of the French National Church, established in the early days of the. Revolution, into a body to which the Pope would be willing to give his blessing. Pius had readily responded to the overture and had already despatched Cardinal Consalvi to act as his negotiator.
Dismissing the subject as swiftly as he had entered on it, Bonaparte then confirmed Talleyrand's hopes of an early peace with England. Stalking along with his hands clasped behind his back and his big head thrust forward, he said:
'My position is much stronger than it was eighteen months ago, and theirs is now hopeless. Austria has had her lesson, my hold upon the Netherlands is secure and I am again master of all Italy. Spain is in my pocket and Portugal soon will be. The Danish fleet has taken a beating but the Swedes could yet cause England a lot of trouble in the Northern seas. The murder of the Czar was something of a blow for, mad as he was, I could have made good use of him; and I fear this young man Alexander is likely to be influenced by people about him who wish me no good. But at least, before he died, Paul aided me in pushing the spineless Frederick William into kicking the English out of Hanover, and Prussia is a valuable ally. Taken as a whole the situation is overwhelmingly in my favour.
'Now that stiff-necked fellow, Pitt, is gone we should be able to talk business. These new men lack both the guts and the ability to continue the struggle for long. And if they refuse to sec reason, woe betide them. Now that I've naught to fear from the Austrians behind me I'll invade their damned island and, if need be, raze London to the ground. For such a project I have always counted on your value, Breuc, and with my good Duroc absent in Russia I could again find work for another A.D.C. who has a head on his shoulders. See Berthier on Monday and tell him that you are to be my contact with him in all matters concerning our plans for the invasion of England.'
So, two days later, Roger found himself once again in a position to know all that was going on.
He now took an early opportunity of paying his respects to the Bonaparte family. Madame Letizia had left Joseph's s house and had gone to live with her brother Fesch at his equally magnificent mansion in the Rue du Mont Blanc. She spoke sharply to Roger about his master, with whom she had had high words on account of Lucien. She then declared Fouche to be a liar and a scoundrel, devoted to the interests of Josephine. She was convinced that between them they had cooked up the story that Lucien was the author of the Caesar-Cromwell-Bonaparte pamphlet, which had led to Lucien's being sent to Spain. Seething with cold indignation she had gone to the Tuileries, overawed her son and, in his presence, upbraided the hated Josephine, then told her to warn her creature Fouche that the arms of the Mother of the Bonapartes were long enough to make anyone who slandered one of her sons regret it.
Roger had tactfully expressed his sympathy, while secretly of the opinion that Bonaparte had done wisely in ridding himself of his ambitious, truculent and dangerous brother.
He found that Eliza Bacciocchi, the pseudo-bluestocking, shared her mother's anger about Bonaparte's treatment of Lucien. It had ruined for her the happy arrangement by which she had ruled his house since his wife's death the preceding year, and queened it among the literary men who sought her patronage.
Caroline Murat had established herself in the old H6tcl de
Brionne and was giving magnificent dinners there that won the praise of even Cambaceres.
Brother Joseph had played a most praiseworthy part in the negotiations that had led to the Peace of Lunevillc and was now assisting the priest of the family. Uncle Fesch, in the pour parlers with Rome.
Pauline had moved to a house of her own and with wild extravagance furnished it magnificently. She received Roger reclining on a day-bed with gold griffon heads and claw feet, looking like a Greek goddess who had just descended from Olympus. Her husband, Leclerc, was still absent with the Army and rumour had it that she was indulging in an affaire with Lafon, an actor at the Comedie francaise. Roger envied him his luck and, in spite of his devotion to Josephine, was so entranced with Pauline's lovely profile that he let her ramble on for half an hour, abusing her brother's wife.
In July Cardinal Consalvi arrived in Paris with a retinue of priests and negotiations for a Concordat began in earnest. Bonaparte, Roger learned, was having an affaire with a young, simple and very beautiful actress named Mademoiselle George; and now that he occupied the Palace of St. Cloud, his valet Constant was collecting the lady from the theatre and escorting her out there nearly every night. But, in spite of his own peccadillo, the First Consul had decreed that the laxity of morals current during the Directory must henceforth cease.
To this Talleyrand's conduct, as his most prominent Minister, provided a most lamentable example. For the past two years or more he had had living in his house a Madame Grand. She was very beautiful but an almost incredibly stupid woman and had had so many lovers before him that her immorality was notorious. Not content with keeping her there as his mistress, he treated her as his wife. She acted as hostess at all his receptions and, to the intense resentment of the ladies in the foreign embassies, he expected them to make their curtsies to her.
