After Wellington's victory at Orthez, Soult had skilfully withdrawn his army to the east, knowing that the Duke, not daring to risk an attack on his flank by advancing further up the coast, must follow him, and hoping to join up with Suchet. But this had necessitated his abandoning Bayonne and Bordeaux. Wellington had detached General Beresford's division to occupy the latter city, and on March 12th the Duc d'Angouleme had entered it with the British troops. This Prince, who had married Louis XVI's only daughter, the Princess Therese, having been welcomed by the Royalist Mayor, had proclaimed his Uncle, Louis XVIII, King of France; upon which the majority of the citizens had shown their delight and donned the White Cockade.
Soon afterwards the King's brother, the Comte d'Artois, had arrived in Nancy, and his emissary, the Baron de Vitrolles, had several times come in secret to Paris to confer with Talleyrand; but as long as Napoleon's Council of Regency remained in control of the capital, Talleyrand's hands were tied. Many senators were also strongly averse to the return of a monarchy. And, above all, each of the victorious Allies would have their say on what form the new government should take. So the future of France still lay on the knees of the gods.
22
Un Cri de Coeur
On March 28th a meeting of the Imperial Council was called to debate the question of whether, now that the enemy was approaching the capital, the Empress, her son and King Joseph should or should not leave it. Six weeks earlier the Emperor had written from Nogent that if Paris was in danger they should retire via Rambouillet to Blois, taking with them the Great Dignitaries and Ministers. General Clarke, the Minister of War, stated that the garrison of Paris was incapable of resisting the enemy, so departure was decided upon.
The decision placed Talleyrand in a very awkward position. As a Great Dignitary he should leave with the rest, otherwise he would have defied the Emperor, and he was loath yet to come out into the open. On the other hand he was determined to remain in Paris, otherwise he would be deprived of all chance of influencing events in the way he wished them to go.
With his usual foresight he prepared a way out of this annoying dilemma. He drove in his coach to the Porte de la Conference, with the apparent intention of going to Rambouillet. But he was stopped at the gate by M. de Remusat, who was in command of the National Guard there, and refused permission to leave the city—a delightful little farce which had been arranged by these two friends the previous evening.
By this time the Russians had reached Montreuil where, with the remnants of their corps, Marmont and Moncey were putting up a last desperate resistance; but it was now plain to everyone that the entry of the enemy into the capital could not be long delayed.
That day, after his usual reception of a number of friends who were always to be found in the main hall of his mansion, Talleyrand drew Roger aside, into the small library, closed the door and said:
'Although I have not yet definitely committed myself to the Bourbons, you and I are agreed that the best hope of securing peace and prosperity for France lies in the restoration to the throne of the legitimate heir. But whether this can be achieved still remains far from certain. In my view, everything now hangs upon the Czar. Once he can be won over he will overrule his less powerful fellow Monarchs; but to influence him I must have ready access to him when he arrives in Paris. Now, at last, has come the moment when your help can immensely strengthen our chances of bringing about the situation we both desire. I wish you to take a letter to him.'
Roger nodded. 'There should be no great difficulty in doing so, if I approach the Allied troops under a flag of truce. What do you intend to say in your letter?'
Taking the letter from a drawer in the desk, the Prince handed it to him with a smile. ‘I have had it from my friend, Count Nesselrode, his Minister of Foreign Affairs, that His Imperial Majesty intends to take up his quarters in the Elysee Palace. I have told him that this is also known to his enemies, and that they have mined the palace, with the intention of blowing him up. I have then said that my house is quite large enough to accommodate him and his personal entourage, and I humbly offer it to him as a residence in which I can guarantee his safety while in Paris’
‘I congratulate Your Highness upon this extraordinarily astute move,' Roger smiled back. 'And, I should have no difficulty in reaching the Czar through Count Nesselrode's good offices. I knew him when he was Russian Ambassador here. Now I will be off.'
Before leaving he got from one of the footmen a white napkin and tied it to a malacca cane, to use as a flag of truce; then, in one of Talleyrand's carriages he drove toward Montmartre. From the heights there the smoke from the batde and formations of soldiers could clearly be seen, but in some sections there seemed to be little action. Roger directed his coachman toward one of those and when he showed his white flag he was allowed to pass through the lines. A Russian officer who spoke French gave him an escort to take him to the Czar's headquarters, which was only a few miles further on, and by early afternoon he reached them.
After waiting for a while he was taken to Count Nesselrode, who greeted him politely as an old acquaintance. From the Count Roger learned that several of the French Generals had already capitulated, and it was hoped that Marshal Marmont could be persuaded to surrender the city, as that would save the inhabitants from the horrors of street fighting. Roger then disclosed the contents of Talleyrand's letter. At that Nesselrode's mouth twitched in a smile and he remarked:
'His Highness the Prince de Benevent is a monstrous clever fellow. Come with me and I will present you to His Imperial Majesty.'
When Roger had made his bow, the tall, handsome, curly-haired Alexander raised an eyebrow and said, 'It seems that you have a genius, Mr. Brook, for always popping up, as you English say of a bad penny, when least expected.'
'Perhaps, Sire, but I hope your Imperial Majesty does not liken me to one,' Roger replied with a smile.
'Nay.' The Czar extended his hand for Roger to kiss. 'There have been times when you have served us well. However, we had hoped that from Moscow you would return to St. Petersburg, bringing us intelligence of Napoleon's intentions.'
'Alas, Sire, I would I could have, and so been saved from starving near to death in your Russian snows. But the retreat was decided upon within hours of my rejoining the Emperor, and I became caught up in it.'
'And now, what brings you here? Surely not only to tell us that Paris is as good as ours ?'
Nesselrode produced the letter. 'Mr. Brook brought this from the Prince de Benevent, Sire. Have I your permission to open it?'
'Do so, Count, and read the contents to us.'
When he had listened to the letter, Alexander asked, 'What is your opinion about this?'
‘I would advise Your Imperial Majesty to accept the Prince's offer. His mansion is commodious and you could reside there in greater comfort than in many palaces. There is also the fact that, now King Joseph has fled, Talleyrand has become the most powerful man in Paris. He will have great influence with the Senate, and if you deign to accord him your friendship, he can do much to further your Imperial Majesty's designs.'
'So be it, then.' The handsome autocrat turned to Roger. 'We thank you, Mr. Brook, for bringing us the Prince's offer of his house. You may tell him that it is our pleasure to honour it by our acceptance.'
Roger bowed himself away, and by five o'clock was back in Paris. He found the mansion in the Rue St. Florentin crowded with people; not only Tallyrand's friends, such as the Duc de Dalberg who, although holding a post in Napoleon's government was secretiy a Royalist and had brought about the meetings between the Prince and d'Artois's agent, the Baron de Vitrolles, but many important men who for a long time past had thought it dangerous to associate themselves with the crafty statesman. Immediately it had become known that the Council of Regency had fled from Paris, Talleyrand had become the man of the hour and everyone was eager to stand well with him.