Dennis Wheatley - The Sultan's Daughter

'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 But, with short-sighted selfishness, Francis had withdrawn the Austrian Army from Switzerland and ordered the Archduke to lay siege with it to cities on the Rhine occupied by the French.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.

However, other considerations continued to cause the launching of the coup to hang fire. All the conspirators were aware that any tampering with the principles of the Revolution, as laid down in the existing Constitution, would arouse the fiercest opposition of the Jacobins, and among them were four senior Generals: Lefebvre who commanded the Paris garrison, the veterans Moreau and Jourdan and the fiery Bernadotte. Should any of these call on the troops to defend the 'liberties won in the Revolution', the conspirators might find themselves under arrest before they had time to rally their forces.

It was thought that Lefebvre might be won over at the last minute. Moreau, so brave in battle but so hesitant in politics, was unlikely to take the lead against Bonaparte. But Jourdan well might, and the worst danger of all was Bernadotte. He had been replaced in the previous month as Minister of War by Dubois-Grance, a sound Republican but a Moderate, who had played a leading part in bringing about Robespierre's fall. As he was an anti-Jacobin it was thought that he would at least remain neutral. But Bernadotte was still a danger with whom to be reckoned.

He had a strain of Moorish blood, which accounted for his dark complexion, crop of coal-black curls and hot-blooded temper. He was firmly Republican in principles and he and Bonaparte disliked one another intensely; so there were very good reasons to fear that he might attempt to wreck the coup. Twice, during these anxious days of late October and early November, he put in an appearance at the Rue de la Victoire. Twice he and Bonaparte would probably have come to blows had not Josephine poured oil on the troubled waters; but there seemed little chance of winning him over.

Early in November Talleyrand began to prepare propaganda to be issued to the public once the coup was under way. In this Roederer, one of the elder statesmen of the Revolution, proved invaluable, as he was a most skilful and lucid writer. Together, in the Rue Taitbout, they prepared posters and leaflets which Roederer's son, by joining a firm of printers as an apprentice managed to get printed at night. The banker Collot put up two million francs for expenses and Ouvrard, the richest financier in Paris, promised to buy Barras's resignation, should he refuse it when confronted with the demand that he should go.

Meanwhile, Bonaparte shunned publicity as far as possible. When he did go out he always wore civilian clothes, and pretended that now he no longer had an active Command his only interest was in the scientific debates at the Institute. But by this time so many people were involved that it was impossible to keep secret any longer the fact that a conspiracy was afoot.

Fouche then employed a clever stratagem to quieten the Directors at whom the coup was aimed. He gave a party to which he invited both the leading conspirators and those who were expected to oppose the coup. On entering the room Gohier innocently fell into the trap by asking jovially, 'Well, my friend, what is the latest news? '

Blinking his fish-like eyes, then looking away, Fouch6 replied, 'There is none, except about the conspiracy.'

Bonaparte and his friends were electrified, fearing that Fouche had had the house surrounded by his police and was about to betray and arrest them. But Gohier only laughed and said, "Splendid, we Directors may sleep easy in our beds as long as we have you as Minister of Police.'

On November 6th, the two Chambers gave a banquet in honour of Bonaparte and Moreau. It was held in the Church of St Sulpice and a great crowd assembled outside to see the notables arrive. When Bonaparte's coach drew up they shouted 'Peace! Peace! Give us Peace! as the people now always did whenever he appeared. But he was in a surly mood and would not even wave his hand to them.

The banquet was anything but a success. Bonaparte had brought his own food and wine from fear of being poisoned. The Republican Jourdan failed to appear, and throughout the meal there was general constraint and embarrassment. Barras, who was seated next to Bonaparte, said that what France needed was a President and suggested a General Hedouville for the post, no doubt because Hedouville was a nonentity who could have been easily manipulated. Bonaparte replied only with a stony stare and Barras fell into an uneasy silence. When Bonaparte's health was drunk he replied in only a few words and drank to the ' Union of all Frenchmen'. Then, pleading fatigue, he quickly slipped away.