Dennis Wheatley - The Rape Of Venice

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.

Later that night, Villetard told him that he had again seen Malderini, and that his side of the affair was all in order. The hotheads among the conspirators had shown immediate enthusiasm at this chance to kidnap their great enemy, and even the more cautious had soon been persuaded that, if he could be coerced into ordering the evacuation of Venice by the French, the fact that a few civilians had done so would be sufficient hold over him to ensure that he did not rescind the order after they had released him.

They had decided to take him to one of the distant islands about twelve miles away at the south end of the lagoon, as from it he could not possibly escape, and that, too, would eliminate any risk of the French finding him should they institute a house-​to-​house search throughout the city. One of Malderini's lieutenants was a lawyer named Ottoboni, an inveterate talker, who also prided himself on his ability as a negotiator; so when Malderini expressed some misgivings about being capable of arguing such a forceful character as Boneparte into doing as they wished, the lawyer had promptly volunteered to handle that side of the business, which would leave the arch-​conspirator free to keep out of personal danger in the rear of the party.

Malderini had pressed Villetard to tell him whereabouts Boneparte was lodging in the city, so that the conspirators could make detailed plans for their coup. But Villetard had replied that he was actually in Mestre and coming over only from time to time. It was, however, certain that he would sup in Venice the following night, although where was not yet definitely settled. That would be known by about seven o'clock; so Malderini was to come to the Embassy shortly before half-​past, and Villetard would be able to give him full particulars of the General-​in-​Chief's plans for the evening.

By this arrangement, Roger reckoned that the kidnappers could not arrive at Portillo much before nine o'clock, by which time he expected to have Napoleon and Sirisha comfortably settled down at supper. Only one fence now remained to be got over the kidnapping of the Princess; but everything else had so far gone according to plan and, buoyed up by his natural optimism, Roger went cheerfully to bed.