Napoleon's Police

by Michele McGrath

  “Suzette, let us in.”

  The door opened, followed by a rush of cheap perfume. An older woman with tired eyes and highly painted cheeks stood to one side for us to enter the room, almost all of which was taken up by a large bed. It was not hard to guess her profession.

  “What’s happened to him, Jean?”

  “A fight,” Lefebvre muttered as he sat me on the bed and stripped off my shirt and breeches, looking at my injuries.

  “Bruises, sore ribs, small cuts but not much else.” He sighed with relief. “Get me some warm water, Chérie,” he said to Suzette. “Where’s the brandy?”

  “No time,” I muttered. “We must get it to the Tuileries.”

  “It’s on its way. Should be there already, with luck.”

  “You gave it to someone else?” I almost screamed. If I had control of my legs, I would have shot to my feet and throttled him. As it was, I rose a few centimetres from the bed and he easily pushed me back down again.

  “Keep still. I gave it to the one person in the world you would trust with your life. With luck she is handing it to Napoléon at this very moment.”

  “Who?” I was stupid enough to ask although I already knew the answer.

  “Eugénie, of course.”

  Chapter 14

  10 Frimaire, Year XIII

  (Saturday, December 1, 1804)

  “You fool. How could you put her into such danger?”

  “I haven’t. Shut up and drink this while I make you look more presentable. She’ll faint if she sees you in this condition.” He thrust a glass full of brandy into my hand and helped me lift it to my lips. It stung the broken skin but it ran like a path of fire into my insides. I choked and then smiled. Eugénie is made of sterner stuff and has seen me after fights before.

  “How did you get it to her?” I asked. Our apartment is a long way from the Palais de l’Égalité. Even with a swift carriage, he could never have made it there and back in the short time that had elapsed since we parted company.

  “I was crossing the courtyard when I realised that Leroy’s was still illuminated and I remembered that she worked there. I wanted to get back to you so I decided to find out if she was inside. Don’t know what I would have done if she hadn’t been. The room was full of women stitching hard and talking harder. At first they would not let me in, but as soon as they saw the Emperor’s authorisation, everything changed like magic. Even Leroy was impressed and made no objection to me stealing away his staff. This is François, by the way, one of his porters. He volunteered to help me find you.”

  “It sounded like more fun than carrying bales of silks,” the young man said, speaking for the first time.

  “Thank you,” I said. “I hope it was.”

  “I spoke to Eugénie and told her I needed to get back to you.” Lefebvre continued. “I gave her the bauble and the authorisation. Then I put her into a hack for safety. Old Tomas, her friend, insisted on going with her and taking another of the porters when I told him how important it was. They will be able to tell you what happened next. As soon as I had seen them off, François and I ran back to find you. We were in the Rue de la Loi when I spotted you being bundled into a carriage. We found one for ourselves and followed. You were taken back to Élisa’s, of course. We’d have been there sooner if the horse had been younger.”

  “You might have saved me a few more bruises if you had, but you saved my life instead. The bastards were going to kill me.” I gave him a hug.

  “We’re even again then,” Lefebvre said with a grin.

  At that moment, Suzette, who had been rummaging in an old corner press, came forward and pushed him aside.

  “Let me.”

  She anointed my injuries with some liquid that smelt vile and rapidly bound up my wounds, pulling the bandages round my chest tight.

  “You’re good.” I said.

  “I’ve had practice. Let me look at your face.” She caught hold of my chin, turning my face this way and that, while she surveyed the damage.

  “Your lip is cut and your right eye is closing,” she said.

  “I know that!”

  “I’ll do the best I can but you won’t be pretty for a while.”

  “If ever,” Lefebvre muttered. “Nothing new there.”

  She rubbed various creams into my skin and finished it off with face powder of all things as if I was some grandee from the olden times.

  “There!”

  “Better,” Lefebvre said. I heard the sound of tinkling coins followed by a kiss.

  “Thank you,” I said as Lefebvre hauled me to my feet.

  We left the apartment and Lefebvre cautiously put his head around the front door.

  “No one’s about. Come on.”

  We walked in the shadows of the ill lit street. I was still wobbly but at least I could now stumble along. I did not think we were in any danger. Saint Vincent was out of action for a while and we seemed to have lost the rest of our pursuers. The crown, with luck, was in the Emperor’s hands and our story told. No point in attacking us now, except for revenge. I imagined the culprits were too busy working out their excuses for Napoléon rather than bother with such insignificant people as us for the time being. Nevertheless I was sufficiently rattled to be worried.

  “What now, Soldier?” Lefebvre asked.

  “The Tuileries. I want to see if Eugénie got there safely.”

  “She’ll be long gone and home by now,” Lefebvre objected.

  “It’s nearer than my apartment and the captain of the guard can tell us what happened.”

  So we went to the Tuileries, which was ablaze with lights. The sound of dance music wafted on the cold night air. The ball was still going on. At first one of the guards refused to fetch his superior officer to talk to us until Lefebvre thrust the Emperor’s authorisation under his nose. Then the man glanced at me and scuttled off to call his captain, who was making his rounds.

  “Who are you and what do you want?”

