Bonaparte and Fouche arrived within a few minutes of one another and, to Talleyrand's great relief, got on well together. In spite of the frank manner of the one and the shiftiness of the other, they were both practical men who knew what they wanted and their ideas of what should be done had much in common. By the time they were halfway through breakfast both had stated their views with a degree of frankness that made it unnecessary for Talleyrand and Roger to leave them alone together afterwards; so Roger heard the whole of their conversation.
Fouch6 agreed with Talleyrand that the revolution must be brought about from within, so with apparent legality. It was, therefore, essential that Sieyes should be entirely won over. Fouche then promised to work on Sieyes with the object of making the latter's relations with Bonaparte more cordial, while Bonaparte agreed at all events to pretend to accept Sieyes's proposals for a new Constitution and to flatter his vanity at their future meetings.
Before they parted, the Minister of Police displayed his usual caution. Snuffling, he said it would be ill-advised for him to give anyone, apart from Sieyes, the impression that he thought highly of Bonaparte in any other way than as a soldier; so it would be wise for them not to meet, except by chance and socially and, since Roger was one of the General's aides-de-camp, it might arouse unwelcome comment if he were to act frequently as a go-between. Therefore for that purpose he proposed to employ, alternately with Roger, Commissioner Real, the Chief-of-Police of the Paris District, for whose trustworthiness he could vouch. He would also give Real a special assignment to have the Jacobin members of the Five Hundred kept under observation, with the object of obtaining advance information of any plot against Bonaparte in which they might engage.
When Bonaparte and Fouche had left in their respective coaches, Talleyrand and Roger settled down to enjoy another glass of Grande Echezaux. The statesman savoured a mouthful of the fine wine, then smiled across the table and said:
* My dear friend, we may congratulate ourselves. At last something definite has been achieved. Bonaparte has promised to butter up that idiotically vain creature, Sieyes. Fouche foresees security for himself in a triumph for Bonaparte so, although unheard and unseen, will prove our most powerful ally. At last these diverse elements are about to coalesce for a single purpose. This morning, the Corsican has committed himself. The Jacobins are powerful and ruthless. They will do their utmost to destroy him and, if the ex-sans-culottes in the garrison of Paris side with them, it may prove the end of people like us. But the battle is now joined. There can be no turning back.'
25
The Fateful Days of Brumaire
During the few days that followed this highly satisfactory meeting there were endless comings and goings. Only a handful of people were let into the secret that Bonaparte was now committed to play the principal role in a coup d'etat, but everyone knew that an upheaval was imminent, and the little house in the Rue de la Victoire was crowded from morning to night with officers who wanted to express their loyalty to him, and others who went there hoping to find out which way the wind was blowing. Those who were in the plot—Berthier, Bruix and Murat among the senior officers then in Paris, and Talleyrand, Roederer and the Minister of Justice Cambaceres among the politicians— worked desperately hard to win him the support, 'should he be called uponof doubtful elements.
In this respect Josephine also performed prodigies. In spite of the fact that, after her release from prison at the ending of the Terror, she had become little better than a highly paid demi-mondaine, she had attained a high place in the new Society. Undoubtedly the fact that she was an aristocrat by birth and the widow of a Vicomte had been part of her attraction for Bonaparte, and he felt that by marrying her he had improved his social status. Since then she had enjoyed the added lustre of his name and, for the past three years, had been hailed everywhere as ' Our Lady of Victories \ Moreover she was an excellent hostess, possessed great tact and charm and had the ability to make people feel that she wanted to talk only to them. In consequence, her influence over both men and women, although not obvious like that of Madame de StaePs, was considerable, and she proved
'35
invaluable in placating people whom her husband's abrupt manner offended.
In her drawing room and the salons of Madame de Stael and Madame Recamier, which Roger again frequented, the talk was largely of the war and, from various conversations, he learned the reason that lay behind the marked improvement that had taken place in the past six weeks in the situation of the French Armies.
After the Austro-Russian victory at Novi in August the two Emperors had quarrelled. Francis of Austria had maintained that, although Suvoroff commanded a Russian Army, he came under the Austrian High Command. This had given umbrage to Paul of Russia, and fuel had been added to the fire by the Allies' capture of Turin. King Charles Emmanuel, having been driven from his capital in December, '98, had taken refuge in his island of Sardinia. Paul instructed Suvoroff to invite him to return, and Britain fully supported Paul's action, but Francis refused to permit it. He maintained that Charles Emmanuel, who had earlier signed a treaty with the French, had thereby become an enemy; although the fact of the matter was that Francis wanted most of northern Italy for Austria and meant to claim Piedmont as part of his indemnity.
It was this legitimate claim by the House of Savoy to the Piedmontese territories that was later to bedevil the relations of all Europe. The immediate upshot of the quarrel had been the withdrawal of Suvoroff's Army from Austrian control and an order from Paul that it should march through the Alps to Switzerland, there to join that of Korsakoff.
This could have proved an excellent move for the Coalition, because the two Russian Armies, together with that of the Archduke Charles, could, by sheer weight of numbers, have overwhelmed Massena and invaded France. But, with short-sighted selfishness, Francis had withdrawn the Austrian Army from Switzerland and ordered the Archduke to lay siege with it to cities on the Rhine occupied by the French.
His reason for doing so was a jealous fear of Prussia. By sending an Anglo-Russian expeditionary force to Holland, the Allies had hoped to draw Prussia into the Coalition against France, the natural enemy of all Monarchies. But, with cynical disregard for the great stakes at issue, Prussia had held aloof, preferring to keep her forces intact for possible operations on the
Rhine which would attract into her orbit many of the petty German Princes at the expense of Austria, and thus lead to her becoming a Power of the first rank.
The result had been that the withdrawal of the Archduke from Switzerland had cancelled out the arrival of the Russians, Massena, faced with no greater numbers than before, had been able to achieve his great victory over the latter. Meanwhile in Holland, two days, after Bonaparte's arrival in Paris, the Anglo-Russian force, incompetently led by the Duke of York and unsupported by the Prussians, had been compelled to sign a capitulation at Alkmar on terms that compelled its return home with its tail between its legs.
At last, on October 29th, Bonaparte, by unstinted flattery of Sieyes, gained his goodwill and entered into a firm partnership with him. Their plan was that they should get rid of Barras, Gohier and Moulins, launch the ex-Abbe's famous Constitution which, on the Roman model, would have Consuls for its senior officials, and nominate a President.
But, at times of crisis, Barras had so often suddenly re-emerged from his life of debauchery as the strong man that Sieyes was frightened of him; so the wily Talleyrand suggested that Barras be made privy to the plot and led to believe that he would retain his position more or less unchanged. This was agreed and Sieyes succeeded in winning Barras over to their plans.