The Last Cavalier: Being the Adventures of Count Sainte-Hermine in the Age of Napoleon

“You must not have paid anything for ten years!”

“I settled accounts with all my suppliers and paid them last year on the first of January. I paid three hundred thousand francs. I remember how angry Bonaparte was then, which is why I’m quaking now.”

“And you have worn forty thousand francs worth of gloves since the first of January last year?”

“Apparently so, Bourrienne, since that’s what they’re asking.”

“Well, then, what you expect me to do about it?”

“If Bonaparte is in good humor this morning, perhaps you could bring up the subject with him.”

“First of all, why is he not here with you? Have you quarreled?” Bourrienne asked.

“No, not at all. He was feeling fine last night when he left with Duroc to check out, as he says, what Parisians are thinking about. He probably came home late and, not wishing to disturb me, went to sleep in his bachelor’s quarters.”

“And if he is in good humor and I do speak to him of your debts, when he asks me how much you owe, how shall I answer?”

“Ah, Bourrienne!” Josephine hid her face behind her sheet.

“So, the figure is frightening?”

“Enormous.”

“How much?”

“I don’t dare tell you.”

“Three hundred thousand francs?”

Josephine gave a sigh.

“Six hundred thousand?”

Another sigh, even heavier than the first.

“I must say that you are indeed beginning to frighten me,” said Bourrienne.

“I spent the whole night adding sums up with my dear friend Madame Hulot, who is very good at such things. As you know, Bourrienne, I don’t have a head for figures.”

“So how much do you owe?”

“More than twelve hundred thousand francs.”

Bourrienne gave a start. “You’re right,” he said, and he was no longer laughing. “The First Consul will indeed be furious.”

“Let’s just tell him it’s half that amount.”

“Not a good strategy,” said Bourrienne shaking his head. “While you’re at it, I advise you to admit everything.”

“No, Bourrienne. Never!”

“But what will you do about the other six hundred thousand francs?”

“First of all, I shall contract no more debts, because they make me too unhappy.”

“But how about the other six hundred thousand?” Bourrienne asked again.

“I shall pay them out of what I can save.”

“That won’t work. Since the First Consul is not expecting the figure of six hundred thousand francs, he will make no more of a fuss for twelve hundred thousand than for six. On the contrary, since the blow is more violent, he will be in even greater shock. He will give you the twelve hundred thousand francs, and you will be over and done with it.”

“No, no,” cried Josephine. “Don’t make me do that, Bourrienne. I know him too well. He’ll fly into one of his rages, and I can’t stand seeing him get so violent.”

At that moment Bonaparte’s bell rang for his office boy, probably to find out where Bourrienne was.

“That’s him,” said Josephine. “He’s already in his study. Hurry, and if he’s in a good mood, you know.…”

“Twelve hundred thousand francs, right?”

“Heavens, no! Six hundred thousand, and not a penny more!”

“That’s what you wish?”

“Please.”

“Very well.”

And Bourrienne hurried up the little staircase to the First Consul’s study.

II How the Free City of Hamburg Paid Josephine’s Debts (#u3e8154c2-e160-5506-b2f3-078402a93490)

WHEN BOURRIENNE RETURNED to the study, the First Consul was reading the morning mail that the secretary had laid out for him on his desk. He was wearing the uniform of a Republican division general, a frock coat without epaulettes with a simple gold laurel branch, buckskin pants, a red vest with wide lapels, and boots with their tops turned down. At the sound of his secretary’s footsteps, Bonaparte turned his head.

“Oh, it’s you, Bourrienne,” he said. “I was just ringing Landoire to have him call you.”

“I had gone down to Madame Bonaparte’s room, thinking I would find you there, General.”

“No, I slept in the large bedroom.”

“Ah,” said Bourrienne. “In the bed that belonged to the Bourbons!”

“Well, yes.”

“And how did you sleep?”

“Poorly. And the proof is that I’m already here and you did not have to awaken me. It’s all too comfortable for me.”

“Have you read the three letters I set aside for you, General?”