As Talleyrand had formerly been a Bishop, Bonaparte was anxious that he should return to the Church and offered to procure him a Cardinal's hat. In the days of the monarchy he had been within an ace of obtaining one but, to his intense annoyance, the high-principled Marie Antoinette had taken steps, on account of his scandalous life, to prevent him from receiving it. Now he told Bonaparte that nothing would induce him again to become a Churchman.
The First Consul then insisted that, in that case, he must marry Madame Grand. But the Pope flatly refused to give him a dispensation to do so. Pius was
willing to release him from the vows he had taken as a priest, but said that in no possible circumstances would he countenance an ex-priest taking a wife. In vain Talleyrand hunted up every historical precedent he could think of, including that of Cesare Borgia. The Pope proved adamant. On that Bonaparte had to be content with a half-way house and peremptorily ordered his Foreign Minister to get married to Jus mistress in a Mayor's Parlour.
Roger's duties were not particularly arduous, but soon after Cardinal Consalvi's arrival in Paris Bonaparte sent him to check the veracity of certain information he had been given about two of the Channel ports. He was away for a week and the day following his return he ran into Talleyrand on the grand staircase of the Tuileries. When they had exchanged greetings the statesman said:
'Are you aware that you have an identical twin?'
Having for the past two or three weeks expected such a question from him, Roger smiled and replied, 'So Duroc has written to Your Excellency saying he could swear he ran into me in St. Petersburg?'
Talleyrand's face remained inscrutable, and he was silent for a long moment, then he asked, 'How in the world did you become aware of that?'
A realization of what he had done flashed upon Roger. His heart missed a beat. His glib reply had been an appalling blunder, and by it he had given himself away.
11
Catastrophe
Roger's heart now began to hammer in his chest. He had managed to keep the smile on his lips but for several heart beats he remained completely nonplussed. His brain had become a whirligig of confused thoughts.
How could he have been such a fool? Was there any possible way out? What had Duroc said? Roger's disappearance from St. Petersburg immediately after their meeting must have increased his suspicions. Still, he could have secured no proof. There was nothing to connect the man seen by Duroc in St. Petersburg with himself. But that was not the point. He had to explain having known about that meeting before being told about it. Could he claim second sight? No. Talleyrand would never believe him. And Talleyrand's question could not be left unanswered. It must be though, for there was no answer he could give. What would Talleyrand do when he told him he had no idea why he had said what he had said? Could he have seen the despatch? No, he had no access to Talleyrand's papers, so that was next to impossible. Anyway, he had been absent from Paris for a week.
The last of these thoughts streaking like lightning through his agitated brain at least gave him an opportunity to gain a few moments' time, and he asked, 'How long is it since Your Excellency received Duroc's despatch?'
'A week or so ago.'
'And what date does it bear?'
'May 30th, if I remember. Anyhow he had been in St. Petersburg for some days when he wrote it.'
Roger had never felt less like laughing, but he managed a chuckle, 'Then Your Excellency will admit that it could not possibly have been I he saw. I returned to Paris from the South on June 8th, and you may recall that I attended a reception that you gave that evening. I could not have made the journey from Russia in some ten days unless I'd had a magic carpet. His despatch, you may remark, took nearly six weeks.'
'About that there can be no argument. But, mon cher Colonel, what I should like to know is how you could possibly have been aware that he had written reporting to me his belief that he had seen you in St. Petersburg?'
Had Roger been confronting anyone other than Talleyrand, or Fouche, he could, in his role of Colonel Breuc, have said that he had heard that his cousin, Roger Brook, had been sent to St. Petersburg and it must have been he that Duroc had seen. But both Talleyrand and Fouche knew that both were one and the same. Now, with a flash of inspiration Roger recalled that, although he rarely used it, he had a third identity.
'You must forgive me,' he gave another smile, 'but I must have been woolgathering when you first addressed me, and answered spontaneously impelled by a subconscious memory of a conversation I had some weeks ago with Senhor Pedro Zarolo of the Portuguese Embassy. As Your Excellency may know, before being transferred here early this year he was en poste in London. He mentioned that he had met my cousin Robert McElfic who not long since succeeded his father as Earl of Kildonan, and that he was about to set out on a tour of the northern capitals. McElfic and I are the same age, and said to be as like as two peas. When I last saw him he affected a short curly brown beard, but he may have since shaved it off. However that may be, the moment you said the word "twins", it flashed into my mind that Duroc must have run into my cousin.'