  I showed him the authorisation and asked him whether a coach had come from Leroy’s bearing a woman and two men who had asked to see the Emperor. His face changed.

  “How do you know that?” he barked at me.

  “The woman is my wife,” I said. “She brought a package for the Emperor. Did they both arrive safely?”

  “They did.” He looked at me strangely. “Is your name Duval?”

  “It is.”

  “I have orders about you. You are to come with me.”

  He started to walk away and we all followed him. He stopped.

  “Not you two,” he said to Lefebvre and François. “I have been told nothing about you.”

  “Where are you taking him?” Lefebvre asked.

  “The Emperor told me that if Duval arrived, he was to be taken to him immediately.” Lefebvre and I looked at each other. François had a longing look on his face as he gazed at the lights of the palace and listened to the music. Both of them deserved some reward for their actions, not just me. I hoped that was why the Emperor wanted to see me. If it was for a reprimand, Lefebvre would kill me for including him in the censure.

  “My companions have been helping me with a task the Emperor gave me,” I told the captain. “They know things that I don’t. The Emperor will surely want to question them as well. They can wait in an anteroom until they are needed. Then you won’t need to search for them. If the Emperor does not want to see them, nothing is lost.”

  The captain stood for a moment looking at me and then nodded.

  “Come with me, all of you.” He called on two of his men to accompany us and kept his hand on the hilt of his sword. He was not taking any chances with such a disreputable bunch of people as we appeared to be. I could not help grinning. I would have done exactly the same when I was in the army.

  We followed a different route than the one we had taken with Fouché, but we arrived in the Emperor’s bureau just the same. With half Paris dancing in his ballroom and the other half celebrating throughout the city, Napol�
�on had chosen to spend the evening before his coronation at work.

  The captain spoke to one of the secretaries who was sitting at a desk in the anteroom. The man rose, knocked at the door and announced,

  “Monsieur Duval is here, Sire.”

  “Tell him to come in.”

  I left Lefebvre and François with the secretary and I went in, acutely conscious of my battered face and torn clothes.

  Napoléon did not rise as I came down the room towards him but he looked up from his papers and when he saw my injuries, his eyebrows rose.

  “You have been fighting.”

  “A hazard of my trade, Sire,” I said and he grinned.

  “At least, in this case, your hazard has not been in vain.”

  He opened a cupboard in his desk, took out the crown and placed it before him.

  “So that is what it looks like,” I said softly. Indeed it was a beautiful object, made of polished gold which glittered in the candlelight. From the circular base, loops of diamonds rose, supporting a small globe with a cross on the top. Emeralds flashed green fire and the front was set with amethysts. “I must thank you for returning it to me.”

  “I was not alone. I had help. Without the others, we would not have been able to find it and bring it to you.”

  “Lefebvre, of course, and who else?” Napoléon has a memory for the tiniest facts, which makes him dangerous.

  “Two more, Sire. Another agent, Claude Fournier and a porter from Leroy’s named François.”

  “Where are they now?”

  “Lefebvre and François are waiting in the anteroom. I’m not sure where Fournier is.”

  “Tell the others to come in.”

  I went to the door and beckoned my companions.

  As he walked into the room and bowed to the Emperor, I noticed that Lefebvre did not seem to be able to take his eyes off the crown. François simply gasped.

  “So small but so heavy,” Lefebvre murmured, as if to himself.

  “A crown is meant to be heavy,” said the Emperor. “I would like thank all of you. Duval tells me that without you, the crown would not have been returned. I have already given my thanks to your wife, Duval, but she was not able to enlighten me as to where it was found. Sit down and tell me what happened but make it brief. As you are aware, I am very busy.”

  We sat where he told us and told him the story, first one speaking and then the other. Now the crown was back and no real harm done, I had a great reluctance to be the one to lay the blame where it should lie. If I spoke about Saint Victor, the link to Élisa was unmistakable. So I said very little and of course, the Emperor pounced on my omission.

  “Which of my sisters took the crown?” he demanded when we had finished.

  I glanced at Lefebvre and he gave me a small nod.

  “Sire, do you really want me to tell you?” I asked. “The thief is terrified just now. She cannot return it to you even if she wants to do so. Surely uncertainty and fear of the consequences are a subtle form of punishment. I can guarantee that she will not sleep easily tonight.”

  He looked hard at me for so long that my eyes could no longer meet his and they dropped. Then he nodded.

  “What you say is true,” he agreed. “Whichever one of them took it or aided in its theft, all of them would know. Since none of them came to tell me, they are all equally guilty. Let them continue to writhe until they see the crown in the Pope’s hand tomorrow as he places it on my wife’s head. It is as good a penalty as any for now. If I decide to take further action after the coronation, I will send for you. Do not speak of this to anyone.”

  “Of course not, Sire!” We chorused.

  “You have done well, and I am grateful. I’ll inform Fouché that the matter is settled and you will all be rewarded suitably.”

  “Thank you, Sire.” We bowed and turned to go. Then I hesitated. An idea had popped into my head. Eugénie would never forgive me if I missed such an opportunity. It would not occur again.

  “Well?”

