Roger went to bed feeling soberly satisfied with the progress he had made to date. It was a great relief to have got his report off to Mr. Pitt, as there could be no telling when, if ever, he would be able to send another. But he kept on examining his plan from every angle, for one could never be quite sure that every possibility had been thought of, or that some unforeseen factor would not suddenly arise to throw everything out of gear. And he had one very serious cause for worry. Boneparte had stipulated 'no scandal', but to make certain of getting Malderini into the trap he had been compelled to have rumours circulated that the General was making a visit incognito to Venice, and take steps to ensure that when the Princess Sirisha was kidnapped his name should be linked with hers. To have used the authority Boneparte had given him over Villetard for his own ends, and entirely contrary to the General's interests, was a flagrant breach of trust. When the little Corsican learned about that, as he was bound to do, unless it could be justified by a motive that he would accept, he would fly into one of his terrible rages and Roger might find himself back in the Leads.
Another matter that worried Roger considerably was the fate of Malderini's co-conspirators. The great majority of the Venetian upper class had conclusively proved themselves to be spineless decadents, but these people must surely be the exception to the rule. Some might be ambitious men, prepared to gamble their lives against a chance of power should they succeed in bringing about a restoration of the old regime; others, no doubt, were fanatics, egged on by their father-confessors to strike a blow at the new government of atheists; but among them there must be a number of real patriots, and all of them must be accounted men of courage. That they, of all Venetians just because they had allowed themselves to be caught in the web of the treacherous Malderini, and because Roger, in the hope of serving his country and to revenge himself, had to smash it should be the ones who had to be sacrificed, seemed a gross injustice. He could see no way to avoid that and the thought of it plagued his conscience severely.
Yet, as so often happens, sleep brought a possible solution to the problem. Soon after waking next morning, an idea in connection with the carnival took form in his mind, and by developing it there seemed a chance that when Malderini's associates had served their purpose he might be able to save them from the worst consequences of their attempt upon Boneparte.
To put it in train, as soon as he had dressed and breakfasted, he donned his cloak and mask and went out shopping. His purchases consisted of one of the huge gold-laced hats that Boneparte had taken to wearing and the smallest sizes available in the second-hand shops of Hessian boots, white breeches and plain uniform coat, by which the General's figure had become so well known. To these he added a tricolour sash, white stock, spurs, cloak and one of the grotesque carnival masks.
With all these packed in two boxes, he returned to the Embassy where he found a small party ready to accompany him to Portillo. It consisted of Villetard's steward, Citizen Crozier, a valet, a porter and two cleaning women, all of whom, as was the case with the whole of the staff at the Embassy, were French. Roger transferred his packages to the six-oared barge in which they were waiting, and it pulled away.
Leaving the Grand Canal it turned into the Canal San Felice, which led into the basin of the Misericordia on the northern waterfront of the city, then headed north through one of the pole marked channels across the open water. As Venice and its innumerable adjacent islands lie in a thirty-mile long lagoon, they are protected from the rollers of the Adriatic and, being a fine sunny day, the inland sea was as smooth as a mill pond. A half-mile out they passed the island of San Michele, the cemetery of Venice, above the walls of which the tall cypresses rose like green candles, then some distance farther on the much bigger island of Murano with its quite considerable town, famous for its centuries old glass factories. Beyond it. in the distance, lay another large but less populous island, Barano, and between them to either side were scattered a number of small islets. Crozier pointed out one of these to Roger as Portillo, and the barge's crew soon brought them to it.
The islet was about an acre in extent and the only building on it was the casino, a charming little one-storeyed pavilion set picturesquely among cypress trees. They landed on a wide stone wharf and at Crozier's shout a bent old man, who was the caretaker, hobbled out to meet them. He let them in through the front door and Roger set about making a thorough inspection of the place.
It had only two main rooms, a salon and a bedroom; both were spacious and lofty. Beyond the former lay a kitchen and two small bedrooms for servants. To that side of the main building, a short distance from it, was a big woodshed well stocked with fuel, and on the other a boat-house, in the rear part of which was stored garden furniture. Behind the casino, surrounded by cypresses, lay a small garden containing only some flowering shrubs and a few pieces of statuary. The furniture in the main rooms had been stacked in their centres under dust sheets and the place smelt musty from disuse; but, even so, Roger saw at a glance that when in proper order it made a perfect retreat for lovers.
All the windows were thrown open, and Crozier began to unpack, from hampers he had brought, bed-linen, plate glasses and bottles; his men set about unstacking the furniture, and the women about their cleaning. Having satisfied himself that the place could be made entirely suitable for his purpose, Roger returned to the barge and had himself rowed the four miles into Mestre.
On landing he took off his mask, hired a carrotza to take him to the French headquarters just outside the town and introduced himself to the garrison Commander's adjutant. At that officer's desk he wrote a note for Bourrienne informing him that everything had been arranged for the visit of the General-in-Chief on the following night, and had it sent off by galloper.
As he watched the man go he realised that he had burnt his boats and that, although his own arrangements for trapping Malderini were well in train, that was by no means the case with the entertainment he had promised Boneparte; as he had yet to kidnap the Princess Sirisha. But to have done so before the day of the coup might have ruined his own plan, and if he had delayed in sending his despatch to Boneparte, there were no means of getting him to the rendezvous by the night of the 14th.
At the adjutant's invitation, he dined that afternoon in the mess, then had himself rowed back to Portillo. During his absence a most pleasing transformation had taken place. The big rooms had been thoroughly cleaned, the air scented, and the fine gilt and ormolu furniture of the period of Louis XV set out. As he looked at the magnificent bed, with its silk curtains falling gracefully from a coronet held by two gilded cupids, his imagination swiftly conjured up the images of the satin-clad, powdered-haired nobleman who must, in the past, have led beautiful women in crinolines and patches to give and, receive amorous joys in it. For a moment he wondered if the skinny, lank-haired little Corsican would succeed, after the coup was over on the following night, in persuading the lovely Indian Princess to let him have his way with her there. But that was a matter for them.
An hour later all the preparations, except for the supper which must be brought next day, were completed; so the party returned to Venice, taking the old caretaker with them.
That evening Roger arranged through Villetard that next morning at nine o'clock a fast barge, with at least eight oarsmen, should be at the Embassy steps. It was to be manned by French sailors and carry six troopers, all picked men who could be relied on to keep their mouths shut and under orders to obey him without question.