Actually Roger had no idea where Scnhor Zarolo had been en poste before being sent to Paris, but as he was only a junior diplomat it was unlikely that Talleyrand would know either. And one thing Roger did know was that, as Bonaparte had pushed Spain into declaring war on Portugal, the Portuguese Embassy had recently been withdrawn from Paris: so there was no danger of the congenitally curious Talleyrand checking up on his story.
' 'Tis strange indeed that Duroc, knowing you so well, should have mistaken him for you,' Talleyrand remarked. 'But that is the only possible explanation.'
His masterly piece of invention having gone over. Roger breathed again. But it had been a most unpleasant episode. After a moment he asked lightly, 'And what news does the good Duroc send out of Russia?'
'None that bodes well for us,' the Foreign Minister replied. 'The young Czar is proving a very different fish from his father. He has lent his ear readily to Pahlen, Panin, Vorontzoff and others of the pro-English party. Russia has already withdrawn from the Northern League and there is even talk of her entering into an alliance with England.'
Roger hid his satisfaction by putting on his glummest face and making a suitable comment. Then they parted.
The Concordat with Rome being well under way, the tireless First Consul soon turned his mind to another major undertaking. Before the Revolution the law had differed greatly in the various Governments of France. In Provence and much of the south, Roman law had, in the main, been adhered to, while in Brittany the old laws of that one-time independent Duchy maintained and in the northern governments the laws were still based on ancient tribal customs.
Throughout the Revolution hundreds of these old laws had been annulled, and hundreds of new ones made, cither to bring about equality between all classes or, later, to penalise and persecute the nobility, clergy and rich !w-"eoisie.
During the twenty months that Bonaparte had been First Consul he had caused the most vicious measures to be repealed, restabilized the security of property and put an end to the general lawlessness that had become chronic during the Terror and under the Directory. But the laws concerning business contracts, marriages, inheritance and many other matters remained in an appalling hotchpotch. Bonaparte had determined to reduce this chaos to order and establish a system that would be uniform wherever French writ ran.
On August 12th he formed a committee of the ablest lawyers in France and set about his greatest work for posterity. For many weeks he attended a high proportion of the committee's sittings, guiding their deliberations and personally debating points of law with its most learned members. In due course this immense task was completed and the results promulgated as the 'Code Napoleon,' a greater monument to Bonaparte's genius than all his battles.
Yet during the late summer and autumn these labours did not deter him from making a number of visits to the Channel coast. Measures for the invasion of England had been initiated there over a year earlier but only in a very half-hearted fashion. Now they were gradually taking shape. Roger was of the opinion that they still constituted no serious threat but, with England as France's only active enemy, ample forces were available to build them up until they would.
The British Government was well aware of this and of how serious the odds against England had become. The population of Britain was less than eleven million against a manpower controlled by France of forty million. The greater part of the French Army was stationed in countries that France had conquered and their people had to pay for the upkeep of the
se occupying forces; whereas for the British Army the British people had to foot the whole bill. The cost of the eight years of war had been enormous, so that the British National Debt now amounted to over five hundred million sterling, and the annual expenditure of the nation had risen from nineteen to sixty-one millions; whereas a great part of France's budget was still being found by indemnities, confiscations and forced loans from the countries she now controlled.
Worst of all perhaps, Bonaparte's policy, which was later to develop into his 'Continental System', was having a disastrous effect on British trade. By bullying and skilful diplomacy he had succeeded in closing every port from Norway down to Cadiz, and in the western Mediterranean, to British shipping. The great wave of prosperity, brought about by the Industrial Revolution, had been halted and was now receding owing to this loss of all European markets for the sale of British goods.
In consequence, Roger was not at all surprised when he learned that overtures from Lord Hawkesbury had led to negotiations for a peace; and that Lord Cornwallis, assisted by Mr. Anthony Merry of the Foreign Office, had entered into conversations with Joseph Bonaparte, behind whom stood Talleyrand.
On October 1st preliminaries for a Peace were signed in London. Roger knew no details of them, as most of the talks had taken place in Amiens, but he assumed that their basis would be similar to those he had taken to London in the last week of '99, although somewhat less favourable to Britain owing to Bonaparte's having since so greatly strengthened his position.
Early in December, winter having set in and the weather become most inclement, he decided that he could now use that as an excuse to take a holiday, and carry out a promise he had made Georgina to spend Christmas again at Still-waters. Owing to the good progress being made with the peace negotiations Bonaparte had allowed the preparations in the Channel ports to come almost to a standstill; so when Roger told him that his weak lungs were again troubling him, his master made no objection to his request for indefinite leave to spend the worst months in the south of France.
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