  “If Your Majesty pleases, we would be amply rewarded if we might see the ceremony tomorrow and watch the Empress being crowned.”

  At that he laughed, a charming boyish laugh. “You are sure that you prefer this sight to money?”

  I glanced at the others who nodded.

  “We’re certain, Sire.”

  “I suppose it is only just, since without you, part of the service would be cancelled.” He pulled a piece of paper towards him and scribbled on it.

  “Entrance for how many people?” he asked.

  I thought hurriedly. “Six, Sire.” Lefebvre gave a little start of surprise but I ignored him.

  Napoléon signed the paper and gave it to me. “This will admit six people to the cathedral. Go early and the attendants will squeeze you in somewhere.”

  “Thank you, Sire.”

  After we left him, Lefebvre asked, “Six?”

  “You, me, François and Fournier are four. If you think we can leave Eugénie and Berthe Fournier behind, let me tell you that you’re wrong! They’d never forgive us.”

  I parted from Lefebvre and made my way home to Eugénie. I found her walking around the apartment looking terrified. As soon as I opened the door she was in my arms, hugging me as if she would never let me go. She had to at last when she accidentally pressed on my ribs and I squealed.

  It was quite a while before I was able to tell her the news. She was delighted when she heard we were to attend the coronation but like all women, her first thought was what to wear to the ceremony. She possessed nothing of course, nor had I enough money to buy her anything suitable. She made me something to eat but her thoughts were not on what her hands were doing. I think she would have given me the baby’s gruel if I had not calmed her down. We had a glass of wine to celebrate our success and were sitting talking together when it seemed as if an idea suddenly struck her.

  “Do you mind if I go out for a moment, Alain?” she asked me, getting up and reaching for her cloak. “I won’t be long and Aimée is fast asleep.”

  “You know we must leave very early in the morning to get to the cathedral?”

  “I do but I will be really quick.”

  So she left me and despite her promise, it was over two hours before she returned. I was beginning to be concerned when she came through the door breathlessly, carrying a large bundle.

  “Where have you been?” I asked, taking her into my arms and kissing her. Snowflakes lay on her shoulders and bonnet. “I was getting worried.”

  “I’m sorry I took so long but I couldn’t get away any sooner. Don’t hug me any harder, you’ll crush it.”

  “What’s this?”

  “Let me show you,” she said, putting the bundle down on the table and pulling at the string. Once the fastening was untied, a mass of cloth slithered out and would have fallen to the floor if Eugénie had not caught it in time.

  “What is it?” I asked.

  “Look what I’ve got.”

  Eugénie held up the grey velvet gown in front of herself.

  “I’m going to wear this tomorrow. There is a matching cloak as well. Isn’t it lovely?”

  “It’s beautiful. You’ll look just like a princess, prettier than a real one in fact,” I said, running the list of Imperial Princesses through my mind while Eugénie giggled. “Where did you get it?”

  “Tomas found it for me. I went to his house to ask him.”

  “At this time of night?”

  “He was still awake. I think he was worried in case anything went wrong with all the gowns we had made for the coronation. I told him what had happened and he thought of this outfit. We went back to the workroom to find it. It was made for a woman who never collected it. When they went to deliver the dress, they found she had unexpectedly left Paris, leaving a lot of unpaid bills behind her. Leroy doesn’t have many bad debts but this is one.”

  “Does Leroy know you’ve borrowed it?”

  Eugénie giggled again. “No. Provided I do not damage it,
he’ll never know. Tomas won’t tell him and neither will I. Look, it almost fits me without any alteration! A stitch or two around the waist and it will be perfect.”

  Eugénie stayed up for a few moments making the alterations and then we went to bed. We tried to sleep but both of us found it difficult. We were too exhausted, too excited and in my case, the relief from tension was enormous. I felt as if I could conquer the world. The shadow of disgrace and danger had fled. In the end I slept without nightmares.

  Chapter 15

  11 Frimaire, Year XIII

  (Sunday 2 December, 1804)

  We rose before dawn, broke our fast and put on our best clothes. I went to call a hack while Eugénie dressed Aimeé, bundling her up well against the searing cold.

  “I hope your mother won’t be annoyed with us, bringing the baby to her so early,” I said. “You’ve been working such long hours lately.”

  “Maman knows that everything will be much quieter after today. She will be so excited when we tell her where we are going,” Eugénie said. Her mother was thrilled. We promised to come back as soon as the ceremony finished. Then we would describe everything that had happened. She stood in the entrance with the baby in her arms, waving us goodbye.

  We took a hack and picked up Lefebvre, François and the Fourniers as we had arranged. François was looking nervous. Then we headed for Notre Dame. A light snow fell and the air was icy. So early in the morning, for once the ground was white and not dirty. It reminded me of the first snowfall in my home town of Grenoble. Snow always delights me; we used to have such fun when we were little. This time I felt even more excited. My heart thumped and I found it difficult to sit still. I took Eugénie’s cold hands in mine to rub some heat into them. All of us huddled together in the carriage for warmth and the journey through the frosty streets seemed to take a long time. People were already lining the sides of the road, determined to get a good view of the processions.